Internet Information Server 4.0
Managing Internet
Information Server
In this lesson we'll take a look at some of IIS's administrative tools and get an introduction to the Microsoft Management Console and the Metabase.
Microsoft Management
Console
The MMC is the primary management interface for IIS. Rather than having to go to a bunch of separate applet's in order to administrate IIS, everything is located in a central location, which is the MMC.
The MMC will be a major focus of NT 5.0. All system management tasks will be located in the MMC. Even now, other Backoffice programs such as Exchange Server will "plug" themselves into the MMC.
The MMC itself has no "innate" functions. Rather, "snap in's" are used to give the MMC its functionality. Programmers can make plug in's for the MMC so that administrators can interact with program feature via the MMC.
The snap in or IIS is called the "Internet Service Manager".
Features of Microsoft
Management Console
You can customize the MMC so it works the way you do. You can also create multiple MMC's and group them into task related sets.
The Microsoft
Management Console Interface
1.
Scope Pane
The scope pane is like the left window in the Explorer. It includes the name of the web sites and
different server applications.
2.
Results Pane
This corresponds to the right pane in the Explorer. When you click on an item in the Scope Pane, you see the details
of that object in the Results Pane.
3.
Rebar
There are three menu bars, the lowest down of the three is the "Rebar".
The Rebar has a number of context sensitive commands, meaning that depending on
the task at hand, the command available will change. The Action and View menus are context sensitive.
4.
Nodes
Nodes are instances of individual services.
You can save the console settings once you've got it looking the way you like it. When you close the MMC, is will ask you if you want to save your settings. If you say yes, it will look the same when you open it the next time.
Internet Information
Server Administrative Tools
There are actually three primary administrative tools available for IIS:
1. The Internet Service Manager (ISM) via the MMC
2. HTML based Administration, so that you can administer IIS via the Internet of via an Intranet. This administrative tool is also known as HTMLA
3. The Windows Scripting Host. This allows you to automate tasks by writing scripts (small text based programs).
Internet Service
Manager
In the Rebar, we are provided the following administrative tools:
Ø User Manager or User Manager for Domains
Ø Server Manager
Ø Event Viewer
Ø Performance Monitor
Ø Key Manager
We can also create new folders and configure property sheets with the Action Menu.
Internet Service
Manager -- HTML Based Administration (HTMLA)
With the HTMLA we can configure IIS over the Internet or the Corporate Intranet.
It has most of the features of the MMC based Internet Service Manager. However, not all of the utilities available in the ISM are available.
The TCP Port number is selected randomly for the HTMLA; this is done for security purposes. You will have to note what the Port number is if you want to access the HTMLA over the Internet.
The HTMLA depends both on Microsoft's COM and DCOM technologies.
Windows Scripting
Host
The Windows Scripting Host allows you to run automated routines via scripting. The IIS scripting host allows you to run a variety of programming scripts, such as:
1. Visual Basic Scripting
2. Microsoft Jscript
3. MSDOS command scripts
These scripts allow you to program tasks automatically. We will not be covering programming techniques or principles in this class, however.
Internet Information
Server Metabase
IIS keeps its configuration information in the Metabase rather then in the Registry. This allows you to customize your IIS configuration with a lot more flexibility than if this information was in the NT Registry. This is because it will take values that are not available in the NT Registry.
The entire Metabase lives in the computer's RAM. This is just one of the reasons why you need a LOT of RAM to have a healthy IIS setup.
Because it lives in RAM, it is faster. Because of its design, it is more reliable than the registry. There are some IIS key's in the registry, but this is done for some backwards compatibility reasons.
There are two programming techniques or methods that are used to manipulate the Metabase:
1. IIS Admin Objects
2. IIS Admin Base Object
Again, these are programming techniques that we do not cover in this class and you will not be tested on in the MCP exam.
While you can edit the metabase via the above programming techniques, as administrators, we will use the MMC exclusively.
One feature to remember about the MMC is that changes made to higher level objects do not affect or automatically change the properties of the lower level objects. What? For example, if we set Web Server Properties, they do HAVE TO affect all the individual web sites within the server. You can customize each web site the way you want without being committed to choices you've made to the overall IIS WWW configuration.
Key Metabase Entries:
ü Computer and Web Site Properties
ü Logging
Properties
How do you want to keep track of activity on your web server
ü FTP-Specific
Properties
You configure the FTP service separately from the others
ü HTTP-Specific
Properties
You configure the HTTP services separately from the others
ü Virtual Directory and Directory Properties
ü File Properties
ü Filter Properties
ü SSL key properties
There are properties sheets that we use to configure all of these individual properties.