              FrontPage SERK Troubleshooting Guide

Server Extensions Resource Kit Troubleshooting Guide

Overview

This chapter of the Server Extensions Resource Kit helps you
understand common error messages associated with the FrontPage
Server Extensions. It is divided into two sections, NT issues
and UNIX issues.

Many of the error messages that are listed in this chapter can
occur in many ways. This chapter attempts to identify the most
common causes of each error message. In many cases, when
FrontPage returns a standard HTML error, the recommended action
is to check the error log files of your server. These log files
will often have enough detailed information to identify the
problem.

Common FrontPage Server Extensions Error Messages and Questions
on Windows NT

Installing

     IIS - Unknown Server "MSIIS"

Opening a web

     NTLM authentication failed
     NTLM authentication failed, because you are connecting
     to the server via a proxy server...
     IIS - Can open web without Username/Password prompt
     IIS - Cannot open web, Username/Password prompt
     continually displayed.
     Server error: Web Server busy. Please try again.
     There is no server on Port 80 at `server_name'.
     Netscape - Can open web without Username/Password
     prompt

Publishing a web

     Using FTP instead of Publish FrontPage Web

Http Errors

     HTTP 500 error
     HTTP 501 error

FAQ's - NT

     Are there any considerations when FTPing to my
     FrontPage web?

Common FrontPage Server Extensions Error Messages and Questions
on UNIX

Installing

     Server error: Cannot open file
     "usr/local/directory_name/service.lck" for writing.
     Server error: Cannot open file
     "usr/local/directory_name/config/magnus.lck" for
     writing.

Opening a web

     Netscape - Web opens without username/password prompt
     Apache - Can open web without username/password
     The server could not complete your request. For more
     information on the message from the server, click
     Details.
     Cannot open file "/usr/local/frontpage/we80.cnf" for
     reading.
     Server Error The server encountered an internal error
     or misconfiguration

Publishing a web

     The server "server_name" timed out.
     Cannot add task named task_name to the task list on
     the server.

Administrating a web

     Server error: Cannot open file
     "document_root_path/_vti_pvt/service.pwd"

Browsing a web

     Netscape - Cannot restrict browse access

Http Errors

     HTTP 403 Error
     HTTP 404 Error
     HTTP 500 Error
     HTTP 501 Error
     HTTP 502 Error

FAQ's - UNIX

     Using FTP instead of Publish FrontPage Web
     I am running FreeBSD on my server and am running into
     problems.

Common FrontPage Server Extensions Error Messages and Questions
on Windows NT

Installing

IIS - Unknown Server "MSIIS", or IIS is not listed in Server
type dropdown box

     This error message may be caused by a missing or out
     of date file:

     c:\Program Files\Microsoft
     FrontPage\version3.0\servsupp\fp30msft.dll

     Check for the presence and date of this file.
     Reinstall the FrontPage Server Extensions from the
     FrontPage 98 CD-ROM if the date is older than the
     other DLLs in the ../version3.0/servsupp directory.

Opening a Web

NTLM authentication failed

     Outside of your LAN, your users will need to specify
     the name of the domain along with their user names, as
     in mydomain\myuserame. This will indicate that the Web
     server should use the account on the Primary Domain
     Controller (PDC) instead of looking for a local
     account.

NTLM authentication failed, because you are connecting to the
server via a proxy server, and NTLM authentication does not work
in this case. You should either disable NTLM authentication for
this server, or if the proxy server is unnecessary, add the
server to the List of Hosts without proxies in the Tools/Options
dialog.

     If NTLM is enabled and you are attempting to access a
     FrontPage web through a proxy server or firewall, you
     will be unable to access the web. To gain access, the
     Password Authentication setting should be set to Basic
     (Clear Text) in the Internet Service Manager. If some
     users who are accessing the web require NTLM and are
     not using a proxy server, select NTLM in addition to
     Basic authentication. FrontPage will attempt to
     connect using NTLM authentication and then degrade to
     using Basic authentication when necessary.

IIS - Can open web without Username/Password prompt

     If a FrontPage Web can be accessed without being
     prompted for a username and password, consider the
     following:
       * If you are using NT Challenge/Response and are
         already logged into your machine as an
         administrator, FrontPage will automatically use
         your same password. To troubleshoot if this is the
         case, try to open a FrontPage Web from a client
         PC. You should now be prompted with the
         username/password dialog box.
       * The IUSR_Machine_Name or INTERACTIVE account may
         have been given rx permission to the
         _vti_bin/_vti_aut directory. If you have applied
         this high a level of permissions to the
         subdirectories of _vti_bin, FrontPage Explorer
         will never prompt you to identify yourself when
         you log on, and the logon account will be regarded
         as the Internet guest. If this is the case, remove
         permissions for all but the author and
         administrator groups.
       * If you are running on a FAT file system, you will
         not be able to limit access to your FrontPage web.
         Anyone using the FrontPage client will be able to
         access your web. You need to re-install IIS on an
         NTLM partition.

