Archives
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MSDN Mag: Enhance Your Apps with the ASP.NET Integrated Pipeline!
At last, my MSDN article about using the ASP.NET Integrated Pipeline is out in MSDN Magazine. This article is all about using existing ASP.NET features and building new ASP.NET modules to improve existing applications.
What's more, I do this without touching a single line of the application itself, which happens to be a PHP application using the IIS 7.0 FastCGI support.
So go read the article for an in-depth look at using the power of ASP.NET Integrated pipeline to add features, improve security, and turbo-charge performance of your applications. Then head over to my blog to learn more about doing this yourself for your apps on IIS 7.0 - starting with building your own modules and handlers.
Article highlights and more at http://mvolo.com/blogs/serverside/archive/2007/12/20/MSDN-Magazine_3A00_-Enhance-Your-Applications-with-ASP.NET-Integrated-Pipeline.aspx.
Thanks,
Mike
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IIS 7.0 health model published
The IIS 7.0 health model (Windows speak for known diagnostical and failure conditions experienced by software) has just been pubished on TechNet.
The health model is primarily a list of event log events that are raised by various IIS subsystems, including WAS (technically WPAS now, for Windows Process Activation Service), the IIS worker process, Web Publishing Service (W3SVC), etc.
Read more here: http://mvolo.com/blogs/serverside/archive/2007/12/12/IIS-7.0-health-model-published.aspx.
Thanks,
Mike
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Breaking Changes for ASP.NET 2.0 applications running in Integrated mode on IIS 7.0
ASP.NET 2.0 applications on IIS 7.0 are hosted using the ASP.NET Integrated mode by default. This new mode enables a myriad of exciting scenarios including using super-valuable ASP.NET features like Forms Authentication for your entire Web site, and developing new ASP.NET modules to do things like URL rewriting, authorization, logging, and more at the IIS level.
As you know, with great power comes great responsibility. Similarly, with making ASP.NET applications more powerful in IIS 7.0 comes the responsibility of making sure that existing ASP.NET applications continue to work. This has been a major challenge for us as we re-architected the entire core engine of ASP.NET, and in the end we were highly successful in meeting it.
This post lists the changes in behavior that you may encounter when deploying your ASP.NET applications on IIS 7.0 on Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008. Read the detailed list of breaking changes at http://mvolo.com/blogs/serverside/archive/2007/12/08/IIS-7.0-Breaking-Changes-ASP.NET-2.0-applications-Integrated-mode.aspx.
Thanks,
Mike
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History of FastCGI support for IIS
Today, we released the FastCGI for IIS 6.0 RTM on Microsoft Download Center.
It was quite a journey - come read about the RTM release and the history of what it took us to get there at http://mvolo.com/blogs/serverside/archive/2007/11/12/FastCGI-for-IIS-6.0-is-released-on-Download-Center.aspx.
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Request is not available in this context exception in Application_Start
The “Request is not available in this context” exception is one of the more common errors you may receive on when moving ASP.NET applications to Integrated mode on IIS 7.0. This exception happens in your implementation of the Application_Start method in the global.asax file if you attempt to access the HttpContext of the request that started the application.
Learn more about why this happens and how to work around it to start enjoying the benefits of ASP.NET Integrated mode for your application: http://mvolo.com/blogs/serverside/archive/2007/11/10/Integrated-mode-Request-is-not-available-in-this-context-in-Application_5F00_Start.aspx.
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Finding your way around IIS 7 configuration sections with AppCmd
The IIS 7 configuration system contains 50+ configuration sections (100+ if you count .NET Framework configuration), 477 attributes, and 57 collections. This can make it pretty challenging to figure out exactly what IIS 7 configuration section needs to be used to turn on some particular behavior, and then exactly syntax the configuration in that section should follow.
This is not typically an issue for me, because I can write most IIS configuration from memory. But, what if you didn't spend the past 4 years developing IIS7?
Learn some tricks for demystifying the IIS7 config at http://mvolo.com/blogs/serverside/archive/2007/11/01/IIS7-configuration-sections-exposed.aspx.
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Mike's IIS7 modules - what's coming next
During IIS7 development, I've written quite a few modules for IIS7 / ASP.NET. Some of these were for various demos, others were to help out various internal and external customers, and others just because they were fun to write.
