Working with IIS Management Tools
IIS includes many features and options that can be enabled to meet
technical and business requirements. The Internet Information Services
(IIS) Manager utility is the primary tool you will use to configure and
manage Web sites and their related settings. It is installed
automatically when you add the Web Server (IIS) server role to a
computer running Windows Server 2008 using the default options. You can
launch it by selecting Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager from the Administrative Tools program group. Figure 1 shows the user interface.
By
default, IIS Manager will connect to the local server. This will enable
you to make configuration changes to the server and other settings for
this computer. IIS Manager has been designed to provide a vast array of
information, using simple and consistent user interface features. The
left pane shows information about the server to which you are
connected. You can expand these branches to view information about Web
sites and other objects that are hosted on that server. Some items
contain additional commands that are available by right-clicking the
object name.
Using the Features Views
The
center pane of the display provides details and options that are
related to the selected item in the left pane. Two main views can be
selected at the bottom of the screen. Features View shows a list of all
the available settings that can be configured for the selected item.
The specific list of items will vary based on which role servers you
have added to the server’s configuration. The Group By drop-down list
enables you to specify how you want the various items to be displayed.
The options are:
No Grouping All items are displayed alphabetically in a single list.
Category Items are grouped based on their functional areas (for example, Performance and Security).
Area Items are groups based on the configuration areas that they will affect.
Figure 2
shows the items that are displayed when the server item is selected in
the left pane and when the Category grouping is selected. In addition
to these options, you can display the items by using Details, Icons,
Tiles, or List options. The overall layout is similar to that of
Windows Explorer. It is designed to organize and display a large number
of settings in a way that is easy for systems administrators to
understand and manage.
Double-clicking specific features will load a separate options page that enables you to modify those settings.
Using the Content View
Content
View is designed to show the files and folders that are part of a Web
site. It displays details in a Windows Explorer format and offers the
ability to filter and group the list of files. (See Figure 3.)
Content View is most useful when you are managing site content rather
than site settings. It is also similar to default display in the
management tools from previous versions of IIS.
More Info: Transitioning from IIS 6.0
If
you’re moving to IIS 7.0 after having worked with IIS 6.0, rest assured
that all the functionality that you’re used to seeing is still here.
Roughly speaking, the Features View is a replacement for the properties
pages that were available for configuring an IIS 6.0 Web server.
Content View shows the information about the files and folders within
each selected Web site and directory in a way that is similar to the
right-side pane in IIS 6.0. The goal in IIS 7.0 is to organize the
presentation of a wide range of options without overwhelming systems
administrators.
Using the Actions Pane
The
right side of the IIS Manager screen displays the Actions pane. The
specific commands that appear here are context-sensitive. For example,
when you select a Web site, you will see actions for browsing to the
Web site and for stopping, starting, or restarting the Web site. (See Figure 4.)
Furthermore, when you are changing settings for specific features,
generally you will find Accept and Cancel links within the Actions pane.
