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HTTP Status 401 error when testing the WSUS connection to Patch Manager

Overview

When you configure and test the Microsoft® Windows® Server Update Services (WSUS) server connection in the SolarWinds Patch Manager Admin Console, the following error message displays:

Could not connect to server: WSUS. The request failed with HTTP status 401: Unauthorized.
WSUSConnection::Unable to connect to the WSUS Server.

Environment

All SolarWinds Patch Manager versions

Cause

The SolarWinds Patch Manager environment is not set up correctly. 

Resolution

Resolve the issue based on your WSUS configuration.

See the Microsoft TechNet website for more information about troubleshooting 401.1 authentication problems. 

1. Patch Manager and WSUS are installed on separate servers

If the WSUS server is not configured on the SolarWinds Patch Manager server, perform the following steps to troubleshoot the connection and the error message:

  1. Verify that the user account displayed in the error message has administrator access to the WSUS server and did not change their password.

    If the user updated the account password on the WSUS server, update the credential in the WSUS credential library. See Configure the WSUS Server (© 2017 Microsoft Corporation, available at http://technet.microsoft.com, obtained on December 4, 2017) for information about configuring WSUS. 

  2. If you are using a DNS alias for the WSUS server, verify that SolarWinds Patch Manager is using the server name as the connection name.
    1. Log in to the SolarWinds Patch Manager Admin Console.
    2. In the Patch Manager menu, expand Enterprise and select Update Services.
    3. Click Add or Configure WSUS Server in the Actions pane.
    4. Verify that the Server Name and Connection Name fields contain the same value.

      For example:

    5. Click Save to save your changes (if required). 
  3. On the SolarWinds Patch Manager server, open the Local Security Policy editor in the Windows Server® operating system. 
  4. Under Security Settings, expand Local Policies and select Security Options. 
  5. Verify that the following policy is set to Disabled:
    Network access: Do not allow storage of passwords and credentials for network authentication
  6. Verify that the following policy is set to Classic or Guest only:
    Network access: Sharing and security model for local accounts
  7. Close the Local Security Policy editor. 
  8. Open the SolarWinds Patch Manager Admin Console.
  9. In the Patch Manager menu, expand Enterprise and select Update Services. 
  10. Click Add or Modify WSUS Server in the Actions pane. 
  11. Click the Server Name drop-down menu and select the WSUS server.
    For example, SPM-MGOM.
  12. Click Test Connection to verify the connection between SolarWinds Patch Manager and the WSUS server.

    Connect Succeeded displays in the Success window.

  13. Close the window. 

Reset IIS

If you are running WSUS on Windows Server® 2012 and Patch Manager 2.1.5 on Windows Server 2016 and the above steps did not solve the problem, do the following: 

  1. Reset IIS on the WSUS and Patch Manager servers.
    1. Open a command prompt as an administrator.
    2. Execute:
      iisreset
  2. Activate and enable the WMI Adapter Service on the Remote WSUS server.

2. Patch Manager and WSUS are installed on the same server

In this configuration, you may encounter a loopback security check. This Microsoft security feature prevents applications from using a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) to access web applications hosted on the same server. Perform the following steps to specify the host name mapped to the loopback address.

Back up the SolarWinds Patch Manager server before you edit the Windows Registry with Registry Editor. 

  1. On the SolarWinds Patch Manager server, stop the Internet Information Services (IIS) Admin service. 
  2. Open the Registry Editor. 
  3. Navigate to:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters 
  4. Set the DisableStrictNameChecking registry entry to 1.
    See the Microsoft TechNet website for more information about connecting to an SMB share.  
  5. Navigate to:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa\MSV1_0
  6. Create a new Multi-String Value called BackConnectionHostNames.
  7. Right-click BackConnectionHostNames and click Modify.
  8. In the Value data field, type the host name for the sites on the local computer, and then click OK.
  9. Close the Registry Editor. 
  10. Restart the IIS Admin service.

    If the issue is not resolved, complete the procedures in the previous section.

 

Disclaimer: Please note, any content posted herein is provided as a suggestion or recommendation to you for your internal use. This is not part of the SolarWinds software or documentation that you purchased from SolarWinds, and the information set forth herein may come from third parties. Your organization should internally review and assess to what extent, if any, such custom scripts or recommendations will be incorporated into your environment.  You elect to use third party content at your own risk, and you will be solely responsible for the incorporation of the same, if any.

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