Add a Custom HTTP Response Header (IIS 7)

  • Article

Applies To: Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista

You can create a custom HTTP response header, which will apply to all content on a server or in a site or application. For example, you may add a header to specify the location of a Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P) policy reference file, or to include a compact P3P policy for client browsers to determine how to handle cookies from the application.

Note

In IIS 6.0, IIS Manager included a content-rating section on the HTTP Headers tab, which created a custom header for the Web site, application, or file (depending on where the rating was set). Site rating agencies no longer allow for self ratings, so rating agencies now provide rating information directly to an administrator. The administrator can then create a custom header and insert the rating information provided to them by the rating agency.

Prerequisites

For information about the levels at which you can perform this procedure, and the modules, handlers, and permissions that are required to perform this procedure, see HTTP Response Headers Feature Requirements (IIS 7).

Exceptions to feature requirements

  • None

To create a custom HTTP response header

You can perform this procedure by using the user interface (UI), by running Appcmd.exe commands in a command-line window, by editing configuration files directly, or by writing WMI scripts.

User Interface

To use the UI

  1. Open IIS Manager and navigate to the level you want to manage. For information about opening IIS Manager, see Open IIS Manager (IIS 7). For information about navigating to locations in the UI, see Navigation in IIS Manager (IIS 7).

  2. In Features View, double-click HTTP Response Headers.

  3. On the HTTP Response Headers page, in the Actions pane, click Add.

  4. In the Add Custom HTTP Response Header dialog box, type a name, and a value or set of values separated with commas (,) in the Name and Value boxes.

  5. Click OK.

Command Line

To add a custom HTTP response header, use the following syntax:

appcmd set config /section:httpProtocol /+customHeaders.[name='string',value='string']

The variable namestring is the name of the header you want to add, and the variable valuestring is the value that you want to set for the header. For example, to add a P3P response header with a policy reference file at https://contoso.com/P3P.xml, type the following at the command prompt, and then press ENTER:

appcmd set config /section:httpProtocol /+customHeaders.[name='P3P',value='policyRef="""https://contoso.com/P3P.xml"""']

Note

When you must include double-quotation marks (") around a value, such as the URI https://contoso.com/P3P.xml in the previous example, you must escape the quotation character by enclosing it in double-quotation marks.

For more information about Appcmd.exe, see Appcmd.exe (IIS 7).

Configuration

The procedure in this topic affects the following configuration elements:

<customHeaders>

For more information about IIS 7 configuration, see IIS 7.0: IIS Settings Schema on MSDN.

WMI

Use the following WMI classes, methods, or properties to perform this procedure:

  • HTTPProtocolSection.Add method

For more information about WMI and IIS, see Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) in IIS 7. For more information about the classes, methods, or properties associated with this procedure, see the IIS WMI Provider Reference on the MSDN site.

See Also

Concepts

Configuring HTTP Response Headers in IIS 7

Other Resources

Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P) Project