(Revised based on comments below)
I know there's a ton of posts like this online and I've browsed many and found no useful help.
I have setup and configured SSRS many times and have not had this problem. The setup is similar to other servers in the past (all stand alone servers - no AD). I can log into Report Manager from a browser on the local server but when I try to access from my remote dev machine or from deploying a report from VS I get the above message.
This is how I'm trying to login which works on other servers but not this one.
http://Server IP/Reports
-Username: Administrator
-Password: admin password
I get the above error even though this is exactly the same as on other servers.
I should mention that I connect using a VPN to the network so I have access to the private IPs as well.
I also tried using he private IP
I also tried MachineName\Administrator
I also tried creating an SQL user with admin privileges and that did not work either.
This is a screenshot from a server where everything is working as expected. Administrators had default permissions (Content Manager). Users has browse:
This is a screenshot from the server that’s having permission issues. I assigned all roles to both admin accounts
and then I added all roles to both admin accounts:
Now I can deploy from VS using the username "administrator".
and I made a little progress (i think...) trying to access report manager from my pc. From IE (run as admin) on my local pc I try to access report manager from this URL
http://server ip/Reports/browse/
-Username: Administrator
-Password: admin password
And now I gain access to server manager but cannot see any content. When I click on the home button I get this error:
Any recommendations?
I'm thinking of using application roles in SQL Server I've read the following on the Microsoft MSDN site:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms190998.aspx
Connecting with an Application Role
The following steps make up the process by which an application role switches security contexts:
A user executes a client application.
The client application connects to an instance of SQL Server as the user.
The application then executes the sp_setapprole stored procedure with a password known only to the application.
If the application role name and password are valid, the application role is enabled.
At this point the connection loses the permissions of the user and assumes the permissions of the application role.
I'm wondering, if the application must know the password, how best to achieve this. I would assume storing the password in source code is a security risk. Is there another secure way to deploy the password with the application (note this is a windows client application that will be deployed to user machines).
There is actually another way to deploy the password with the application.
You can store the password as a secret in the database itself.
For instance, use a stored procedure or a scalar function which returns this "secret". This is an additional step in the logic you describe, to be executed just after the connection is made by the application with the user credentials.
This is possible because the users will have access to the database using Windows Authentication anyway.
The permissions need to be setup so that users are granted access to connect to the database and to the programmable object only.
To "obfuscate" (NOT secure) the password, you can store an encrypted version in the database and use a simple encryption / decryption (like this one).
This approach has the following advantages:
The password is not stored in clear text anywhere (please note though that it will travel in clear text on the network if you do not use SSL Encryption)
Users of the application are not required to provide any input
The application source code does not include the password
The application deployment does not include the password
The password can be reset very easily, for instance on a schedule
There is no way to deploy a password on a user workstation w/o a local administrator being able to discover it. You can only raise the bar so high, but if the price is worth it they will find it.
You should rely on the user providing the password, which ultimately boils down to using Windows authentication instead, if possible. You should always assume that whatever privileges the application has, the user has them as well and he/she can exercise them using an alternative access API (ie. any query tool). If you cannot trust the user with certain privileges, then you must not deploy the application on his/her computer. For example use a multi-tier solution that isolates the database from the user and add any necessary validation in this intermediate tier (most ASP.Net and/or WCF apps would qualify as such multi-tier when done properly).
I have an Entity Framework based MVC application linked to a SQL server.
This is not a production server, so, I am using Entity Framework Code First and taking advantage of Code First / Dropping the database when the schema changes.
I have the following connection string:
<add name="MyDbContext"
connectionString="Data Source=.\SQLEXPRESS;Initial Catalog=appdb;User Id=xxx;Password=yyy;"
providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" />
I had various problems with EF/SQL, in the end, I created a new user with the sysadmin server role, I created the database appdb, set the new users default database to appdb and under User Mapping, I gave the user db_owner permissions (under user and default schema, it says dbo).
Anyway, everything worked as expected after I did this - The database was deleted/recreated with the needed tables.
However, I have now changed my classes. Using DropCreateDatabaseIfModelChanges causes a yellow screen with Unable to login to SQL Server with user:xxx error, and SQL server logging shows Login failed for user 'xxx'. Reason: Password did not match that for the login provided. [CLIENT: <local machine>]
If I launch the application on debug, it shows the following:
This operation requires a connection to the 'master' database. Unable to create a connection to the 'master' database because the original database connection has been opened and credentials have been removed from the connection string. Supply an unopened connection.
If I change from DropCreateDatabaseIfModelChanges to DropCreateDatabaseAlways - everything works as expected.... I can then change back, and continue using the application without problems.
I really do not understand this and was wondering if anyone knows what is going on?
Try to add Persist Security Info=True to your connection string.
Edit:
Setting Persist security info to true allows database connection maintaining sensitive user information = password. I don't know what magic EF does when dropping and recreating database but it most probably resets connection state and requires new authentication on opened connection. Without persisting security info opened connection cannot authenticate user again because it doesn't know his password.
Btw. you can also try to download EFv4.1 Update 1 or better EFv4.2. I think it should fix this problem.
I'm running an IIS 7 Website with an AppPool of Integrated Pipeline Mode.
The AppPools does NOT run under NetworkService, etc.. identity (by purpose), but uses its own AppPool Identitiy (IIS AppPool\MyAppPool).
This is a so called service account or virtual account.
(a user account, which is not a full account...)
I'd like to give this service account (IIS AppPool\MyAppPool) permissions to connect to my SQL Server 2008 Express (running in Mixed Auth. Mode).
While SQL Server can add any normal user account, the IIS AppPool\MyAppPool virtual account cannot be added to the valid logons (SQL Server says, that the account cannot be found).