IIS - Cannot open web, Username/Password prompt continually
displayed.

     This error message can be caused by one of the
     following:
       * You are using an incorrect username/password
         combination
       * There is a file/directory permissions problem. If
         this is a file/directory permissions problem,
         perhaps the account doesn't have rx permission to
         the _vti_aut or _vti_adm directory (depending on
         whether you are prompted for authoring permissions
         or administrator permissions).
       * If this is a new NT user account, make sure that
         in the User Properties of the NT User Manager, the
         "User Must Change Password at Next Logon" option
         is not checked.

Server error: Web Server busy. Please try again.

     The user account does not have rwxd permission to the
     _vti_pvt directory of the corresponding web;
     specifically, the user doesn't have access to the
     Service.lck file

There is no server on Port 80 at `server_name'.

     This error message indicates that the Web server at
     this site is not running.

Netscape - Can open web without Username/Password prompt

     For the Netscape server, this error message is usually
     caused by access control not being set correctly. In
     the Netscape Server Administrator, configure
     per-directory configuration files (for access control)
     according to the parameters listed below:
       * Infer base directory from URL
       * File name = ".nsconfig"
       * Search subdirectories for configuration files

Publishing a web

     Using FTP instead of Publish FrontPage Web

Http Errors

     If you receive an http error message with a status
     code, it is important to note that the codes are
     industry standards and are specified in the HTML 3.2
     specification. 400 series messages indicate that the
     problem originates on the client while 500 series
     messages indicate that the problem originates on the
     server.

500 - Server Error This server has encountered an internal error
which prevents it from fulfilling your request. The most likely
cause is a misconfiguration. Please ask the administrator to
look for messages in the server's error log.

     Possible corrections:
       * Convert the default server to a virtual server in
         the Internet Service Manager. You can determine if
         the server is virtual in the FrontPage Server
         Administrator. If the default server shows just
         the port numbers (80 and 443) and not the TCP/IP
         address, it is not virtual.

     To correct this problem, uninstall the Server
     Extensions from the default server only. Next run IIS
     Internet Service Manager and, under the Directories
     tab, select the directory for the default service.
     Select Edit Properties, mark the Virtual Server box,
     supply the proper TCP/IP address and click Apply.
     Next, stop and restart your server and reinstall the
     FrontPage Server Extensions on the new virtual server.

       * Also see:
         http://www.microsoft.com/kb/articles/q143/0/97.htm

501 - HTTP/1.0 501 Not Supported

     This error message indicates that the target server
     does not have the FrontPage Server Extensions
     installed. On the server, use the FrontPage Server
     Administrator to install the Server Extensions.

     This error can also occur when attempting to run a CGI
     script. If this is the case, the 501 error will be
     Unsupported. Make sure that the CGI-bin directory is
     marked as Executable in the FrontPage Explorer's
     Directory Properties dialog box.

Common FrontPage Server Extensions Error Messages and Questions
on UNIX

Installing

Server error: Cannot open file
"usr/local/directory_name/service.lck" for writing.
Server error: Cannot open file
"usr/local/directory_name/config/magnus.lck" for writing.

     During installation of the Server Extensions,
     FrontPage attempts to create a zero byte lock file
     (.lck) in the named directory so that no changes can
     be made by other users or programs on the system. When
     the installation program cannot open this file, it is
     usually because the lock file has not been
     successfully created. This can happen because the
     permissions for the directory prevent the installation
     program from writing to that directory. For a listing
     of the correct permissions for this directory, see
     Files and Permissions for UNIX Web Servers.

Opening a web

Netscape - Web opens without username/password prompt

     On a Netscape server, this error message usually
     indicates that access control is not set correctly. In
     the Netscape Server Administrator, configure
     per-directory configuration files (for access control)
     according to the parameters listed below:
       * Infer base directory from URL
       * File name = ".nsconfig"
       * Search subdirectories for configuration files

Apache - Web opens without username/password prompt

     This error message is usually caused by setting the
     AllowOverride directive to None in the access.conf
     file. Setting this parameter to All will alleviate
     this problem.

The server could not complete your request. For more information
on the message from the server, click Details

     The following messages may accompany the above error
     message in the Detail section.

     msg=Cannot open file "/usr/local/frontpage/we80.cnf"
     for reading.
     osmsg=Permission denied

          The we80.cnf file (or
          domain_name:port_number.cnf) is a
          configuration file that is created by
          FrontPage during the installation of the
          FrontPage Server Extensions. Check the
          permissions assigned to this file and make
          sure they match those listed in Files and
          Permissions for UNIX Web Servers.

     msg=Cannot open file "/usr/local/frontpage/we80.cnf"
     for reading.
     osmsg=No such file or directory.

          If the file we80.cnf, (or
          domain_name:port_number.cnf) does not exist
          in the "/usr/local/frontpage" directory,
          re-install the FrontPage Server Extensions
          for the domain in question.

