Managing IIS 6 0 Servers in an Enterprise

Managing IIS 6. 0 Servers in an Enterprise Environment: A Handful of Tips and Tricks Chris Adams Program Manager IIS Product Unit Microsoft Corporation

Agenda A quick introduction… Understanding Complexities with Deployments Managing IIS 6. 0 & applications in an Enterprise Preparing when things go wrong… Protection: Looking at disasters Summary…

A quick introduction… The day starts and ends with Preparation IT Administrators lifecycle events in IIS Deployments Managing Sites & Applications Troubleshooting & Diagnostics Preparing for the unknown: Disasters Prepare with understanding of Tools Deployment: Scripting Managing: Log Parser, Performance Monitor Troubleshooting: Event Tracing, Log Parser, Debug Diagnostics 1. 0 Disasters: Xcopy, IIs. Cert. Deploy, IIs. Back

A quick introduction (2) Tools for IIS 6. 0 enterprise management facts OS-related tools shipped on Windows Server 2003 CD IIS 6. 0 related tools shipped on the Windows Server 2003 CD IIS 6. 0 Resource Kit Tools IIS Diagnostics Tools: www. iisdiagnostics. com Today…learn how to use ‘em right! (I hope!)

Understanding complexities with Deployments

Understanding Complexities with Deployments Why is it so hard? Moving IIS 6. 0 configuration from server to servers Effectively doing “diffs” between IIS 6. 0 servers Moving content from server to server How do I solve these complexities? Understand what tools to use Understand your IIS 6. 0 server requirements Model deployments (i. e. templatize them)

Understanding Complexities with Deployments (2) Tools to use: Xcopy or Robocopy IIs. Cnfg. vbs, Ads. Util. vbs & IIs. Ext. vbs IIs. Cert. Deploy. vbs (only for SSL-enabled sites) XCopyRobocopy Moves content from server to server Why use this method? Server Backups offer disk-based & files backup Web Farms: Difficult because you have x-servers Use XcopyRobocopy to move to Central Location

Understanding Complexities with Deployments (3) IIs. Cnfg. vbs Moves configuration from devstaging environment /export /import – Understand offerings Automation opportunities… Ads. Util. vbs First step: Add to System Path (not in %windir%system 32) Default: %systemroot%inetpubadminscripts

Understanding Complexities with Deployments (4) IIs. Ext. vbs: Used to enable dynamic content ISAPI’s: Typically *. dll’s Do not require regsrv 32 (like COM objects) Requires Path for Deployment Application Permissions: Requirements CGI’s: Typically *. exe or *. cgi Base Threads for Execution Security: Enable one-by-one, or per application Do not choose “Allow all Unknown…”

Understanding Complexities with Deployments (5) SSL-enabled sites & IIs. Cert. Deploy. vbs SSL Background: Typical: IP: Port Bindings for SSL-enabled sites Advanced: IP: Port: Host. Header Requires Service Pack 1 Why is this important? Testing environments with no SSL are dangerous & problematic

Understanding Complexities with Deployments (6) Why is this important? (cont. ) Ex: Testing using IP address, not FQDN Ex: 4443, not 443 Using non-standard ports Result: Failure to understand the end-user’s experience Moving Certificate from Test to Production Single Server iiscertdeploy. vbs –e %pathtopfxfile% -I %metabasepath% -p pwdforfile

demonstration One Click Deployment

Managing IIS 6. 0 & applications in an Enterprise

Managing IIS 6. 0 & applications in an Enterprise Use the right Tools Core OS Tools Using Performance Monitor Service Pack 1 Tracing Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) 2005 Base lining the application Understanding the Applications usage Top request URI’s per day Maximum Requests per time slot

Managing IIS 6. 0 & applications in an Enterprise (2) Using Log Parser to get this Top … URI’s per day Max Requests per time slot REM ** Top URI Per Day SELECT TO_STRING(TO_LOCALTIME(TO_TIMESTAMP(date, time)), 'HH AS Hours, COUNT(*) AS Percent. Hits INTO Percent. Hourly. Hits. gif FROM logsex*. log www. logparser. com for more…

Managing IIS 6. 0 & applications in an Enterprise (3) Why should you install Service Pack 1? Many features added… Enable Metabase Auditing Enable Static Compression Enable key Logging Fields Centralized W 3 C Logging Biggest: Enterprise Tracing events increased 10 x to ~240 events What is tracing (um, how ETM works? )

