FP2000: External Option Is Not Available After You Install Visual SourceSafe

After you install Microsoft Visual SourceSafe, you may be unable to select external source control for a Microsoft FrontPage-extended Web in the Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) snap-in of the Microsoft Management Console (MMC). The only options available in the Version control box on the Server Extensions tab are None and Use built-in.

This behavior can occur if the currently logged-on Microsoft Windows NT or Microsoft Windows 2000 user has not been added to the Visual SourceSafe database user list.

To resolve this issue, add your user account to the Visual SourceSafe database user list. To do this, follow these steps:

1. On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Visual SourceSafe, and then click Visual SourceSafe Admin.
2. On the Tools menu, click Options, click the General tab, and then click to select the Use network name for automatic user log in check box. Click OK.
3. On the Users menu, click Open SourceSafe Database.
4. Under Available databases, select the correct database from the list, click to select the Open this database next time I run Visual SourceSafe check box, and then click Open.
5. On the Users menu, click Add User, type your Windows NT or Windows 2000 user name and password in the Add User dialog box, and then click OK.
   
   You now have Read/Write access rights to the Visual SourceSafe database.
6. Start Internet Services Manager or the MMC that contains the IIS snap-in.
7. Right-click the Web site (for example, Default Web Site), and then click Properties.
8. Click the Server Extensions tab.
9. Under Enable authoring, click the down arrow in the Version control box. The Use external option now appears in the list.

If you are accessing a remote Visual SourceSafe database, you must also enable Basic authentication for the Web site that is under source control. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Start Internet Services Manager or the MMC containing the IIS snap-in.
2. Right-click the Web site, and then click Properties.
3. Click the Directory Security tab.
4. Under Anonymous access and authentication control, click Edit.
5. Click to select the Basic authentication check box, and then click OK.

For additional information about how Visual SourceSafe integrates with FrontPage, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: