HOWTO: Enable VSS Integration with FrontPage and Visual InterDev

ID: Q171116

The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Visual SourceSafe, 32-bit, for Windows versions 4.0, 4.0a, 5.0, 6.0
  • Microsoft FrontPage 97 for Windows
  • Microsoft Visual Studio 97
  • Microsoft FrontPage 98 for Windows

SUMMARY

FrontPage and Visual InterDev integration with Visual SourceSafe differs from how other integrated applications, such as Visual Basic and Visual C++ integrate with Visual SourceSafe. This article briefly describes how FrontPage and Visual InterDev perform Visual SourceSafe operations, and the resulting steps necessary to enable the integration.

This article covers the most common scenarios and configurations. In some cases additional steps might be necessary. If you experience any difficulty, please contact Microsoft Technical Support.


MORE INFORMATION

Before going into the detailed steps necessary to enable the integration, this article will explore the following factors:

  • How FrontPage and Visual InterDev Work with Visual SourceSafe.


  • Which Visual SourceSafe Database Is Used?


  • Local vs. Remote Visual SourceSafe Database.


  • The Anonymous User.


How FrontPage and Visual InterDev Work with Visual SourceSafe

The FrontPage Server Extensions use OLE automation to connect to and interact with Visual SourceSafe.

All Visual SourceSafe operations are performed by FrontPage Server Extensions on the Web server itself, not client machines. The Web server can be Internet Information Server (IIS) or Personal Web Server using the DCOM extensions. This article relates mainly to IIS.

Which Visual SourceSafe Database Is Used?

FrontPage Server Extensions must find a Srcsafe.ini file to perform Visual SourceSafe operations through OLE automation.

  • Visual SourceSafe 5.0 usually uses the following Registry key: 
    
      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\SourceSafe\SCCServerPath


While this key points to the Ssscc.dll in the VSS\Win32 directory, FrontPage Server Extensions will use the SrcSafe.ini in the VSS directory.

  • Visual SourceSafe 6.0 normally uses the SrcSafe.ini in the Web server's installation of Visual SourceSafe. If there multiple VSS installations, it will use the one most recently installed.


Local vs. Remote Visual SourceSafe Database

A local database is one that is on the same machine as the Web server and is accessed through local paths only. A remote database is one that either resides on a separate computer, or on the same one as the Web server, but it is accessed as if it were a network location.

To illustrate this, if you are using Visual SourceSafe 5.0 and the local path to Ssscc.dll is as follows: 

   C:\vss\win32\ssscc.dll
But the registry points to one of the following: 

   \\mymachine\vss_share\win32\ssscc.dll 

   X:\vss\win32\ssscc.dll
Even though this may be the same physical location on the Web server computer, if it is accessed as a UNC path or a logical drive, it is considered a remote database.

You can also use the Data_Path ini variable in the Srcsafe.ini file to point to remote data. By default the setting is as follows: 

   Data_Path  = data
However, users can modify this to point to different locations.

The Anonymous User

In the steps necessary to enable integration, several references are made to the Anonymous user. These steps should only be when "Allow Anonymous" is enabled in the IIS Web Service Properties.

  • For FP, the Anonymous user always has to be configured correctly.


  • In Visual InterDev, if the Anonymous user has either Browse and Author, or Browse Author and Administer permissions to the web, Visual InterDev will also require the Anonymous user to be configured correctly, but the more appropriate resolution is to give the Anonymous user either Browse only, or no permissions to the Web.


The following section describes the steps you need to perform to enable the integration.

Steps Necessary with both Local and Remote Databases

There are four components that you must configure correctly:
  • The Visual SourceSafe Installation on the Web Server


  • Permissions to the Visual SourceSafe Directory Structure


  • Accounts in the Visual SourceSafe Administrator


  • The Anonymous Account (if applicable)


The VSS Installation on the Web Server:

To enable OLE automation with VSS, the file Ssapi.dll must be registered (that is, in the Windows Registry) on the Web server. While it is possible to do this manually using Regsvr32.exe, the preferred method is to install either the VSS server or client components on the Web server. With VSS5 select Custom setup, and make sure that the Enable Visual SourceSafe Integration check box is selected.

Permissions to the Visual SourceSafe Directory Structure:

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.

Assign CHANGE permissions to all Visual SourceSafe logon accounts for all files and subdirectories under the Visual SourceSafe server installation directory.

It is assumed that the Administrators and System accounts will be granted Full Control to the entire Visual SourceSafe directory hierarchy. Although tighter file restrictions might be possible, full Visual SourceSafe functionality might be jeopardized by tighter restriction.

Accounts in the Visual SourceSafe Administrator:

Add the actual FrontPage or Visual InterDev user(s) (password optional). Under the Tools menu, click Options, click the General tab, and make sure that "Use network name for automatic user log in" is selected.

