This article addresses multiple topics regarding Internet Explorer/Edge functionality within STARLIMS systems. 

NOTE: IE has been sunset as of 2022. STARLIMS products can operate however within IE Mode within Edge. The information here is for users still on these platforms.  

This article addresses:

• Configuring Edge in IE Mode
• How to setup Microsoft Edge in Internet Explorer Mode for STARLIMS XFD Systems
• Client Configurations in Edge for XFD

Configuring Edge in IE Mode

The below information is coming from Microsoft own pages and should serve as a guide to configure Edge in IE mode for those companies that want to try STARLIMS in Edge using IE Mode.

Microsoft retired IE in June 2022.  Regardless of that, STARLIMS has implemented alternatives to IE and in our current Technology Platform we include our Native Application which is a replacement to IE. For those who still want to try Edge below is a guide from Microsoft about how to configure that. 

Step 1: Create an Enterprise Mode Site List or update an existing one.

Microsoft Edge uses the Enterprise Mode Site List to open sites in IE mode.

To create an Enterprise Mode Site List and configure neutral sites, read this documentation .

To update an existing Enterprise Mode Site List and configure neutral sites, read this documentation

Step 2: Configure IE mode

 Use group policies to configure IE mode. You will need to configure either an Internet Explorer or Microsoft Edge policy to open sites from the Enterprise Mode Site List in IE mode in Microsoft Edge.

 To learn how to configure these group policies, see this page.

• You can configure all intranet sites to open in IE mode via policy as well, but using an Enterprise Mode Site List is the preferred method.
• We recommended also enabling the policy to redirect sites opened in the Internet Explorer browser to open in Microsoft Edge. More information about this policy can be found on the Configure IE mode policies page.

NOTE: Microsoft Edge is a software developed by Microsoft Corporation. Questions about Microsoft Edge and it's configuration should be directed to Microsoft Help Support. 

Setup Microsoft Edge in Internet Explorer Mode for STARLIMS XFD Systems

The purpose of this article is to describe how to setup Microsoft Edge browser to load STARLIMS XFD site in Internet Explorer (IE) mode. The instructions apply to all versions of STARLIMS XFD.

Detailed information about Microsoft Edge with IE mode and how to configure it can be found on the Microsoft web site: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/DeployEdge/edge-ie-mode

This article will focus on the configurations required for a STARLIMS web site to be opened with Microsoft Edge in IE Mode.

Note: This article is intended for IT Administrators and the instructions provided below require Administrator privileges on the local computer and the web server that you are configuring.

Create and deploy the Enterprise Mode Site List XML file

All the STARLIMS XFD systems that should be opened with Microsoft Edge in IE mode must be added to an Enterprise Mode Site List XML file. This file can be deployed on a web site (recommended), local machine or network shared folder. For more details please check this Microsoft article: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/deployedge/edge-ie-mode-policies#configure-using-the-configure-the-enterprise-mode-site-list-policy

There are three options to create the Enterprise Mode Site List XML file:

1. use Edge browser by following the instructions provided by Microsoft: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/deployedge/edge-ie-mode-site-list-manager.
2. Open Edge browser and navigate to edge://compat/sitelistmanager.

3. Use the Add a site option to add a site to the list. When adding the STARLIMS site, please select IE Mode for Open in option, Select IE8 Enterprise Mode when STARLIMS Technology Platform version is less than 11.3 or IE11 Document Mode when STARLIMS Technology Platform is equal to or greater than 11.3 and check the No Merge option.

4. Once the configuration is done use the Export to XML option to save it in the sites.xml file then deploy the sites.xml file on the web site of your choice.

5. use Enterprise Mode Site List Manager application provided by Microsoft: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=49974.

   Once the application is installed you will find a new icon on the desktop “Enterprise Mode Site List Manager”. After you launch the application use the Add button to add the STARLIMS site. In the Add new website window select IE11 for Open in option, Select IE8 Enterprise Mode when STARLIMS Technology Platform version is less than 11.3 or IE11 Document Mode when STARLIMS Technology Platform is equal to or greater than 11.3.

7. Once the configuration is done use the Save to XML menu option to save it in the sites.xml file. Now edit the xml file and add the configuration merge-type="no-merge" to <open-in> option for each site (see below). Save the xml file and then deploy the sites.xml file on the web site of your choice. This can also be done manually using the template provided below:

<site-list version="1">
	<site url="STARLIMS XFD URL">
		<compat-mode>IE11</compat-mode>
		<open-in merge-type="no-merge">IE11</open-in>
	</site>
</site-list>

• Copy the above xml text and paste it in a new file. Save the file as sites.xml
• Create a <site> entry for each STARLIMS XFD system that should open in Edge in IE Mode
• Update the URL attribute with the STARLMS XFD URL. Remove http or https from URL. If the same STARLIMS system is used with both XFD and HTML then the URL must contain start.lims page (e.g. server_name/starlims_site_name/start.lims)
• If the STARLIMS Technology Platform is equal to or greater than 11.3, then <compat-mode> must be set to IE11, otherwise <compat-mode> must be set to IE8Enterprise
• Do not remove the option merge-type="no-merge". This option allows a user to open multiple instances of the STARLIMS xfd system (if needed)
• Deploy the sites.xml file on a web server. It can be the STARLIMS web server or any other web server from your organization.

