WebsitePanel error – Error reading web site information

You may receive the following error when you go to Websites -> click on your website in WebsitePanel:

System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapException: System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapException: System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapException: Server was unable to process request. —> System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException (0x80070490): Filename: \\?\C:\Windows\system32\inetsrv\config\administration.config
Error: The configuration section ‘system.webServer/management/authorization’ cannot be read because it is missing a section declaration

at Microsoft.Web.Administration.Interop.AppHostWritableAdminManager.GetAdminSection(String bstrSectionName, String bstrSectionPath)
at Microsoft.Web.Administration.Configuration.GetSectionInternal(ConfigurationSection section, String sectionPath, String locationPath)
at Microsoft.Web.Administration.Configuration.GetSection(String sectionPath)
at WebsitePanel.Providers.Web.IIs70.IsWebManagementAccessEnabled(WebVirtualDirectory iisObject)
at WebsitePanel.Providers.Web.IIs70.ReadWebManagementAccessDetails(WebVirtualDirectory iisObject)
at WebsitePanel.Providers.Web.IIs70.GetSite(String siteId)
at WebsitePanel.Server.WebServer.GetSite(String siteId)
— End of inner exception stack trace —
at System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapHttpClientProtocol.ReadResponse(SoapClientMessage message, WebResponse response, Stream responseStream, Boolean asyncCall)
at System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapHttpClientProtocol.Invoke(String methodName, Object[] parameters)
at WebsitePanel.Providers.Web.WebServer.GetSite(String siteId)
at WebsitePanel.EnterpriseServer.WebServerController.GetWebSite(Int32 siteItemId)
at WebsitePanel.EnterpriseServer.esWebServers.GetWebSite(Int32 siteItemId)
at System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapHttpClientProtocol.ReadResponse(SoapClientMessage message, WebResponse response, Stream responseStream, Boolean asyncCall)
at System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapHttpClientProtocol.Invoke(String methodName, Object[] parameters)
at WebsitePanel.EnterpriseServer.esWebServers.GetWebSite(Int32 siteItemId)
at WebsitePanel.Portal.WebSitesEditSite.BindWebSite()

Windows has two sets of system directories

For 64-bit: c:\windows\system32
For 32-bit: c:\windows\syswow64

If your application pool is running in 32-bit mode then your application pool tries to read “c:\windows\syswow64\inetsrv\config\administration.config” instead of “c:\windows\system32\inetsrv\config\administration.config”

To resolve this error, you will need to create hard link for .config files. You can use the following commands to create necessary hard links:

mklink /H C:\Windows\SysWOW64\inetsrv\config\administration.config C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\config\administration.config
mklink /H C:\Windows\SysWOW64\inetsrv\config\applicationHost.config C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\config\applicationHost.config
mklink /H C:\Windows\SysWOW64\inetsrv\config\redirection.config C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\config\redirection.config

If you have other WebsitePanel related issues, you can opt for our service. Please contact us for more details.

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