Application and Virtual Directory Settings

InstallShield 2024 » Internet Information Services View » Web Site » Application or Virtual Directory

Project: The Internet Information Services view is available in the following project types:

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Basic MSI

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DIM

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InstallScript

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InstallScript MSI

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Merge Module

You can add applications and virtual directories to your Web site in the Internet Information Services view. When you select an application or virtual directory in this view, many settings are displayed. The settings are organized into several main categories:

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The following settings are available in the General area for an application or a virtual directory in the Internet Information Services view.

General Settings for an Application or a Virtual Directory

Setting

Description

Name

Enter a name for the application or virtual directory.

When you type a value for this setting, you are creating a string entry and setting its initial value for all of the languages that are currently in the project. As an alternative to typing a new value, you can click the ellipsis button (...) in this setting to select an existing string. For more information, see Using String Entries in InstallShield.

Component

Select the component with which the application or virtual directory is associated. You can also click the ellipsis button (...) to locate an existing component or create a new one.

ASP.NET Version

Note:This setting applies to applications but not virtual directories.

To set the ASP.NET version for the application, enter the complete version number, or select it from the list.

For example, to specify version 2 of ASP.NET, type 2.0.50727. To specify version 1.1 of ASP.NET, type 1.1.4322.

If you specify an ASP.NET version for a Web site, IIS uses that same version number for any of the Web site’s applications.

Important:If your installation may be run on a Windows Vista or later system, you may not want to set the ASP.NET version. Also note that if you specify version 3 of ASP.NET, an error occurs at run time. For more information, see Setting the ASP.NET Version for a Web Site or Application.

ASP.NET Platform

Note:This setting applies to applications but not virtual directories.

If the installation may be run on a 64-bit version of Windows with the .NET Framework, specify which ASP.NET platform should be used to map the application to the ASP.NET version:

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32-bit—The 32-bit version of the ASP.NET IIS Registration tool should be used. Select this option if Yes is selected for the application pool’s Enable 32-Bit Applications setting; otherwise the installation fails.

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64-bit—The 64-bit version of the ASP.NET IIS Registration tool should be used. Select this option if No is selected for the application pool’s Enable 32-Bit Applications setting; otherwise the installation fails.

For more information, see Considerations for Supporting IIS 6 on 64-Bit Platforms.

ASP.NET Registration

To set the ASP.NET application registration option with Internet Information Services (IIS), select one of the following options:

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Recursive—Updates script maps and application-pool assignments for the specified application and for all sub-applications.

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Non Recursive—Updates script maps and application-pool assignments for only the specific application. No sub-applications are changed.

Default Documents

Type the name of the default page on your application or virtual directory. To specify multiple pages, separate each with a comma.

A application or virtual directory serves a default page whenever a browser request does not specify a document name.

Virtual Directory Settings

The following settings are available in the Virtual Directory area for an application or a virtual directory in the Internet Information Services view.

Virtual Directory Settings for an Application or a Virtual Directory

Setting

Description

Content Source Path (Local or UNC)

This setting identifies the local path or network directory path that stores the default files for your application or virtual directory.

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If the content for the application or virtual directory is on the target system, click the ellipsis button (...) in this setting to specify a local path. The Browse for Directory dialog box opens. In a Basic MSI or InstallScript MSI project, this dialog box enables you to select a Windows Installer property (such as [IISROOTFOLDER]) or create a new one. In an InstallScript project, this dialog box enables you to select an InstallScript variable (such as <IISROOTFOLDER>) or create a new one.

By default, the files are stored in IISROOTFOLDER.

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If the content for the application or virtual directory is not on the target system, click the UNC button in this setting to specify a network location. Following is an example:

\\server\share

Tip:Each application or virtual directory should have a unique physical path, especially if it is going to be installed on a Windows Vista or later system or a Windows Server 2008 or later system. To learn more, see Run-Time Requirements for IIS Support.

Script Source Access

Specify whether you want to allow end users to access source code if either read or write permissions are set. Source code includes scripts in ASP applications.

Read Access

Specify whether you want to provide end users with read access to the application or virtual directory.

Write Access

Specify whether you want to provide end users with write access to the application or virtual directory. This means that end users can change the application’s or virtual directory’s properties on the target machine.

Directory Browsing

Specify whether you want to allow end users to see all the virtual directories and subdirectories below this application or virtual directory.

Log Visits

Specify whether you want to record visits to this application or virtual directory in a log file. Visits are recorded only if logging is enabled.

Index this Resource

Specify whether you want to allow Microsoft Indexing Service to include this application or virtual directory in a full-text index.

This setting applies to IIS 6 and earlier. IIS 7 ignores this setting.

Application Settings

The following settings are available in the Application Settings area for an application or a virtual directory in the Internet Information Services view.

Application Settings for an Application or a Virtual Directory

Setting

Description

Application Name

To associate the selected virtual directory with an application, specify the application name.

Note:This setting is available for virtual directories, but not for applications.

If the virtual directory was created in InstallShield 2009 or earlier and then upgraded to the current version of InstallShield, this setting is displayed. Otherwise, this setting is not included.

