(Dist) Configure Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS)

This topic describes manual configuration settings for Internet Information Services (IIS).

For an example configuration see: Internet Information Service install example.

IBM recommends to usig Web Server Plug-ins Configuration Tool (PCT) to configure the web server. This topic describes how to configure the Internet Information Services (IIS) Web Server manually. Other procedures in Editing web server configuration files describe configuring other supported web servers.

We must have read/write access to the plugins_root directory to perform this task.

Use the following procedure to manually reproduce how the Web Server Plug-ins Configuration Tool (PCT) configures the Microsoft Internet Information Services Web Server.

Tasks

• Configure IIS v8.5

  1. Install IIS v8.5 with the necessary IIS v6.0 Management Compatibility components.

     IIS v6.0 Management Compatibility components are not automatically installed by default. Complete the following steps to install IIS v8.5 with the necessary IIS v6.0 Management Compatibility components.

     • Complete the following steps to install IIS v8.5 on Windows Server 2012:
       1. Bring up the Server Manager

       2. Select the installation type based on the environment and then click Next.

       3. Select the server that will receive the installation and then click Next.

       4. When the Server Roles window displays, verify that the following options are selected in addition to the default options that are already selected.
          • Management Tools: IIS Management Console
          • IIS v6.0 Management Compatibility: IIS v6.0 Management Console, IIS v6.0 Scripting Tools, IIS v6.0 WMI Compatibility, and IIS Metabase compatibility
          • IIS Management Scripts and Tools
          • Application Development: ISAPI Extensions, ISAPI Filters

     • Click Next to enable the selected options> Install on the next window to perform the installation.

  2. Install the web server plug-ins.

     If we are using an already installed web server plug-in, go to the next step, and re-configure IIS v8.5 to use that web server plug-in.

  3. Optional: Re-configure IIS v8.5 if the web server plug-in is already installed:

     The following steps are completed automatically during web server plug-in installation. You only need to complete these steps are if we are re-configuring IIS v8.5 to use an existing web server plug-in.

     Complete the following steps to re-configure IIS v8.5:

     1. Click the Tools> Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager within the Server Manager screen. This action starts the IIS application, and creates a new virtual directory for the website instance that we intend to use with WebSphere Application Server. These instructions assume that we are using the default website.

     2. Expand the tree until you see Default Web Site.
     3. Right-click Default Web Site > Add Virtual Directory to create the directory with a default installation.

     4. Type sePlugins in the Alias field on the Virtual Directory Alias window.
     5. Browse to the plugins_root\bin\IIS_web_server directory in the Physical Path field of the Web Site Content Directory window> OK. For example, select the C:\Program Files\IBM\WebSphere\Plugins\bin\IIS_webserver1 directory.

     6. Click the Test Settings button. If the settings test fails, then either change the permissions of the physical directory, or select Connect As, and let IIS connect as a Windows user account that has authority to files in that physical path.

        When we click the Test Settings button, we might encounter the following warning message if we use the default "Pass-thru authentication" setting:

        Cannot verify access to path
        

        Refer to the Microsoft information on this subject.

     7. Click OK to add the sePlugins virtual directory to your default website.

     8. In the navigation tree, select the sePlugins virtual directory that we just created.

     9. On the Features panel, double-click Handler Mappings> Edit Feature Permissions on the Actions panel.

     10. Select Script and Execute, if they are not already selected.

     11. Click OK.
     12. Manually copy the plug-in binaries to the plugins_root\bin\IIS_web_server directory. For example, copy the plug-in binary files to the C:\Program Files\IBM\WebSphere\Plugins\bin\IIS_webserver1 directory.

         The plugin-cfg.loc file resides in this directory. The first line of the plugin-cfg.loc file identifies the location of the plugin-cfg.xml file.

     13. Return to the IIS Manager window, and expand the Web Sites folder in the navigation tree of that window.

     14. Select Default Web Site in the navigation tree.

     15. Add the Internet Services Application Programming Interface (ISAPI) filter into the IIS configuration.

         On the Default Web Site Properties panel:

         1. Double-click the ISAPI Filters tab.

         2. Click to open the Add/Edit Filter Properties dialog window.

         3. Type iisWASPlugin in the Filter name field.

         4. Click Browse to select the plug-in file located in the plugins_root\bin\IIS_web_server\iisWASPlugin_http.dll directory.

