http://localhost not working

I have installed Win 2k Server. I am trying to test my IIS. I tried http://localhost It gives me an error saying:

You are not authorized to view this page

You might not have permission to view this directory or page using the credentials you supplied.If you believe you should be able to view this directory or page, please try to contact the Web site by using any e-mail address or phone number that may be listed on the Homepage(); localhost home page.

You can click [img]res://C:WINSRVsystem32shdoclc.dll/search.gif[/img] Search to look for information on the Internet.




HTTP Error 403 - Forbidden
Internet Explorer




But if I try http://<computername> or http://127.0.0.1 I get a page underconstruction.

So, due to this if I am trying to access my application using http://localhost/<application path> I get the 403 forbidden error. But I am able to open my application using http://<computername>/<application path or http://127.0.0.1/<application path.

In fact nothing works with http://localhost on my computer. Not even the iis help, etc.

Any help regarding this appreciated.

Cheers

Your windows client sends NTLM/Kerberos authentication when you access a LAN domain name, thus ensure you are listed under the authorised users for IIS access on the server machine.

It doesn't, however, send NTLM/Kerberos when you enter an IP address, hence why it allows you to see the page.

Therefore, check your IIS security settings and remove all the default files... they are a proven security hole (IISSamples especilly)

Thanks for your reply.

I am able to access my default page under http://127.0.0.1/<application_name>/ by IP address as well using server name (http://<server_name>/<application_name>/).

But I am not able to access the same file using http://localhost/<application_name>.

And this is true of all the applications and any files. Even the IIS help is not working using http://localhost, but it works with IP address and server name.

So, I can access everything using IP address and server name in the URL, but not with 'localhost'.

Still do you say that this is the problem with IIS security settings? If yes, can you please help me with the exact location where I need to change the security settings, etc.

Note: I am trying to access the file on the server itself. I am not trying from any other machine.

Appreciate your help.

Check for spyware first... they often interfere with localhost loopbacks.

If you're using some other browser try IE & see if you get the same results. If IE works right, probably the permissions on your root web files doesn't allow non-authenticated viewing and the other browser can't do integrated windows authentication like IE can.

Actually, IE automatically sends NTLM info with the request after a challenge response from the server, this does have advantages in LAN environments and has yet to prove a security liability.

Firefox is more sensible and asks you first.... always, which is useful if you want to force-login as another user... which is useful for when using Outlook Web Access from Exchange Server.

I am facing this problem while I am using IE 6.0. I am not trying this from any other browser.

What else can I check for?

Try searching the MS knowledgebase, I seem to recall some issue with localhost and a recent windows update, although I think what I'm thinking of was something with XP SP2, not W2K.

Can you ping localhost?

If u r under a network. go under ur browser and under tools go under internet options then connection then lan settings....
if u r under a proxy, check the bypass proxy server for local address....

this will make \\localhost work.