Internet Connection in VS 2005

Hi,
I just installed VS 2005 on my machine, but my online help cannot be accessed. I keep getting the message: "The request failed with Http Status 407. Proxy authentication required". IE on my machine does have proxy authentication. Is there a fix for this?
Thanks,
Arshad
[753 byte] By [ArshadSyed] at [2008-2-6]
# 1
Arshad,

Where does this message appear? Is it in a WebBrowser upon trying to view a help page, or is it in the Search toolwindow (Help->Search)?

Thanks,
Jeremy Jones

JeremyJones at 2007-9-9 > top of Msdn Tech,Visual Studio,Developer Documentation and Help System...
# 2
You say that IE on your machine is configured to authenticate with your web proxy, and that it can successfully access the web, but that VS is unable to display online help topics?

This should work; VS should be picking up the IE settings. There is no way in VS for you to supply any credentials for authenticating with the proxy.

We would like to know more about the problem you're seeing. If you could answer Jeremy's questions too, that would be very helpful.

Thanks!

PaulMcKee--MSFT at 2007-9-9 > top of Msdn Tech,Visual Studio,Developer Documentation and Help System...
# 3
I have exactly the same problem. Note that for me the VS IDE does work with the proxy. It's the help system that gives me the 407.

To answer Jeremy's question: when you execute a search in dexplore you have these seperate zone result panes (MSDN Online, Code Zone Community, etc..) it's under these pane headers the 407 appears.

Also when you go into dexplore->options->help->online->download provider list it will give you a "unable to retrieve resource from the msdn service" msgbox.

Cheers,
Thomas

ThomasvanderHeijden at 2007-9-9 > top of Msdn Tech,Visual Studio,Developer Documentation and Help System...
# 4
Exactly the same issue here.

Internet access at work is via an MS ISA Server that requires authentication. IE set up to use config script and works correctly.

VS2005 (RC) help cannot get online saying it needs proxy authentication.

Has anyone been able to get around this issue?

Incidentally, the Start Page in VS 2005 works fine and updates with the latest news!!

MartinDolphin at 2007-9-9 > top of Msdn Tech,Visual Studio,Developer Documentation and Help System...
# 5
Exacly the same issue here too.

It begins to happen when you change the domain password.

rpallares at 2007-9-9 > top of Msdn Tech,Visual Studio,Developer Documentation and Help System...
# 6
Any updates on this? It's been a while.
ThomasvanderHeijden at 2007-9-9 > top of Msdn Tech,Visual Studio,Developer Documentation and Help System...
# 7
Same problem here.
Exitboy at 2007-9-9 > top of Msdn Tech,Visual Studio,Developer Documentation and Help System...
# 8

Sorry for taking so long to get back to everyone on this. If your proxy uses Windows authentication, the VS 2005 Help system fails to properly provide credentials to the proxy. You can work around this using a config file change -- details below. In this case, the Start Page will already be able to download its content correctly, as in Martin's case above.

To have VS 2005 send Windows credentials to your Internet proxy, make the following addition to the application configuration file:

<?xml version ="1.0"?>
<configuration>
<startup>
<supportedRuntime version="v2.0.50727" safemode="true"/>
<requiredRuntime version="v2.0.50727" safemode="true"/>
</startup>
<runtime>
<assemblyBinding xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1">
<probing privatePath="PublicAssemblies;PrivateAssemblies"/>
<dependentAssembly>
<assemblyIdentity name="EnvDTE" publicKeyToken="b03f5f7f11d50a3a" culture="neutral"/>
<bindingRedirect oldVersion="7.0.3300.0" newVersion="8.0.0.0"/>
</dependentAssembly>
</assemblyBinding>
</runtime>
<system.net>
<settings>
<ipv6 enabled="true" />
</settings>
<defaultProxy enabled="true" useDefaultCredentials="true">
<proxy bypassonlocal="True" proxyaddress="http://yourproxy"/>
</defaultProxy>
</system.net>
</configuration>

The file in question is Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Help 8\dexplore.exe.config, and it should already be on your system. You need to edit the file, inserting the part that is highlighted above, and substituting the correct proxyaddress for your network. The useDefaultCredentials attribute is the key.

Note that if you're using the integrated help viewer (help displayed in the devenv.exe shell, instead of in DExplorer), then the above changes need to be made to Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\Common7\IDE\devenv.exe.config instead.

Give this workaround a try and let me know whether it allows online Help to work for you.

Thanks!

PaulMcKee--MSFT at 2007-9-9 > top of Msdn Tech,Visual Studio,Developer Documentation and Help System...
# 9

There's another case that I didn't cover in my post above: If your proxy uses another authentication scheme, such as LDAP-based authentication on a Unix box, then I'm afraid there's no guaranteed way to make VS 2005 Help work. The client (VS 2005) needs to be designed to present a credentials dialog to the user when the proxy requests credentials, but this UI doesn't exist in VS 2005.

Some users have reported success with this workaround:

1. Start Visual Studio
2. On the View menu, click Other Windows -> Web Browser
3. A prompt for authentication should appear as the integrated web browser attempts to navigate to a page on the Internet. Provide a valid username and password.
4. The Start Page and online Help in VS may now function normally.

If you're in this situation, give this workaround a try and let us know whether it works.

Thanks!

PaulMcKee--MSFT at 2007-9-9 > top of Msdn Tech,Visual Studio,Developer Documentation and Help System...
# 10
Worked for me! Thanks.
ThomasvanderHeijden at 2007-9-9 > top of Msdn Tech,Visual Studio,Developer Documentation and Help System...
# 11
worked for me too.
thanks.
rpallares at 2007-9-9 > top of Msdn Tech,Visual Studio,Developer Documentation and Help System...
# 12
Only just had chance to try this at work after a few days holiday.

This gets past the authentication error, but I now get a new one
"The request failed with HTTP status 405: Method Not Allowed"

Any ideas?

MartinDolphin at 2007-9-9 > top of Msdn Tech,Visual Studio,Developer Documentation and Help System...
# 13
Hmmm... not really. We're using HTTP POSTs to make our web service calls. Are you able to do HTTP POSTs (not just HTTP GETs) in IE to internet sites through your proxy?
PaulMcKee--MSFT at 2007-9-9 > top of Msdn Tech,Visual Studio,Developer Documentation and Help System...
# 14
Worked great, thanks!

Dana

DanaPellerin at 2007-9-9 > top of Msdn Tech,Visual Studio,Developer Documentation and Help System...

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