Web Interface Slow Performance

Question

We are struggeling with a bit slow response from the webinterface.

Standing on the Home page then clicking the Search tab, it takes about 5 seconds until it loads.

Standing on the Home page searching for a user from Quick search takes about 8 seconds until the result page loads (if you search for a common name that will give you a LOT of results, it still takes 8 seconds to load, but it then shows the "Loading" icon in the results pane).

Selecting a user from the results pane to show their properties also takes about 8 seconds to load (plus extra time for exchange properties to load).

We've also set up a brand new web interface server on Server 2012 R2 to test performance, but the results are about the same.

Is there any IIS tuning or something that can be done to speed things up?

We are currently running 2012.1 3.5.9329.0 (Did not see anything in the release notes about performance enhancements for the web interface in version 2012.2)

Comments

Hello,

That's too much. To help us troubleshoot the issue, can you answer the following questions:

1. Are Adaxes Web Interface and Adaxes service installed on the same computer? If this is the same computer, is Adaxes service started?
2. How many AD sites do you have in all the domains managed by Adaxes?
3. When did it all start? Did your Active Directory undergo any infrastructure changes around the time when such time lags started?

---

Hi

1: We have tried both (hence the new 2012R2 server). Yes, Adaxes service is started
2: 6 sites in total (also 6 managed domains)
3: This has been a issue for quite a while, cannot pinpoint when it started.

Answer 1

The most probable reason for the issue is that there are no Domain Controllers for some of the AD domains managed by Adaxes in the AD site where the Adaxes service is installed. In such a case, Adaxes service tries to connect to DCs located in other AD sites, which involves time lags related to remote calls.

To remedy the issue, you can install DCs for such domains in the AD site where Adaxes service is installed.

Alternatively, if you don't need the Adaxes service in that site to manage such domains, you can unregister them to prevent calls to remote DCs and the related time lags. If you have several Adaxes services that share common configuration, the other services in the configuration set will continue managing the domains even if you unregister them on one of the services in the set, which gives you the advantage to register domains only on those Adaxes services where you need the domains to be managed. For information on how to unregister a domain, see the following help article: http://www.adaxes.com/help/?HowDoI.Mana ... omain.html.

Comments

We only have one Adaxes service installed (in the primary domain). All managed domains has DC's at the same site (located in the same server room). There should be very very little lag between these.

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To further troubleshoot the issue, try the following:

1. Log on to Adaxes Administration Console with the credentials of the user who was viewing the Web Interface and experienced the lags. For information on how to logon to Adaxes Administration Console with alternate credentials, see the following help article: http://www.adaxes.com/help/?HowDoI.Mana ... count.html.
2. Try browsing active directory, selecting, expanding and collapsing nodes, viewing properties of AD objects.
3. Try performing the same search as you did in the Web interface. For information on how to do this, see the following help article: http://www.adaxes.com/help/HowDoI.Manag ... RCHINGADMC.

Do you experience similar time lags in the Administration Console?

Also, try logging in to the web interface with the credentials of Adaxes default service administrator (the user that you specified during Adaxes installation). Do you experience time lags when logged in as this user?

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I've tested this now. While in the Administration Console, we are not experiensing the same lag.

While logged on the webinterface with the default service administrator, it's the same lag.

---

Hello,

It looks like you didn't open all the ports that Adaxes service need to communicate successfully with your DCs. The thing is that whenever you perform any operation, the Web interface needs to query your Domain Controller(s) and resolve the name of the user logged on to the Web Interface. For this purpose, Adaxes Web Interface makes requests to your AD via RPC ports. The time lags that you experience can occur if Adaxes cannot successfully communicate with the DCs via the RPC ports.

For information on which RPC ports you need to open, see the following FAQ article: What ports does Adaxes use?. Also, make sure that firewalls in-between Adaxes Web Interface and your DCs (if any) also allow communication via the RPC ports.

---

I've gone through our firewall configuration, and all the ports specified here: What ports does Adaxes use? is opened.

---

Hello,

To help us troubleshoot the issue, can you launch the below script? It will output information on the time required to resolve a user's ADS Path and bind to a user's account from the computer where your Web interface is installed. To do this:

1. Save the following script to a file with the PS1 extension (for example, script.ps1) on the computer where your Web interface is installed.

   
    $admNS = New-Object "Softerra.Adaxes.Adsi.AdmNamespace"
    $admService = $admNS.GetServiceDirectly("localhost")
   
    $credential = Get-Credential
   
    $watch = New-Object System.Diagnostics.Stopwatch
    $watch.Start()
   
    $objectPath = [Softerra.Adaxes.Utils.ObjectNameTranslator]::TranslateAccountNameToPath($credential.UserName, $credential)
   
    Write-Host "Resolving AdsPath: $($watch.ElapsedMilliseconds) ms"
    $watch.Reset()
    $watch.Start()
   
    $admService.OpenObject($objectPath, $credential.UserName, $credential.GetNetworkCredential().Password, 0)
    Write-Host "Binding to object: $($watch.ElapsedMilliseconds) ms"
    $watch.Stop()
   

2. On the computer where your Web interface is installed, press Win+R.

3. Type powershell.exe and press enter.

4. In the PowerShell Console that appears, navigate to the folder where you copied the script. For example, if you copied the script to C:\Scripts\, type:

    cd C:\Scripts

5. Launch the script. For example, if you saved the script under the name script.ps1, type:

    .\script.ps1

   then press Enter.

