LXR Software Support

Frequently asked Questions


What are the Sharing and Permissions Requirements for Web-based Testing?

Note: The following information is taken from Appendix H of the User's Guide.

Set Up the LXRWeb Virtual Directory in IIS:

Note: The Web Server Extensions installer has been programmed to automatically set up the LXRWeb folder as a virtual directory in IIS. In the event that the virtual directory is not properly set up – this could be due to corruption in the IIS setup – you may have to manually set up the virtual directory via the following steps.

1. Log into your Windows 2000 or NT Server as an Administrator.
2. Launch the Internet Services Manager program (NOT to be confused with the MS Transaction Server Interface).
In Windows 2000, choose: Start > Settings > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Internet Services Manager. In Windows NT, choose: Start > Programs > Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack > Microsoft Internet Information Server > Internet Service Manager.
3. When in the Internet Services Manager program, under the Internet Information Services folder (in Windows NT, under Internet Information Server), expand the name of your server.
4. Expand the Default Web Site folder.
5. Notice that the LXRWeb currently has a folder icon by its name. Right-click on LXRWeb, choose Properties.
6. Within the Virtual Directory tab (in Windows NT, the Directory tab), click on the Create button.
7. Verify that the Application Name field (in Windows NT, simply called the Name field) in the Applications Settings section is LXRWeb (enter this if name is missing) and click OK (notice that LXRWeb now has a package icon by its name). (If LXRWeb has a folder icon instead of the package icon, web tests will not work properly.)
8. Click on the computer name in the left panel. Verify that the state for the Default Web Site is shown as "Running" in the right panel. If not, select the Default Web Site and click the Right arrow to start it.

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Set Up a Share on the LXRWeb Folder:

Note: The network share will allow administrative access to LXR•TEST data files.

1. Navigate to the IIS directory via Windows Explorer or My Computer; default directory is C:\Inetpub\wwwroot
2. Notice that LXRWeb currently has a folder icon by its name. Right-click on the LXRWeb folder, select Properties
3. Select the Sharing tab
4. Select "Shared this folder" (in Windows NT: select "Shared As")
5. Click the Permissions button
6. Determine the users and/or groups you want to allow network access to the LXR•TEST data files through this share.

If you are working in a controlled environment with no security concerns, you can give Full Control to the “Everyone” group. For any other situations, you should limit access to specific users and/or groups such as yourself and other instructors who will be building and maintaining the web tests. Determine the type of access you will provide to user and/or group names.

7. Click the Add button to display the list of users and groups to select from. Press the Show Users button to display user names (this feature unavailable in Windows 2000).
   
   Note: If you are using multiple domains, you may have to change the domain name in the upper list box to show names and groups from other domains.
   
   
8. Add the users and/or groups to whom you want to provide access through this share and set the desired type of access for each user/group. Normally, you will want to include your personal account or group set to ‘Full Control’ access. Other groups will usually only need ‘Change’ access.
9. After you have added the users and/or groups and configured their respective file access types, click OK two times (three times in Windows NT). Notice that the LXRWeb folder now includes a hand in the icon, indicating that the folder now has Shared status; other users will now be able to access files within the LXRWeb folder via the network.

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Set Up File Permissions for Web-based Exam Administration:

Note: This part only applies if the disk has been formatted in NTFS format. Without NTFS format, you will have limited options to control user access. It is strongly recommended that you use NTFS format.

1. Right-click on the LXRWeb folder again, select Properties
2. Select the Security tab
3. Click the Permissions button (this step only required in Windows NT)
4. Ensure that "Allow inheritable permissions from parent to propagate to this object" is checked (in Windows NT, you will need both ‘Replace Permissions on Subdirectories’ and ‘Replace Permissions on Existing Files’ options checked
5. Determine which users and/or groups will have permission to access the files and folders within the LXRWeb folder and subfolders.
   
   Note: This step allows you to set much finer controls to file access, if desired, than the (above-mentioned) network share permission allows. Typically, you will include the same users and/or groups that were added in the network share permission steps (as described above) and provide them ‘Change’ access. You will also add limited access to the students/users to take the test over the web.
   
   If you are working in a controlled environment with no security concerns, then you may want to leave the default permissions which allows the Everyone group Full Control. (Verify that the Everyone group has Full Control.) If have no security concerns, skip to step 7; otherwise, continue to step 6
   
   
6. For For any less than secure situation, you should set the file permissions to limit access to only the required users and groups in the following steps:
7. Highlight (select) the Everyone group and press Remove to eliminate this group.
8. Click Add.
9. Set the access type to Full Control.
10. Include the User Names or Group Names that require Full Control for Web test administration, such as your personal account or group, and other instructors. You must also add the built-in SYSTEM account and the local Administrators Group account, from the local domain, with Full Control permissions.
11. If the desired accounts are not listed, be sure you have the correct domain selected in "List Names From:" list box. Press the Show Users button (this step only required in Windows NT). Press OK to add the users/groups.
12. The anonymous account used by the IIS server for web users must have access to the data files in order to allow users taking tests over the web to access the files.
    
    Note: The account IUSR_computername is automatically created when IIS is installed.
    
    
13. Click Add.
14. Select the Internet Guest Account IUSR_computername (where computername is the name of your computer, as recorded earlier) from the appropriate domain list. If the IUSR_computername is not listed, be sure you have the correct domain selected from the “List Users From:” list box, and pressed the Show Users button.
15. Set Type of Access to "Modify" and press OK. (in Windows NT set type of access to ‘Change’)
16. (This step only required in Windows NT:)

After all users/groups have been entered and the corresponding permissions appropriately set, press OK to close the Directory Permissions dialog box. A prompt will ask if you intend to change all files and folders, answer Yes. This will change the file permissions for the LXRWeb folder and all files and subfolders within.

Click OK to close the properties box for the LXRWeb folder.

For more precise control of NTFS file permissions, the following general rules apply for access by Web test users (i.e., students) accessing the web server anonymously under the IUSR_computername account:

Permissions:	Applies to:
Read & Execute, and Write	Any LXRWeb subfolders containing any LXR•TEST database (Online, Scoring, Grading, Students)
Read & Execute, and Write	LXROnline, LXRScores files
Read & Execute	LXRGrading, LXRStudents files
Read	Images, image folders, *.htm files, *.asp files, *.jpg files, *.gif files

CAUTION: Improper permission settings may cause unpredictable results. For a list of common web errors, some due to improper permission settings, click here.