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IIS7.5ExpressandVisualStudio2010
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WebDevelopment andtagged IIS

VisualStudio2010 onJune2,2011byRobSanders.

Incaseyouhadntalreadyheard,Microsofthavereleasedacomprehensivesetofnewwebdevelopmentfeatures
andtoolsdesignedtoenhancerapidwebapplicationdevelopmentintheformofWebMatrix.
TodaysarticlewillfocusonInternetInformationServices(IIS)7.5Express,whichisalightversionofMicrosofts
heavyweightIISwebserver.Theexpresseditionisaimedsquarelyatdevelopersandprovidesamuchricherset
offunctionalityandsupport,whichmakesagreatcasefrommovingawayfromVisualStudiosbuiltinweb
developmentserver(akaCassini).
WhywouldyouuseIIS7.5ExpressoverCassini?
Supportsmultipleusers
Usethesamewebserveryourproductioncodeuses(IIS)
YoumayrunanIIS7+compatiblewebserveronWindowsXP(ifrequired)
AvoidtheneedforlocalAdministrationrights(inmostcases)
IfyoudecidetouseIISExpress7.5,itintegratesdirectlywithVisualStudio2010(withServicePack1,whichis
required).Ifoundittobealittletrickytofindatfirst,sohereshowIenableditforadummywebproject.Onyour
webprojectinVisualStudiosSolutionExplorer,rightclicktogetthecontextmenu.Youllnoteanewmenuitem
UseIISExpress..:

Onceyoufollowthepopupboxes,youllhavetheprojectconfiguredtouseIISExpress

Clickingintotheprojectswebsettings(rightclick>Properties,selecttheWebtab)youllseethatitusestheUse
LocalIISWebserveroption,andthatthereisanewcheckboxcalledUseIISExpressitreusestheIISsettings,
whichthrewmeinitially.

IllwriteupsomemoreonusingIISExpress7.5asIdevelopmorewithit..
ForthefullIISExpressexperience,IhighlyrecommendthatyoutakealookattheIISExpressconfigurationfiles,
whichyoucanfindconvenientlyinthefollowinglocation(onceyouhaveconfiguredittobeused,Iwouldguess):
C:\Users\[Profile]\Documents\IISExpress\config
Herewewillfindthreeconfigurationfiles:
applicationhost.configthebulkoftheIISconfigurationyoullneed
aspnet.configspecifiesassembliesandversions
redirection.configselfexplanatory,allowsyoutoconfigureredirectsandothergoodness
Troubleshooting
IfyoumigrateawayfromCassini(VisualStudioDevelopmentServerthebuiltinwebdevelopmentserver),there
wasonegotchawefoundinitially.WhentheprojecthadpreviouslybeenconfiguredtouseCassini,wehad
specifiedaspecificport(ratherthandynamicports):

WhenweconfiguredtouseIISExpress,youcanseeIISsettingsareenabled,butwhenpeopleranthesolution,it
usedtheoldCassiniportnumberinstead!ThesolutionwastosettheCassinioptiontoAssignautoport,andthen
reenabletheIISsettingsitthenusedthecorrectport:

AboutRobSanders

ITProfessionalandTOGAF9certifiedarchitectwithover16yearsexperience,14incommercialsoftware
developmentand8yearsinITconsulting.Checkoutthe"AboutRob"pageformoreinformation.
ViewallpostsbyRobSanders

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9thoughtsonIIS7.5ExpressandVisualStudio2010

Bartek
July19,2011at1:03pm

WillthisalsoworkwiththeExpresseditionofVisualStudio2010?

Rob

Postauthor

July19,2011at1:30pm

IbelieveitiscompatiblewithExpress,butIhaventtesteditout.

Reply

Reply

Patrice

Reply

July29,2011at12:41am

Hello!Greatpost.
IhaveaproblemthoughandIthoughtyoucouldhelp.IcreatedanewWebSiteproject.I
thenclicktheUseIISExpressoptioninthecontextualmenu.ItchangedtheWebSiteprojectfromc:\
\WEbSiteNametohttp://Localhost:58376
Iaddedaclasslibraryprojectandthencheckedinthesolution.
MycoworkerthenmakesaGetLatestVersiononthebranch(TFS2008).Thesolutionloadsbutthewebsite
isunavailbe.Andhegetsthefollowingerror:
http://localhost:58376:error:UnabletoopentheWebsitehttp://localhost:58376.
TheWebserverhttp://localhost:58376couldnotbefound.
Itriedtoreloadprojectbutitdidnthelp.IhadtorollbacktotheCassiniconfigurationandcheckinthesolution
inordertoforhimtobeabletoloadthewebsiteproject.
AnyideaonhowwecanworkcollaborativelywithTFSandIISExpress?CanweuncheckaApplyserver
settingstoallusersonawebsiteprojectlikewecandowithaWebApplicationProject?
thankyou!

Rob

Postauthor

Reply

July29,2011at6:36am

Hi,doesyourcoworkerhaveIISExpress7.5installedonhis/hermachine?
Itdoessupportcollaborativedeployment.IfIISExpressisinstalled,thereisa
configurationfileyoucanchecktoseeiftheport(58376)isconfigured.However,gutinstinctisthat
Expressisprobablynotinstalled.

Binu

Reply

December8,2011at9:13am

Hi,
TheMyDocumentsfolderisonanetworkdriveinmycaseandhenceIISexpressthrows
anerrorsayingitcantreadtheRedirection.configfile.HowcanIchangethepathformyconfigfilestopoint
toalocalfolder.
Thanks
Binu

Rob

Postauthor

December25,2011at5:34pm

ItmightbeeasiertograntpermissionsfortheIISprocesstoaccessyour
documentsontheshareddrive.Ifnot,theremightbeasettinginthe
machine.configwhichcanbeusedtochangethedefaultpath.

fernandez

Reply

Reply

June7,2012at11:27am

doesthisIISExpressbebundledtowebsetupandCanuseasaonepackage?
whatImlookingforafreewebservertobundlewithmywebapplication

Rob

Reply

Postauthor

June8,2012at3:24pm

Hithere,
Yes,IISExpressisredistributablecheckoutthefollowingfordetails:
http://blogs.iis.net/vaidyg/archive/2011/01/21/iisexpressbootstrapperpackage.aspx

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