6. When the script runs, you will be prompted for credentials. Enter the credentials of the user who experienced time lags in the Web interface.

7. The script will output information on the time required to resolve the user's ADS Path and bind to the user's account in AD. Copy the information that the script outputs and post it here or send it to our support e-mail (support@adaxes.com).

---

First run:
Resolving AdsPath: 137 ms
Binding to object: 270 ms

Second run:
Resolving AdsPath: 11 ms
Binding to object: 83 ms

Third run:
Resolving AdsPath: 13 ms
Binding to object: 87 ms

Also did the test against another user:

First run:
Resolving AdsPath: 64 ms
Binding to object: 254 ms

Second run:
Resolving AdsPath: 11 ms
Binding to object: 83 ms

---

The times are OK... To further troubleshoot the issue, cm you enable tracing in Adaxes Web Interface? To do this:

1. On the computer where your Adaxes Web Interface is installed, open the folder for the Web Interface that you are experiencing issues with. By default, Adaxes Web Interfaces are installed to the following folders:

   • Administrators:
     C:\Program Files\Softerra\Adaxes 3\Web Interface\Admin\
   • Help Desk:
     C:\Program Files\Softerra\Adaxes 3\Web Interface\HelpDesk\
   • Self-Service:
     C:\Program Files\Softerra\Adaxes 3\Web Interface\SelfService\

2. Find the Web.config file.

3. Find the following lines:
   <!--- Trace settings -->
   <trace enabled="false" pageOutput="true" requestLimit="40" localOnly="false" mostRecent="true" />

4. Change trace enabled="false" to trace enabled="true" and save the file. This will enable tracing for the Adaxes Web Interface.

After you've enabled tracing, try performing the same operations again. When the page loads completely, some tracing information will be available at the bottom of the page. Save this page as an HTML file and send this file to our support email (support[at]adaxes.com).

---

Mail sent.

---

OK, we've received the file and asked our QA team to investigate the issue. We'll update you as soon as they come up with something.

---

By the way, how many pending Approval Requests do you have? There was an issue in Adaxes that caused Web interface slowdown if there were many pending Approval Requests. It was fixed in Adaxes 2013.1.

To find all pending Approval Requests:

1. Launch Adaxes Administration Console.
2. Expand the service node that represents your Adaxes service.
3. Navigate to Configuration \ Approval Requests.
4. In the Result Pane (located to the right), select All Requests and Pending.
5. Click the Apply Filter button.
   

To remedy the issue with many Approval Requests, you'll need to upgrade. Find the latest build here.

Upgrade Instructions

---

There are no approval requests pending.

---

Hello,

OK. In a minor update to Adaxes 2013.2 that will be available in a day or two, we'll implement the possibility to enable detailed tracing of operations performed by the Web Interface. After upgrading to the minor update, you'll be able to enable tracing so that we can identify, which operation is causing the slowdown.

---

Hello,

The minor update that allows you to enable detailed tracing of operations performed via the Web Interface was released on November 21. You can download it here.

Upgrade Instructions

What's New in the Minor Update

To enable tracing in the Web Interface after you upgrade to the minor update:

1. Open the folder that contains the Web Interface that you are experiencing issues with. By default, Adaxes Web Interface sites are installed to the following folders:
   Administrators:
   C:\Program Files\Softerra\Adaxes 3\Web Interface\Admin\
   Help Desk:
   C:\Program Files\Softerra\Adaxes 3\Web Interface\HelpDesk\
   Self-Service:
   C:\Program Files\Softerra\Adaxes 3\Web Interface\SelfService\

2. Find the Web.config file and open it with any text editor.

3. Find the following lines in the file:

    <!--- Trace settings -->
    <trace enabled="false" pageOutput="true" requestLimit="40" localOnly="false" mostRecent="true" />
   

4. Change trace enabled="false" to trace enabled="true".

5. Find the following lines:

    <!-- Web settings -->
    <system.web>
   

6. Paste the following block before the lines:

    <system.diagnostics>
      <trace>
        <listeners>
           <add name="WebPageTraceListener" 
                type="System.Web.WebPageTraceListener, System.Web, Version=2.0.3600.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a"/>
        </listeners>
      </trace>
    </system.diagnostics>
   

7. Save the file.

After making modifications to the file, try logging into the Web interface and performing the actions that caused the slowdown. Each time you perform an action, the Web Interface will output tracing information at the bottom of the page. Save this page as an HTML file and send this file to our support email (support@adaxes.com).