IIS7 - Configuration & Scripting

WCF - Enable compression for XML / JSON

LesterDK — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:53:30 GMT

Hi once again,

I have come to my attention that ySlow says my xml responses are not compressed within my restful WCF service.

Seen loads of info on creating compression channels etc, but figured IIS7 where the WCF service is hosted should be able to do it by itself via dynamic compression and probably a mimetype.

Reading other forums some say it can be done, some say it can't, so I'm seeking The One true answer (besides 42 ofcourse) to this question.

What I do know, or think I know atleast:

Content-Type: application/xml; charset=utf-8
Server: Microsoft-IIS/7.0

applicationHost.config seems to be the place to setup this kind of stuff, would rather like it in my web.config tough.

 I got the section

            <dynamicTypes>
                <add mimeType="application/xml" enabled="true" />  added by me
                <add mimeType="text/*" enabled="true" />
                <add mimeType="message/*" enabled="true" />
                <add mimeType="application/x-javascript" enabled="true" />
                <add mimeType="*/*" enabled="false" />
            </dynamicTypes>

But does no good, in the website that hosts the WCF the following is in the web.config

<urlCompression doDynamicCompression="true" />

 Seen arguments saying it should be

<urlCompression doDynamicCompression="false" dynamicCompressionBeforeCache="true" />

but neither work for me.

So I'm really hoping someone got a clear as day solution to enable my responses to accept compression, maybe even enabling deflate aswell as gzip.

Possible bug: Unable to set the "debug" attribute in the "compilation" section in web.config

kevin_k — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:41:43 GMT

There seems to be a bug in the APPCMD tool that prevents me from changing the "debug" attribute of the "compilation" section of a web.config file. I can change other attributes such as "batch" and "defaultLanguage" but the "debug" attribute refuses to change.

For example, the following commands work just fine:

appcmd set config "MySite" -section:compilation /batch:false
appcmd set config "MySite" -section:compilation /defaultLanguage:"c#"

But changing the "debug" attribute doesn't:

appcmd set config "MySite" -section:compilation /debug:false
appcmd set config "MySite" -section:compilation /debug:true

I've even tried more explicit section paths:

appcmd set config "MySite" -section:system.web/compilation /debug:false
appcmd set config "MySite" -section:system.web/compilation /debug:true

I have confirmed this to be the case on IIS7.0 running on Windows 2008 Standard Edition SP2 and IIS 7.5 running on Windows 7 Ultimate Edition.

I also checked the schema file for ASP.NET (C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\config\schema\ASPNET_schema.xml) and there is no restriction on this setting.

Thanks
Kevin

Change HTTPERR Location

vlozupone1 — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:14:53 GMT

If I want to change/add the location, is this valid for IIS 7?

Change HTTPERR Location

Create a new Datatype called ErrorLoggingDir

ErrorLoggingDir

Registry Path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\HTTP\Parameters

Data Type: REG_STRING

Default Value: g:\logfiles

Range: N/A

Appcmd help on text string carriage return line feed

brandon.mcgarvey — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:50:17 GMT

I am trying to add a carriage return line feed to a string value on my FTP site via appcmd. I am trying to add a banner message like this:

%windir%\System32\inetsrv\appcmd.exe set site MyFTPSite /ftpServer.messages.bannerMessage:"Warning! Unauthorized use is strictly prohibited."

I wish to have a carriage return, line feed after "Warning!", but I cannot figure out what escape characters to use for a carriage return, line feed. When I add the welcome message with CR/LF through the IIS MMC, this is how it looks in the applicationHost.config:

Any help appreciated. Thanks.

Need Native API to setup my site as Classic Mode in ISS 7

lenininy2k — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:01:49 GMT

Hi, Anybody know how to setup my site as Classic Mode in ISS 7 using Native Calls? Thanks Lakshmi

Programmatically require SSL in IIS7

aclcarter — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:18:33 GMT

Does anyone know how to programmatically set the system.webServer/security/access sslFlags using the Microsoft.Web.Administration classes?

I'm trying to write some code to automatically install an SSL enabled web application and am having difficulty with this one step. I've found elsewhere on this site mvolo's instructions on binding an SSL certificate to a site using custom configuration methods, but can't find anywhere instructions on how to modify the sslFlags (short of forking a process to call appcmd, which feels like cheating!).

Many thanks,

Andy

adminscripts missing

tompark28 — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 22:51:50 GMT

Hi Guys,

Dont know if anyone knows of away to replace or find the following file location that should be in the 'C:\interpub\' im missing the following sub follder:

c:\interpub\adminscripts\

can anyone help me?

Cheers

pkgmgr.exe versus ServerManagerCmd.exe

sammy_1 — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:28:44 GMT

All

I need to automate the install of some features on IIS 7.0 like the Web-Http-Redirect Web-Custom-Logging and so on. Which API should I use? and why, pkgmgr.exe or ServerManagerCmd.exe? What is the official recommendations from the expert?