Now, I am thinking about upgrading some of these with the feature requests and bugfixes you have been asking for, and getting some new ones up as well. Come check out what you can get right now, and weigh in on what I should next at http://mvolo.com/blogs/serverside/archive/2007/10/28/Mike_2700_s-IIS7-modules-_2D00_-what_2700_s-coming-next.aspx. -
IIS FastCGI and PHP: What you absolutely need to know to host PHP applications on IIS 6 and IIS 7
Everybody knows that IIS FastCGI is a great way to run PHP applications on IIS.
We've been making great strides at delivering a solid production experience for hosting PHP on IIS, for both IIS7 on Windows Vista/Windows Server 2008 and IIS6 / IIS5.1 on Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP.
So, if you are looking to give FastCGI a try, where should you start? With all the coverage this work has been receiving, its starting to get out of hand.
Get all the information you absolutely need to know to get started at: http://mvolo.com/blogs/serverside/archive/2007/10/09/IIS-FastCGI-and-PHP_3A00_-What-you-absolutely-need-to-know-to-host-PHP-applications-on-IIS-6-and-IIS-7.aspx. -
Fastest way to create IIS7 websites, applications, and application pools
Read about the fastest way to create IIS7 websites in bulk at http://mvolo.com/blogs/serverside/archive/2007/10/06/Create-IIS7-websites-and-application-pools-fast-with-AppCmd.aspx.
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Deploy your PHP applications today with the IIS 6 FastCGI Go-Live release!
At last, the IIS FastCGI Go-Live release is here! This release enables you to begin hosting PHP applications in production on your existing IIS 6.0 servers immediately, and brings multiple fixes and performance improvements over the previously released Technical Preview 2.
Read more about it and all the resources you need to get started here: http://mvolo.com/blogs/serverside/archive/2007/09/24/Deploy-your-PHP-applications-today-with-the-IIS-6-FastCGI-Go_2D00_Live-release_2100_.aspx.
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Mvolo.com is back!
After several weeks of move-related outages, mvolo.com is back online at its new home at MaximumASP.
The server ran Windows Server 2008 beta 3 for 5+ months in my friend's garage without a single reboot, while the only access I had to it was through the blog's publishing interface. The new specs are orders of magnitude better than what I had before, so I am pretty excited to see the improvements in responsiveness.Read more at http://mvolo.com/blogs/serverside/archive/2007/09/23/Mvolo.com-is-back_2100_.aspx.
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Temporary mvolo.com outages
You may have noticed mvolo.com being unavailable at certain points over the past two days. I am in the process of moving the server across the country, and that combined with certain other toubles with the internet setup is contributing to spotty availability.
Next week the server will find its new permanent home so it will start being available 24/7 once again.
In the meantime, sorry for the inconvinience. Do check back soon as there are A LOT of exciting news and new stuff coming your way next week.
Thanks,
Mike
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New IIS7 modules, Hosting roadshow, MSDN magazine, IIS7 Resource Kit, and more
I've haven't had a chance to post much over the past few weeks - its pretty frustrating at times to look at the ever-increasing backlog of juicy IIS7 topics that I want to cover and no time to actually do them justice.
I've been working on a few interesting things lately, that have been taking my extra time.
Read more at http://mvolo.com/blogs/serverside/archive/2007/09/09/End-of-summer-update_3A00_-New-IIS7-modules_2C00_-Hosting-roadshow_2C00_-MSDN-magazine_2C00_-IIS7-Resource-Kit_2C00_-and-more.aspx. -
Developing IIS7 web server features with the .NET framework
Read the entire article at http://mvolo.com/blogs/serverside/archive/2007/08/15/Developing-IIS7-web-server-features-with-the-.NET-framework.aspx. -
IIS Authentication plugin for the Wordpress PHP blogging engine
This weekend, I was working on an MSDN magazine article and happened to install the Wordpress PHP blog app on IIS7. Of course, I used the latest FastCGI bits available in the box in in Windows Server 2008 Beta 3, and the latest Windows-optimized PHP 5.2.3 build from www.php.net. Long story short, I ended up writing a Wordpress plugin that allows Wordpress to use IIS authentication methods, including forms authentication.
Read about installing Wordpress on IIS7, the Wordpress extensibility model, and get the IIS Authentication plugin here: http://mvolo.com/blogs/serverside/archive/2007/08/12/IIS-Authentication-plugin-for-the-Wordpress-PHP-blogging-engine.aspx.
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IISSCHEMA.EXE - A tool to register IIS7 configuration sections
IIS7 configuration extensibility allows you to create custom configuration sections that can be used side by side the IIS configuration sections. However, setting this up requires a few steps that may be difficult to accomplish, especially in a automated way from a script or an installer.
