Overview of Common Administrative Tasks

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

Although this appendix is a reference for the common tasks you frequently perform when administering IIS as your Web server, most tasks in this appendix do not include guidelines for their use or detailed explanations. A few tasks include brief conceptual information, although they are the exception. However, all topics include cross-references to IIS Operations Guide topics, and to other topics and appendices in this reference so that you can quickly find additional information on a task.

Table A.1 outlines the tasks that are included in this appendix.

Table A.1 Overview of the Tasks in This Appendix

Task Describes How To

Important First Tasks In IIS 6.0

   Starting IIS Manager

Open IIS Manager (provides three options).

   Starting and stopping services and sites

Start and stop IIS services and sites.

   Enabling dynamic content services

Enable dynamic content services, such as Active Server Pages and ASP.NET (includes information about default installations).

   Creating a Web FTP site

Create Web site configurations, and install and use File Transfer Protocol (FTP) services.

   Creating virtual directories

Create virtual directories within Web and FTP sites.

Tasks New to IIS 6.0 (tasks that are new or significantly different than they were in IIS 5.0)

   Creating and isolating applications

Create and manage applications.

   Creating application pools

Group Web applications into application pools.

   Configuring recycling

Periodically restart worker processes assigned to an application pool.

   Backing up and restoring metabase configurations

Save metabase and application configurations, including portable backups.

   Saving and copying site configurations

Back up your site configurations.

Security-related Tasks

   Setting authentication settings

Set up and use user authentication methods.

   Obtaining and backing up server certificates

Set up and use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certification on your sites.

   Controlling access to applications

Help reduce the attack surface of your applications with permissions and restrictions.

Tasks for Managing Servers and Applications

   Hosting multiple Web sites

Create and host multiple Web sites.

   Redirecting Web sites

Automatically direct users to the correct page on your site.

   Assigning resources to applications

Control the amount of resources an application uses.

Tasks for Administering Servers

   Administering servers from the command line

Use powerful scripting and programming tools to access and configure settings.

 Administering servers remotely

Use tools to remotely administer your sites.

When performing these tasks — especially security-related tasks — be sure that you are familiar with best practice guidelines and that you apply those guidelines to these tasks.

To perform most of the tasks described in this appendix, you must be a member of the Administrators group on the local computer, or you must be delegated the appropriate authority. If you log on to your computer as a member of the Administrators group, you might make your system vulnerable to malicious programs that could cause security risks. Instead, use the Run as feature to perform administrative tasks so that you do not need to log on to your computer as a member of the Administrators group. Using this feature, you can open and execute a program that uses a different account and security context than the one you logged on with.

You can use Run as through the user interface (UI) or as a command-line tool. The Run as feature that is built into the UI is a shortcut that you access by right-clicking some programs (files with the .exe file name extension), some Control Panel items (files with the .cpl file name extension), and Microsoft Management Console (MMC) (files with the .msc file name extension) snap-ins.

To use the Run as feature to run IIS Manager as an administrator

  1. From the Start menu, point to Administrative Tools, right-click Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager, and then click Run as.

The runas command provides the same capabilities as the built-in Run as feature.

To use the runas command to run IIS Manager as an administrator

  1. From the Start menu, click Run.

  2. In the Open box, type cmd, and then click OK.

  3. At the command prompt, type the following:

    **runas /User:**Administrative_AccountName "mmc %systemroot%\system32\inetsrv\iis.msc"

To use the runas command to run a command-line script as an administrator

  1. From the Start menu, click Run.

  2. In the Open box, type cmd, and then click OK.

  3. At the command prompt, type the following:

    **runas /profile /User:MyMachine\**Administrator cmd

    A new command window, which has administrative rights, opens.

  4. In the new command window, type the following at the command prompt:

    cscript.exe ScriptName (include the script's full path and any parameters)

For more information about using the Run as feature or the runas command to perform procedures, see "Using Run as", "Runas", and "Create a shortcut using the runas command" in Help and Support Center for Microsoft® Windows®  Server 2003.