         5. Click OK to close the Add/Edit Filter Properties dialog window.

     16. In the navigation tree, select the top level server node.

     17. On the Features panel, double-click ISAPI and CGI Restrictions, and then, on the Actions panel, click Add.

         To determine the value to specify for the ISAPI or CGI Path property, browse to, and then select the same plug-in file that we selected in the previous step. For example:

         plugins_root\bin\IIS_web_server\iisWASPlugin_http.dll
         

         Then type WASPlugin in the Description field, select Allow extension path to execute> OK to close the ISAPI and CGI Restrictions dialog window.

     18. Set the value in the plugin-cfg.loc file to the location of the configuration file at plugins_root\config\webserver\plugin-cfg.xml.

         Following is the default location:

         C:\IBM\WebSphere\Plugins\config\IIS_webserver1\plugin-cfg.xml
         

         The location varies depending on how we have configured the system. If the web server, and WAS are on separate machines, we have a remote installation. If the web server, and WAS are on the same machine, then we have a local installation, and the correct location of the configuration file might be set. If the two servers are on the same machine, and the application server is federated, we have a local distributed installation.

         Local distributed example:

         C:\IBM\WebSphere\AppServer\profiles\custom01\config\cells\dmgrcell\nodes\managed_node\servers\webserver1\plugin-cfg.xml
         

         Local example:

         C:\IBM\WebSphere\Plugins\config\webserver1\plugin-cfg.xml
         

     19. Restart IIS v8.5 and our WAS profile.

• Configure IIS v9.x.

  Use IIS v8 with Windows Server 2012.

  1. Install IIS v9.x with the necessary IIS Version 6.0 Management Compatibility components.

     IIS Version 6.0 Management Compatibility components are not automatically installed by default. Complete the following steps to install IIS v9.x with the necessary IIS v6.0 Management Compatibility components.

     • Complete the following steps to install IIS v9.x on Windows Server 2012:
       1. Bring up the Server Manager

       2. Select the installation type based on the environment and then click Next.

       3. Select the server that will receive the installation and then click Next.

       4. When the Server Roles window displays, verify that the following options are selected in addition to the default options that are already selected.
          • Management Tools: IIS Management Console
          • IIS v6.0 Management Compatibility: IIS v6.0 Management Console, IIS v6.0 Scripting Tools, IIS v6.0 WMI Compatibility, and IIS Metabase compatibility
          • IIS Management Scripts and Tools
          • Application Development: ISAPI Extensions, ISAPI Filters

     • Click Next to enable the selected options, and then click Install on the next window to perform the installation.

  2. Install the web server plug-ins.

     If we are using an already installed web server plug-in, go to the next step, and re-configure IIS v9.x to use that web server plug-in.

  3. Optional: Re-configure IIS v9.x if the web server plug-in is already installed:

     The following steps are completed automatically during web server plug-in installation. You only need to complete these steps are if we are re-configuring IIS v9.x to use an existing web server plug-in.

     Complete the following steps to re-configure IIS v9.x:

     1. Click the Tools> Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager within the Server Manager screen. This action starts the IIS application, and creates a new virtual directory for the website instance that we intend to use with WAS. These instructions assume that we are using the default website.

     2. Expand the tree until you see Default Web Site.
     3. Right-click Default Web Site > Add Virtual Directory to create the directory with a default installation.

     4. Type sePlugins in the Alias field on the Virtual Directory Alias window.
     5. Browse to the plugins_root\bin\IIS_web_server directory in the Physical Path field of the Web Site Content Directory window> OK. For example, select the C:\IBM\WebSphere\Plugins\bin\IIS_webserver1 directory.

     6. Click the Test Settings button. If the settings test fails, then either change the permissions of the physical directory, or select Connect As, and let IIS connect as a Windows user account that has authority to files in that physical path.

        When we click the Test Settings button, we might encounter the following warning message if we use the default "Pass-thru authentication" setting:

        Cannot verify access to path
        

        Refer to the Microsoft information on this subject.

     7. Click OK to add the sePlugins virtual directory to your default website.

     8. In the navigation tree, select the sePlugins virtual directory that we just created.

     9. On the Features panel, double-click Handler Mappings, and then click Edit Feature Permissions on the Actions panel.

     10. Select Script and Execute, if they are not already selected.

     11. Click OK.
     12. Manually copy the plug-in binaries to the plugins_root\bin\IIS_web_server directory. For example, copy the plug-in binary files to the C:\Program Files\IBM\WebSphere\Plugins\bin\IIS_webserver1 directory.

