The Pentana Audit WebService is a client application to the main service.

In order for the WebService to connect successfully it must authenticate, and to facilitate that we need the application pool identity to be listed as an Identity in App Manager.  Assuming the application pool identity is YourDomain\PentanaService, this would look like:

If the identity for WebService's application pool is not set up as a user in Pentana, then the WebUI application itself will fail to authenticate, and nobody will be able to log in.

Diagnosing the problem

In all versions, the WebService log file at WebService\WebService.log will contain an entry that looks like this:

2023-09-18 15:03:13.390
*****An exception occurred at Monday, September 18, 2023 3:03:13 PM using version 6.0.1.3
1. Exception of type: TngException[General] - Message: Remote response message contains errors
   at Pentana.Tng.Web.Service.MainService.InitializeService()
   at Pentana.Tng.ServiceInterface.Global.Application_Start(Object sender, EventArgs e)
1.1. Error AuthorizationError: A valid user could not be found matching the identity AZ-61PZ7C3\PentanaService
**************************************************

End users will see different behaviours depending on the version.  They will enter a username and password, and then:

• In v6, users will see the usual 'Something has gone wrong' message, but it will also include a status code, for http error 500, with the message "The service encountered an internal problem":

• In v5.4, users will be returned to the login dialog and will see the error text "You are not authorized to use Pentana. Please contact your Administrator"

Note that this error message should not be confused with "A valid user could not be found matching the identity <blank>", which is documented in this KB article.