Preparing Front-End Web Servers for Windows SharePoint Services 2.0

Before installing Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services, you must perform the following tasks:

  • Verify your server meets the hardware and software requirements.

  • Enable Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS).

  • Install either ASP.NET 1.1, ASP.NET 2.0, or both.

    Note

    Extra steps are required to configure IIS for ASP.NET 2.0.

  • Verify that IIS is properly configured for Windows SharePoint Services.

  • If you are installing Windows SharePoint Services on an x64-based edition of Microsoft Windows Server 2003, you must configure IIS for 32-bit emulation mode.

If you are using a Server Farm configuration, you must perform these steps on each front-end Web server.

Note

To perform these tasks, you must be an administrator on the local computer.

Hardware and Software Requirements

Before you install Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services on your Web server, you must first ensure that your front-end Web server meets the hardware and software requirements.

Web Server Hardware Requirements

Hardware requirements for your Web server vary depending on the platform you are using, edition of the operating system you choose, and whether you are deploying Windows SharePoint Services on a single server or server farm. The following table describes the hardware requirements for the supported operating systems.

Platform Operating system Requirements for single server deployment Requirements for server farm deployment

32-bit version

Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition, Enterprise Edition, or Web Edition

NoteNote:
Web Edition requires a full version of Microsoft SQL Server 2000 or SQL Server 2005

Same as the requirements for the edition of Windows Server 2003 you are using

1* Pentium III compatible CPU, 550 MHz or higher

* 2 CPUs recommended

512 MB RAM

32-bit version

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition

Same as the requirements for Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition

1* Pentium III compatible CPU, 550 MHz or higher

* 2 CPUs recommended

1 GB RAM

32-bit version

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2, Standard Edition, Enterprise Edition, or Web Edition

NoteNote:
Web Edition requires a full version of Microsoft SQL Server 2000

Same as the requirements for the edition of Windows Server 2003 R2 you are using

1* Pentium III compatible CPU, 550 MHz or higher

* 2 CPUs recommended

512 MB RAM

32-bit version

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2, Datacenter Edition

Same as the requirements for Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2, Datacenter Edition

1* Pentium III compatible CPU, 550 MHz or higher

* 2 CPUs recommended

1 GB RAM

x64-based version

x64-based version of Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition, Enterprise Edition, or Datacenter Edition

NoteNote:
All x64-based versions of Windows Server 2003 editions require a full version of Microsoft SQL Server 2000 or SQL Server 2005

Same as the requirements for the 64-bit version of the edition of Windows Server 2003 you are using

1* 64-bit CPU

* 2 or more CPUs recommended

1 GB RAM

Note

Windows SharePoint Services is not supported on Itanium-based versions of Windows Server 2003.

Note

You must install Windows 2003 Server and Windows SharePoint Services on a partition formatted using the NTFS file system.

Web Server Software Requirements

Before you install and configure Windows SharePoint Services, you must ensure that each front-end Web server meets the following software requirements.

To run Windows SharePoint Services, you must first install one of the Windows Server 2003 editions, listed in the previous table. The following list describes the components that must be running on the edition of Windows Server 2003 you choose for your Web server:

  • Windows Server 2003 Editions

    • Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0, running in IIS 6.0 worker process isolation mode

    • Microsoft ASP.NET version 1.1, Microsoft ASP.NET 2.0, or both

  • Windows Server 2003 R2 Editions

    • IIS 6.0, running in IIS 6.0 worker process isolation mode

    • ASP.NET version 1.1, ASP.NET 2.0, or both

  • 64-bit (x64-based) versions of Windows Server 2003 Editions

    • IIS 6.0, running in 32-bit emulation mode and IIS 6.0 worker process isolation mode

    • ASP.NET version 1.1, ASP.NET 2.0, or both

For a complete list of hardware and software requirements, see Hardware and Software Requirements (Windows SharePoint Services 2.0). After you have verified the hardware and software requirements, you can enable IIS and ASP.NET.

Enabling IIS

IIS is not enabled by default in Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2003 R2. To make your front-end servers into Web servers, you must enable IIS. To enable IIS you use Manage Your Server to add the Application Server (IIS, ASP.NET) role. If you are preparing Web front-end servers for a Server Farm deployment, the following steps must to be performed on each front-end web server.

Starting with Windows SharePoint Services Service Pack 2, both ASP.NET 1.1 and ASP.NET 2.0 are supported. Because ASP.NET 2.0 is fully backward compatible with ASP.NET 1.1, the same features and functionality are supported without the need to update or recompile any applications. Windows SharePoint Services SP2 allows running ASP.NET 1.1 and 2.0 on different virtual servers on the same Web server simultaneously.

When you enable IIS, you have the option to also enable ASP.NET 1.1. You do not need to enable ASP.NET 1.1 to use ASP.NET 2.0. However, you must perform additional steps after enabling IIS if you want to use ASP.NET 2.0. More information about ASP.NET 2.0 is provided later in this topic.

Enable IIS

  1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Manage Your Server.

