Web Site Settings

InstallShield 2019 » Internet Information Services View » Web Sites

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

Basic MSI
DIM
InstallScript
InstallScript MSI
Merge Module

Use the Web Sites item in the Internet Information Services view to add and delete Web sites, and to configure system-wide settings for the Web server.

Web Server Settings that Apply to All Web Sites in a Project

When you select the Web Sites explorer in the Internet Information Services view, the following Web server settings are displayed.

Web Server Settings

Setting

Description

Restart Web Server After Configuring IIS (IIS 6 and earlier only)

To restart IIS after each time the installation is done making IIS changes to the system, select Yes. Some applications may require IIS to be restarted.

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

SSIEnableCmdDirective Registry Value

Specify how you want the SSIEnableCmdDirective registry value for the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W3SVC\Parameters registry key to be set on the target system. The SSIEnableCmdDirective registry value controls whether the Web server allows the #exec CMD directive of server-side includes (SSIs) to be used to execute shell commands. Valid options are:

Ignore—Do not change the SSIEnableCmdDirective registry value on the target system. This is the default option.
FALSE (0)—Set the SSIEnableCmdDirective registry value on the target system to 0. This prevents the #exec CMD directive of server-side includes to be used to execute shell commands. Note that if you select this value and an IIS Web server has applications that rely on #exec CMD directives, those applications may stop working properly after your installation project's Web site and virtual directory are installed.
TRUE (1)—Set the SSIEnableCmdDirective registry value on the target system to 1. This allows the #exec CMD directive of server-side includes to be used to execute shell commands.

If you select the FALSE or TRUE options, InstallShield stores the value—either 0 for FALSE or 1 for TRUE—in the INSTALLSHIELD_SSI_PROP property.

Because of security concerns, the default SSIEnableCmdDirective registry value is FALSE (0); the FALSE (0) value prevents end users from running unauthorized server-side executable files.

Note • If your product is uninstalled from a target system, the SSIEnableCmdDirective registry value is not changed, even if its value was changed during installation.

For more information, see Specifying Whether a Web Server Should Allow the CMD Command to Be Used for SSI #exec Directives.

Note • The aforementioned Web server settings are not updated on a target system at installation run time if no IIS items (Web sites, applications, virtual directories, application pools, or Web service extensions) are installed.

Settings that Are Configurable for Each Web Site in a Project

When you select a Web site in the explorer, many settings are displayed. The Web site settings are organized into several main categories:

Identification
General
Home Directory
Application Settings
Security
Advanced

Identification Settings

The following settings are available in the Identification area for a Web site in the Internet Information Services view.

Identification Settings for a Web Site

Setting

Description

Name

Enter a name for the Web site.

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.

IP Address

To target a specific IP address, enter it.

As an alternative, you can leave an asterisk (*), which is the default value. An asterisk or a blank value for this setting indicates that any unused IP address should be used.

TCP Port

The TCP Port setting for an IIS Web site indicates the port number on which the service is running on the target machine. Some versions of the IIS Web server can host multiple Web sites. Each Web site is associated with a unique port number.

If you do not know what the port number on the target system should be, you can enter 0 for this setting.

To learn which port and site numbers are used for the Web site when it is installed, see Configuring the TCP Port and Site Numbers.

Host Header Name

To specify the host header name that identifies the IIS Web site that is installed during your installation, type it in this box. For example:

www.mycompany.com

Host headers (also known as domain names) enable you to assign more than one Web site to an IP address on a Web server.

Site Number

The Site Number setting indicates the number in the path at which the Web site will be created (that is, w3svc/3). The default value is 0.

If you do not know what the site number on the target system should be, you can enter 0 for this setting.

To learn which port and site numbers are used for the Web site when it is installed, see Configuring the TCP Port and Site Numbers.

General Settings

The following settings are available in the General area for a Web site in the Internet Information Services view.

General Settings for a Web Site

Setting

Description

Component

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

ASP.NET Version

To set the ASP.NET version for the Web site, 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

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 Web site or application to the ASP.NET version:

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.
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.

Delete on Uninstall

Specify whether you want to delete the selected Web site during uninstallation.

For more information, see Uninstalling Web Sites, Applications, and Virtual Directories.

Default Documents

Type the name of the default page on your Web site. To specify multiple pages, separate each with a comma.

A Web site serves a default page whenever a browser request does not specify a document name.

Home Directory Settings

The following settings are available in the Home Directory area for a Web site in the Internet Information Services view.

Home Directory Settings for a Web Site

Setting

Description

Content Source Path (Local or UNC)

This setting identifies the local path or network directory path that stores your Web site files.

If the content for the Web site 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.

If the content for the Web site 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 Web site should have a unique physical path, especially if the Web site 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 Web site.

Write Access

Specify whether you want to provide end users with write access to the Web site. This means that end users can change the Web site’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 Web site.

Log Visits

Specify whether you want to record visits to this Web site in a log file. Visits are recorded only if logging is enabled for this Web site.

Index this Resource

Specify whether you want to allow Microsoft Indexing Service to include this directory in a full-text index of your Web site.

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 a Web site in the Internet Information Services view.

Application Settings for a Web Site

Setting

Description

Application Pool

To associate the selected Web site 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 Web site, 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; the default value is 90 seconds.

Security Settings

When you select a Web site in the Internet Information Services view, InstallShield displays several security-related settings in the Security area. The Security area lets you configure your Web server 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 several categories of settings:

Anonymous Connection
Authenticated Access
Secure Communication

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 Web site.

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:

Anonymous access is disabled.
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.

Forms Authentication

Set this option to Yes to enable forms authentication. ASP.NET forms-based authentication works well for sites or applications on public Web servers that receive many requests. This authentication mode lets you manage client registration and authentication at the application level, instead of relying on the authentication mechanisms provided by the operating system.

Important • Forms authentication sends the user name and password to the Web server as plain text. You should use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption for the Log On page and for all other pages in your application except the Home page.

The settings in the Secure Communication area are as follows.

Secure Communication Settings in the Security Settings Area

Setting

Description

SSL certificate

To specify a server certificate that should be installed on the target system, click the ellipsis button (...) in this setting, and then select the appropriate security certificate file (.cer or .pfx). As an alternative, you can select a certificate from the list if your project already contains one or more certificates.

InstallShield stores the .cer file in the Binary table.

If no certificate is configured to be installed, this setting is blank.

SSL certificate password

If the certificate that you specified has a password, enter it in this setting.

Advanced Settings

The following settings are available in the Advanced area for a Web site in the Internet Information Services view.

Advanced Settings for a Web Site

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.

See Also