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How to check and modify the application pool identity

Catherine
  • Updated

The SquaredUp web application runs using an ASP.NET application pool process. This process can be configured to run as a specific user, which is called the application pool identity.

SquaredUp uses the end user's identity when showing data from Azure Monitor, but the application pool identity is used for the following important tasks:

  • Accessing local files (e.g. log file, configuration files) on the web server
  • Connecting to SQL and other WebAPI data sources

By default, the application pool is configured to use the NetworkService identity, which appears as the computer account when accessing network resources.

If you have deployed SquaredUp within an Active Directory domain, you may want to change the application pool identity to an Active Directory user account created specifically for SquaredUp. This is called a domain service account.

If you change the application pool identity after installation, you must follow the instructions below.

You can specify a different application pool identity for a new installation using the modify option on the Ready to Deploy page of a new SquaredUp installation. This sets up the correct file permissions automatically.

Viewing the application pool identity

1. Confirm the name of the SquaredUp application pool

  1. In IIS expand Default Web Site and right-click on the SquaredUp website.
  2. Go to Manage Application > Advanced Settings.
  3. Check that the Application Pool is SquaredUpv4 or SquaredUpv5 depending on your version.

2. View the application pool identity

You can check the application pool identity by using IIS:

  1. In IIS, click on Application Pools.
  2. Right-click on your SquaredUp application pool, for example SquaredUpv4 or SquaredUpv5, and select Advanced Settings.
  3. Under Process Model, you will see Identity. By default this is set to NetworkService, but if you wish to change the application pool identity you can change it here.

The SquaredUp application pool identity you see here is often referred to as the SquaredUpAccount in SquaredUp articles.

Modifying the application pool identity

1. Enter the account credentials

Follow the steps above to check and modify the account used by the application pool.

2. Configure the file permissions on the SquaredUp server

The account you are logging into SquaredUp with has no effect on disk read/write permissions. What is important is the identity (user account) of the IIS application pool used by SquaredUp.

On SquaredUp v5.1 and above it is not necessary to reconfigure the file permissions on the SquaredUp server after changing the application pool identity. Continue to the next section below.

  1. Open a command prompt as an administrator (from Start > Run type command prompt, right-click on the Command Prompt icon and click Run as administrator).

  2. Type:

    cd C:\inetpub\wwwroot\SquaredUpv4

    or
    cd C:\inetpub\wwwroot\SquaredUpv5depending on your version of SquaredUp

  3. Type:

    squaredup4 permissions --user="DOMAIN\USER"
    or

    squaredup5 permissions --user="DOMAIN\USER"
    Where DOMAIN is your domain and USER is the SquaredUp application pool identity.

    For example, if the application pool identity has been changed to a user called svc-squaredup in the domain sales on SquaredUp v5 you would type:

    squaredup5 permissions --user="sales\svc-squaredup"

    If your SquaredUp application pool identity is NetworkService and you need to re-apply the correct permissions for NetworkService then type:

    squaredup5 permissions --user="networkservice"

3. Configure any other required SQL or Web API data sources

If you are using SQL Tiles or Web API tiles on your dashboards, and these connections require Windows Authentication, remember to update the SQL or Web API data sources to provide the new application pool identity with the required permissions.

How to configure access to a database for use with the SQL tile

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