  2. On the Manage Your Server page, click Add or remove a role.

  3. In the Preliminary Steps pane, click Next.

  4. In the Server Role pane, click Application server (IIS, ASP.NET), and then click Next.

  5. In the Application Server Options pane, select the ASP.NET check ox if you want to enable ASP.NET 1.1, and then click Next.

    Note

    You do not need to enable ASP.NET 1.1 if you will only be using ASP.NET 2.0. However, you must perform additional steps after enabling IIS if you want to use ASP.NET 2.0.

  6. In the Summary of Selections pane, click Next.

    The wizard enables IIS and, if selected, ASP.NET 1.1. This can take several minutes to complete.

  7. Click Finish.

Verifying IIS is properly configured for Windows SharePoint Services

After enabling IIS, you must perform the following steps to verify that IIS is running in IIS 6.0 worker process mode and that the versions of ASP.NET that you have enabled are allowed.

Verify IIS is running in IIS 6.0 worker process mode

Perform the following steps to ensure that IIS is configured for IIS 6.0 worker process isolation mode, rather than IIS 5.0 isolation mode.

  1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

  2. In Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager, click the plus sign (+) next to the server name to expand the tree view, and then right-click the Web Sites folder and select Properties.

  3. In the Web Sites Properties dialog box, click the Service tab.

  4. In the Isolation mode section, verify that the Run WWW service in IIS 5.0 isolation mode check box is cleared, and then click OK.

    Note

    The Run WWW service in IIS 5.0 isolation mode check box is only selected if you have upgraded to IIS 6.0 on Windows Server 2003 from IIS 5.0 on Windows 2000. New installations of IIS 6.0 use IIS 6.0 worker process isolation mode by default.

  5. Leave Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager open, because you will need it in the next procedure.

Verify ASP.NET is allowed

You must verify that the versions of ASP.NET that you want to use are allowed. This procedure assumes that you have already enabled ASP.NET 1.1, ASP.NET 2.0, or both. For information about installing and configuring ASP.NET 2.0 on Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2003 R2, see Installing and Configuring ASP.NET (Windows SharePoint Services 2.0).

  1. In Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager, in the left-hand column, click the Web Services Extensions node and verify ASP.NET is allowed and all other Web Service Extensions are prohibited.

  2. If the version of ASP.NET that you want to use does not appear in the list, follow the instructions in Installing and Configuring ASP.NET (Windows SharePoint Services 2.0) to enable it and then repeat this procedure.

  3. If the version of ASP.NET you want to use appears on the list but is not allowed, right click the version of ASP.NET you want to allow and click Allow.

Configuring IIS for 32-Bit Emulation Mode

If you are installing IIS on x64-based editions of Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2003 R2, IIS must be configured to run in 32 bit emulation mode. Perform the following procedure on each front-end Web server running an x64-based edition of Windows Server 2003.

Configure Internet Information Services (IIS) for 32-bit mode

  1. Click Start, and then click Run.

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

  3. In the command prompt window, navigate to the %drive%:\Inetpub\Adminscripts folder, where %drive% is the drive in which Windows Server 2003 is installed.

  4. In the Adminscripts folder, type the following command:

    cscript adsutil.vbs set w3svc/AppPools/Enable32bitAppOnWin64 1

    Note

    The value "1" for Enable32bitAppOnWin64 specifies 32-bit mode, whereas the value "0" specifies 64-bit mode.

  5. Press ENTER.

  6. Type iisreset and then press ENTER.

  7. Close the Cmmand Pompt window.

Installing and Enabling ASP.NET 2.0

You can optionally perform additional steps on Microsoft Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2003 R2, to enable ASP.NET 2.0 and configure IIS to use it for your Windows SharePoint Services sites. You can then specify separately for each virtual server whether to use ASP.NET 1.1 or ASP.NET 2.0 or specify that all virtual servers use ASP.NET 2.0. For instructions on installing and configuring ASP.NET 2.0, see Installing and Configuring ASP.NET (Windows SharePoint Services 2.0).

Security Notes for Windows Server and Windows SharePoint Services

After each front-end Web server is running the required software, it is recommended that you observe the following security considerations.

Note

To help keep your systems secure, after you have configured your server as an application server by configuring IIS and ASP.NET, install the latest service packs and patches from Microsoft Windows Update (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=81877&clcid=0x409).

Note

Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2003 R2 lock down Internet Explorer security settings by default. This may prevent you from performing some HTML Administrative tasks. For more information, see Internet Explorer Enhanced Security and Windows SharePoint Services 2.0.

Note

Windows SharePoint Services prior to Service Pack 2 configured IIS to use Integrated Windows Authentication (NTLM). Windows SharePoint Services with Service Pack 2 no longer sets the authentication method and allows Kerberos authentication. When using a Configurable security account, additional steps will be required to set the Service Principal Name (SPN) for the account. For additional information, see Installation Considerations for Windows SharePoint Services 2.0.

Next Steps

Your front-end Web server is now prepared for Windows SharePoint Services. The following topics provide the additional steps to install Windows SharePoint Services in a variety of deployment configurations.