Installing and Configuring IIS 6.0

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

Because IIS 6.0 is not installed during the default installation of Windows Server 2003, the next step in deploying the Web server is to install and configure IIS 6.0. The deployment process presented here assumes that you install IIS 6.0 with the default options in Add or Remove Programs in Control Panel. If you use other methods for installing and configuring Windows Server 2003, such as Manage Your Server, the default configuration settings might be different.

Note

You can use the Web Platform Installer (Web PI) to easily install IIS, and applications that run on IIS. The Web PI is a free, lightweight tool that lets you install IIS and related technologies such as ASP.NET, SQL Server Express, Visual Web Developer, other popular Web applications, and more. Because the Web PI installs the latest versions of available Web Platform offerings, with just a few simple clicks you can download and install any new tools or updates. To learn more about the Web PI, see Learn more and install the Web PI.

  1. Install IIS 6.0 with only the essential components and services.

    As with installing Windows Server 2003, the primary concern when installing and configuring IIS 6.0 is to ensure that the security of the Web server is maintained. Enabling unnecessary components and services increases the attack surface of the Web server. You can help ensure that the Web server is secure by enabling only the essential components and services in IIS 6.0.

    For more information about how to install IIS 6.0, see Install IIS 6.0. For more information about the IIS 6.0 components and services that you should enable, see Enabling Only Essential IIS Components and Services

  2. If you want to manage the Web site content by using Microsoft® FrontPage®, install FrontPage 2002 Server Extensions from Microsoft on the Web server.

    For information about how to enable FrontPage Server Extensions after installing them on the Web server, see Configure Web Service Extensions.