Windows Advisor

Who Took My IIS Manager?

Even with IIS 7, this reader through the Web Server role can't connect to Web site in his browser from another computer.

• By Zubair Alexander
• 02/02/2009

I also want to be able to configure my Web server so it can be remotely managed, and configure users who can manage sites and applications. Several articles and the help file talk about Management Services and IIS Manager, but why don't I see those on my server?

Answer. You've mentioned several things. First of all, you need to install the Management Services which, by default, aren't installed in IIS 7. Once you install the Management Services, you'll see the Management Services icon. You'll also see the IIS Manager Permissions and IIS Manager Users icons, which will allow you to achieve several of the tasks that you've mentioned.

To install Management Services in Windows Server 2008, start Server Manager and click Roles. In the right-hand pane, click Add Roles. If you've already installed IIS 7, highlight Web Server (IIS) under Roles in the left pane and then follow these steps:

1. Look for Role Services section in the right-hand pane.
2. Click Add Role Services to start the wizard.
3. Under Management Tools, check the Management Service box.
4. Click Next, Install and Close.
5. Restart the Web Service. You don't need to restart the physical server running IIS. If you have the IIS Manager console open, close and reopen the console.
6. Highlight the server, not the Web site, in the console.
7. In the right-hand pane you'll see the icons for Management Service, IIS Manager Permissions and IIS Manager Users. Double-click Management Service and then start the service.
8. Check the box for Enable Remote Connections and configure the rest of the settings as appropriate. For example, under Identity Credentials you can check the option Windows Credentials or IIS Manager Credentials.
9. Now you should be able to remotely connect to the server, sites and applications. You can also configure user and group permissions with IIS Manager Users located in the Management section in the console. If you decide to use IIS Manger credentials in the above step, you need to go to your server and in the Management area use IIS Manager Users to add user accounts. These users aren't related to the domain and are non-Windows credentials stored in administration.config.file. You'll find the WMSVC settings in the registry at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WebManagement\Server.

If you want to use IIS Manager credentials, you can go to the specific site in IIS Manger console. In the Features View double-click IIS Manager Permissions in the Management area. Under Actions click Allow Users and then add either a Windows user (either from the local server or from the Domain), or an IIS Manager user. If you don't see an IIS Manager user, you haven't added any users in Step 9.