A Site Set Up for Anonymous Access Prompts Users for Password

ID: Q190005

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Internet Information Server versions 3.0, 4.0

SYMPTOMS

Users are prompted for a user name and password when logging on to a Web site that has been set up for anonymous access.

CAUSE

The anonymous user account (by default, IUSR_<computer_name>) may need to be resynchronized. In other words, the password listed for the anonymous account under User Manager for Domains, and the password again listed for that anonymous account in the Internet Service Manager (ISM), do not currently match.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, do either of the following (each option is described in more detail below):

If you are running Internet Information Server (IIS) 4.0 and using anonymous user accounts defined on the local computer, consider enabling Automatic Password Synchronization.

-or-

Manually set the password for the anonymous user account in both the Internet Service Manager (ISM) and the User Manager for Domains to the same value. The procedure for doing this differs, depending on whether you are using IIS 3.0 or 4.0. The instructions for each version are given below.

Turn on Automatic Password Synchronization in IIS 4.0

Synchronization may not work on a backup domain controller (BDC), or when the original anonymous account has been deleted and re-created. Furthermore, it should not be used with remote computers. The following information is taken from the Online Help in IIS 4.0 is about automatic password synchronization, and it further explains when it should be used.


   Enable Automatic Password Synchronization:

   When you create a new anonymous account, you must make sure that your
   Web site and Windows NT password settings are identical. Select this
   option to automatically synchronize your anonymous password settings
   with those set in Windows NT.

   Important:

   Password synchronization should only be used with anonymous user
   accounts defined on the local computer, not with anonymous accounts
   remote computers.

To turn on automatic password synchronization, perform the following steps:

In the ISM, open the Web Properties for your web site.

On the Directory Security tab, under Anonymous Access and Authentication Control, click Edit.

Under Allow Anonymous Access, click Edit.

Verify that the correct user name is listed, and then select the Enable Automatic Password Synchronization check box.

IIS 4.0 Instructions to Manually Synchronize Passwords

If you choose not to enable automatic password synchronization in IIS 4.0, perform the following steps to manually synchronize the user name and password used by both User Manager for Domains and the ISM:

In User Manager for Domains, set the password for the anonymous account.

In the ISM, open the Web Properties for your Web site.

On the Directory Security tab, under Anonymous Access and Authentication Control, click Edit.

Under Allow Anonymous Access, click Edit.

Set the user name and password to the same settings you specified in User Manager for Domains.

NOTE: The Enable Automatic Password Synchronization check box must be cleared in order to manually set the password.

IIS 3.0 Instructions to Manually Synchronize Passwords

In User Manager for Domains, set the password for the anonymous account.

In the ISM, open the WWW Service properties.

On the Service tab, under Anonymous Logon, set the user name and password to the same settings you specified in User Manager for Domains.

Additional query words: login logon sign id pass word machine_name MMC machinename
username anonomous

Keywords :
Version : WINNT:3.0,4.0
Platform : winnt
Issue type : kbprb