I created a BDC entry using the editor delivered with the SharePoint 2007 SDK. On my local installation there is no problem. When the sysadmin tries to import it into the staging farm, he gets the following error message:
Application definition import failed. The following error occurred: There was an error downloading 'http://path/to/someservice?WSDL=1'.. Error was encountered at or just before Line: 0 and Position: 0
The path is accessible to anyone within the organization. The WSDL has been verified to be valid. I also tried putting the WSDL in a physical file and pointing to that file in the BDC entry, but still no luck.
Additional question: does SharePoint need execute rights to process the BDC entry?