Product Support Article
Article ID: PSA200305 

Article Topic:

Directory Assistant authorization hyperlinks may not work with Secure Sockets Layer (SSL).

Applies To:

Directory Assistant 5.0 for Exchange 4.0, 5.0, 5.5.
Directory Assistant 5.0 for Exchange 2000, 2003.

Conditions / Symptoms

Authorization hyperlinks that are placed in e-mails to authorizers are currently created with the form:
http://<IIS SERVER>/<DA WEB FOLDER>/Temp/Authorizations/<AUTHORIZATION PAGE>.ASP

Example: http://SERVERA/DA/Temp/Authorizations/3928493432.asp

If SSL is being use on the IIS Server, authorizers may get an error message in their internet browser when they click on the authorization hyperlink telling them that they are not authorized to view the page.

Issue / Cause

This issue is caused by hyperlinks accessing web pages using the server name with "http" instead of accessing the proper web site name with "https". 

For example, the following version of an authorization hyperlink would be compatible with SSL:  https://www.MyCompany.com/DA/Temp/Authorizations/3928493432.asp

Work Around / Fix

A feature exists in Directory Assistant 5.0 that allows you to provide the proper substitution for authorization hyperlinks.  This results in the DA Service creating them in the proper form before the e-mails are sent to authorizers.

To correct the authorization hyperlinks, follow these steps:

- Open the administrative console for Directory Assistant.

- Locate and stop the "DA Service" if it is running.

- Open the file folder share "MADSDA" on the server where the DA Service has been installed.

- Create a new text file named "WebLink.txt"

- Open the text file into the NotePad utility and type the start of a proper https link for your IIS Server.  Example:  "https://www.MyCompany.com".    Do not type the "DA/Temp/Authorizations" part into the file.

- Close the NotePad utility and save your changes.

- Return to the administrative console for Directory Assistant and start the "DA Service" again.

Any authorization e-mails sent after the service has been restarted should now have hyperlinks to authorization web pages in the proper format.