This post describes the IIS7 configuration extensibility, the steps to create and register your custom configuration sections, and provides a downloadable tool you can use to simplify and automate this process.
Read all about it and download IISSCHEMA.EXE here: http://mvolo.com/blogs/serverside/archive/2007/08/04/IISSCHEMA.EXE-_2D00_-A-tool-to-register-IIS7-configuration-sections.aspx. -
Troubleshoot IIS7 errors like a pro
Dealing with server errors can be frustrating. Thankfully, IIS7 comes with many improvements to help diagnose errors when they occur, and help resolve them - however, its important that you know how to property use these capabilities.
This post gives you what you need to know to troubleshoot IIS7 errors like a pro.
Read all about it at http://mvolo.com/blogs/serverside/archive/2007/07/26/Troubleshoot-IIS7-errors-like-a-pro.aspx. -
Anatomy of an IIS7 configuration path
As you know, IIS7 repaces the metabase with a whole new configuration system, based on a distributed hierarchy of XML configuration files also used by the .NET Framework/ASP.NET. This confguration system is fundamentally different from the metabase, and so it should come as no suprise that the way configuration paths work is also different.
The concept of configuration paths is fundamental to managing and operating an IIS server, so I wanted to spend some time explaining it in hope that this can help everyone enjoy their IIS7 server just a little bit more :) If you have come here wondering exactly what the hell is MACHINE/WEBROOT/APPHOST, you have come to the right place.
Read all about IIS7 configuration paths at http://mvolo.com/blogs/serverside/archive/2007/07/21/Anatomy-of-an-IIS7-configuration-path.aspx. -
Creating IIS7 sites, applications, and virtual directories
In the course of IIS7 development, the team and I have answered an infinity of questions about IIS7 on any possible topic imaginable. Ironically, neither I nor anyone else I know on the team has ever answered the most basic question - what is the minimum set of steps necessary to get a website running with IIS7?
This post answers this exact question, and explains the key IIS7 concepts of sites, applications, and virtual directories (vdirs), which must be created before your IIS7 server can serve a single request. It also provides the steps necessary to create IIS7 sites, applications, and virtual directories, and options for configuring them.
Read more at http://mvolo.com/blogs/serverside/archive/2007/07/12/Creating-IIS7-sites_2C00_-applications_2C00_-and-virtual-directories.aspx. -
At last, Visual Studio patch for F5 debugging on Windows Vista has been released
A Visual Studio patch that fixes the Visual Studio F5 debugging of IIS7 applications on Windows Vista Home Premium and above has been released!
This patch solves the "An authentication error occurred while communicating with the web server. Please see Help for assistance.", and "Debugging failed because integrated Windows authentication is not enabled. Please see Help for assistance" errors, that until now had to be worked around using the instructions in my previous post on this matter.
Read more and get the patch information from my older post on this subject, Fix problems with Visual Studio F5 debugging of ASP.NET applications on IIS7 Vista. -
The latest on the FastCGI project and PHP support on IIS
Check out the latest on the IIS FastCGI project, including the new IIS7 FastCGI in Longhorn server beta 3, the out-of-band developer update, and the new PHP 5.2.2.
Read more at http://mvolo.com/blogs/serverside/archive/2007/05/29/The-latest-on-the-FastCGI-project-and-PHP-support-on-IIS.aspx. -
Redirect clients in your application with HttpRedirection module
In a web application, it’s often necessary to redirect clients requesting one url to another url. A while ago, I wrote a module to do basic http redirection for an ASP.NET application. The HttpRedirection module allows you to configure regular expression-based rules that redirect clients from url A to url B, with a number of other features.
Learn more about rewriting and redirection, and download the HttpRedirection module / source code here: http://mvolo.com/blogs/serverside/archive/2007/05/24/Redirect-clients-in-your-application-with-HttpRedirection-module.aspx. -
Troubleshoot 503 Service Unavailable errors with start-up debugging
In a previous post titled Where did my IIS7 server go? Troubleshooting "service unavailable" errors, I covered the basic steps for dealing with 503 Service Unavailable errors on IIS7.
This post dives deeper into debugging the IIS worker process to get to the bottom of particularly difficult crashes occurring during IIS worker process initialization, where the process goes away before you can debug it with normal means.
Read more at http://mvolo.com/blogs/serverside/archive/2007/05/19/Troubleshooting-IIS7-503-_2200_Service-unavailable_2200_-errors-with-startup-debugging.aspx. -
WCAT 6.3 web performance and scalability test tool released
The NT Performance team just publically released the latest version of WCAT (Web Capacity Analysis Tool), the web performance test tool that the IIS team and NT Performance team use to conduct internal performance and scalability testing of IIS and ASP.NET.
Read more about it and download it at http://mvolo.com/blogs/serverside/archive/2007/05/17/WCAT-6.3-web-performance-and-scalability-test-tool-released.aspx.
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Longhorn Server Beta 3 with much improved IIS7 is out!
Read more here: http://mvolo.com/blogs/serverside/archive/2007/04/26/Longhorn-Server-Beta-3-is-out-of-the-door_2100_.aspx. -
Most Important AppCmd Commands: Backing up and restoring IIS7 configuration
Welcome to the first post of the "Most Important AppCmd Commands" series. Have you ever made some changes to a system's state, and then after everything suddenly stopped working, wondered how the hell you are going to get back to a working state?
Well, this post is all about doing just that when you are working with IIS7's configuration.
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Most Important AppCmd Commands
Usually, a day doesnt go by that I dont get a collegue or a partner team in Microsoft asking how to do something or other about AppCmd.exe, the unified command line management tool for the IIS7 server.
For a while, I've been thinking about blogging about the most commonly used commands to assist people get going with managing IIS7 from the command line - and so the "Most Important AppCmd Commands" post series was born.
Read more at http://mvolo.com/blogs/serverside/archive/2007/03/18/Most-Important-AppCmd-Commands.aspx.
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10 steps to get Ruby on Rails running on Windows with IIS FastCGI
Without further ado, these are the 10 steps get RoR working with FastCGI TP2 - read more at http://mvolo.com/blogs/serverside/archive/2007/02/18/10-steps-to-get-Ruby-on-Rails-running-on-Windows-with-IIS-FastCGI.aspx. -
A look at the IIS7 web server in MSDN magazine
Read more on http://mvolo.com/blogs/serverside/archive/2007/02/14/A-look-at-the-IIS7-web-server-in-MSDN-magazine.aspx. -
At last, Windows-optimized PHP 5.2.1 has been released!
Read more about it on http://mvolo.com/blogs/serverside/archive/2007/02/10/At-last_2C00_-Windows_2D00_optimized-PHP-5.2.1-has-been-released_2100_.aspx. -
IIS FastCGI Tech Preview 2 has been released!
The FastCGI Technical Preview 2 release is an update for the first ever release of Microsoft IIS FastCGI feature in October 2006, providing a platform for high-performance and reliable way to run application frameworks like PHP on IIS.
Get the scoup at http://mvolo.com/blogs/serverside/archive/2007/01/31/Turbo_2D00_charge-your-PHP-applications-with-IIS-FastCGI-Technical-Preview-2.aspx.
Also, check out the instructions for setting up Ruby on Rails with TP2 at http://mvolo.com/blogs/serverside/archive/2007/02/18/10-steps-to-get-Ruby-on-Rails-running-on-Windows-with-IIS-FastCGI.aspx.
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Get nice looking directory listings for your IIS website with DirectoryListingModule
Many of us do on the IIS team, and so over the past several years we've built a few directory listing modules to spice up IIS directory listings.
I figured I should put an end to this by writing one that is oh so much better then all the other ones - and then give it to you to build some cool templates, and create complely customized directory listings for your website.
Read more on http://mvolo.com/blogs/serverside/archive/2007/01/21/Get-nice-looking-directory-listings-for-your-IIS-website-with-DirectoryListingModule.aspx. -
Display pretty file icons in your ASP.NET applications with IconHandler
Displaying icons in your web application can also be pretty compelling (for example, to spruce up that boring directory listing page, or visually represent documents in your web app). Wouldn't it be cool if you can write an ASP.NET control or page that can embed these icons on your custom directory listing view?
Unfortinately, there is no easy way to get icons for files in the .NET framework, so you have to do a little interop with the Windows shell to get the icon for a file / file extension, and then figure out a way to serve it over the web as an image. So, I wrote an ASP.NET image handler that serves the icon for an aritrary file or extension, that you can simply drop into your application to get these pretty icons for whatever purposes you need.
Read more on http://mvolo.com/blogs/serverside/archive/2007/01/11/Display-pretty-file-icons-in-your-ASP.NET-applications-with-IconHandler.aspx.