Managing IIS 6. 0 & applications in an Enterprise (5) How ETW works -

Managing IIS 6. 0 & applications in an Enterprise (6) Request Primary purpose of Tracing – Diagnostics… Why do I use tracing to “manage” applications? Application “Profiling” Know each component “used” for the application Begin Request Read Metadata Authenticate Authorize Cached ISAPI Filter Determine Handler

Managing IIS 6. 0 & applications in an Enterprise (6) Additional thoughts… Improve performance by using compression where appropriate Review Application Pool (i. e. worker processes) strategy Using time-based recycling – when? Using request-based recycling Memory-based recycling… Avoid downtime: Turn off recycling on configuration changes

demonstration A few tricks…(or Tips) Enable Metabase Auditing Enable Compression Enable Centralized Logging Enable Time-Taken, etc. Enable Log. Event. On. Recycle

Preparing when things go wrong…

Preparing when things go wrong… Troubleshooting 101 Isolate the issues… Web Farm considerations “Typical” issues you deal with… (or will!) Application failures: Crash, Hang, or Memory Leaks Server Errors: HTTP 500 Errors Common Tools used for Troubleshooting: Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 Tracing www. iisdiagnostics. com (Log Parser, IIS Request Viewer, Debug. Diag, Auth. Diag, SSLDiag)

demonstration Viewing Currently Executing Requests Using Tracing & IIS Request Viewer

demonstration Finding Permission Failures with Auth. Diag’s Auth. Mon

Protection: Looking at Disasters

Protection: Looking at Disasters Often overlooked, rarely prepared for… Why overlooked? IT professionals often think they are covered with disk backups Misconception that System state backups include Metabase Creating turn-key solutions for backups & recovery Simplify: Create a single share to create single directory for capture Test, test, and test

Protection: Looking at Disasters (2) Backing up IIS 6. 0 & key data points What data to get… SSL Certificates (if necessary) IIS 6. 0 Metabase Content Get it done… Practice, practice

demonstration Automating Backups in IIS 6. 0

Protection: Looking at Disasters (3) Restoring IIS 6. 0 & key data points Benefit of central store Turn-key restore script needs no fancy connections If central store not available, use tape backup to restore to another location (and update script!) Make sure all scripts are hosted locally on server and in system path Get it done…Practice, practice

demonstration Turn key (one-click) restores

Session Summary Use the right tools to deploy IIS 6. 0 configuration, content, and dependencies Use application log data to find out how your application works Configure your server the right way at deployment, not afterwards Be prepared for failures and take appropriate action Always have a roll-back strategy – timing is everything!

References and Resources Drill-down webcasts on key topics discussed today: Automate, Automate: Scripting IIS 6. 0 http: //msevents. microsoft. com/CUI/Web. Cast. Event. Details. aspx? Event. ID=103 2280620&Event. Category=5&culture=en-US&Country. Code=US Disaster Recovery and IIS 6. 0: Metabase Backups in a Nutshell http: //msevents. microsoft. com/CUI/Event. Detail. aspx? Event. ID=1032255809& Culture=en-US IIS 6. 0: IIs. Cnfg. vbs versus IIs. Back. vbs http: //msevents. microsoft. com/CUI/Event. Detail. aspx? Event. ID=1032268486& Culture=en-US Using Host Headers with SSL-enabled Websites http: //msevents. microsoft. com/CUI/Web. Cast. Event. Details. aspx? Event. ID=103 2280959&Event. Category=5&culture=en-US&Country. Code=US

References and Resources (2) Drill-down webcasts on key topics discussed today: Using MOM Web Sites and Services Management Pack http: //msevents. microsoft. com/CUI/Web. Cast. Event. Details. aspx? Event. I D=1032267008&Event. Category=5&culture=en-US&Country. Code=US IIS 6. 0 Service Pack Tracing: Inside and Out http: //msevents. microsoft. com/CUI/Web. Cast. Event. Details. aspx? Event. I D=1032268451&Event. Category=5&culture=en-US&Country. Code=US IIS Data Mining with Log Parser 2. x http: //msevents. microsoft. com/CUI/Web. Cast. Event. Details. aspx? Event. I D=1032263723&Event. Category=3&culture=en-US&Country. Code=US