I used pkgmgr.exe for long time but now it has been failing silently on some of the systems.

Thanks

FTP command filtering using appcmd

brandon.mcgarvey — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:24:17 GMT

I am trying to figure out how to add FTP command filters using appcmd.exe. I just flat out do not understand the syntax for the command. The syntax that I believe I need to use is one of these:

appcmd.exe set site MyFTPSite /ftpServer.security.commandFiltering.[command='string'].command

appcmd.exe set site MyFTPSite /ftpServer.security.commandFiltering.[command='string'].allowed

My goal is to deny MKDIR command. I tried the command below, but it tells me that it cannot find requested collection element. How do I add an element to the collection. I am familiar with adding collections with "appcmd set config", but this method doesn't seem the same.

appcmd.exe set site MyFTPSite /ftpServer.security.commandFiltering.[command='MKDIR'].allowed:"false"

If someone can reply back with an example of the syntax, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

IIS 7 Kernel Mode Output Caching - Undocumented Behaviou

David Taylor — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 01:12:51 GMT

Hi,

After a few days of searching the web and reading articles, I need some help from the IIS team.

I am basically wondering if it is possible to get the kernel mode output caching to implement the policy specified for a dynamic page on the first rather than the second request.

If I change applicationHost.config serverRuntime requentHitThreshold="1", this will mean that a policy specified for a static page (such as hello.txt) will be implemented correctly; i.e: kernel caching until the page is changed (or caching with a duration of 2 minutes). This is what I expected.

However even with the requestHitThreshold change, dynamic pages operate differently. It appears the page is first kernel mode cached with a duration of 5 seconds (I can see it in the cache with the 5 second duration), and if it is hit a second time, the policy specified in web.config is then used (such as 2 minute caching, or cache until the page is changed, etc).

While I do appreciate the intelligence behind your implementation, and it would be the best thing to do 95% of the time....I would like to know if this behaviour can be changed so the policy specified is implemented on the first request for dynamic pages (such as ASMX or ASPX files).

Thanks for any assistance.

David Taylor

Adding New Web Site / Application Pool / FTP Site in VBScript

michaelblitz — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:30:02 GMT

Hi,

I created a new site, application pool, and ftp site through inetmgr and then compared a before and after applicationhost.config file.

it added the following:

<add name="test.acme.com" /> into the <applicationPools></applicationPools> tag

I've found VBScript code to add an applicationPool and sitename but nothing for location. Can someone point me in the right direction? Also, this script is used to generate a site so the id tag will have to increase by 1 every time I create a site. How can my script account for this as well?

Thanks!

How change asp.net version in iis 7.5

yugicm — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:28:09 GMT

Hi,

i just install windows 7, and i got iis 7.5. then i install all of my application software, like sql server 2005 and visual studio 2005. in the beginning all just fine, it seems that the default asp.net configuration is version 2. then i install the .net framework 1.1, because i have an application runs on the fw. now the problem come, everytime i open my project (web app) in visual studio, there's always warning that my application(web app) configuration is based on version 1.1, then i was asking to change to version 2, i always answer yes, but every time i close and open the application, the same question appear.

i already try to configure in iis. i already set the default website application pool is DefaultAppPool, which was in .net 2 and integrated pipeline. and i also set my application to whether DefaultAppPool or ASP.NET 2.0. but why everytime i open my web application project, there's always a warning, that my application configuration is using the .net 1.1. is there any other way, how to change this problem. please help. thanks

yugi

root\MicrosoftIISv2 in IIS 7.0

vineetd — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 08:25:01 GMT

Hi,

Does the WMI namespace root\\MicrosoftIISv2 exist in IIS 7.0? Do we need to do something special so that it is present on a system or is it not present at all in IIS 7.0??

Please help.

Thanks,

Vineet

Create website using C# in IIS 7

satya.ambatipudi — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 06:50:28 GMT

hi all,

how can create website using C# in IIS 7.

i got the code for this.

http://learn.iis.net/page.aspx/285/sample-hosting-provisioning-scenario/#CreateSite

But even i included the namespace web.admin i could not get servermanager class.

Application Pool reset

imperalix — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:48:57 GMT

I'm trying to script setting the application pool recycle times. I used the following command. I have noticed that it appends the time and does not override it. Is there a way to override and not append? Thanks.

%windir%\system32\inetsrv\appcmd.exe set config -section:system.applicationHost/applicationPools /+"[name='Default'].recycling.periodicRestart.schedule.[value='01:05:00']" /commit:apphost

Backing up IIS 7.5 configuration.

kav — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:19:26 GMT

Hi, I would like to know if you can back up the whole of IIS 7.5 configuration settings and simply copy them back to a new windows build.

