creating website programmatically using C#

Hi,

I have written some code in C# to programmatically create a website
and an application pool. Both seems to be getting created alright with
whatever settings I have applied. However, when I fire a request to
the website, I get a "page can not be displayed" message". I get
nothing in the event viewer logs. I read somewhere that from website
properties > Home Directory > Application Settings, if I remove and
recreate the application pool, website starts serving requests. This
DOES work but I am unable to figure out how to accomplish this from my
code. When I checked Metabase.XML file of IIS before and after doing
this change manually, only change I noticed that following gets added
inside <IIsWebVirtualDir>.

UNCPassword="49634462500000000600000040000000bd77b5e56b3f000048866b15ac840f0bc531565bfc2a1b5c6eb77c9661f527ba8edd7344f93776e7cf6ae118bcdb8db8a6ea143d7ae1d03c8672ac2c84bd677cd3fde3c37cf6e6a0"

However, my app pool is running under "local system" identity. So this
string might correspond to some default encrypted string.

Does anyone know how to get it working from my code?

Thanks,
Mandar

Marc
Tue Sep 09 09:32:29 CDT 2008

I don't know what the error is - however, running a web-site as "local
system" seems very, very dangerous... is there any good reason it
needs that level of power? "least priveleged", 'n all...

Marc

G
Tue Sep 09 10:28:02 CDT 2008

On Sep 9, 8:33=A0am, Mandar <mandarpkulka...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I have written some code in C# to programmatically create a website
> and an application pool. Both seems to be getting created alright with
> whatever settings I have applied. However, when I fire a request to
> the website, I get a "page can not be displayed" message". I get
> nothing in the event viewer logs. I read somewhere that from website
> properties > Home Directory > Application Settings, if I remove and
> recreate the application pool, website starts serving requests. This
> DOES work but I am unable to figure out how to accomplish this from my
> code. When I checked Metabase.XML file of IIS before and after doing
> this change manually, only change I noticed that following gets added
> inside <IIsWebVirtualDir>.
>
> UNCPassword=3D"49634462500000000600000040000000bd77b5e56b3f000048866b15ac=
840f=AD0bc531565bfc2a1b5c6eb77c9661f527ba8edd7344f93776e7cf6ae118bcdb8db8a6=
ea143d7=ADae1d03c8672ac2c84bd677cd3fde3c37cf6e6a0"
>
> However, my app pool is running under "local system" identity. So this
> string might correspond to some default encrypted string.
>
> Does anyone know how to get it working from my code?
>
> Thanks,
> Mandar

Most likely the "page can not be displayed" has error number... 500
being "Server Error" may contain additional information - the strings
IE displays under "Technical Information" on 500 errors. You could try
to reproduce the error inside IE.

Or it could be a 403

or even "page not found"

Mandar
Wed Sep 10 10:35:47 CDT 2008

>>> You could try to reproduce the error inside IE.

@G.S. - In IE I get the following -

<snip>
More information


This problem can be caused by a variety of issues, including:


Internet connectivity has been lost.
The website is temporarily unavailable.
The Domain Name Server (DNS) is not reachable.
The Domain Name Server (DNS) does not have a listing for the
website's
domain.
If this is an HTTPS (secure) address, click tools, click Internet
Options, click Advanced, and check to be sure the SSL and TLS
protocols are enabled under the security section.
</snip>


But I dont think any of this holds true for me.



>>> running a web-site as "local system" seems very, very dangerous...


@Marc - I am writing an installer where I need to create a web site
and provide user with possible identity options as - Local System and
User Configurable. Thats not my issue here.

The fact that I can make the website working by just recreating the
application under the website leads me to believe that I have done
something wrong in my code or something is missing that should be
there. Any pointers?


Thanks,
Mandar

G
Wed Sep 10 12:14:27 CDT 2008

On Sep 10, 11:35=A0am, Mandar <mandarpkulka...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>> You could try to reproduce the error inside IE.
>
> @G.S. - In IE I get the following -
>
> <snip>
> More information
>
> This problem can be caused by a variety of issues, including:
>
> Internet connectivity has been lost.
> The website is temporarily unavailable.
> The Domain Name Server (DNS) is not reachable.
> The Domain Name Server (DNS) does not have a listing for the
> website's
> domain.
> If this is an HTTPS (secure) address, click tools, click Internet
> Options, click Advanced, and check to be sure the SSL and TLS
> protocols are enabled under the security section.
> </snip>
>
> But I dont think any of this holds true for me.
>
> >>> running a web-site as "local system" seems very, very dangerous...
>
> @Marc - I am writing an installer where I need to create a web site
> and provide user with possible identity options as - Local System and
> User Configurable. Thats not my issue here.
>
> The fact that I can make the website working by just recreating the
> application under the website leads me to believe that I have done
> something wrong in my code or something is missing that should be
> there. Any pointers?
>
> Thanks,
> Mandar

Mandar, if the IE snipped is all you get, then that's probably HTTP
404 "Not found" response which may indicate that your request (URL)
was not correct or the server refused to serve it w/o providing
details. This was not the response I was expecting when permissions
are the issue, but I may be wrong.

I would definitely try to confirm the exact HTTP response code/error
you're getting back with that "Page Cannot be Displayed"

I would also try to make the website work as a stand-alone website
before going back and debugging from within your code.

Setting up IIS logging for that website may be helpful as well.
There's lots of resources on IIS logging - here's one you can start
with:
How to configure Web site logging in Windows Server 2003
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/324279