Different URLs for Virtual Server

People often ask why they are prompted for user credentials when launching the Virtual Server Administration web page on their local computer. The reason for this is that by default we use a URL with the fully qualified domain name (FQDN - e.g. https://benscomputer.domain.com). When we use this form of URL the result is that Internet Explorer does not believe it is a local website. If you continue to use the FQDN address you can get rid of the prompt by adding the address to your trusted sites.

Now - you may be asking why we use the FQDN form of the URL. Well - there are actually four different forms that could be used:

• FQDN: https://benscomputer.domain.com/VirtualServer/VSWebApp.exe
• Non-FQDN: https://benscomputer/VirtualServer/VSWebApp.exe
• LocalHost: https://localhost/VirtualServer/VSWebApp.exe
• Loopback: https://127.0.0.1/VirtualServer/VSWebApp.exe

While we were developing Virtual Server we actually tested out all the above options - and each one had its own set of problems and edge cases where it wouldn't work quite right. Using the FQDN was the most reliable - but if you ever have problems you might want to try out the other options.

Cheers,
Ben

Comments

• Anonymous
  April 18, 2006
  The comment has been removed
• Anonymous
  April 18, 2006
  The comment has been removed
• Anonymous
  April 19, 2006
  I totaly agree with Jerrry.
• Anonymous
  April 20, 2006
  The comment has been removed
• Anonymous
  April 20, 2006
  Technically to be a FQDN the domain name really needs to end with a period.  Otherwise, "benscomputer.domain.com" could be "benscomputer.domain.com." or something else like "benscomputer.domain.com.microsoft.com."
  
  I actually ran into this problem in college, as the name and subdomain of a common server for students happened to match a TLD.