Misdirected Internal Website link from RWW in SBS 2008

[superdodds]

I have an SBS 2008 server that has been pretty trouble free for the most part since it was implemented in February of this year (2011). However, due to a Trend Micro AV install that somehow or other did crazzy things to the internal datase, I had to create a new instance of a SQL database and use that for the internal website. No worries. I was able to manage that and all has been fine until recently I was instructed that the employees would like the functionality of accessing the companywide calendar by using Sharepoint in the RWW.

Here's where I'm at.

Locally - From either a client workstation or the server on the INTERNAL network, I can type in "http://companyweb" and view the contents of the internal website. Everything works as it should.

Externally (or internally for that matter) - From the Internet I can type in "https://remote.michaelgimber.com" to bring up my login for the RWW. With the proper credentials, I can successfully login and view 3 links - Email (through OWA which is working), Connect to a computer (which is also working), and the link for the Internal Website - which is almost working. If I click on the Internal Website link, I am immediately prompted to enter in a username and password and it appears as though I am going to be allowed to view the internal company website through the RWW. However, once I am authenticated, the window that pops up redirects me to "http://mgi-2k8/default.aspx" and I am suddenly shown a window that tells me that the webpage cannot be shown and I have the option to trouboleshoot connectivity, etc. From within this pop up browser window I cannot modify the url in the adress bar. However, if I close this window and open up a new browser window I can manually type "https://remote.michaelgimber.com:987/default.aspx" into the address bar of the browser window and I can then view the internal website and company calendar and all other links associated with this site. Furthermore, on a machine that I do NOT log into the RWW but simply type in the "https://remote.michaelgimber.com:987/default.aspx", I am prompted with a login that will also allow me to view the internal website securely without having to login otherwise. And yes -- the server cert is installed properly on my server and on my workstations both internally and externally and it is NOT a self-signed certificate, but rather a cert purchased from a 3rd party vendor.

My question is -- where do I need to look to find the pointer that is redirecting my Internal Website link in RWW (from outside) to an internal domain name as opposed to resolving to the external FQDN? I have another SBS 2008 install that I have looked through and tried to match all IIS settings and I am soooooooo close, but I just don't know where else to look to modify this pointer. I thought perhaps in DNS, but I can't find anything that looks like it is pointing to an incorrect site. I'm wondering if somehow there is something still bound in IIS to the old database that needs to be modified? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

- Chris in San Antonio

[EINSTEIN_007]

Can you tell us what ports do you have pointing to your SBS Box? It normally runs on port 987. You need to make sure you have the port open and forwarding to your SBS box. Make sure it is listening on port 987 like it should be. From a workstation open IE and go to https://servername:987.

[superdodds]

Yes, I have all the appropriate ports open and pointing to my server - without that I wouldn't be able to manually type in the address and access the website once I've been authenticated. I solved this shortly after I posted with the help from this Experts Exchange post and here's how --

Process:

Logon to the SharePoint 3.0 Central Administration site (Start --> Programs --> Administrative Tools --> SharePoint 3.0 Central Administration

Click on Operations.

Under the Global Configuration section, click on "Alternate cccess mappings"

You will see a list of all your SharePoint sites.

To the far right of the menu bar you will see a dropdown list labeled 'Alternate Access Mapping Collection:'

Click the drop down and select Change alternate access mapping collection.

Select the site you want to add the Alternate Aaddress Mapping to.

Click "Edit Public URLs" in the menu bar. This will open a page showing your URL in the zone it is defined in.

You can see there are several options to enter a value ( Default, Internet, Intranet, Custom, and Extranet). Enter the full URL using https: into one of these areas. I was able to enter it into any one of those fields and got the same behavior, but I chose Internet for mine since it was a problem of the Internal Website link redirecting to the incorrect location from the RWW. Click Save. You should now be able to view your site using either http: or https:.

This information is apparently not too widely disseminated because I've seen many folks with similar issues but no resolutions. Hopefully this document will serve to help other admins troubleshoot and resolve similar issues more quickly than this has taken me.

[superdodds]

Furthermore, I also installed the SBS Update Rollup 5. It resolves many issues within IIS/SharePoint.

Read about it here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2458094

Hope this helps!