Avoid Reports folder

If your web application includes a Reports folder, there is a good chance you will run into this weird problem.

You have some pages in the Reports folder. On your development system everything is fine. You deploy the app on a production or testing server and try navigating to any of the pages in the Reports. The browser greats you with a authentication dialog and you can’t access any of the pages in the Reports.

Check if the server runs SQL Server Reporting Services. If it does, likely you found the culprit. The Reporting Services create their own Reports virtual directory and IIS routes your requests to your Reports folder to the Reporting Services one. The best solution is to rename your Reports to something else, like Reporting. Simple. Works.