How to: Set Up Database Access via Visual SourceSafe (Internet or Remote)

Visual Studio 2005

Visual SourceSafe (Internet) plug-in can be configured to access a Visual SourceSafe database either on the same computer where the Visual SourceSafe Web service is running or on another computer. In the latter case, both the Web service computer and the computer that is hosting the database must reside inside the same Windows domain.

Setting Up Internet Access on the Same Computer as the Web Service

To set up access on the same computer as the Web service

1. IIS is required to run the Internet service. If it is not installed, see How to: Enable Internet Information Services (IIS).
2. In Visual SourceSafe Administrator, on the File menu, click Open SourceSafe Database.
3. Create a network share.
4. Through the share you created in the previous step, open the database for which you want to enable remote access.
5. On the Server menu, click Configure.
6. In the Server Configuration dialog box, click Remote Access.
7. Select the Enable remote access for this computer check box to enable the Internet service for the server computer.
8. Choose Enable remote access for this database to allow remote access to the database you have specified.
9. (Optional) You can require secure communication using SSL, as described in How to: Set Up Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). Use of SSL is strongly recommended.
10. In Web Server Name, type the name of the Web server. You can enter either a DNS name or an IP address.
11. Click OK to apply your settings.
12. Repeat this procedure, if needed, for any other databases.
13. Notify any users of the SourceSafe Internet plug-in in Visual Studio that the service is enabled and they can start accessing the Visual SourceSafe database through the web service. Make sure that you provide clients with the name of the server to connect to and the name of the share where VSS database is shared. For more information, see Using Visual SourceSafe in Microsoft Visual Studio.

Setting Up Internet Access on a Different Computer than the Web Service

This section describes how to configure Microsoft SourceSafe Internet plug-in to access a database on a file server computer that is different computer from the one VSS Web Service is running on. Two procedures are provided: one for setting up access for a new database, and one for setting up access for an existing database.

• Enabling Internet Access for a new database. This procedure describes how to configure Internet access for a database on another computer by enabling Internet access for the database while the database is stored on the same computer (the Web server) and then moving the database to another computer (the File server).
• Enabling Internet Access for an existing database. If you need to configure an existing database, this procedure describes how to configure Internet access to an existing VSS database located on a computer (the File Server) different from the computer running VSS Web Service.

To set up access on a different computer than the Web service

1. Create the VSS database on the web server.
2. Enable Internet Access for the database. For more information, see How to: Enable the Internet Service for Remote Access.
3. Move the VSS database to the File Server by copying all the files in the database to a folder on the file server.
4. Create a network share, and assign user access rights to the share. For more information, see the article "Locking Down Your Database (Visual SourceSafe)" on MSDN.
5. Correct the IIS virtual folder paths to point to the new location as follows:
   
   1. Open the srcsafe.ini file and note the values for the DownloadVDir and UploadVDir variables.
   2. In Internet Information Services manager, find the virtual folders listed in srcsafe.ini file under Default Web Site, SourceSafe.
   3. Select the download folder (from the DownloadVDir variable noted in step 7), and select Properties.
   4. In the Properties dialog, on the Directory tab, change Local Path to point to the new database location download file:new_database_location\VssWebDownload (for example, \\FileServer\Database\VssWebDownload).
   5. Select the upload folder (from the UploadVDir variable noted in step 7), and select Properties.
   6. In the Properties dialog, on the Directory tab, change Local Path to point to the new database location upload file:new_database_location\VssWebUpload (for example, \\FileServer\Database\VssWebUpload).
6. Correct the web configuration file as follows:
   
   1. Open the web.config file from your Visual SourceSafe installation folder in the \VSSWebService folder (for example, C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual SourceSafe\VSSWebService).
   2. Find the section <Add key=”Database_path”> that points to the database.
   3. Modify the path for the database to point to the new location. (For example: <Add key=”\\FileServer\Database">)
   4. Save the web.config file.
7. Configure authentication delegation for the server as follows:
   
   1. Open Active Directory Users and Computers.
   2. In the console tree, click Computers.
   3. In the details pane, right-click the computer running the VSS Web Service and then click Properties.
   4. On the Delegation tab, check the Trust this computer for delegation to specified services only box.
   5. Confirm that Use Kerberos only is checked.
   6. Click Add, and in the Add Services dialog box, click Users and Computers.
   7. In Enter the File Server name, enter the file server name, and then click OK.
   8. In the Add Services dialog box, select service “cifs,” and click OK.
8. After completing these steps, you should be able to connect to the web service using the Visual Studio Plug-In.

To enable Internet Access for an existing database on a different computer than the Web service

1. Create a new VSS database on the web server.
2. Enable Internet Access for the existing database. For more information, see How to: Enable the Internet Service for Remote Access.
3. Create folders in the existing database to upload and download files as follows:
   
   1. In the database location, create a \VssWebDownload folder (for example, \\FileServer\Database\VssWebDownload).
   2. In the database location, create a \VssWebUpload folder (for example \\FileServer\Database\VssWebUpload).
4. Add the Web service URL to srcsafe.ini file as follows:
   
   1. Open the srcsafe.ini file in the temporary database.
   2. Find the variable Web_Service pointing to the VSS web service (for example, Web_Service = http://vss.microsoft.com/SourceSafe/VssService.asmx)
   3. Copy this line into the srcsafe.ini file of the existing database.
5. Correct the IIS virtual folder paths to point to the new location as follows:
   
   1. Open the srcsafe.ini of the database that was created on the Web Server and copy the lines for the DownloadVDir and UploadVDirvariables.
   2. Paste these lines into srcsafe.ini file of the existing database.
   3. In Internet Information Services manager, find the virtual folders listed in srcsafe.ini file under Default Web Site, SourceSafe.
   4. Select the download folder (from the DownloadVDir variable noted in step 7), and select Properties.
   5. In the Properties dialog, on the Directory tab, change Local Path to point to the database location download file:new_database_location\VssWebDownload (for example, \\FileServer\Database\VssWebDownload).
   6. Select the upload folder (from the UploadVDir variable noted in step 7), and select Properties.
   7. In the Properties dialog, on the Directory tab, change Local Path to point to the database location upload file:new_database_location\VssWebUpload (for example, \\FileServer\Database\VssWebUpload).
6. Correct the web configuration file as follows:
   
   1. Open the web.config file from your Visual SourceSafe installation folder in the \VSSWebService folder (for example, C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual SourceSafe\VSSWebService).
   2. Find the section <Add key=”Database_path”> that points to the database.
   3. Modify the path for the database to point to the new location. (For example: <Add key=”\\FileServer\Database">)
   4. Save the web.config file.
7. Configure authentication delegation for the server as follows:
   
   1. Open Active Directory Users and Computers.
   2. In the console tree, click Computers.
   3. In the details pane, right-click the computer running the VSS Web Service and then click Properties.
   4. On the Delegation tab, check the Trust this computer for delegation to specified services only box.
   5. Confirm that Use Kerberos only is checked.
   6. Click Add, and in the Add Services dialog box, click Users and Computers.
   7. In Enter the File Server name, enter the file server name, and then click OK.
   8. In the Add Services dialog box, select service “cifs,” and click OK.
8. After completing these steps, you should be able to connect to the web service using the Visual Studio Plug-In.