You receive a "Project Server cannot connect to the specified Web server running Windows SharePoint Services" error message when you try to connect to Windows SharePoint Services by using Project Server 2003

When you try to connect to Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services by using Microsoft Office Project Server 2003, you may receive the following error message:

This problem may occur if the following conditions are true:

• The default root site that is used for Windows SharePoint Services has been configured by using a custom URL in the Custom URL path box. For example, the custom URL may be similar to http://ServerName/CustomURL.
• The custom URL is not configured for use with Project Server 2003.

Note When you configure and provision Windows SharePoint Services for the first time, you do not have to enter a custom URL in the Custom URL path box. You can leave this box blank. During installation, the Windows SharePoint Services Configuration Wizard for Project Server 2003 automatically creates the default custom URL. For example, the custom URL may be similar to http://ServerName/Sites.

This problem may also occur if the name of the PublicDocuments site is changed. For example, the PublicDocuments site appears as Project2003_MS_Projectserver_Publicdocuments instead of MS_ProjectServer_PublicDocuments in Project Web Access 2003 (PWA).

Method 1

If the default root site is configured to use an incorrect default custom URL, use Windows SharePoint Services Central Administration to configure the Windows SharePoint Services site to use the default custom URL for Project Server 2003. For example, use http://ServerName/Sites. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click SharePoint Central Administration.
2. On the Central Administration page, click Configure virtual server settings under Virtual Server Configuration.
3. In the Virtual Server list, click the Web site that you created.
4. On the Virtual Server settings page, click Define managed paths under Virtual Server Management.
5. In the Add a New Path section, type a forward slash (/) in the Path box.
6. Under Type, click Included path.
7. In the Type list, click Explicit Inclusion, and then click OK.
8. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
9. Type the following commands at the command prompt, and press ENTER after each command:
   CD "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\60\BIN"
   
   stsadm -o createsite -url http://ServerName:Portnumber -ownerlogin DomainName\UserName -owneremail MailAccount@MyCompany.com
   
   iisreset
   
   EXIT
   
   
10. Configure Project Server 2003 to connect to Windows SharePoint Services. To do this, follow these steps:
    1. Log on to Microsoft Project Web Access as an administrator.
    2. Click Admin on the Project Web Access toolbar, and then click Manage Windows SharePoint Services.
    3. Type the appropriate information in the SharePoint Central Administration URL and Create a site under this SharePoint URL boxes. For example, type the following:
       SharePoint Central Administration URL: http://Servername:number
       Create a site under this SharePoint URL: http://Servername:number/sites
    4. Click Save Changes.

Method 2

If the problem is caused by the name change of the PublicDocuments site, change the site name back to MS_ProjectServer_PublicDocuments. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Start SQL Server Enterprise Manager.
2. Expand the name of the SQL Server, expand Databases, expand the ProjectServer database, click Tables, right-click the MSP_WEB_ADMIN table, point to Open Table, and then click Return all rows.
3. Scroll to the WADMIN_PUBDOCS_STS_SUBWEB_NAME column, type MS_ProjectServer_PublicDocuments to change the string value, and then close the table.
4. Log on to Microsoft Project Web Access as an administrator.
5. Click Admin on the Project Web Access toolbar, and then click Manage Windows SharePoint Services.
6. Click Connect to SharePoint server, and then click Save Changes.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

For more information about this issue in Microsoft Project Server 2002, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: