NAntContrib/NAnt mkiisdir fails on IIS 7.0 / windows 2008 - iis-7

I'm trying to use NAnt/NAntContrib build script to build a web application on Windows 2008 (IIS 7.0).
In the build file, there is mkiisdir task, which fails with:
[mkiisdir] The webservice at 'localhost' does not exist or is not reachable.
All the documents/posts I found so far (non for w2k8, only Vista) say to install IIS 6 Compatibility services (all of them, including scripting tools, etc.) So I did, but it still throws this error.
Any idea what else need to be changes, so NAnt be able to create/delete virtual directories on IIS 7.0?
EDIT: New data - when I log in as local administrator to this server, the nant task succeeds, but it fails when I log in as a domain admin. I have added the domain admins group in the local Administrators group, but it still fails. Any idea what other permissions I need to check/change in order to make my domain admin user to be able to execute this task? I can create manually virtual folders without any problems.

In order to get iis nantcontrib tasks to work you need to install IIS6 Management Compatibility Tools. Here is the blog describing how to do it in Vista:
http://thoughtworker.in/2008/01/15/nant-the-webservice-at-localhost-does-not-exist-or-is-not-reachable/
Here is a screenshot of how to do it in Windows Server 2008:
alt text http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/699/iis6tools.png

To answer my own question - I have isolated the part of the code in NantContrib which was causing the problem, and made a sample application to test.
I have posted this as a separate question here, and there is the solution as well.
Cheers

Related

IIS7 MVC Routing Not Working

Our company ships an MVC based product (targeting v4.5) which has stopped working on a customer site for what appear to be environmental issues - a build which worked with no problems once upon a time now gives a 403.14 - The Web server is configured to not list the contents of this directory.
.
What I think is happening...
The user accesses http://server/AppName
Because it's an MVC app, the default route (Reports/Index) should be used.
Instead IIS is looking for a default document...
... and, not finding one, it assumes the user wants to list the contents of the directory...
...which is not enabled so it throws a 403.14.
.
What I've tried so far...
Accessing the route directly.. results in 404 error. So I'm pretty
sure IIS doesn't realise it should use routing.
Use aspnet_regiis to register ASP.Net with IIS. This was done from the Framework64 folder since...
OS is 64 bit - Windows Server 2008 (Standard without Hyper-V)
IIS is 64 bit - though Enable 32-Bit Applications is true
Checked AppPool is targeting v4 of the framework - it is.
Changed AppPool mode to Classic - was pretty sure it should be integrated but was worth ruling it out. It is now back to Integrated
Confirmed RunAllManagedModulesForAllRequests is set to true in the web.config.
Checked permission conditions defined in <system.webServer> section of web.config are met - they are.
Created the simplest of MVC applications and deployed it - same problem.
Running the command shell as Administrator unregistered ASP.Net using aspnet_regiis -ua and re-registered using aspnet_regiis -enable -i. We hit a couple of permission problems - and the Temporary ASP.NET Files directory was missing but once they were address we were back to the same error.
Added a simple default.htm - when present, this is served in response to the http://server/AppName request.
I'm clean out of ideas and all google hits suggest some combination of the above - or enabling directory browsing (which I think is just a symptom rather than the root cause).
Also, not sure if it's relevant but the amount of configurable elements available for the application in IIS seems a bit below what I would have expected...
Have you Checked the user the application pool process is running under? I think Your site needs to run with permissions to execute the .net libraries and I've seen this just change for seemingly no reason (probably related to an overzealous update to the system).
You can try with the Enabling directory browsing .
assuming you are under Windows Server 2012 or Windows Server 2012 R2
On the taskbar, click Server Manager.
In Server Manager, click the Manage menu, and then click Add Roles
and Features.
In the Add Roles and Features wizard, click Next. Select the
installation type and click Next. Select the destination server and
click Next.
On the Server Roles page, expand Web Server (IIS), expand Web
Server, expand Common HTTP Features, and then select Directory
Browsing. Click Next.
On the Select features page, click Next. On the Confirm installation
selections page, click Install. On the Results page, click Close.
if you using the Windows PC try this in your command prompt as follows:
go to C:\Program Files\IIS Express
then press Enter:appcmd set config
/section:system.webServer/directoryBrowse /enabled
Maybe this is your case https://forums.iis.net/t/1157304.aspx
SQL Server Reporting Services creates a folder called Reports by
default if you install it on IIS. If you install SQL 2008 then
Reporting Services doesn't need to use IIS and instead will try to
reserve the URL with the HTTP.Sys service.
I believe this is the cause of the conflict you are seeing. What you
could try is changing the URL that Reporting Services uses via the SQL
Server Configuration Wizard.
Also I found that
Report Manager of SQL Server can use reports path http://<server name>/reports
Configure a Native Mode Report Server for Local Administration (SSRS)
I think the problem is IIS features that are not installed yet. I have met this kind of problem frequently in Windows Pro. Make sure to turn on every feature under Internet Information Service -> World Wide Services because by default IIS is configured to use WebForms. So there might be some features that not installed yet to use MVC, especially ISAPI filters. In my case, that was the solution. I hope it helps.
Something similar i encountered using VS 2017 & ASP.NET MVC.
Was working on the project for long with no problems at all but suddenly the routing started misbehaving & stopped working.
So I changed the Port in Project Properties Page & it started working.
I really don't know what is the relation between a port & MVC routing modules. Someone else can enlighten if at all this helps.
I had the same problem and I just created an application pool out of the Default Web Site in IIS and stoped the default web site. With that difference you will not have the application pool's path
I know it's been a long time since this question but i've had the same problema recently. I've tried every single configuration, just like #amcdermott did, but the only action that solve the problem was reinstalling .NET Framework.
My app was built under .NET Framework 4.5.2. The application server had the version 4.6.1 and 4.5.2 installed. So, i uninstalled all framework versions and installed the one that i needed.
Please, make sure that no other applications use superior versions of .NET Framework if you going to try this solution.
Here are some quote I find on Microsoft official site which I think may help:
For site administrators
This problem occurs because the Web site does not have the Directory Browsing feature enabled, and the default document is not configured. To resolve this problem, use one of the following methods:
Method 1: Enable the Directory Browsing feature in IIS (Recommended)
To resolve this problem, follow these steps:
Start IIS Manager. To do this, click Start, click Run, type inetmgr.exe, and then click OK.
In IIS Manager, expand server name, expand Web sites, and then click the website that you want to modify.
In the Features view, double-click Directory Browsing.
In the Actions pane, click Enable.
Method 2: Add a default document
To resolve this problem, follow these steps:
Start IIS Manager. To do this, click Start, click Run, type inetmgr.exe, and then click OK.
In IIS Manager, expand server name, expand Web sites, and then click the website that you want to modify.
In the Features view, double-click Default Document.
In the Actions pane, click Enable.
In the File Name box, type the name of the default document, and then click OK.
Method 3: Enable the Directory Browsing feature in IIS Express
Note This method is for the web developers who experience the issue when they use IIS Express.
To do this, follow these steps:
Open a command prompt, and then go to the IIS Express folder on your computer. For example, go to the following folder in a command prompt:
C:\Program Files\IIS Express
Type the following command, and then press Enter:
appcmd set config /section:directoryBrowse /enabled:true

