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App Portal Configuration: License

Long story short:

App Portal is installed. Trying to license it for first time use. Web server is hardened such that admin cannot use browser. Can the upload license process be done from a remote connection? I can hit the URL from another box and the core page mechanics seem to work (selecting license file), but clicking upload does nothing except generate a spinning cog wheel that leads to nothing. Just trying to validate that this process does not have to be done from the web server directly before digging into the security stack.

(1) Solution
CharlesW
By Level 12 Flexeran
Level 12 Flexeran
I just confirmed that I was able to successfully upload a license from a remote machine. The license should be uploaded to web/bin on the App Portal server. I should note that I went to settings->general and used the "Add/Update license key" link to upload the new license, so I can't say if this is exactly the same for a new install.

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(12) Replies
I can't say that I've ever tried it remotely, but I would expect it should be possible. That browser page is simply doing an HTTP POST with base64-encoded data from the local file system. What you should see is that when you've selected a file to upload, the page normally changes very quickly to reflect the selected file information, but then it displays a "Continue" button. I will say that from time to time, even doing the upload locally on the server will just show a spinning gear after hitting the Continue button, because it tries to do a site refresh and reload http://servername/esd. In such situations, I usually just manually load http://server/esd/admin in the browser. If you see a *.license file in the Web\bin folder on your server, then the upload worked.
Anything expressed here is my own view and not necessarily that of my employer, Flexera. If my reply answers a question you have raised, please click "ACCEPT AS SOLUTION".
CharlesW
By Level 12 Flexeran
Level 12 Flexeran
I just confirmed that I was able to successfully upload a license from a remote machine. The license should be uploaded to web/bin on the App Portal server. I should note that I went to settings->general and used the "Add/Update license key" link to upload the new license, so I can't say if this is exactly the same for a new install.

Thanks for the quick replies. I'll start digging into the security stacks.

I have the customer working on disabling HIPs on this server. In the mean time, is there a log I can reference that might indicate why app portal would be stalling on this license file upload. 

Essentially when I navigate to http://<appPortalServer>/ESD/Admin i get redirected to SetupConfiguration.aspx. I browse to the license file. Once the license file is selected I get a UI that looks like an upload is happening:

dcopher_0-1576684773081.png

I click Upload License, get a spinning cog and then nothing.

dcopher_1-1576684876712.png

Any advice on things to check from here would be greatly appreciated. Also, if there is a way to manually do what this automation is doing I'd be interested in that information if it's available. 

From what I can determine, all you really need to do is manually copy your .license file into the web/bin folder under the App Portal install directory.. It should be picked up automatically.. If not, try an iisreset.

When I do that, navigating to esd or esd/admin says page cannot be displayed. No config file or anything that needs to be modified too?
It must be something else causing the problem.. App Portal should pick up on whatever license file to add to web/bin. Can you access the page http://localhost/esd/admin/SetupConfiguration.aspx? If so, If you populate the values does the issue still occur? If you look at website.log, what exception is written to the log file?

I can access that page but again it does nothing when i click next.

The log file indicates:

Error during async postback. Validation of viewstate MAC failed. If this application is hosted by Web Farm or cluster, ensure that <machineKey> configuration specifies the same validationKey and validation algorithm. AutoGenerate cannot be used in a cluster.

 

Same error as when trying to upload the license file and it's not in web/bin already.

Are you still attempting this remotely, or are you able to try it on the server now?  If you're doing this on the server with Internet Explorer, can you check Server Manager and make sure that IE Enhanced Security Mode is turned off?  Alternatively, have you tried a different browser (e.g. Chrome, or if already using Chrome, maybe try Edge or Firefox)?

Anything expressed here is my own view and not necessarily that of my employer, Flexera. If my reply answers a question you have raised, please click "ACCEPT AS SOLUTION".

Remote is the only thing that does not immediately display "page cannot be displayed" currently. The customer has some security restrictions in place for use of browser by admin or service account from the server. Trying to get that relaxed some. I'll see if  can get another browser installed on the remote server i'm access from. Most likely this is the result of server hardening, just trying to see if there is anything I can do beyond the standard install/config to get this working.

No idea if this will help, but take a look at "cause 2" and "cause 3" at the following page ,  to see if they appear applicable to your environment:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2915218/resolving-view-state-message-authentication-code-mac-errors

I know that cause 1 is not applicable, as App Portal uses a "machineKey".

You might also ensure that you do not have any redirects in place...