SQL Server 2019 Master Data Services web application viewstate error

Question

We have installed and configured SQL Server 2019 Master Data Services (Developer Edition) on an Azure VM running Windows Server 2016 attached to the corporate domain.

We can deploy models using MDSModelDeploy. However, we have found 1 or 2 odds problems, namely

1. We can view users, but each time we try to add a new user we experience a Validation of viewstate MAC failed error similar to the one referred to in  https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2915218/resolving-view-state-message-authentication-code-mac-errors.
2. After successfully deploying models with the MDSModelDeploy tool, the models (and their versions) do not appear in the 2 list boxes on the top left corner of the web application.

We have gone worked through https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2915218/resolving-view-state-message-authentication-code-mac-errors and focused on cause 3.

The error happens when we run the application pool with LoadUserProfile set to True, irrespective of whether we use a domain service account or a local service account. We have not tried using the ApplicationPoolIdentitiy.

Has anybody experienced this problem? Does anybody know how to solve it?

Answer 1

To get SQL Server 2019 Master Data Services (Developer Edition) on an Azure VM running Windows Server 2016 and attached to the corporate domain working we had to

1. Generate a machine key as described in Annex A of https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2915218/resolving-view-state-message-authentication-code-mac-errors, and
2. Modify web.config replacing <machineKey validation="HMACSHA256"> with the generated machine key.

On our Azure VM <machineKey validation="HMACSHA256">caused the web application not to work without throwing any meaning errors.