The following is an example that contains multiple STARLIMS sites that have different TP versions

<site-list version="1">
 
	<!--this is the production site with TP 11.2-->
	<site url="prod_server_name/starlims_prod">
		<compat-mode>IE8Enterprise</compat-mode>
		<open-in merge-type="no-merge">IE11</open-in>
	</site>
 
	<!--this is a test site with TP 12.1-->
	<site url="test_server_name/starlims_test">
		<compat-mode>IE11</compat-mode>
		<open-in merge-type="no-merge">IE11</open-in>
	</site>
 
</site-list>

Configure IE Mode Policies

For complete details how to configure IE mode policies please check this Microsoft article https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/deployedge/edge-ie-mode-policies. For how to download and install the Microsoft Edge administrative template please check this article https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/DeployEdge/configure-microsoft-edge.

For a STARLIMS XFD system to open with Edge in IE mode, the following Microsoft Edge policies must be configured:

• Configure Internet Explorer integration - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/deployedge/edge-ie-mode-policies#configure-internet-explorer-integration
  • This policy must be enabled and set to Internet Explorer mode
      
• Configure the Enterprise Mode Site List - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/deployedge/edge-ie-mode-policies#configure-using-the-configure-the-enterprise-mode-site-list-policy
  • This policy must be enabled and the value must be set to sites.xml file URL (e.g. https://server_name/sites.xml)
     
• Specify how "in-page" navigations to unconfigured sites behave when started from Internet Explorer mode pages - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/deployedge/microsoft-edge-policies#specify-how-in-page-navigations-to-unconfigured-sites-behave-when-started-from-internet-explorer-mode-pages
  • This policy must be enabled and set to Keep all in-page navigations in Internet Explorer mode

This is how the configurations look when Microsoft Edge administrative template was installed on a local computer and Edit group policy application was used to configure them:

Below are the registry keys that are associated with the above policies:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge]
"InternetExplorerIntegrationLevel"=dword:00000001
"InternetExplorerIntegrationSiteList"="URL to sites.xml file"
"InternetExplorerIntegrationSiteRedirect"=dword:00000002

A quick way to deploy (without downloading and installing the Microsoft Edge administrative template) and test the policies is:

• Copy the text above and save it in a file with extension Change the value of key InternetExplorerIntegrationSiteList to the actual URL where you deployed the sites.xml file (e.g. https://server_name/sites.xml) and save the file
• Double-click on the reg file to merge the values from the file into the registry. The operation requires and administrator account. Answer Yes when prompted to continue.
• If opened, close the Edge browser (all windows)
• Open the Edge browser and navigate to the STARLIMS XFD URL
• If the configurations are OK then the Internet Explore icon is displayed in the address bar
  

Here is an example of a configuration that uses a URL to get the Enterprise Mode Site List XML:

Note: The registry values could also be used to push the configuration to multiple users/computers from the organizations.

Run the STARLIMS configuration script and add the STARLIMS site to the Trusted Sites list

As with Internet Explorer, STARLIMS XFD site can run in Microsoft Edge in IE mode only after the STARIMS configuration script was run and the STARLIMS site was added to the list of Trusted Sites.

To run the STARLIMS configuration scripts you follow the same steps as you did with Internet Explorer:

• download the script when prompted (when the STARLIMS site is used for the first time on a client machine)
• run the script As Administrator

To add the STARLIMS site (URL) to the list of Trusted Sites, on all versions of Window, follow these steps:

• copy the STARLIMS site URL
• open Control Panel and search for Internet Options
• open Internet Option, go to Security tab, click on Trusted Sites icon then click the Sites button
• paste the STARLIMS URL and click the Add button

Once these two operations have been completed, close all Microsoft Edge windows. Open a new Edge browser and navigate to STARLIMS XFD URL. The STARLIMs XFD application should open in an IE tab and you should be able to go to the Login screen.

Disable Internet Explorer Hang Recovery feature

When there is a long operation (more than 8 seconds) that keeps the UI blocked (like calling a server script that takes a long time to finish) while a STARLIMS modal form is opening, sometimes, the form will open behind the browser and will not be accessible unless the user uses Alt + Tab to select the STARLIMS form.

To prevent this type of issue, add the following registry value under the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main:

                Value name: HangRecovery
                Value type: REG_DWORD
                Value: 0

You can simply copy-paste the text below in a file with the extension “reg” and then Merge the file with the registry.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main]
"HangRecovery"=dword:00000000

Note: The operation requires Admin privileges.

Troubleshooting

Verify that the policies have been set correctly

Start the Edge browser and navigate to edge://policy. The IE mode policies should be like the ones in the image below (for InternetExplorerIntegrationSiteList there will be your URL)

Verify that the correct Enterprise Mode Site List has been loaded by Edge

Start the Edge browser and navigate to edge://compat/enterprise. Verify that the Location value is correct and that the correct configuration has been loaded. Use Force update button to refresh the sites list

More troubleshooting details are available on the Microsoft site: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/deployedge/edge-ie-mode-faq

Edge Client Configuration (XFD)