Troubleshooting
The majority of WakeMyPC functionality is implemented as a website running on a Windows server. Most problems can be traced back to configuration issues with IIS, SQL and the underlying network.
Most issues arise during initial installation and can normally be solved quickly. The following sections detail some of the most common issues and explains possible solutions for them.
A more detailed troubleshooting section is available in the WakeMyPC Enterprise Server software documentation:
Static test page is not displayed
OR Website reports – The page cannot be found
OR Website reports – Server Application Unavailable
Servercheck.aspx takes excessive time (>1 second) to display
OR Servercheck.aspx reports - An error has occurred while establishing a connection to the server (or similar)
Website reports - Sorry. A website error was detected. This cause of this error has been logged and will be investigated
Non-specific database connectivity problem
Website reports - The current identity does not have write access to …Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\Temporary ASP.NET Files
Website displays - Service Unavailable
The website reports an exception obtaining permission of type "System.Web.AspNetHostingPermission"
"HTTP Error 404 - File or Directory not found" error message when you request an ASPX page
Unrecognized attribute "targetFramework" reported when you request an ASPX page
Website reports - Could not load file or assembly 'PowerLib' or one of its dependencies. An attempt was made to load a program with an incorrect format
"The application has failed to start because its side-by-side configuration is incorrect. Please see the application event log or use the command-line sxstrace.exe tool for more detail. Exception from HRESULT: 0x800736B1" error message when you request an ASPX page
OR Could not load file or assembly "PowerLib.dll" or one of its dependencies. The specified module could not be found.
Website generated URLs fail to work correctly
OR Website URLs contain additional, unrecognised symbols, such as %20
Problem: Static test page is not displayed
OR Website reports – The page cannot be found
OR Website reports – Server Application Unavailable
The static test page (statictest.htm) is provided to test the basic functionality of the web server. It does not access the SQL database and therefore avoids the additional complications that can occur due to database connectivity problems. If this page does not display please check the following:
- The application pool identity (usually Network Service) has read access to the folder containing the website. If you have configured the application pool to use a domain user account then this account must have read access to the website.
- The server firewall (if running) allows access to the web server (usually port 8000)
- There may be additional useful information in the System and Application event logs
Problem: Servercheck.aspx takes excessive time (>1 second) to display
OR Servercheck.aspx reports - An error has occurred while establishing a connection to the server (or similar)
This class of problem is usually associated with database connectivity issues. This may be because the database server is not accessible or because the security configuration is incorrect. The following may be helpful:
- If the problem is sporadic please consider other tasks the server may be doing. If the computer hosting the SQL server is used for other services please consider providing a separate sever for the WakeMAN5 database. The database must reliably respond in <5 seconds for WakeMyPC agents to be able to successfully log data.
- Check the network connection from the IIS server to the SQL server
- Check the application pool identity (usually Network Service for local databases and a domain user account for remote databases) is a member of the Website database role.
- Disable ‘friendly’ error messages (see below) and review the detailed error data reported. It may also be helpful to check /Logs folder or the tblErrorLog in the WakeMAN5 database.
Problem: Website reports - Sorry. A website error was detected. This cause of this error has been logged and will be investigated
This error is generated when the WakeMyPC software encounters an error. The most common cause of this problem is connection problem or timeout accessing the SQL database. This can happen due to incorrect database configuration or under very heavy database load conditions. WakeMyPC Enterprise Server logs most errors (except timeouts) in the tblErrorLog database table. WakeMyPC Lite and Enterprise Server both log errors to the /Logs folder. You can examine these logs or query the database to determine the cause of the error.
To investigate the cause of this error further you can also disable the ‘friendly’ error message and configure WakeMyPC Server to display the full error message. This information may be useful to Technical Support.
To display detailed error information:
- Edit the web.config file and change the value of the FriendlyErrorHandler to ‘False’. This will allow detailed error reports to be displayed on the server console.
- To enable display detailed error information on remote browsers (not necessary for localhost) you can edit the web.config file and change the customErrors ‘mode’ setting from “RemoteOnly” to “Off”.
Please remember that both of these changes will make the server less secure. They should only be performed under controlled conditions and certainly not when the server is accessible from the internet.
Problem: Non-specific database connectivity problem
Database connectivity issues can sometimes be difficult to resolve. The basic WakeMyPC Server configuration is simple but complexity can increase if the SQL server is located in a remote location or either server is shared with other services.
To re-cap, the general configuration is normally as follows:
- The website is run in the context of a separate application pool
- This application pool uses a specific user account (often Network Service)
- The user account must have Read access to the website root folder
- The user account must be a member of the Website database role
You can investigate connectivity problems using a combination of the following steps:
- Check the basic configuration above. In particular confirm the identity used for the application pool and that this user account has the necessary file system and database access
- If you have recently made configuration changes it can sometimes help to recycle the application pool and restart the IIS service. This is described elsewhere in this document.