         The plugin-cfg.loc file resides in this directory. The first line of the plugin-cfg.loc file identifies the location of the plugin-cfg.xml file.

     13. Return to the IIS Manager window, and expand the Web Sites folder in the navigation tree of that window.

     14. Select Default Web Site in the navigation tree.

     15. Add the Internet Services Application Programming Interface (ISAPI) filter into the IIS configuration.

         On the Default Web Site Properties panel:

         1. Double-click the ISAPI Filters tab.

         2. Click to open the Add/Edit Filter Properties dialog window.

         3. Type iisWASPlugin in the Filter name field.

         4. Click Browse to select the plug-in file located in the plugins_root \bin\IIS_web_server\iisWASPlugin_http.dll directory.

         5. Click OK to close the Add/Edit Filter Properties dialog window.

     16. In the navigation tree, select the top level server node.

     17. On the Features panel, double-click ISAPI and CGI Restrictions, and then, on the Actions panel, click Add.

         To determine the value to specify for the ISAPI or CGI Path property, browse to, and then select the same plug-in file that we selected in the previous step. For example:

         plugins_root\bin\IIS_web_server\iisWASPlugin_http.dll
         

         Then type WASPlugin in the Description field, select Allow extension path to execute> OK to close the ISAPI and CGI Restrictions dialog window.

     18. Set the value in the plugin-cfg.loc file to the location of the configuration file at plugins_root\config\webserver\plugin-cfg.xml.

         Following is the default location:

         C:\IBM\WebSphere\Plugins\config\IIS_webserver1\plugin-cfg.xml
         

         The location varies depending on how we have configured the system. If the web server, and WAS are on separate machines, we have a remote installation. If the web server, and WAS are on the same machine, then we have a local installation, and the correct location of the configuration file might be set. If the two servers are on the same machine, and the application server is federated, we have a local distributed installation.

         Local distributed example:

         C:\IBM\WebSphere\AppServer\profiles\custom01\config\cells\dmgrcell\nodes\managed_node\servers\webserver1\plugin-cfg.xml
         

         Local example:

         C:\IBM\WebSphere\Plugins\config\webserver1\plugin-cfg.xml
         

     19. Restart IIS v9.x and our WAS profile.

• Optional: Configure multiple websites. Given:

  • There are two websites defined: website1 and website2.

  • The DLL files are already created as bin/website1/iisWASPlugin_http.dll and bin/website2/iisWebsite2/iisWASPlugin_http.dll.

  • The plugin-cfg.loc files are created in the same folder as the DLL files.
  1. Run IIS in worker process isolation mode (default).

     To enable worker process in isolation mode:

     1. Open the IIS Manager console and expand the local computer by clicking the plus sign.

     2. Expand the Web Sites folder, then right-click the Default Web Sites folder.

     3. Click Properties, then click the Service tab.

     4. Under Isolation mode, clear the Run web service in IIS isolation mode check box to enable worker process isolation mode.

  2. Define two application pools; one for website1 and the other for website2. Do not use the predefined application pool DefaultAppPool.

  3. Define the two websites, including the filter setting, virtual host setting, and extension settings.
  4. Assign an application pool for each website.

     1. Under each website folder, right click on the website name.

     2. Click Property, and select the Home Directory tab. 2.

     3. In the application settings, select the application pool we defined for website 1 from the drop down list of application pools.

     4. Click OK.

     5. Repeat the previous steps for the second website and select the application pool we defined for website 2.

  5. Start the IIS service and start each website.

This procedure results in re-configuring the Internet Information Services (IIS) Web Server.

(Windows) Note: On some editions of the Windows operating system, the http_plugin.log file is not created automatically when the plug-in is installed and the IIS Web Server is started. If the http_plugin.log file is not created after performing the previous procedure, take the following steps:

1. Open a Windows Explorer window.
2. Browse to the plugins_root\logs\web_server directory.
3. Share the folder and give full-control permission to everyone.

What to do next

We can now install applications on the configured Web server. See the Applications section of the information center for more information.

Tip: To unconfigure a web server, reverse the manual steps and remove what was manually added in this procedure.