Installation and Setup

Re: cannot download mdb file in 2.0 - works in 1.1

abhinav316 — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 20:10:58 GMT

Update: This works for any other extensions that are in the following list:

*.asax, *.ascx, *.master, *.skin, *.browser, *.sitemap, *.config (but not *.exe.config or *.dll.config), *.cs, *.csproj, *.vb, *.vbproj, *.webinfo, *.licx, *.resx, *.resources, *.mdb, *.vjsproj, *.java, *.dd, *.jsl, *.ldb, *.ad, *.ldd, *.sd, *.cd, *.adprototype, *.lddprototype, *.sdm, *.sdmDocument, *.mdf, *.ldf, *.exclude, *.refresh

for more info, refer to: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/Bulletin/MS06-033.mspx

Re: cannot download mdb file in 2.0 - works in 1.1

abhinav316 — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 20:06:35 GMT

Microsoft meant this to be a security feature so that IIS wouldnt hand out mdbs to anyone who knew/guessed the proper path/url. To disable this feature and re-allow mdbs to be served, log into the IIS Manager of the Webserver and do the following:

On the treeview, Right Click on the target website folder -> Properties

Under the "Directory" or "Virtual Directory" tab, go to "Configuration" Under the "App Mappings" tab, scroll down and find the ".mdb" extension in the list.

Click Remove. Apply and exit. Then go to Start -> Run -> cmd OR bring up the command prompt somehow, and type in "iisreset /restart" OR restart iis from the management console.

After IIS has been restarted, voila! Your website will now serve mdbs

Re: cannot download mdb file in 2.0 - works in 1.1

Procedure — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 19:57:07 GMT

I am seeing the same problem with MDB (Access database) files. The error message I am getting is:

This type of page is not served.

Description: The type of page you have requested is not served because it has been explicitly forbidden. The extension '.mdb' may be incorrect. Please review the URL below and make sure that it is spelled correctly.

So, it appears to be a security function of ASP.NET 2.0, but I can't find how to disable it. I'm hoping to be able to add something to my Web.config, but haven't found anything about it yet. If you are curious, I need this because I dynamically generate an MDB file for my user's to download from my application. I've been doing it with .NET 1.1 for several years now and am finally getting around to converting my application to .NET 2.0.

Thanks for any information you can provide.
-- Rob --

Re: cannot download mdb file in 2.0 - works in 1.1

jeff@zina.com — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 20:48:57 GMT

I'd have guessed IIS's not serving unknown MIME types, but that would break in 1.1 as well. Can you request the file directly on the URL rather than the link? Is the link in a control? Have you tried another browser or workstation?

Jeff

cannot download mdb file in 2.0 - works in 1.1

pandyan1 — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 19:35:17 GMT

I have a classic asp page which creates a MDB file and then shows a link to the file:

<a href="mydb.mdb>download file</a>

This classic asp page works when the web server is set up as 1.1, but fails under 2.0.

The message is "Internet Explorer cannot download".

Help!