Verifying customization
Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2
Verifying customization
There are several instances in which customization requirements are very stringent. This section repeats the information that is most commonly overlooked.
Verify that the service name and file name are valid
If you are updating an existing service profile, the service and file names should be identical to the previous ones. If you are creating a new profile (from scratch or by editing an existing service profile and renaming it), make sure that the service name and file name are not identical to any other service profiles that you provide to your customers. If you do not specify a file name that is different from the one users already have installed on their computers, the original service profile will be overwritten. If you specify a new file name but do not specify a new service name, users who have the existing service profile installed and then install the new service profile with the different service name will experience problems in connecting. The problems can include not being able to connect using either or both service profiles.
If you need to make changes to an existing profile, use the Connection Manager Administration Kit (CMAK) wizard to edit the profile instead of creating a new file with the same name.
Verify that the dial-up entry is correct in CMAK and the phone book
The phone book dial-up entry that you set up in the phone book must exactly match the entry you set up in your service profile. Use a text editor such as Notepad to open the Phone Book Administrator file and verify that the entries you specified in the phone book (at the end of each line) match the entries you set up in the CMAK wizard in Dial-up Networking Entry.
Verify that all required protocols are specified correctly
Verify that the required network protocols, including TCP/IP, IPX, and NetBEUI (as appropriate), are specified in the [Server&EntryName] section of the .cms file for the specified dial-up entry. The IPX/SPX protocol is not available on Windows XP 64-bit Edition (Itanium) and the 64-bit versions of the Windows Server 2003 family.
Verify that proxy settings are set as required to support successful connection to your service
If your service requires special proxy settings, verify that any required custom actions have been designed and implemented to adjust the settings on the user's computer as required.
Verify that resident programs on users' computers can be opened
If your custom actions or other custom settings depend on the program being available on your users' computers (that is, you are not providing it in your service profile), verify that the program is in the default path and available to Connection Manager. Not all programs that appear on the Start menu are necessarily set up to use the default path. Connection Manager may not be able to find the installed program if it is not in the default path.
Verify that your service-profile updates are complete
When you edit a service profile created using a previous version of Connection Manager, the CMAK wizard automatically upgrades the profiles to Connection Manager 1.3. Any changes you have made manually to the .inf file (using advanced customization techniques) will not be retained in the upgraded file. However, the CMAK wizard creates a backup copy of the old .inf file before creating the updated file.
Verify that your time-outs are not preventing access to your domain
For VPN connections, users sometimes get a message that the domain controller couldn't be found, even though the routing information is correct. In this case, setting the LanaTimeout entry in the .cms file may correct the problem. This increases the time (in seconds) to wait before attempting to connect to a VPN server. Increase this value if the connection consistently fails to find a domain controller.