I have Windows 7 x64 and have spent sometime making the configuration changes for multiple sites and ensuring that classic ASP and that the Access JET engine and 32 bit compatibility are all working.

I probably would struggle changing settings again (finding where to change them) when I do a fresh Windows 7 install. The reason I ask is that Im getting an SSD soon and will be reinstalling Win7 on that.

I would like to just copy back the configuration for IIS and have everything running again. 90% of the filepaths will be unchanged.

Any help will be great, thx.

Getting the XML Membership Provider to work with Forms Authentication

drichfield — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 20:29:52 GMT

I have followed the instructions in the "How to Take Advantage of the IIS7 Integrated Pipeline" (http://www.iis.net/articles/view.aspx/IIS7/Extending-IIS7/Getting-Started/How-to-Take-Advantage-of-the-IIS7-Integrated-Pipel) article and I am getting the following error when trying to access .NET users in the ISM:

"This feature cannot be used because the default provider type could not be determined to check whether it is a trusted provider". You can use this feature only when the default provider is a trusted provider. If you are a server administrator, you can make a provider a trusted provider by adding the provider type to the trusted providers list in the Administration.config file. The provider has to be strongly typed and added to the GAC."

I do get the login page when accessing the app from a web browser, but when I submit the form, I get the following error:

"Could not load type 'AspNetReadOnlyXmlMembershipProvider'."

I am new to .NET providers and would appreciate assistance with getting the XML provider to work. I am running Windows 2008 Standard RC1.

HELP REMOVING CONFIG FROM APPLICATIONHOST

festivis — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:10:18 GMT

I'm using appcmd to set config in the applicationHost file for various applications. This works fine. However, I also have scripts that uninstall the applications. I use appcmd delete app "App Name". The problem is when executing this cmd is does not remove any config that may have been set in the applicationHost file. I noticed when deleting the app in IIS mgmt console it DOES remove any config from the applicationHost file. I also tried using the appcmd clear config with the /delete parameter but I get a "the data is invalid" error.

Can anyone help me?

IIS7 & Trend Micro Officescan 8

Derice — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 22:56:36 GMT

Hi,

I have instaleld IIS7 on my new Windows Server 2008 server. (Selected all options in the add features)
Works as expected.

I decided to test Trend Micro Officescan 8 on it by running it's installer.
The installer completed succesfully.
How ever when I try to open the Trend Micro Officescan 8 webconsole it doesn't start but prompts me to download a file called cgiChkMasterPwd.exe
This executable isn't offered for download on my Windows Server 2003 / IIS6 machine.

Is there an option in IIS7 to run it in IIS6 compatible mode (such as the IIS5 isolation mode in IIS6?) or do I have to wait for Trend Micro to make the Officescan Server version compatible with IIS7?

Two sites with same virtual directory unable to have unique configurations

SQLRocks — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:35:48 GMT

Hi All,

I've got two sites on the same IIS7 server and they both have a virtual directory called "photos" which points to the same UNC path and directory. Both sites serve content from the "photos" virtual directory just fine.

On "Site 1" I want to set the content to expire for the "photos" virtual directory to 20 minutes. When I do that a web.config file is generated in the physical location that maps to the "photos" virtual directory. Now both "Site 1" and "Site 2" have the same 20 minute expiration althugh my intent was NOT to have a 20 minute expiration for the "photos" virtual under "Site 2".

I want both sites to share the same virtual directory (and no, it's not practical to copy the files to different locations) and yet I want each site to have it's own unique content expiration time. On the surface it appears that this can't be done.

Any way around this issue?

Thanks,

-Phil

Compression of 404 error text

SQLRocks — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:21:06 GMT

I was looking at the compression of content returned from my IIS7 websites and compressions is generally working well EXCEPT for the case of detailed error messages, such as 404 errors.

The 404 errors have a content-type of "text/html; charset=utf-8", which is different than most of the content returned by my asp and asp.net pages ("text/html").

It seemed it might be just as easy as adding another MIMEtype to account for the utf-8 charset, but alas that doesn't seem to be doing it for me. Any ideas of what I need to do to get 404 errors to be sent back compressed?

Here are the current compression settings I have which are working great for everything except the 404 errors:

Thanks, Phil

Remote and automated IIS 7 management from build server - permissions issue

wimdows — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:21:15 GMT

I've posted the following question on StackOverflow:

Here's the scenario:

Win2003 Build Server (CCNET)
IIS7 target deployment server

The various MSBuild tasks (Sdc.Tasks, MSBuild Community, MSBuild Extension Pack) for doing this (creating VDirs, setting AppPool properties) are not suitable for at least one or more of the following reasons:

No support for IIS 7.
No possibility to pass domain username/password to perform the operation.
Microsoft.Web.Management.dll is not available on build server.
'Access Denied' error.