The Anonymous Account (if applicable):

Do the following on the computer running IIS:

  1. Ensure that the anonymous account has Log On Locally privileges. Use the following steps to do this: a. Run the User Manager For Domains. b. On the Web server machine select "User Rights..." from the Policies 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. You might have to re-enter the password in both these places. The following are two potential pitfalls: 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.

  1. Make sure that the anonymous account can log on automatically to the Web server. 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 are uncertain about what your computer's anonymous user should be, go to the IIS configuration utility, and look in the properties for the WWW service.


  2. In the Visual SourceSafe admin, add the anonymous account as a user with no password.


  3. Make sure that the Anonymous account has permissions to the Visual SourceSafe directories as in the "Permissions to the VSS Directory Structure" section of this article.


Additional Steps Necessary for Remote Databases



  1. On the computer 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 - Optional.
      Basic (Clear Text) - selected.
      Windows NT Challenge/Response - not selected.
    Windows NT Challenge/Response is also referred to as NTLM. Because this setting is not selected, users have to enter their user name and domain password when they open a Web. Use the format "domainname\username" for the user's name when working with multiple domains.


  2. If Allow Anonymous is enabled, do the following on the computer with the Visual SourceSafe Database: a. In User Manager For Domains, add the Web server's anonymous account. For example, if the anonymous account on the Web server is IUSR_WEBSRV, add that user as a local account. b. Give IUSR_WEBSRV the same password as it has on the Web server. c. Make sure that IUSR_WEBSRV has logon locally permissions.


  3. Directory and share permissions to the Visual SourceSafe directory structure must be set correctly as the "Permissions to the VSS Directory Structure" section of this article.


Troubleshooting

NOTE: If the server computer is running Windows 95, make sure that a user remains logged onto Window 95. Users often leave the server at the login prompt. 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.

NOTE: Visual InterDev usually reports errors encountered in an error message, whereas FrontPage suppresses the errors. To ensure that FrontPage Server Extensions writes errors to the Windows NT event log, refer to:
Q191289 HOWTO: Enable Event Error Logging for FrontPage 98 and SourceSafe
The errors might differ depending on exactly how the components are configured. Following is a list of possible errors might that appear in the Application Log and their causes:

  • Error: Source Control System failure: File "Srcsafe.ini" not found. Cause: Visual SourceSafe integration is not enabled. In the case of Visual SourceSafe 5.0 this usually happens when there is no SCCServerPath in the registry of the Web server computer.


  • Error: Source Control System failure: User "" not found. Cause: "Use Network name for automatic login is not selected in the Visual SourceSafe Administrator.


  • Error: Source Control System failure: User <username> not found. Cause: The user <username> has not been added to the Visual SourceSafe database.


  • Error: Source Control System failure: Could not find VSS resource DLL Cause: The anonymous or user accounts do not have the correct NTFS file permissions.


  • Error: Source Control System failure: Access to file "<path> \srcsafe.ini" denied. Cause: IIS and the Visual SourceSafe database are on different computers and NTLM is enabled.


  • Error: Source Control System failure: Access to file "<path> \um.dat " denied. Cause: IIS and the Visual SourceSafe database are on different computers and NTLM is enabled.


  • Error: Source Control System failure: Invalid handle. Cause: IIS and the Visual SourceSafe database are on different computers and the anonymous account has a different password on the two computers, or does not have Log on locally permissions on the Visual SourceSafe computer.


  • Error: [ASCII 147]The SourceSafe database path does not exist. Please select another database" Cause: User has insufficient permissions to the VSS directory. For troubleshooting purposes give all users Full control to the VSS directories, then selectively start restricting access.


Errors that appear in the System Log:

  • Error: The server was unable to logon the Windows NT account <anonymous user account> due to the following error: unknown user name or bad password. Cause: On the IIS computer, the anonymous account either does not have Log on locally permissions, or the account's password in IIS and User Manager differ.


  • Error: The server was unable to logon the Windows NT account <anonymous user account> due to the following error: unknown user name or bad password. Cause: The anonymous user account has been disabled in User Manager.



REFERENCES

General Integration Information:

For general information on Visual InterDev integration, see the online documentation in the User's Guide, Authoring Web Content, Using Visual SourceSafe With your Web.

Troubleshooting:

For more information on troubleshooting FrontPage or Visual InterDev integration, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q160766 VSS Source Control Project Box Does Not Appear in FrontPage


IIS Security and the Anonymous Account:

For general information on IIS security and the anonymous account, see Chapter 5 of the online documentation for IIS (Inetdocs.htm).

For more information, please see the MSDN Web Workshop:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/default.asp


For additional information on directory and share permissions, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q131022 INFO: Required Network Rights for the Visual SourceSafe Directories

Additional query words:

Keywords : kbinterop kbFrontPage kbSSafe400 kbSSafe500 kbSSafe600 kbVisID
Version : WINDOWS:4.0,4.0a,5.0,6.0,97
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbhowto


Last Reviewed: September 2, 1999
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