Application Pool Identity Incorrect

Symptoms

When you attempt to login to the Exclaimer Mail Archiver web-site, the following error is recorded:
The format of the specified domain name is invalid.

Cause

The Application Pool Identity is incorrect. This is the account that worker processes run under in Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS). The Identity used for the Exclaimer Mail Archiver web-site is the NETWORK SERVICE account. This is a relatively low-privileged account for security reasons.
If the Identity used is an account other than the NETWORK SERVICE account the privileges may be incorrect, which causes the web-site to fail to load correctly. The error message described in the Symptoms section will be recorded in this scenario.

Resolution

The Application Pool Identity needs to be changed to NETWORK SERVICE. To accomplish this:
  1. Click Start
  2. Click All Programs
  3. Under Administrative Tools select Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager
  4. The Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager window appears
  5. Expand the node with your server name:
    Image
  6. Click the Application Pools node
  7. The main window changes to list the Application Pools
  8. Right-click the Exclaimer Mail Archiver App Pool and from the menu choose Advanced Settings
    Image
  9. The Advanced Settings dialog appears
  10. From the list of properties, click the Identity property (you will find this under the Process Model section)
  11. Click the Image button
  12. The Application Pool Identity dialog appears
  13. Select the Built-in account option and select the NetworkService account:
    Image
  14. Click OK and you are returned to the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager screen
  15. Click the Recycle button in the Actions pane
  16. Close the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager screen