PRB: Remote ASP.NET Projects Require IIS on the Client Computer or FrontPage Server Extensions on the Server Computer

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This article was previously published under Q320451

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SYMPTOMS

When you try to create an ASP.NET Web application in Visual Studio .NET on a remote server that is running Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS), you may receive one or both of these error messages:

Microsoft Development Environment
The Web was created successfully, but an error occurred when trying to configure the application root for this Web. Web projects may not operate correctly without an application root. The returned error was: Active Directory Services cannot find the web server. A possible cause for this is an incompatibility between versions of Internet Information Server (IIS) on the client and the server. The usual cause for this error is creating Web projects on a Windows 2000 or newer server from a Windows NT 4.0 client. You can manually configure the application root using the Internet Services Manager.

-or-

Microsoft Development Environment
Unable to set the permissions on the 'bin' folder to restrict browse access. Active Directory Services cannot find the web server. A possible cause for this is an incompatibility between versions of Internet Information Server (IIS) on the client and the server. The usual cause for this error is creating Web projects on a Windows 2000 or newer server from a Windows NT 4.0 client. You can manually restrict browse access to this folder using the Internet Services Manager.

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CAUSE

To create the Web application, the client and the server try to communicate through Active Directory Service Interfaces (ADSI) calls to configure the AppRoot in the IIS metabase. If this fails, FrontPage Server Extensions from Microsoft is used.

If IIS is not installed on the client computer, and if FrontPage Server Extensions from Microsoft is not installed on the server computer, there is no way that this interaction can occur.

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RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, use one of the following methods:

Install IIS on the client computer that is running Microsoft Windows 2000 or Microsoft Windows XP. For more information about how to install and how to configure IIS, see the IIS Help files.

On Windows 2000, the IIS Help files are typically located in the following folder:
C:\WINNT\Help\IIS.CHM
On Windows XP, the IIS Help files are typically located in the following folder:
C:\WINDOWS\Help\IIS.CHM
NOTE: The ADSI component is integrated with IIS and is not available separately. Additionally, the ADSI component of Internet Information Server 4.0 on Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 does not function with the ADSI components on Windows 2000 and Windows XP. Therefore, if the client computer is running Windows NT 4.0, FrontPage Server Extensions for Microsoft is required on the server.
Install FrontPage Server Extensions for Microsoft on your server. Once they are installed, set the Web Server Connection Preferred Access Method in Visual Studio .NET to use the FrontPage Extensions. To do this, in Visual Studio .NET, on the Tools menu, select Options. In the Options dialog box, select the Projects folder. Set the Web Server Connection Preferred Access Method to FrontPage Extensions.

To download FrontPage Server Extensions for Microsoft, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
Microsoft FrontPage Server Extensions 2002 for Windows
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa140185(office.10).aspx (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa140185(office.10).aspx)
For additional information, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
294826 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/294826/EN-US/ ) How to Install the FrontPage Server Extensions in Quiet Mode
317296 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/317296/EN-US/ ) Overview of the FrontPage 2002 Server Extension Update: January 28, 2002
298158 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/298158/EN-US/ ) HOW TO: Configure FrontPage Server Extensions in Internet Information Services