SharePoint 2010 custom 401 error page on authenticated site

Question

I'm trying to create a custom 401 error page for my site. The setup is a SharePoint 2010 enterprise site with subwebs. The entire solution requires authentication (no anonymous access). I've tried both of these:

[1] http://www.ngpixel.com/2010/12/23/sharepoint-2010-custom-error-pages/

[2] http://sharepointlearningcurve.blogspot.com/2010/06/sharepoint-2010-custom-error-messages.html#comment-form

1. Gets me very close, but I'm unable to redirect to my own custom html page. I can modify the default 401 page though.
2. Doesn't really explain how to do it with an authenticated site as it requires access to the _layouts folder.

I've updated my web config like this:

<!-- inside <system.web> -->
<customErrors defaultRedirect="404.htm" mode="On">
    <error redirect="401-c.htm" statusCode="401" />
    <error redirect="403.htm" statusCode="403" />
    <error redirect="404.htm" statusCode="404" />
    <error redirect="500.htm" statusCode="500" />
</customErrors>

<!--inside <system.webServer> -->
<httpErrors errorMode="Custom" existingResponse="Auto"/>

This setup allows me to redirect to the default 401.htm page (found in inetpub/custerr/), but I'm unable to redirect it. Even with the xml above (401-c.htm is found in the same directory) it only directs me to the default 401 page.

I don't have a clue what's going on here. Can anyone help?

Edit: An alternative web.config setup I've tried that also did not work:

<!-- inside <system.web> -->
<customErrors mode="On"/>

<!-- inside <system.webServer> -->
<httpErrors errorMode="Custom" existingResponse="Auto">
    <remove statusCode="401" subStatusCode="-1" />
    <error statusCode="401" prefixLanguageFilePath=""
                   path="/Pages/AccessDenied.aspx" responseMode="ExecuteURL" />
</httpErrors>

The system kept asking me for credentials even though I entered them correctly. When I closed the login box it did not give me my custom error page. Only a blank page with absolutely no content.

Edit2: I've concluded that none of the above solutions actually work as they intercept the 401 error BEFORE it reaches SharePoint. I need a solution like the one @GavinB and @Amit Kumawat suggests though for some reason this does not work either. It seems I need a way to rewrite the actual data that SharePoint sends back with the 401 error. I've tried this: http://www.sharepointblues.com/2010/02/12/custom-error-page-adapter/ but cannot seem to find the correct assembly for the "controlType" attribute.

Answer 1

Ok, there are APIs to support everything you're tyring to do, NEVER DIRECTLY EDIT THE web.config!!!!!!!

Follow these easy steps:

Package your custom error pages into a solution. Hey, if you're doing the 401 you might want to add a couple of others to support access requests too ;)

Deploy the pages to {SP_Root}\Tempates\Layouts\MyErrorPages\ using a mapped folder so that you don't overwrite the exisitng ones.

Create a WebApplictaion scoped feature. Create an event receiver for the feature and use a adaption of the following code to set the error page for your web appliation.

    const string customAccessDeniedPage = "/_layouts/MyErrorPages/AccessDenied.aspx";
    const string customRequestAccessPage = "/_layouts/MyErrorPages/ReqAccess.aspx";
    const string customConfirmationPage = "/_layouts/MyErrorPages/Confirmation.aspx";

    public override void FeatureActivated(SPFeatureReceiverProperties properties)
    {
        SPWebApplication webApp = properties.Feature.Parent as SPWebApplication;
        if (null != webApp)
        {
            if (webApp.UpdateMappedPage(SPWebApplication.SPCustomPage.AccessDenied, customAccessDeniedPage) &&
                webApp.UpdateMappedPage(SPWebApplication.SPCustomPage.RequestAccess, customRequestAccessPage) &&
                webApp.UpdateMappedPage(SPWebApplication.SPCustomPage.Confirmation, customConfirmationPage))
            {
                webApp.Update();
            }
        }                
    }


    //On deactivate set default access denied page
    public override void FeatureDeactivating(SPFeatureReceiverProperties properties)
    {
        SPWebApplication webApp = properties.Feature.Parent as SPWebApplication;
        if (null != webApp)
        {
            if (webApp.UpdateMappedPage(SPWebApplication.SPCustomPage.AccessDenied, null) &&
                webApp.UpdateMappedPage(SPWebApplication.SPCustomPage.RequestAccess, null) &&
                webApp.UpdateMappedPage(SPWebApplication.SPCustomPage.Confirmation, null))
            {
                    webApp.Update();
            }
        }
    }

Now deploy your solution, given this is scoped to the WebApplication ensure that you only deploy it to the web app you want your custom error pages on.

Edit: it's worth noting that there is a known issue with UpdateMappedPage in SharePoint 2013 in that it doesn't work. This may be resolved in SP1 but I've not yet tested it.

Answer 2

Error 401 is for Unauthorized Access (or Access Denied). In a SharePoint site, "Access Denied" is managed at two levels - IIS and SharePoint.

The web.config changes you did are meant for IIS. As "access denied" inside SharePoint site is managed by SharePoint, for IIS there is no 401 and hence no redirection.

To set custom 401 page for a SharePoint site, you have to use SharePoint API only. Also, Your custom 401 page should be accessible to a user even if he is unauthorized on the site. It means your custom 401 page should not throw a 401 itself to unauthorized user!

By the way, you may loose "Sign in as different user" functionality if you change default access denied page in SharePoint .

Answer 3

Sounds like #1 should work fine. I am thinking that the Browser File Handling of the web application might be preventing you from seeing the HTM file. You can update that setting to Permissive, and I believe HTM files should start to work fine.

1. Go to Central Administration
2. Go to Application Management
3. Go to Manage Web Applications
4. Click on the web application you would like to modify
5. In the ribbon click on General Settings
6. Change Browser File Handling to Permissive
7. Press OK

Give it a shot.

Answer 4

Maybe this works for you: Implementing SharePoint 2010 Custom Error Pages

Greets

Answer 5

I agree with GavinB, it is best to use SPWebApplication.SPCustomPage enumeration to add the custom error pages.

You can run the following PowerShell to see if you have already set some custom layouts pages:

Get-SPCustomLayoutsPage -WebApplication http://mySharePointWebapp.dev.int

Output:Page RelativePath

• AccessDenied
• Confirmation
• Error
• Login
• RequestAccess
• Signout
• WebDeleted

See more about How to set Custom 404, Access Denied, Request Access and Custom Error pages in SharePoint

Answer 6

Perhaps this link helps: http://blog.staticvoid.co.nz/2011/6/14/custom_errors_and_sharepoint_2010

Maybe you are missing the callStack="true"?