Creating Virtual Directories on the Target Server

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Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 with SP1

For each virtual directory within each Web site on the source server, you must create a corresponding virtual directory on the target server. A virtual directory is a folder name, used in an address, which corresponds to a physical directory on the Web server or a Universal Naming Convention (UNC) location. This is also sometimes referred to as URL mapping. Virtual directories are used to publish Web content from any folder not located in the home directory of the Web site. When clients access content in a virtual directory, the content appears to be in a subdirectory of the home directory even though it is not.

For security reasons, you might want to move the Web site content to a different disk volume during the migration process. You can move the content to another disk volume on the target server or to a shared folder on a separate server. You can use virtual directories to specify the UNC name for the location where the content is placed, and provide a user name and password for access rights.

For each virtual directory in each Web site on the source server, create a corresponding virtual directory on the target server by completing the following steps:

  1. Create the folder on the target server to contain the virtual directory content.

    Create the folder in the same location on the target server unless you are placing the content on a different disk volume than the source server or you are using a UNC share to store the content. Ensure that you create the folder in a secure manner that does not compromise the security of the target server.

    For more information about securing virtual directories, see "Preventing Unauthorized Access to Web Sites and Applications" in Securing Web Sites and Applications.

  2. Create the virtual directory under the appropriate Web site on the target server.

    For more information about how to create virtual directories, see Create a Virtual Directory in Appendix A: IIS Deployment Procedures.