"The Page Cannot Be Found" Error Message When You Connect to the VMware Management Interface (816682)

SYMPTOMS

When you install VMware GSX Server 1.0 or VMware GSX Server 2.0 on a Windows Server 2003 computer, and then connect to the VMware Management Interface by using your Web browser, you may find that the VMware Management Interface Login page is does not appear as expected. An error message similar to the following appears in your Web browser:

The page cannot be found

HTTP Error 404

CAUSE

This behavior occurs because, by default, Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0 is configured to serve only static content, and does not permit Common Gateway Interface (CGI) extensions.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this behavior, configure IIS to permit all unknown CGI extensions.

Warning When you configure IIS to permit all unknown CGE extensions, any CGI program can run on your Web server. This is a potential security risk as your Web server may be susceptible to computer viruses or worms that use CGI technology.

To configure IIS to allow all unknown CGI extensions:

Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.
Expand ServerName, and then click Web Service Extensions.
In the right pane, click All Unknown CGI Extensions, and then click Allow.
When you are prompted to confirm that you want to allow all unknown CGI extensions, click Yes.

For more information about how to resolve this issue, visit the following VMware Web site:

http://www.vmware.com/support/gsx2/ts/gsx2ts_manage2.html

MORE INFORMATION

To help increase security for your Web server, IIS is configured, by default, to serve only static content after you install in on Windows Server 2003. You must manually enable programmatic functionality that is provided by ISAPIs or CGIs by enabling the appropriate Web service extension in the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager snap-in. The third-party products that are discussed in this article are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products.
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