Is there any trick, anything I need to enable to make the virtual accounts work?
(the w3wp.exe process runs under this identity according to taskmgr, but I cannot use the account in NTFS security either...)
Thanks for your help!
The "IIS APPPOOL\AppPoolName" will work, but as mentioned previously, it does not appear to be a valid AD name so when you search for it in the "Select User or Group" dialog box, it won't show up (actually, it will find it, but it will think its an actual system account, and it will try to treat it as such...which won't work, and will give you the error message about it not being found).
How I've gotten it to work is:
In SQL Server Management Studio, look for the Security folder (the security folder at the same level as the Databases, Server Objects, etc. folders...not the security folder within each individual database)
Right click logins and select "New Login"
In the Login name field, type IIS APPPOOL\YourAppPoolName - do not click search
Fill whatever other values you like (i.e., authentication type, default database, etc.)
Click OK
As long as the AppPool name actually exists, the login should now be created.
CREATE LOGIN [IIS APPPOOL\MyAppPool] FROM WINDOWS;
CREATE USER MyAppPoolUser FOR LOGIN [IIS APPPOOL\MyAppPool];
You can solve like this,
Open "Applications Pools",
You should right click that you have choosed application pool. Then choose
"Advanced Settings".
Click three point on the Identity tab then you should choose "LocalSystem" from field of "Built-in-account"
If you do this way, you don't need to create a user in database.
If you're going across machines, you either need to be using NETWORK SERVICE, LOCAL SYSTEM, a domain account, or a SQL 2008 R2 (if you have it) Managed Service Account (which is my preference if you had such an infrastructure). You can not use an account which is not visible to the Active Directory domain.
As a side note processes that uses virtual accounts (NT Service\MyService and IIS AppPool\MyAppPool) are still running under the "NETWORK SERVICE" account as this post suggests http://www.adopenstatic.com/cs/blogs/ken/archive/2008/01/29/15759.aspx. The only difference is that these processes are members of the "NT Service\MyService" or "IIS AppPool\MyAppPool" groups (as these are actually groups and not users). This is also the reason why the processes authenticate at the network as the machine the same way NETWORK SERVICE account does.
The way to secure access is not to depend upon this accounts not having NETWORK SERVICE privileges but to grant more permissions specifically to "NT Service\MyService" or "IIS AppPool\MyAppPool" and to remove permissions for "Users" if necessary.
If anyone has more accurate or contradictional information please post.
Look at: http://www.iis.net/learn/manage/configuring-security/application-pool-identities
USE master
GO
sp_grantlogin 'IIS APPPOOL\<AppPoolName>'
USE <yourdb>
GO
sp_grantdbaccess 'IIS APPPOOL\<AppPoolName>', '<AppPoolName>'
sp_addrolemember 'aspnet_Membership_FullAccess', '<AppPoolName>'
sp_addrolemember 'aspnet_Roles_FullAccess', '<AppPoolName>'
This may be what you are looking for...
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc730708%28WS.10%29.aspx
I would also advise longer term to consider a limited rights domain user, what you are trying works fine in a silo machine scenario but you are going to have to make changes if you move to another machine for the DB server.
I figured it out through trial and error... the real chink in the armor was a little known setting in IIS in the Configuration Editor for the website in
Section: system.webServer/security/authentication/windowsAuthentication
From: ApplicationHost.config <locationpath='ServerName/SiteName' />
called useAppPoolCredentials (which is set to False by default. Set this to True and life becomes great again!!! Hope this saves pain for the next guy....
In my case the problem was that I started to create an MVC Alloy sample project from scratch in using Visual Studio/Episerver extension and it worked fine when executed using local Visual studio iis express.
However by default it points the sql database to LocalDB and when I deployed the site to local IIS it started giving errors some of the initial errors I resolved by:
1.adding the local site url binding to C:/Windows/System32/drivers/etc/hosts
2. Then by editing the application.config found the file location by right clicking on IIS express in botton right corner of the screen when running site using Visual studio and added binding there for local iis url.
3. Finally I was stuck with "unable to access database errors" for which I created a blank new DB in Sql express and changed connection string in web config to point to my new DB and then in package manager console (using Visual Studio) executed Episerver DB commands like -
1. initialize-epidatabase
2. update-epidatabase
3. Convert-EPiDatabaseToUtc
For the ApplicationPoolIdentity, add a login/user in MSSQL as IIS_IUSRS which is corresponding to the default pool.
So far, after creating DB with all the schema, all I have done so for was accessing them (tables) by reference through ConnectionStrings.
Now, twice, I've read that it's better to create a DB user and access the DB trhough that user by including him in the connectionString.
I'd like to know why so?
Thank for helping
Your question isn't that clear. It seems that you're asking if it is better to use windows security ("Integrated Security=SSPI" in the connection string) or a username/password ("User ID=myUsername;Password=myPassword;").
Its always better to use windows security. Having login information within the connection string is a security risk. Its in cleartext (unless you take some complicated steps to secure that section), and is sent across the wire as cleartext unless you set up a trusted connection between application and server.
Is it better to "create a db user and access the db trhough that user by including him in the connection string?" No. Its better to create a sql server login for user's windows identities and let them use those credentials to access the server.
You do this if you wish to connect as a specific user, rather than (for example) just using the context of the current user which your application is running under. However, if you use SQL Server authentication (i.e. username and password), you'd need to provide that password in the connection string, which is something of a security problem.
If the application has a group of anonymous users (or manages users/passwords itself) then its better to use a Windows login and run the application under a service account (which has minimal required access to the database).
If you're running an interactive application on the desktop, you should let those users connect to SQL server in their own context, by adding them to SQL Server with the required rights (e.g. db read/write , remove any higher functions). Obviously you would use groups to make administration simpler rather than adding individual users.