"Unable to access SnapIn config data Store" accessing Web Management Console

For quite some time I had been running into this error when attempting to access the Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 Web Management Console application from a Windows 8 machine.

SnapIn config data store error

I had ran a Fiddler trace on the issue and determined that the issue simultaneously reported and HTTP 405 error, which suggested a problem with Windows Authentication, required by the Web Management Console.

Fiddler Trace

Since I really couldn't determine what the problem was, the issue went dormant for more than 4 months. In addition, I never seemed to have the time to troubleshoot it with my friends over at Microsoft... until this past Microsoft Convergence New Orleans 2013, that is.

As it turned out, there's one "other pre-requisite" if installing the Web Management Console on a Windows 8 environment: Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) HTTP Activation. Simply put, HTTP activation allows a WCF service to relay its messaging asynchronously over HTTP - in this case HTTPS. In Windows 8, HTTP Activation is turned off by default, unlike Windows Server.

The SnapIn config data store is a table in the GPWEBMANAGEMENT database (dbo.SnapInStorage) and stores the URL to the Session Central Service WCF service. I ran a SQL Profile trace and noticed that the Web Management Console was not able to reach the GPWEBMANAGEMENT database on the SQL Server to read the Session Central Service URL. Therefore, the Console was not able to communicate to the Session Central Service to obtain user session or tenant information.

To turn on HTTP Activation on Windows 8:

1. Open Control Panel
2. Select Programs
3. Click on Turn Windows features on or off
4. Expand .NET Framework 4.5 Advanced Services
5. Expand WCF Services
6. Click on the HTTP Activation checkmark

WCF HTTP Activation

7. If you plan to support other protocols in your environment, you can turn on MSMQ Activation, Named Pipe Activation TCP Activation, or TCP Port Sharing as additional options for your WCF endpoints.

Once the services were up and running, the Web Management Console worked like a charm.

Many thanks to Daryl Anderson and Grant Swenson at Microsoft for assisting with this one.

Until next post!

MG.-
Mariano Gomez, MVP
IntellPartners, LLC
http://www.IntellPartners.com/