Problems publishing site to localhost on windows 2008 rs server

I must preface this post by saying that I am not an experienced developer, I am in the process of learning through trial and error and a lot of google searches so detailed (step-by-step) feedback would be greatly appreciated. I created a website, which does not use a database, using visual studio 2015 and I am attempting to host it locally on a Windows 2008 R2 server.
I installed IIS and loaded the asp.net v4.0 framework. The site works fine, produces no errors when I test it and works after being published only if the visual studio is still running.
However, when I close the Visual studio and open my browser window to http://localhost:50044 (which is the URL listed in properties menu in VS), I also tried using port :80 and nothing. When trying to add Web Site via the IIS management utility I receive the following authentication error: ”Cannot verify access path (C:\Inetpub\wwwroot).”
I checked the permissions and windows authentication is enabled with read access, and all other permissions seem to be correct. I am at a loss, I'm sure it is probably something simple that I am missing due to my lack of knowledge and experience. Any help would be appreciated.
It's sounds like you are running on IIS express which in your case stops running when you close visual studio. Normal process is create a new website in IIS and point to the folder where your web.config is. You can then hack your host file (C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc) so DNS works. Add an entry like "127.0.0.1 mytestwebsite.com". I hope that helps
So I figured out part of what was happening. I didn't realize that visual studio has built in IIS and was using that by default.
I ran VS as an admin, created a new project, then attempted to create a virtual directory thru VS under the project/properties/web tab. I selected local IIS and entered http://localhost/boc and it returns an error: unable to create vd. Web server http://localhost... Could not be found.
I then went in to the IIS manager and set up a virtual directory with no issues. However, when I attempt to reference it thru VS I again receive an error message.
Any ideas?

Cannot start IIS default site (version 7)

I am developing on my local machine (Windows 7), and using IIS 7. I usually create a new website by right clicking on sites -> Add New Site. Then do the usual stuff by pointing to the physical files, and I'd stop all other websites which I didnt need. I could then run the site on port 80 without any binding conflicts.
I then recently started doing some ASP.NET development. When I published from my VS 2010 to local host I could run the website, and it all worked great. I then stopped the site (asp.net) but I couldnt start any of the other sites (not even the default). I am not sure why.
I started to read about App Pools and someone said to remove all the application pools. So I removed all my application pools (except the default app pool), and I also removed all the websites (as they had a red x next to them).
I now cannot start the default site as the restart, start and stop are greyed out. I cannot find out any way to reset the IIS server. One error I have received is;
the object identifier does not represent a valid object iis7
I dont know really know what this means, and when I search for this error it seems that many people have come across this error but in different contexts.
Is there any way to reset IIS so I can build simple websites again? Do I need to uninstall IIS and reInstall?
Uninstall IIS and reinstall would probably be the easiest and fastest way to accomplish this.
Other than that check the event logs see if you can find any clues there.
You'll want to ensure there is a one-to-one relationship between the number of sites & the app pools that host them. If they are 32-bit apps hosted on a 64-bit server, you'll need to enable this property (set it to True) on the app pool you want to use for your site. You'll want to run:
C:\inetpub\AdminScripts>cscript adsutil SET W3SVC/AppPools/Enable32bitapponWin64 1
The .NET Framework obviously needs to be installed, but then the separate step of running the ASP installation command needs to be done (C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.xxxx\aspnet_regiis.exe -i). If it already is, re-install them - it could be malfunctioning/corrupt.
After all that, I noticed IIS 7 puts on this generic app pool identity account to run the app pool with. I created a service account, gave this account Admin rights just to see if the site would run, and added it onto the app pool as the "Custom account". I no longer get the HTTP 503 error. The account should have the "Log on as a service" and "Log on as a batch job" rights. If it will be using impersonation and going out to a SQL database, the "Impersonate client after authentication" and "Allow log on locally" rights are also needed (hence why I like just giving it admin privileges to see if it works, first).

