Inetinfo.exe

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

When IIS 6.0 runs in worker process isolation mode, Inetinfo.exe is a user-mode component that hosts the IIS metabase and that also hosts the non-Web services of IIS 6.0, including the FTP service, the SMTP service, and the NNTP service. Inetinfo.exe depends on IIS Admin service to host the metabase.

When IIS 6.0 runs in IIS 5.0 isolation mode, Inetinfo.exe functions much as it did in IIS 5.0. In IIS 5.0 isolation mode, however, Inetinfo.exe hosts the worker process, which runs ISAPI filters, Low-isolation ISAPI extensions, and other Web applications.

Important

In IIS6.0, regardless of the application isolation mode used, the services that run in Inetinfo.exe run as dynamic-link libraries (DLLs) under the Local System account. Because a Local System account allows users access to every resource on the local computer, use caution when you run services in Inetinfo.exe, especially on computers that provide services on the Internet.

Note

When you run services in Inetinfo.exe that can be accessed from the Internet, be sure to protect your system by using a firewall, such as Microsoft® Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server, or by disabling services that you do not use.