Application Pool

Note:This setting applies to applications but not virtual directories.

To associate the selected application with an application pool, select its name in the list. As an alternative, you can click the ellipsis button (...) to select or create a string entry for the application pool. For more information, see Using String Entries in InstallShield.

This setting applies to IIS 6 and later. Earlier versions of IIS ignore this setting.

Important:The application pool that you specify should be on the target system at run time or part of your installation; otherwise, the server may generate an error such as error 403.18.

Application Mappings

To customize the directory’s application mappings, click the ellipsis button (...) in this setting. This opens the Application Mappings dialog box, which enables you to add, edit, and delete a mapping between a file name extension and the application that processes those files.

MIME Types

To add, edit, or delete MIME types for the selected application or virtual directory, click the ellipsis button (...) in this setting. This opens the MIME Types dialog box, which enables you to add, edit, and delete a mapping between a file name extension and the corresponding content type that is served as a static file by the Web server on the target system to a browser or mail client.

Session Timeout (minutes)

Specify the number of minutes that a session can remain idle before the server terminates it automatically. If the end user does not refresh or request a page within the timeout period, the session ends. The default value is 20 minutes.

ASP Script Timeout (seconds)

Specify the length of time in seconds that .asp pages will allow a script to run before terminating and writing an event to the Windows Event Log. The minimum value for this property is 1 second and the default value is 90 seconds.

Execute Permissions

Specify what level of program execution is allowed for the selected application or virtual directory. Available options are:

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None—Only static files such as HTML and image files can be accessed.

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Scripts Only—Only scripts such as ASP scripts can be run.

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Scripts and Executables—All file types can be accessed or run.

Application Protection

Note:This setting applies to applications but not virtual directories.

Specify the level of protection:

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High—The application is run in an isolated process that is separate from other processes.

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Medium—The application is run in an isolated pooled process with other applications.

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Low—The application is run in the same process as Web services.

This setting applies to IIS 5 and earlier. Later versions ignore this setting.

Security Settings

When you select an application or a virtual directory in the Internet Information Services view, InstallShield displays several security-related settings in the Security area. The Security area lets you configure your application or virtual directory to verify the identify of users. You can authenticate users to prevent unauthorized ones from establishing a Web (HTTP) connection to restricted content. For more information, refer to the IIS documentation.

The Security area contains the following categories of settings:

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Anonymous Connection

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Authenticated Access

The settings in the Anonymous Connection area are as follows.

Anonymous Connection Settings in the Security Settings Area
Setting	Description
Enable Anonymous Access	Specify whether you want to allow users to establish an anonymous connection. If you do want to allow anonymous connections, also enter the appropriate Windows user account information. If you do not need the Web server to confirm the identity of end users before they can access the content, select No for this setting.
IIS Controls Anonymous Password	Specify whether you want to automatically synchronize your anonymous password settings with those set in Windows on the target system. If the password that you type for the anonymous account differs from the password that Windows has, anonymous authentication will not work. Note:Password synchronization should be used only with anonymous user accounts defined on the local computer, not with anonymous accounts on remote computers.
Anonymous User Name	If you are enabling anonymous connections, type the name of the anonymous account.
Anonymous Password	If you have selected No for the IIS Controls Anonymous Password setting, type the anonymous user account password. The password is used only within Windows. Anonymous users do not log on by using a user name and password.

The settings in the Authenticated Access area are as follows.

Authenticated Access Settings in the Security Settings Area

Setting

Description

Basic authentication

Specify whether you want to enable the basic authentication method for collecting user name and password information for end users who access the application or virtual directory.

Important:With the basic method of authentication, user names and passwords are not encrypted when they are transmitted across the network. An unscrupulous end user who has network monitoring tools could intercept user names and passwords.

Integrated Windows authentication

Specify whether you want to enable integrated Windows authentication. Integrated Windows authentication uses a cryptographic exchange with the end user's browser to confirm the identity of the user.

When integrated Windows authentication is enabled, the Web site will use it only under the following conditions:

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Anonymous access is disabled.

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Anonymous access is denied because Windows file system permissions have been set, requiring end users to provide a Windows user name and password before establishing a connection with restricted content.

Advanced Settings

The following settings are available in the Advanced area for an application or a virtual directory in the Internet Information Services view.

Advanced Settings for an Application or a Virtual Directory
Setting	Description
Custom Errors	To customize HTTP errors that are sent to clients when Web server errors occur, select the ellipsis button (...) in this setting. The Custom Errors dialog box opens, enabling you to specify the page that should be displayed for one or more HTTP errors. Administrators can use generic HTTP 1.1 errors, detailed custom error pages that IIS provides, or your own custom error pages that are you including in the installation.
Other IIS Properties	To specify values for IIS settings that are not displayed in the other areas in this view, select the ellipsis button (...) in this setting. The Other IIS Properties dialog box opens, enabling you to set the value of one or more IIS properties. To learn more, see Configuring Advanced IIS Settings. The advanced settings apply to IIS 6 and earlier. IIS 7 ignores these settings. For help on specific settings, see Metabase Property Reference on the MSDN Web site.