Windows Server 2003 Cannot Find Server or DNS SSL Certificate Problem

Question

User1141600111 posted

I have a Windows 2003 Server (standard edition) with Service Pack 1 running as a web server with IIS 6. After installing the Windows updates about 3 weeks ago and rebooting, I would get the error Cannot Find Server or DNS when trying to access a web page using SSL.  I could not even access it directly from the web server using https://localhost/directory/webpage.html.  Removing the certificate and reinstalling seemed to fix the problem.

I rebooted the server again a few weeks later and had the same problem.  Removing and reinstalling the certificate fixed the problem again.

Since then, I have discovered that any time the IIS Admin service is stopped and restarted I need to remove and reinstall the certificate.

Has anyone heard of this issue?  To the best of my knowledge the only thing that changed on the server was the Windows Update.  I have searched the Internet and not found any references to this problem.  I really don't want to have to reinstall the certificate every time I reboot.

Thanks for your help.
Sarah

Answer 1

User264806290 posted

This is reallt strange problem. Do you see any errors from schannel or w3svc being logged in event viwer (System or application)?

Have you tried using SSLDiag when this issue occurs before removing/reinstalling the certificate?

Answer 2

User1141600111 posted
I just checked the event viewer and there was a "Restarting W3SVC" informational event, but no errors.  I have not run the SSLDiag, but I can do that the next time I can restart the IIS Admin Service.  Unfortunately, it's on my production server, so I can't try it right away.