How to verify the wspath

  • Updated

There are many services in Ektron that need a correctly set protocol and hostname in the wspath configuration to be accessible. Those services are used for various workarea functionality(for instance go live or archive scheduling). The service files are usually IP restricted so also require whitelisting. 
  

Here are the steps to verify the wspath is set correctly and is accessible. 

Update:

In versions 9.2 and up as well as cumulative security update 6 and higher, the ServerControlWS.asmx file was removed from the site's workarea folder. This was intentional and ServerControlWS.asmx can be left in the wspath since Ektron code only uses the protocol and hostname. 

 

Updated steps for version 9.2+ versions and security update 6+

  1. If you have never whitelisted the server IPs, do that first. 
    https://support.episerver.com/hc/en-us/articles/115004122926-IP-Restrictions-Unable-to-access-or-use-service-or-webservice-files

  2. On the webserver, open IIS manager.
  3. Right click on the IIS site and click explore.
  4. Open the site's web.config and search for wspath. 
  5. Get the protocol(http or https) and hostname from the wspath. 
  6. Browse to http(s)://<hostname>/Workarea/webservices/ContentWS.asmx using the protocol and hostname from the last step. 
  7. If there is a 403, see the following KB. Afterwards, follow the below steps for verification. 
    Unable to access or use service or webservice files after an install, upgrade, or applying a service pack
  8. If the wspath uses HTTPS, make sure the certificate is not expired. In Chrome for instance click the lock icon and click on the certificate option. Then verify the valid from: date is good. 
    2021-05-05_15_17_58.png

    2021-05-05_15_18_55.png
  9. If there is a 404, make sure the binding exists and works in IIS by doing the following.
  10. Click on the site in IIS.
  11. On the bottom of the central navigation window change the view from Features View to Content View.
  12. Open the Workarea/webservices folder.
  13. Right click the ContentWS.asmx file, then click Browse.
  14. If this URL works, substitute the wspath with the URL from the browser. 

If successful the browser will load details about the service, otherwise you will see an error such as a 403. The WSPath field in the web.config file should still point to SiteURL/Workarea/ServerControlWS.asmx, but the domain name and connection type(http or https) should match what is returned when browsing the ContentWS.asmx file. 

Pre-9.2 Steps

In your site's web.config, search for "wspath". There is an added key value that looks similar to the following.

<add key="WSPath" value="http://SiteURL.com/Workarea/ServerControlWS.asmx" />

Copy the URL between the quotes and browse to it. If the web page throws a 403.6 error, that is due to the security update that was released in October 2013. Normally, the left side of the page has a list of services in blue. To troubleshoot why this file doesn't load, see the following article.

After pulling up the wspath in a web browser, ensure that the WSpath value in web.config matches the value that IIS is looking at.

  1. On the webserver, open IIS manager.
  2. On bottom of the central navigation window, change the view from Features View to Content View.
  3. Open the Workarea folder.
  4. Go to the file ServerControlWS.asmx.
  5. Right click > Browse.

The hostname that populates your browser should match the one in your webconfig file's "WSpath" value. If it does not, manually edit the browsed URL to use the wspath's hostname.