Help with old company intranet link to show hostname

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So we have an old company intranet that we are waiting to move to Sharepoint. In the meantime, I wanted to make it easier for our regular staff seeking MIS/IT Support to click on a link on the intranet page to show their local computer hostname. We have one that already pops up when clicked on and shows their IP address, but I prefer their hostname. The current page is written with mixed javascript and ASP.net stuff. I am not much of a coder, but I can see and understand some codes to be able to make small edits. I've done a lot of research and just can't get the page to act the same as the current "GetIP.asp" page does. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Here is current GetIP.asp:

<!-- metadata type="typelib" file="c:\windows\system32\scrrun.dll" -->
<html>
<head>

<%
Dim UserIPAddress
UserIPAddress = Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR")
If UserIPAddress = "" Then
  UserIPAddress = Request.ServerVariables("REMOTE_ADDR")
End If
%>

<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<title>Computer IP Address</title>
<script language="JavaScript">
<!--
// This will resize the window when it is opened or
// refresh/reload is clicked to a width and height of 500 x 500
// with is placed first, height is placed second
window.resizeTo(500,150)
window.moveTo(350,300)
-->
</script>

<style type="text/css">

</style>

</head>
<body>
<center>
<h1 style="font-size:60";"face:Verdana">
<%
	Response.Write( UserIPAddress )
%>

</h1></center>
</body>
</html>

What I have tried:

This is the GetHostname.asp that I have tried to make work to show hostname but doesnt work:

<!-- metadata type="typelib" file="c:\windows\system32\scrrun.dll" -->
<html>
<head>

<%
System.Net.IPHostEntry host;
host = System.Net.Dns.GetHostEntry(HttpContext.Current.Re quest.ServerVariable["REMOTE_HOST"]);
string strComputerName = host.HostName;
%>

<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<title>WKS/LTP Name</title>
<script language="JavaScript">
<!--
// This will resize the window when it is opened or
// refresh/reload is clicked to a width and height of 500 x 500
// with is placed first, height is placed second
window.resizeTo(500,150)
window.moveTo(350,300)
-->
</script>

<style type="text/css">

</style>

</head>
<body>
<center>
<h1 style="font-size:60";"face:Verdana">
<%
	Response.Write("WKS/LTP Name is: " + strComputerName); 
%>

</h1></center>
</body>
</html>

Posted 16-Nov-22 3:17am

Drew Creamer

Updated 16-Nov-22 3:42am

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Richard Deeming · Answer 1 · 2022-11-16T03:42:00

Solution 1

An .asp file is an old-school "classic" ASP page. It runs VBScript, which is an ancient language with very few built-in tools.

The code in your GetHostname.asp file is C#; that will only work in an ASP.NET page.

You could try renaming your file to GetHostname.aspx and replacing the first line () with:

ASPX

<%@ Page Language="C#" %>

Whether that works will depend on whether or not your server has the .NET Framework installed, and the IIS site has "managed code" enabled. If you're on a server that's as old as the code, that may not be the case.

Edit: The corrected C# code would look something like:

ASPX

<%@ Page Language="C#" %>
<%
string hostName = Request.UserHostName;
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(hostName))
{
    string ipAddress = Request.ServerVariables["HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR"];
    if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(ipAddress)) ipAddress = Request.UserHostAddress;
    
    try
    {
        System.Net.IPHostEntry entry = System.Net.Dns.GetHostEntry(ipAddress);
        hostName = entry.HostName;
    }
    catch 
    {
        hostName = ipAddress;
    }
}
%>
<!DOCTYPE HTML>
<html>
<head>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
    <title>WKS/LTP Name</title>
    <script>
    window.resizeTo(500, 150);
    window.moveTo(350, 300);
    </script>
    
    <style>
    h1 {
        font-size: 60rem;
        font-family: Verdana;
    }
    </style>
</head>
<body>
    <h1>
        WKS/LTP Name is:
        <%= HttpUtility.HtmlEncode(hostName) %>
    </h1>
</body>
</html>

NB: You need to HTML-encode the host name, just in case it contains any "special" characters.

Posted 16-Nov-22 3:42am

Richard Deeming

Updated 17-Nov-22 4:07am

v2

Comments

Drew Creamer 16-Nov-22 10:02am

Thanks for the info. I am about to try now. The server currently is running Windows 2012 R2 DC, IIS 6 and .NET 3.5 and 4.5 is installed.

Drew Creamer 16-Nov-22 10:07am

So I took the full first line out that has (<--metadata ... -->) and replaced with the ASPX line you suggested. and renamed the file to GetHostname.aspx

I was getting a 500 server error window that popped up. Now I get a 404 - File or directory not found. I need to find out if I have managed code enabled. Do you know how to find out if that's enabled or not and how to enable?