There are no issues creating Vdirs on IIS 6 - though we're actually shelling out to iisvdir.vbs, as using any of the MSBuild task as described above seem to either not support domain username/password auth when performing the operation or will simply throw a basic 'Access Denied' message (despite having the appropriate permissions on the IIS 6 metabase).

Also - bear in mind that the various methods work perfectly on IIS 7 if not specifying a specific domain user/pw as long as the current authentication context has the correct permissions, but for obvious reasons we don't want all of our CCNET build to run in that context.

I've even used psexec.exe to run appcmd.exe on the box remotely, which also works fine if the current security context has appropriate permission, but as soon as you specify username/password on psexec, you get an error message saying "Cannot read configuration file due to insufficient permissions." The user specified is a domain account, and is part of the local Administrators group on the 2008 server.

Also - I've ended up rolling my own RunAs MSBuild task, inheriting from the Exec task and using programmatic impersonation. I then use this to call psexec without specifying the username and password in psexec, but by impersonating when shelling to psexec, but I'm simply getting an exitcode of 1 - without any more details.

As you see, I've pretty much exhausted all options, or so I reckon.

If you can think of anything else, or have achieved managing IIS7 remotely, from an automated process on a non IIS7 box (using a specific non local admin user), please let me know.

IIS7 w/ Perl for Movable Type 4.25

dabruzere — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 21:52:53 GMT

I'm having a heck of a time getting Movable Type to continue to work properly. I have it all set up working, then all the sudden, I start getting 502 errors; like Perl doesn't like IIS or something?

I'm not exactly that great with IIS or Perl at this point, but I can manage to get whatever information you may need to help. I provided the error I get from the localhost IE window below.

Thanks for any help someone can provide.

Regards,
Damon

___________________________________________________________________________

Abbreviated Install steps:

- Downloaded Fresh MT-4.25-en files
- Created new site folder C:\inetpub\blogsite\
- Copied MT files in to .\mt directory
- (IIS 7) Created new Site (blog.domain.com)
- (IIS 7) In "Handler Mappings," Created .pl & .cgi Script Maps to perl.exe "%s" %s (Make sure to add exception for ISAPI)
- (IIS 7) Create virtual directory for /mt folder (Point /mt to physical folder location (/mt maps to C:\inetpub\blogsite\mt\)
- (IIS 7) Add permissions for IUSR account with proper permissions (PERMIT: read & execute, List folder content, read, write)
- (MYSQL) In "Catalog," create new Database Schemata (movabletype)
- (MYSQL) In "User Administration," give mt_user privileges to the "movabletype" Database Schemata (SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, CREATE, INDEX, ALTER, CREATE_TMP_TABLE)
- (IE7) Navigate to url - "http://blog.domain.com/mt/"
- (MT) Go through MT wizard
- (MT) Site was created

Error Summary

HTTP Error 502.2 - Bad Gateway

The specified CGI application misbehaved by not returning a complete set of HTTP headers. The headers it did return are "".

Detailed Error Information

Module	CgiModule
Notification	ExecuteRequestHandler
Handler	CGI Script Map
Error Code	0xc00000fd

Requested URL	http://blog.domain.com:80/mt/mt.cgi
Physical Path	C:\inetpub\blog.domain.com\mt\mt.cgi
Logon Method	Anonymous
Logon User	Anonymous
Failed Request Tracing Log Directory	C:\inetpub

Most likely causes:

The CGI process was shut down or terminated unexpectedly before it finished processing the request.
The CGI process has a flaw and does not return a complete set of HTTP headers.

Things you can try:

Check the event logs on the system to see whether the CGI process is shutting down unexpectedly.
Troubleshoot the CGI application to determine why it is not sending a complete set of HTTP headers.

dontLog

bpw — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:01:02 GMT

I'm trying to understand the dontLog feature. I've switched off logging in certain directories using IIS manager, but they're still being logged. The web.config in the dontLog directories contains:

<system.webServer>

</system.webServer>

I also read that I must modify the 'applicationHost.config' file at 'C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\config' by setting 'overrideModeDefault' to 'Allow'. The values in this file that relate to logging are:

<add name="HttpLoggingModule" lockItem="true" /> ' do I need to set this to false?

I'm using AWStats to view the logs.

Can anyone spot anything wrong with this approach?

Thanks in advance.

Paul

how do I stop and start an FTP site programmatically?

M.P — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:17:05 GMT

I'm using FTP7 (or FTP7.5). I create an FTP site using MWA (C#), but when I try to get (ftpsite is a Site object):

ftpsite.State

it fails with exception: The object identifier does not represent a valid object. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x800710D8).

It also fails on ftpsite.Stop and ftpsite.Start methods, but with no exception message.

I've also noticed that in applicationHost.config, the attribute "serverAutoStart" has no effect on FTP sites.

So how can I get FTP site state and stop or start it?