Altiris HTTP Server prevents Microsoft IIS install from completing successfully

Products

• IT Management Suite
• Task Server

Issue/Introduction

Altiris’ HTTP Server that is included with Task Server 6.0 prevents the successful installation of Microsoft IIS 6.0 if it is running during an attempt to install Microsoft IIS.

Cause

The problem will occur in the following administrative scenario:

The Altiris Admin has rolled out a Remote Task Server on a Windows 2003 Server that does not currently have Microsoft IIS 6.0 installed. The Altiris HTTP server is installed and the remote Task Server is working properly. The administrator has now decided to switch from the Altiris HTTP server to Microsoft IIS.

In this scenario, the administrator must complete three steps:

1. Remove the Altiris HTTP server
2. Install Microsoft IIS
3. Enable Task Server to begin utilizing IIS

The order in which these steps are taken is important and is the root cause of this problem. If the steps are not performed in the proper order (as listed above), the problem will occur.

To understand the problem, it is necessary to understand more details about the IIS installation process.

If the administrator uses the Windows Server 2003 “Configure Your Server” option to install Microsoft IIS, and checks the option to “Enable ASP,” a series of steps occur. During the installation routine, after the default IIS files, folders, and registry keys are created, the installation routine attempts to start the Default Web Site. After the Default Web Site has been successfully started, the installation routine attempts to create a local user account named ASP.NET. The installation routine then attempts to assign file and folder permissions to the ASP.NET account to allow the ASP.NET local user account access to the IIS Virtual Directories.

If the Altiris HTTP Server is running during the installation of Microsoft IIS, the Default Web Site will not launch successfully and as a result, the ASP.NET account and the appropriate permissions will not be created as part of the installation routine.

The reason the Default Web Site will not start successfully is that both Altiris HTTP Server and the IIS Default Website, are attempting to use Port 80, which in this scenario will already be in use by the Altiris HTTP server. The Microsoft IIS installation routine does not account for any error conditions related to not being able to start the Default Web Site. As a result, no error messages are displayed and the administrator is led to falsely believe that the IIS installation was successful.

Resolution

The first workaround to this problem is to avoid it in the first place. This can be done by always following the correct order of installation. This correct installation order to move from Altiris HTTP Server to using IIS is the following:

1. Remove the Altiris HTTP server by uninstalling Altiris Task Server using Windows Add or Remove Programs.
   • Manually delete “C:\program files\altiris\client task management\”. This folder is left behind during the un-installation routine.
   • Manually delete “C:\program files\altiris\http server\”. This folder is left behind during the un-installation routine.
2. Install Microsoft IIS.
3. Install Altiris Task Server.

In the event you do run into this problem, the following steps are necessary to correct the problem:

1. Remove Microsoft IIS using Add or Remove Programs.
2. Remove Altiris Task Server using Windows Add or Remove programs.
   • Manually delete “C:\program files\altiris\client task management\”. This folder is left behind during the un-installation routine.
   • Manually delete “C:\program files\altiris\http server\”. This folder is left behind during the un-installation routine.
3. Install Microsoft IIS and choose enable the ASP.
4. Install Altiris Task Server.

Applies To
Altiris Task Server 6.0
Altiris HTTP Server
Microsoft IIS* 6.0
Windows Server* 2003