Richard Deeming 16-Nov-22 10:33am

Configuring Step 1: Install IIS and ASP.NET Modules | Microsoft Learn[^]

Drew Creamer 16-Nov-22 10:30am

Another thought too. Can a menu.asp that's embedded to a .html file call on this newer .aspx file without issue? lol Sorry to sound dumb. just not sure of all the coding stuff. The current site has been pieced together by multiple people who are no longer with the company. The menu.asp is what has the code below to call on the aspx file. i am pasting some of the code from that menu.asp below:

<ul id="submenu1" style="display:none;">
	  	<li id="submenu2"><div class="divSubMenu1" onMouseOver="changeOverColor me" onMouseOut="changeOutColor me" onClick="open('/DeptPages/HelpDesk.html'),'main','post'" title="MIS Help Desk">MIS Ticket System</div>
       <li id="submenu2"><div class="divSubMenu1" onMouseOver="changeOverColor me" onMouseOut="changeOutColor me" onClick="open('/DeptPages/GetHostname.aspx'),'new','post'" title="Find WKS/LTP Name">What's my WKS/LTP Name?</div>
		<li id="submenu2"><div class="divSubMenu1" onMouseOver="changeOverColor me" onMouseOut="changeOutColor me" onClick="open('/DeptPages/GetIP.asp'),'new','post'" title="Find PC IP Address">What is my IP?</div></ul>

Richard Deeming 16-Nov-22 10:32am

That depends on how you're trying to "call" it. If you're just linking to it, then it will work. If you're trying to include it within an .asp page, it won't work; you'd need to use an <iframe> to show it.

Drew Creamer 16-Nov-22 10:33am

see above the code I pasted.

Richard Deeming 16-Nov-22 10:34am

Since you're just opening the page in a new window/tab, that should work fine.

onclick="open('/DeptPages/GetHostname.aspx')"

Drew Creamer 16-Nov-22 10:37am

ok good deal. Dang. not sure what I am doing wrong then. I am still getting the 404 error now that I have changed the file to aspx and edited that menu.asp.

Richard Deeming 16-Nov-22 10:38am

Try opening the .aspx page in a browser running on the server. You should get a more detailed error description which will point you in the right direction.

Drew Creamer 16-Nov-22 10:40am

let me check..

Drew Creamer 16-Nov-22 10:42am

when trying to open the .aspx file, it asks me what to open it with. I tried IE and it just opens itself as a download and never opens or shows anything or errors..

Richard Deeming 16-Nov-22 10:44am

No, I meant you should try to navigate to that page on your intranet site, not open the file from the local path. :)

Drew Creamer 16-Nov-22 13:22pm

lol oh okay. yeah thats what I have been doing. when i click the linked file on intranet webpage, it pops open a new tab with the aspx file in path, but has 404 error.

Richard Deeming 17-Nov-22 3:23am

Sounds like you have custom errors turned on for all requests. You might need to use Failed Request Tracing[^] to find out what the problem is.

Drew Creamer 16-Nov-22 10:38am

does the code itself:

<%
System.Net.IPHostEntry host;
host = System.Net.Dns.GetHostEntry(HttpContext.Current.Re quest.ServerVariable["REMOTE_HOST"]);
string strComputerName = host.HostName;
%>
and 

<%
	Response.Write(strComputerName); 
%>

look correct?

Richard Deeming 16-Nov-22 10:42am

Probably not. According to the documentation[^], the REMOTE_HOST variable contains the host name, if known, and an empty string otherwise. You'll end up getting an exception from the Dns.GetHostEntry method[^].

Drew Creamer 17-Nov-22 9:08am

any ideas on something that would get the hostname of the machine that clicks on link?

Richard Deeming 17-Nov-22 9:12am

For a visitor on the local network, you'd want to check the REMOTE_HOST variable; if that's not set, then get the HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR or REMOTE_ADDR variable, pass that to Dns.GetHostEntry, and wrap the call in a try..catch block in case the entry cannot be resolved.

Drew Creamer 17-Nov-22 9:54am

unfortunately I don't know much about writing code. Was hoping for some copy/paste action lol. I am more of a network/systems admin type of guy. Sometimes I do have to put on multiple "hats" though. lol

Richard Deeming 17-Nov-22 10:08am

I've updated my solution with some code which you should be able to copy/paste. :)

Drew Creamer 17-Nov-22 14:04pm

thanks. I think there must be something else going on. No matter how I tried the different codes, I get either 500 error or 404 error. Ever since I changed from .asp to .aspx, I am only getting 404 errors. Errr.

Richard Deeming 18-Nov-22 3:25am

If you leave the extension as .asp then you'll get a 500 error, because "classic" ASP doesn't support C#.

If you get a 404 error for the .aspx page, then most likely either ASP.NET is not registered in IIS, or the application pool doesn't have "managed code" enabled.

From an admin command prompt, try running:

dism /online /enable-feature /all /featurename:IIS-ASPNET45

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/39659281/register-asp-net-in-iis-10[^]

Drew Creamer 18-Nov-22 16:08pm

still same results after running the dism enable for iis-aspnet45. :(
the crappy 404 error still.

Richard Deeming 17-Nov-22 9:13am

If the visitor is outside of your local network, then you pretty much can't get their host name; and it wouldn't make any sense anyway, since it would be local to their own network.

Drew Creamer 17-Nov-22 9:52am

no this is local intranet page. they will always be on our network. the purpose of this is for them to help me identify the machine they're on, so we can remote into it, etc. IP's are just a pain to deal with, so I'd rather have hostname.

Help with old company intranet link to show hostname

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Help with old company intranet link to show hostname

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