Why am I unable to access the WebMarshal console when using Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008?

This article applies to:

• WebMarshal 6.1.5 and above
• Windows Vista
• Windows Server 2008
• User Account Control (UAC)

Question:

• Why am I unable to access the WebMarshal Console when using Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008?

Symptoms:

• Attempting to connect to the WebMarshal Console immediately after installing WebMarshal
• Error: 'A connection could not be made to the WebMarshal server. You do not have sufficient rights to perform this action'

Information:

• WebMarshal initially requires Administrator privilege to connect to the WebMarshal Console.
• When the WebMarshal Array Manager is installed on a Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 machine, users can be denied access to the Console. This is due to the security feature called User Account Control (UAC). UAC affects any security settings that include the BUILTIN\Administrators group among others.
• With UAC, unless a user runs the Console in "Run as administrator" mode on the WebMarshal server, they will not be recognized as a member of this group, and therefore by default they will be denied access.
• The WebMarshal installer provides a user-friendly change to this behavior. The installer creates a group WebMarshal Admins and populates it with the members of the local Administrators group. All members of WebMarshal Admins are allowed local or remote access to the WebMarshal Console.

Notes:

• Because Windows only checks group membership when a user logs on, you must log off and then log on again to be recognized as a member of the WebMarshal Admins group.
• The WebMarshal installer runs in "Run as administrator" mode, and therefore any process it launches also runs in this mode. If you choose to launch the Console directly from the finish of installation you will be able to connect. However, if you attempt to launch the Console after closing the installer, you will observe the symptoms described in this article.
• The message "You do not have sufficient rights" is expected by default when you connect as a non-administrative user. You can grant other accounts permission to connect to the Console, using the WebMarshal Security tool found in the WebMarshal installation folder and program group.