Web Deploy to IIS7 fails with 401 (Unauthorized)

Question

We have IIS7 running on Windows Web Server 2008 R2. It's set up to support Web Deploy. It worked fine when we used the default Administrator account. We recently disabled this account (for security reasons) and are now trying to deploy using another account which is member of the Administrators group.

With this account, the deploy fails with 401 (Unauthorized). More specifically, it says:

Connected to '<IP>' using Web Deployment Agent Service, but could not authorize. Make sure you are an admin on '<IP>'. The remote server returned an error: (401) Unauthorized.

How can I resolve this issue?

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered May 28 '12 at 10:09

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Well it's a rights issues : Correct fix :

separate users add him to the corresponding groups http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc732621%28v=ws.10%29.aspx (IIS users) or
give rights from Windows groups http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc754009%28v=ws.10%29.aspx

Quick fix (not recommended ) add the win user that you make deployment with to the administrators group .

Hope this helps .

answered May 28 '12 at 10:09

Alex H

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As mentioned in my original question, the windows user that we currently use is a member of the Administrators group (which is also what you're suggesting as the quick fix). My question was why it doesn't work... – Trex May 28 '12 at 16:05
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It might be possible that you have all the security configured with IIS users instead of Windows users , please have a look at the first link http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc732621%28v=ws.10%29.aspx .If you're deployng from Visual Studio , please have a look here http://learn.iis.net/page.aspx/1182/troubleshooting-web-deploy-problems-with-visual-studio/ . Please check on IIS what is the authentication mode (Authentication) and IIS Manager Users. – Alex H May 29 '12 at 06:38

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 08 '14 at 13:01

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Check the access rights on Application Site and folder, go to Start Page/server(Name)(account)/Management. Or on SITE/APLICATION Management.

answered Sep 08 '14 at 13:01

Lucas Rodrigues Sena

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score 0 · Answer 3 · edited Dec 23 '20 at 08:38

If you look at the location that will store the application files, its possible that the "Administrator" account has access but the "Administrators" group was never setup with such permissions. Also, the C:\windows\system32\inetsvr folder will likely need writes (because the deployment needs to update the config/ files and some application deployments update the eventlog registry keys. Just being a member of the administrators group is not always a "fix-all."

svcabre · Answer 4 · 2018-08-15T13:06:43.517

If you are getting this issue you can fix it by creating the following Windows Registry Key:

HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\WebManagement\Server "WindowsAuthenticationEnabled" set to "1"

You can easily achieve this by copying the following lines into a Powershell Console running it as an admin:

$webDeployWindowsAuth = "HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\WebManagement\Server" $winAuthEnabled = "WindowsAuthenticationEnabled" $winAuthValue = "1" if(Test-Path $webDeployWindowsAuth) { New-ItemProperty -Path $webDeployWindowsAuth -Name $winAuthEnabled -Value $winAuthValue -PropertyType DWORD -Force }

Then after checking if this key is successfully created on the Windows Registry you have to restart the Web Management Service to then be able to try to deploy again your application.

Web Deploy to IIS7 fails with 401 (Unauthorized)

4 Answers4