Newbie Trying To Deploy Asp.Net Website

I'm basically wondering what the best way to deploy an Asp.Net Web Site is, mostly from the point of view of security. Right now, I'm trying to publish the website using Visual Studio 2010. Could someone direct me to a good tutorial on how to do this securely? For example, can it be done over an encrypted connection via Visual Studio? Is it necessary to install any software on the server to do this? Should I use a different program to open up an SSL (TLS) connection first, and if so, which program (does it come standard with windows)?
The server is running Windows Server 2008. Development is on Vista.
Many thanks in advance for any direction in this matter!
Andrew
I would publish the site to your local machine and file copy the files across to your test/production environment. As a rule we don't publish sites straight from VS to test or production.
For example you don't want to accidentally push things straight from dev into a live environment do you?
As far as the file transfer security goes you could use SFTP.
Note: First thing is to check with the owner of the server, as they often will provide you an FTP connection and will take care of configuring IIS.
If you want to add security, make a keyfile and sign your assemblies and consider running Dotfuscator on your dlls, the community edition is included in Visual Studio. Here is an earlier question where I've put more info on Dotfuscator.
If you have to do the deployment yourself, here's a few things to consider.
XCopy (easy)
MSI (have to create a setup program, you can do this easily in Visual Studio)
There is no security advantage in deploying using Visual Studio, but you can use Visual Studio to create a small setup program. One thing you want to make sure for security is DO NOT deploy any .cs files. Prepare your files, you should compile in Release mode, make sure debug is not enabled in your config file, keep your bin and it's dll, also the aspx, asmx, ascx, svc, css, js, and config files.
XCopy: Install a small FTP server, or use one your company alreayd has, this will allow you to get your files once you are logged into the target machine. You should be able to get an administrator account for the target machine, just ask the sysadmin of the domain, then log on using remote desktop, got to your ftp site, and download your files. Open IIS on the target machine, create a virtual directory and a pool. Copy your files to the location, configure your connection string to your DB if you use one, then test your website.
MSI: same process as above, except the setup will create the virtual directory and pool for you.
Here is extra info on best practices from the official ASP.Net website.
If you have some control on the server (e.g. to configure IIS7), you might want to look into Microsoft Web Deploy (new product just been released):
http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2010/09/13/automating-deployment-with-microsoft-web-deploy.aspx
Haven't tried it myself, but looks quite slick and it apparently encrypts the data being copied up, so might suit you.

Debugging with VS2008 will not work after changing Hostname

I am currently using Visual Studio 2008 on XP Pro SP3.
Developing against http://localhost/ everything including debugging works fine.
I need a second website on my machine. IIS 5.1 only allows one website at a time so I used the JetStat XP Pro IIS Admin tool to create a second website. This runs by stopping the Default website and starting the other.
I have added the new website name into the Hosts file and mapped to 127.0.0.1.
Websites can be accessed via this address http://NewHostname/VirtualDirectoryName
Projects can be started without debugging (Web Applications & Websites).
However, when I try to debug I get an error: "Unable to start debugging on the web server. An authentication error occurred while communicating with the web server."
Integrated Authentication is enabled in IIS.
I have seen a lot of documentation with many fixes for "unable to start debugging on the web server" errors but they all seem like huge overkill for my problem, after all, debugging works fine provided I'm not doing it on this different hostname. They talk about doing things that I would do if debugging did not work at all even with http://localhost/.
Is there a place where I can just add this new hostname so that VS debugging is allowed? Do I need to change permissions somewhere? I feel like there should be a really simple solution that I'm just overlooking.
Here's a description of the problem: http://blogs.msdn.com/webdevtools/archive/2008/08/13/debugging-a-website-with-a-host-header.aspx
And here's the recommended registry workaround: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896861
Do yourself a favour and download IIS Admin .NET.
This handy little tool allows you to switch between your websites at a snip - each one will become localhost when activated, and crucially, get you out of this debug debacle.
http://www.codeplex.com/iisadmin
You do have to add the hostname to a value within the registry.. but I can't remember where.
Since you can only have one website running at a time, why don't you just have them all running as 'localhost'? This way you don't have to change any annoying registry settings but you still have your applications running in individual IIS Websites.

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