Remote Administration: Managing IIS 7 (RCO) from Windows XP, 2k3 and Vista

September 24th saw the release of Windows Server 2008 RC0 and along with that comes the latest release of IIS 7.0. One of the great new features of IIS 7 is the  remote administration support built into InetMgr (the administration UI). The admin UI provides server administrators with some powerful features for enabling remote administration of the server and individual sites and application (both admins and non-admins alike).

I'll talk a lot more about Remote Administration in upcoming posts but for now I want to talk about and show you how to remotely administer IIS 7 (RC0) from Windows XP, 2k3 and Vista.

In order to remotely administer IIS 7 (RC0) from Windows XP, 2k3 or Vista you need to download and install the wonderfully named "Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.0 Manager", Remote Manager for short. Once downloaded and installed you'll be able to connect to and administer your IIS 7 installation.

This is a long post so I've included the following links to help:

• Windows Vista
  • Requirements and Installing
  • Using Remote Manager on Vista
  • Notes and Known Issues
• Windows XP and Windows Server 2003
  • Requirements and Installing
  • Using Remote Manager on Windows XP/2k3
  • Notes and Known Issues

Installing on Windows Vista

First things first - what do you need to have before you can get

• You must have Windows Vista SP1 Beta installed
  You need to have an MSDN subscription or be a beta testers on connect.microsoft.com to get SP1 beta.
• You must have the Microsoft .NET Framework version 2.0 or greater installed
• You must have the Internet Information Services 7.0 Management Console installed (click here to see how to install)

Note: If at any stage during the install process you receive a User Access Control dialog you can continue the installation by clicking on Continue or Allow.

1. Ensure that you meet the installation requirements for Windows Vista. Note that you have to install the IIS 7.0 Management Console (see how here).
2. Download the Remote Manager installer from:
   32 bit (x86) - http://www.iis.net/go/1524
   64 bit (x64) - http://www.iis.net/go/1525
   If you are running the 64 bit version of Windows Vista ensure that you download the 64 bit installer. The 32 bit installer will not work on 64 bit Windows Vista.
3. After downloading the installer simply double click on it to run it. 
   
4. Click on Next to display the License agreement page. 
   
5. To continue you must agree to the license agreement and then click on Next. 
   
6. Select the location where you want to install Remote Manager and click on next to continue. 
   
7. On the next screen simply click on Install to start the installation.

Using Remote Manager on Windows Vista

After installing Remote Manager on Windows Vista simply start the IIS Management Console as you did before. For example:

1. Click on the Windows Start button to display the start menu
2. Type "inetmgr.exe" into the search box and press enter. 
   
   If you are prompted by "User Access Control" simply click on Continue.
3. When the Management Console starts you may notice that it is different to before.
   There is now a Start Page and additional options such as "Connect to Server", "Connect to Site" and so on.
   You can also connect to a Server, Site or Application by going to the File menu and selection the appropriate option. 
   
4. After you select which type of connection you want to make a wizard will be displayed. Follow the wizard and enter the request details to make a remote connection.

Notes/Known Issues

The following issues are known for the RC0 release of Remote Manager:

• The 32 bit version of Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.0 Manager will not function correctly on 64 bit version of Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Vista. You should ensure that you install the 64 bit version Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.0 Manager on 64 bit operating systems.

Installing the Management Console on Windows Vista (a prerequisite for installing Remote Manager on Vista)

To install the Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.0 Management Console on Windows Vista simply follow the steps below:

1. Click on the Windows Start button to display the start menu
2. Type "optionalfeatures.exe" into the search box and press enter.
   (If you are prompted by "User Account Control" click on "Continue") 
   
3. When the Windows Features dialog is finished loading expand the "Internet Information Services" node.
4. Next, expand the "Web Management Tools" node.
5. To install the IIS Management Console you need to check the checkbox beside "IIS Management Console" and click on OK.
   If the checkbox is already checked, the Management Console is already installed. 
   

Installing on Windows XP and Windows Server 2003

The following prerequisites must be fulfilled in order to install Remote Manager on Windows XP or Windows Server 2003:

• You must have Windows XP Service Pack 2 installed if you are using Windows XP
• You must have Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 installed if you are using Windows Server 2003
• You must have the Microsoft .NET Framework version 2.0 or greater installed

Install instructions:

1. Ensure that you meet the installation requirements for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 above
2. Download the Remote Manager installer from:
   32 bit (x86) - http://www.iis.net/go/1524
   64 bit (x64) - http://www.iis.net/go/1525
3. After downloading the installer simply double click on it to run it. 
   
4. Click on Next to display the License agreement page. 
   
5. To continue you must agree to the license agreement and then click on Next. 
   
6. Select the location where you want to install Remote Manager and click on next to continue. 
   
7. On the next screen simply click on Install to start the installation.

Using Remote Manager on Windows XP and Windows Server 2003

To start Remote Manager after installation simply follow these instructions:

1. Click on the Windows Start button to display the start menu
2. Go to the Programs (or All Programs) menu and click on "Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.0 Manager" 
   
3. After Remote Manager starts you can connect to a server, site or application by going to the site menu and clicking the appropriate options. 
   
4. After you select which type of connection you want to make a wizard will be displayed. Follow the wizard and enter the request details to make a remote connection.

Notes/Known Issues

The following issues are known for the RC0 release of Remote Manager:

• After opening Remote Manager the Start Page will be displayed. In the "Connection tasks" section of the start page there is a link called "Connect to localhost". Clicking on this link on Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 will cause a "Failed to connect" error to appear.
• After opening the Remote Manager the local server connection node will appear on the treeview. Clicking on this node on Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 will cause a "Failed to connect" error to appear.