Error Message Occurs When You Import a Web Part into a Dashboard Site (290201)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server 2001
This article was previously published under Q290201

SYMPTOMS

When you attempt to import a Web part into your dashboard site from an external (Internet) Web part catalog, you may receive the following error message in the browser:
An unexpected error occurred.

An error occurred while accessing the dashboard. This error may be caused by the proxy server settings for the dashboard. Contact your server administrator. If you are a server administrator, configure the proxy server settings by using the proxycfg utility. Consult the product documentation and the Readme file for more information about configuring the proxy server settings. Important: You must configure the proxy server settings for the dashboard even if you are not using a proxy server.

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CAUSE

This issue can occur if you did not configure the serverXMLHTTP object settings for your site. The dashboard site uses a server-side object called "serverXMLHTTP" extensively to make Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) requests. This object has its own proxy settings that are independent of the settings that are configured in the Web browser. The following settings are configured by default:
  • Direct and proxy access is enabled.
  • The proxy server is set to "unknown54321:80".
  • The proxy server has local addresses in the bypass list.
You must configure these settings to be appropriate for your environment before the dashboard site can make requests outside of your intranet. You must configure the proxy settings even if you do not use a proxy server on your network.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, use Proxycfg.exe to configure the settings for the serverXMLHTTP object.

NOTE: Proxycfg.exe is a command-line utility that is located in the SharePoint Portal Server\Bin folder, which is located in the folder that you installed the program files in during server Setup.

To use Proxycfg.exe to configure the settings for the serverXMLHTTP object
  1. Open a command prompt on the server.
  2. Go to the SharePoint Portal Server\Bin folder.
  3. Type the command using the following syntax:

    proxycfg -d -p proxy_name:port_number "domain_name;<local>"

    NOTE: The command line that you use depends on your environment; examples are described in the "Examples of Command-line Syntax" section of this article.

    If you are using a proxy server, you can also use the -u switch that is described in the "Examples of Command-line Syntax" section in this article.
  4. Restart the server.

The Bypass Address List Parameter

In step three, the last parameter (the one that is enclosed in quotation marks [" "]) is the proxy bypass address list. You can specify a wildcard character (*) to indicate all servers, or you can list the actual domain names as bypass addresses. You can separate multiple bypass addresses by typing a semicolon (;) between addresses. The bypass address uses the "*domain" format, (for example, *adventure-works.com), and local addresses are specified as "<local>". You must always specify <local> in the bypass address list so that requests to intranet servers do not go to the proxy server. If you are directly connected to the Internet, and you configured a fake proxy, you need a bypass address for any servers that have Web part catalogs that you want to import from. Examples of this configuration are described in the following section.

Examples of Command-Line Syntax

This section describes examples of the appropriate command line that you can use for your environment. If you type proxycfg without command switches, the current proxy settings are displayed.

IMPORTANT: You must follow the command line syntax described in this section exactly. If you make a typographic error, such as a missing space, you may not be able to access the dashboard site. After you configure the proxy settings, and you try to access the dashboard site, if you receive the error message that is described in the "Symptoms" section of this article, retype the proxycfg command line, and make sure that you type it exactly as it is described in this article.

You Are Using a Proxy Server

If you are using a proxy server, use Microsoft Internet Explorer to configure proxy settings correctly (when you use this method, you are less likely to make typing errors). Type proxycfg -u at the command prompt. If you use the -u switch, make sure that you have enabled the Use a proxy server option, and that you have configured the proxy server, port and bypass list in Internet Explorer. If you have selected either the Automatically detect settings check box or the Use automatic configuration script check box, you cannot use the -u switch.

You can also manually enter your proxy settings. When you use the syntax described in the resolution procedure described earlier in this article, type the server name, port and bypass list. For example, if your proxy server name is "Proxy1", and the port number is "80", type the following command:

proxycfg -d -p Proxy1:80 "<local>"

You Are Not Using a Proxy Server

NOTE: If you are not using a proxy server, you must specify a fake proxy and include a bypass list. You must do so because of the way client requests are handled and authenticated in the dashboard site. Client requests that are sent to the dashboard site are received by Internet Information Services (IIS), which uses serverXMLHTTP to connect again by using IIS to pass the request to the Web Storage System (WSS). The client request is authenticated by either Basic authentication or NTLM authentication. On a workspace virtual directory, only NTLM authentication is enabled. If the client uses NTLM, serverXMLHTTP also uses NTLM to access the WSS. When NTLM is used, you must use Proxycfg.exe to configure the proxy server to prevent NTLM from being used to servers directly on the Internet. If you do not configure the proxy server, serverXMLHTTP assumes it is directly connected to the Internet and always uses Basic authentication. Therefore, if NTLM is enabled on the workspace virtual directory, use Proxycfg.exe to configure the proxy server (or a fake proxy if a proxy server is not present) so that serverXMLHTTP uses NTLM authentication.

If the client uses Basic authentication, serverXMLHTTP also uses Basic authentication to access the WSS. In this configuration, you do not have to use Proxycfg.exe to configure the proxy server. To enable Basic authentication on the workspace, it is strongly recommended that you create a new virtual server that points the workspace virtual directories. For more information about how to configure a virtual server, refer to the white paper that is listed in the "More Information" section of this article.

If you are not using a proxy server, run one of the following commands:
  • proxycfg -d -p fake-proxy-name:80 "<local>"

    When you run this command, NTLM is enabled on the intranet. You cannot download Web Parts from any external site, including the Microsoft Web Part Gallery.
  • proxycfg -d -p fake-proxy-name:80 "http://*.microsoft.com;<local>"

    When you run this command, NTLM is enabled on the intranet. You can download Web Parts from the Microsoft Web Part Gallery that is located on www.microsoft.com; however, you cannot download Web Parts from any other site.

    Security issues: When you use this setting, security vulnerability may increase because traffic going to www.microsoft.com may send NTLM packets. This behavior depends on the Internet Service Provider (ISP) configuration and if the ports are enabled to allow NTLM packets to be sent and received.
  • proxycfg -d -p fake-proxy-name:80 "*;<local>"

    When you run this command, NTLM is enabled on the intranet. You can download Web Parts from any Web site.

    Security issues: NTLM traffic may be sent to any site on the Internet. This behavior depends on the ISP configuration and if ports are enabled to allow NTLM packets to be sent and received.

MORE INFORMATION

If you want to use SharePoint Portal Server in an extranet scenario, you must configure the proxy settings. To configure SharePoint Portal Server to be used across an extranet, refer to the "Deploying SharePoint Portal Server Across an Extranet" white paper that is located on the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/sharepoint/techinfo/deployment/Extranet.asp

Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:4/25/2005
Keywords:kbprb KB290201
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