Question:

How do I enable detailed ASP error messages?

Answer:

With IIS 6.0, ASP error detail is obscured.  Instead of getting a detailed error message telling you that your script failed at a particular line and column, you only receive the following:

Error 500: Internal Server Error

If you wish to provide detailed ASP error messages, your custom error documents settings for your site can be configured to use specific ASP script provided (but not enabled by default) within IIS (specifically IISHelp) for generating detailed ASP error messages.  When enabled on your site, IIS will call this ASP script instead for an ASP error instead of returning the default  "Internal Server Error".  To enable this:

1. Submit a support request referencing this article and asking our support team to copy c:\windows\Help\iisHelp\common\500-100.asp into the root of your website.
2. Once our team has completed this, log into your Plesk control panel and:
   • enable Custom Error Documents for the domain in question
   • modify the setting for the 500.100 error to the following: Type: URL  Location: /500-100.asp

With IIS7 and IIS8, detailed ASP error messages are obscured by default.  Please contact the support team and request detailed ASP error messages be enabled. 

It is strongly recommended that you only enabled detailed error messages for testing/debugging purposes only, and then disable feature once you're done to prevent hackers from gaining insight into your site/code structure and potential exploitable vulnerabilities.

Applies to:

• Shared hosting on Windows with Plesk all versions
• Managed Dedicated/Virtual Servers on Windows with Plesk all versions