Modifying Your ISA Login Screen

It is easy to customize your ISA login screen and is similar to configuring your Web Outlook login screen. Here is how it's done.

Changing the Images

First, you need to find the location of your files and it is located at:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft ISA Server\CookieAuthTemplates\ISA\HTML

Note that there will be three other folders such as:

• cHTML (This is for i-mode mobile browsers)
• xHTML (This is for Windows Mobile clients)
• HTML (This is for standard web browser clients)

For this sample, I will use HTML only. Make sure that you backup everything before getting started.

To change how it looks (images and CSS), you need to change the following files, you can use your own images that can correspond to your company branding.

• lgntop.gif
• lgnbottom.gif
• lglnleft.gif
• lgnright.gif
• logon_style.css

Those items correspond to the layout of images as illustrated below:

Most of the styles you need to change are in the logon_style.css. You can use two methods in changing the image, either you use the same name and overwrite the old ones or you can declare in the CSS which image to use, just search for the following image and replace it with the new filename.

For example, changing the backround image to Test.jpg.

background-image: url("/CookieAuth.dll?GetPic?formdir=@@FORMDIR&image=Test.jpg");

Changing the Text

Now it does not stop there. You can also change the text that shows on the screen by going to:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft ISA Server\CookieAuthTemplates\ISA\HTML\nls\en\strings.txt

You notice that there are multiple languages in that folder, so you can also edit the local language you want.

For a summary of what I use and where it maps. There are the control names inside the string.txt files and the places where it shows on the screen. In that file, you can change text that corresponds to a control, i.e.:

L_LoginButton_Text="Log On"

and change it to:

L_LoginButton_Text="Sign In"

Control	Text	Reference
L_LoginButton_Text	Log On	10
L_WindowTitle_Text	Microsoft ISA Server 2006	21
L_ShowDetail_Text	show explanation	22
L_HideDetail_Text	hide explanation	2
L_ShowSimpleUI_Text	I have a slow Internet connection. If you select this option, the Web applications you use may offer fewer features, but will provide a better experience in some situations.	This will show only on slow internet connection
L_ShowTrustTitle_Text	Security	1
L_ShowPublicUI_Text	This is a public or shared computer	3
L_ShowTrustedUI_Text	This is a private computer	5
L_PublicDescription_Text	Select this option if you are connecting from a public computer. Be sure to log off and close all browser windows to end your session. Read about the <a href= ‘http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=65796′>security risks</a> of using a public computer.	4
L_BasicTrustDescription_Text	Select this option if you are the only person who uses this computer.	6
L_TrustWarning_Text	<B>Warning:</B> By selecting this option, you acknowledge that the computer complies with your organization’s security policy.	18
L_Password_Text	Password:	9
L_UserName_Text	Domain\user name:	8
L_DialogRelogon_Text	Your session expired. To log on again, click a mail folder (for example, Inbox). Your browser will be redirected to the logon page.	This will show when a session had expired
L_BadRequestHeading_Text	Unknown Request	19
L_BadRequest_Text	The request could not be resolved by the server.	20
L_LogoffUser_Text	You have successfully logged off from ISA Server. We recommend that you close all browser windows at this time.	23
L_ContinueButton	Continue	17
L_OldPwd_Text	Old password:	13
L_NewPwd_Text	New password:	14
L_Confirm_NewPwd_Text	Confirm new password:	15
L_ChangePassword_Text	Change Password	16
L_RequestPwdChange_Text	I want to change my password after logging on	7
L_RequestPwdChangeExpl_Text	With this option selected, a page used to change your password will be displayed after your credentials are submitted.	12
L_CookiesDisabledWrn_Text	Cookies are currently disabled by your browser settings. To access this Web site, cookies must be enabled. Follow these directions to enable cookies (Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 or later): In Internet Explorer, on the Tools menu, click Internet Options. Click the Privacy tab, then click Sites. In Address of Web site, type the complete address of this Web site. For example, http://www.microsoft.com. Then click Allow.	24
L_RetryButton_Text	Retry	25
L_Copyright	&copy; 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.	11

That's what I only use, there are still a lot of stings to change and not just the ones I mentioned above.

Page Layout

If you want to change the page layout totally, you can go to the file name usr_pwd.htm, that file governs the layout and structure of the ISA login page. You can also change the layout of the other pages such as pwd_pcode.htm, pwd_pcode_nxt.htm, usr_pcode.htm, usr_pwd_pcode.htm, logout.htm, etc.

What's Next?

Once you are satisfied with your work, you need to do the following to see your changes:

1. Log on to your ISA Server.
2. Launch the ISA Server 2006 Console.
3. Select the Services Tab.
4. Right click on the Microsoft Firewall Service and restart the service
5. Then that's it! Go to the login page and press CTRL+F5 to refresh the screen with the new files you have changed.

Some Things I Noticed

1. You cannot use JavaScript on the page.
2. You cannot remove objects like buttons and text.
3. You cannot use blank text.
4. If there’s something wrong in what you have done, it will not show but the old screen will show up.
5. If you have any major updates on ISA like patch and security updates, the customizations you have done will be lost.
6. When you’re done changing any files, you will need to restart the firewall service for the changes to take effect.