- Use the http://localhost:8000/secure/ServerIdentity.aspx to confirm the identity that the web server is currently using. This should match that configured in the application pool
- Use the http://localhost:8000/ServerCheck.aspx page to confirm the database connection is operational
- Use the SQL Server Profiler tool to monitor the IIS interaction with the SQL server. This can often expose security related problems.
- If WakeMyPC Server displays the ‘friendly’ error page consider disabling this feature (see above) to see more detailed error information.
Problem: Website reports - The current identity does not have write access to …Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\Temporary ASP.NET Files
This message can be displayed if the Internet Information Service (IIS) was installed after the .NET framework. This problem indicates that the .NET framework is not correctly registered with IIS. You can correct this problem by executing the following command:
%windir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\aspnet_regiis.exe -i
If this step is necessary please also remember to check that the correct .NET framework is configured for the website (in the ASP.NET tab).
Problem: Website displays - Service Unavailable
This message is displayed when the WakeMAN5 application pool is incorrectly configured. This message may also be displayed if the application pool has recently been re-configured to use a domain user account. Please check the following:
- The application pool identity is correctly configured. If a domain user account is being used try re-entering the password.
- The application pool identity (domain user) is a member of the local IIS_WPG group
- After making any changes you can restart the application pool by right clicking on it and selecting Recycle.
- Similarly it can sometime help, after making several related changes, to restart the website or even IIS itself. This can be done by right clicking on the site and selecting Stop and then Start. To restart IIS right click on Internet Information Services and select All Tasks/Restart IIS
- There may be additional useful information in the System event log
Problem: The website reports an exception obtaining permission of type "System.Web.AspNetHostingPermission"
This problem can occur on Windows 2008 (IIS7). It can be problematic to resolve because unless
customErrors setting has been modified it is only displayed when the web page is viewed on the local server.
This problem occurs when the SQL database is located on a remote server and the application pool is operating under the identity of a domain user. To resolve the problem change the application pool setting Load User
Profile to
True.
Problem: "HTTP Error 404 - File or Directory not found" error message when you request an ASPX page
This problem can occur if ASP.NET was installed prior to IIS. This happens because, by default, when IIS is installed on any version of the Windows Server 2003 family, IIS only serves static content (HTML).
Support for ASP.NET must be manually enabled on such systems. This problem does not generally happen on later operating systems or when ASP.NET is installed after IIS.
To resolve this problem please follow the instructions in the following Microsoft article:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315122
Problem: Unrecognized attribute "targetFramework" reported when you request an ASPX page
This problem can occur if IIS application pool is running under an incorrect version of the .NET framework. To resolve this problem confirm that that WakeMAN5 application pool is running under the v4 .NET framework.
Problem: Website reports - Could not load file or assembly 'PowerLib' or one of its dependencies. An attempt was made to load a program with an incorrect format
This error is reported when there is a mismatch between the installed website and the server hardware. Please check that the installed website platform (x86 or x86-64) matches your server hardware. If necessary replace the website with the correct version. This error can also occur if the Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable Package is not installed. See related troubleshooting section below.
This problem is only applicable to WakeMyPC Server v5.1.x and prior. Release v5.2.0 and later no longer use 'PowerLib'.
Problem: "The application has failed to start because its side-by-side configuration is incorrect. Please see the application event log or use the command-line sxstrace.exe tool for more detail. Exception from HRESULT: 0x800736B1" error message when you request an ASPX page
OR Could not load file or assembly "PowerLib.dll" or one of its dependencies. The specified module could not be found.
This problem can when the Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime is missing from the server. This is normally present on most systems and may indicate that the .NET 4.0 Framework is not installed. Please see above for instructions on how to install this Windows component.
If the .NET Framework is installed then it may be necessary to download and manually install the runtime appropriate for your platform:
Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable Package (x86 32-bit)
Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable Package (x64 64-bit)
If the problem continues after installing the appropriate runtime package Data Synergy Technical Support will be able to help you diagnosis the problem further. Please contact Technical Support with a SxSTrace log file. This may be generated as follows:
- Start an command prompt (elevated on Windows Server 2008)
- Enter the command:
SXSTRACE trace -logfile:sxstrace.etc
NB: This will leave a prompt on-screen reminding you to press [Enter] to stop the logging. Please do not shut this window.
- Refresh the browser and confirm the error is still present
- Return to the command prompt window and press [Enter] to stop the SXSTRACE trace
- Enter the command:
SXSTRACE parse -logfile:sxstrace.etl -outfile:sxstrace.txt
- The ‘sxstrace.txt’ file now contains readable log file. Please send this to technical Support.
This problem is only applicable to WakeMyPC Server v5.1.x and prior. Release v5.2.0 and later no longer use 'PowerLib'.
Problem: Website generated URLs fail to work correctly
OR Website URLs contain additional, unrecognised symbols, such as %20
This problem occurs URL settings in the web.config file contain leading, trailing or embedded spaces or other unprintable characters. In some rare circumstances embedded spaces may be necessary but generally well-formed URLs should avoid spaces and unprintable characters. Check that no unexpected characters exist in between <value> and </value> for the
PostErrorURL and
WakeConnectURL settings.