     Server Error The server encountered an internal error
     or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your
     request.  Please contact the server administrator,
     admin@my_isp.com and inform them of the time the error
     occurred, and anything you might have done that may
     have caused the error.

          For the error messages listed above, check
          the error log file of the Web server. The
          following error message may be found there:

          Access to
          /content_directory/_vti_bin/shtml.exe failed
          for hostname, reason: Premature end of
          script headers

          This error message indicates that although
          the FrontPage Server Extension file,
          shtml.exe was found on the server, it did
          not contain the expected code. This can be
          caused by having the stub executable file
          incorrectly installed in the
          /usr/local/frontpage/version3.0/exes
          directory instead of the actual CGI file.
          Since the size of the actual CGI files are
          approximately 2M, make sure that:
            * The CGI files are of the correct size in
              the ../version3.0/exes directory.
            * The stub executable in the content
              directory points to the correct location
              of the CGI files. Running the "strings"
              function will display the text code in
              the stub executable.

Publishing a web

The server "server_name" timed out. The current request did not
complete successfully.

     This error message usually indicates that you should
     increase the timeout parameter in the server's
     configuration file.

Cannot add task named task_name to the task list on the server.

     This error message usually indicates that FrontPage
     does not have sufficient privileges to write to
     document_root /_vti_pvt directory.

     You may use the Check option in the fpsrvadm.exe file
     for a fuller diagnosis of the problem. Also, for a
     complete file permissions listing, see Files and
     Permissions for UNIX Web Servers.

Administrating a web

Server error: Cannot open file
"document_root_path/_vti_pvt/service.pwd"

     This error may be encountered when attempting to
     add/modify permissions for an open web. Check the file
     permissions for this file and make sure that the owner
     has RW access, and that the FrontPage CGI programs
     (shtml.exe, admin.exe, author.exe) are SUID'ed and
     owned by the same UNIX owner. The default permissions
     for this file are 644. See Files and Permissions for
     UNIX Web Servers for a complete listing of file
     permissions.

Browsing a web

Netscape - Cannot restrict browse access

     Netscape maintains end-user databases as an optional
     feature. Even if you create a database of registered
     end users as per instructions from Netscape, using a
     FrontPage Registration form handler is not supported
     on these servers, because Netscape servers will
     incorrectly give registered end users authoring access
     to the web.

Http Errors

     If you receive an http error message with a status
     code, it is important to note that the codes are
     industry standards and are specified in the HTML 3.2
     specification. 400 series messages indicate that the
     problem originates on the client while 500 series
     messages indicate that the problem originates on the
     server.

403 - Forbidden

     This error message indicates that you do not have
     permissions to access this directory. This message can
     also occur when browsing to a site that does not
     contain a home page.

404 - The proxy server has encountered an error (Host was not
found).

     This error message indicates that the requested URL
     cannot be located by your Domain Name Service (DNS).
     Try to access the URL from your browser to confirm
     that the site is up and running. If you connect
     successfully, try connecting from the FrontPage
     Explorer again. If you still receive a 404 error, this
     probably indicates that the server does not have the
     FrontPage Server Extensions installed.

500 - Server Error This server has encountered an internal error
which prevents it from fulfilling your request. The most likely
cause is a misconfiguration. Please ask the administrator to
look for messages in the server's error log.

     This error message may be caused in many ways. The
     FrontPage client cannot diagnose the problem beyond
     the information that the server has sent. To
     investigate further, check the Web server's error
     logs. Frequently this error message indicates
     permissions issues, timeout problems or that the
     server is running out of disk space.

501 - HTTP/1.0 501 Not Supported

     This error message indicates that the target server
     does not have the FrontPage Server Extensions
     installed. On the server, use the FrontPage Server
     Administrator to install the Server Extensions.

502 - An error occurred in the web server that made it
impossible for the FrontPage Server Extensions to process this
request. (HTTP Error 502)

     This error message indicates that the Web Server,
     while acting as a gateway or proxy, received an
     invalid response from the upstream server it accessed
     in attempting to fulfill the request. This is usually
     caused by permissions problems. Check the server's
     error logs for detailed information.

FAQ's - UNIX

When using FTP to transfer FrontPage Web files to the server,
which files should not be transferred?

     FrontPage's Publish command utilizes HTTP to
     communicate with the web server. The command will not
     transfer the local FrontPage Server Extension files to
     the target server. When using an FTP application, it
     is important to transfer only the content files from
     the originating web server. Do not FTP any _vti _*
     directories. If these directories or files are
     transferred, they will overwrite the existing files on
     the target server. FrontPage Server Extensions should
     only be installed using the FrontPage Server
     Administrator utility on the host server or remotely
     using the HTML Administration Forms.

I am running FreeBSD on my server and am running into problems.

     FrontPage has Server Extensions support for the BSDi
     operating system, however we do not officially support
     FreeBSD. The server extensions on FreeBSD have not
     undergone extensive testing at Microsoft therefore we
     cannot provide assistance regarding these issues.

