HOWTO: Enable VSS Integration with FrontPage and Visual InterDev

• Microsoft Visual SourceSafe, 32-bit, for Windows, versions 4.0, 4.0a, 5.0
• Microsoft FrontPage 97 for Windows
• Microsoft Visual Studio 97

SUMMARY

If you are using either FrontPage or Visual InterDev with Visual SourceSafe integration, you can use one of two configurations.

You can either store your Visual SourceSafe database on the same machine that is running IIS, or on a machine other than the one running IIS.

This article presents the required actions to ensure that Visual SourceSafe integration is working with FrontPage or Visual InterDev for both configurations.

MORE INFORMATION

This article assumes that the Web server is IIS running on Windows NT 4.0, that the Visual SourceSafe database is also on a Windows NT 4.0 computer, and that both are on NTFS partitions. This article covers the steps necessary to integrate Visual SourceSafe with FrontPage or Visual InterDev.

Section 1 lists the necessary steps to enable integration in either of the two configurations, and Section 2 lists additional steps you must take if the IIS service and Visual SourceSafe database are on different machines. Section 3 contains troubleshooting information.

SECTION 1: Steps Necessary in all Configurations

On the machine running IIS:

1. Ensure that the anonymous account has Log On Locally privileges. To do this:

   A. Run the User Manager For Domains.

   B. Select the IIS-SERV machine, and select Policies ... User Rights from

         the menu.
   

   C. From the right drop-down list, select "Log on locally". Make sure

         that the anonymous account is listed either individually or as a
         member of one of the groups.
   

2. Check that that the anonymous account has the same password in both IIS Service Manager and User Manager For Domains. It may be necessary to have the user re-enter the password in both these places. Two potential pitfalls are:

   A. In User Manager For Domains the password always appears padded out to

         14 characters. This can be confusing if you have entered a shorter
         password.
   

   B. After changing the password in IIS you should stop and restart the

         service to clear out any password caching.
   

3. Make sure that the anonymous account can log on automatically. In User Manager For Domains make sure that the "User Must Change Password at Next Logon" and "Account Disabled" check boxes are not selected.

   NOTE: If you're uncertain about what your machine's anonymous user should be, go to the IIS configuration utility, and look in the properties for the WWW service.

4. Check that the correct components of Visual SourceSafe have been installed. Do this by either running Netsetup from a server installation of Visual SourceSafe, or if you are installing from CD, either choose Client Setup, or under Custom click "Enable Visual SourceSafe Integration."

To view Directory permissions, right-click the Directory in the Windows NT Explorer, click Properties, click the Security tab, and then click Permissions. To view Share permissions, right-click the shared Directory in the Windows NT Explorer, click Properties, click the Sharing tab, and then click Permissions.

1. Assign CHANGE permissions to all Visual SourceSafe logon accounts for all files under the Visual SourceSafe installation directory (including the Visual SourceSafe data directory if it is in a different location).

   NOTE: It is assumed that the Administrators and System accounts will be granted full control to the entire VSS directory hierarchy.

2. Grant at least read permissions to all Visual SourceSafe logon accounts for the following additional files:

         srcsafe.ini
         um.dat
         users.txt
   

   vss\users\<logon account directory>\
   vss\data\
   vss\temp\
   rights.dat
   status.dat

1. Add the anonymous account as a user, with no password.

2. Add the actual FrontPage or Visual InterDev user(s) (password optional).

3. Under Tools menu, click Options, click the General tab, and make sure that "Use network name for automatic user log in" is selected.

SECTION 2: Additional Steps Necessary When IIS and the Visual SourceSafe

Database are on Different Machines:

• On the machine with the Visual SourceSafe Database: In User Manager For Domains, add the anonymous account from the machine running IIS as a user, and give it the same password as on the IIS machine and make sure it has logon locally permissions.
• On the machine running IIS: Set the correct properties for the WWW service in IIS. In the Service Properties for the WWW service, the three check boxes for "Password Authentication" should appear as follows:

        Allow Anonymous - selected.
        Basic (Clear Text) - selected.
        Windows NT Challenge/Response - not selected.
  

SECTION 3: Troubleshooting

NOTE: If the server machine is a Windows 95 computer, make sure that someone remains logged into Window 95. Often users will leave their servers at the login prompt, and the integration between Visual SourceSafe and Visual InterDev will not work when there is no one logged onto the server.

The Windows NT Event Viewer on the IIS server often contains information that can help locate the cause of a problem if integration is not working. These log errors usually come in pairs, the later (topmost) of which usually contains an error number and the one below it a short description of the error. Double-click a log entry to view its details.

The errors might differ depending on exactly how the components are configured, below is a sample of errors encountered and their cause:

Errors that appear in the Application Log: