Managing IIS Services
Each IIS server in the organization
relies on a set of services for publishing pages, transferring files, and more.
To manage IIS services, you can use the Services node in either the Server
Manager or the Computer Management console. With Server Manager you can manage
only local server installations but have additional options for working with
server features and roles. With Computer Management, you can work with both
local and remote servers.
You can start Computer Management by doing the following:
1.
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Click Start, Administrative Tools, and then Computer
Management.
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2.
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If you want to connect to a remote computer, right-click
Computer Management in the console tree and on the shortcut menu, select
Connect To Another Computer. You can now choose the IIS server whose services
you want to manage.
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3.
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Expand the Services And Applications node by clicking the plus
sign (+) next to it, and then choose Services.
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Figure 3-6
shows the Services view in the Computer Management console.
The
key fields of this dialog box are used as follows:
-
Name The name of the service.
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Description
A short description of the service and its purpose.
-
Status The
status of the service as Started, Paused, or Stopped. (Stopped is indicated by
a blank space.)
-
Startup Type The startup
setting for the service.
Note
Automatic services are started when the
system boots up. Manual services are started by users or other services.
Disabled services are turned off and can't be started.
-
Log On As
The account the service logs on as. The default in most cases is the local
system account.
Starting, Stopping, and Pausing
IIS Services
As an administrator, you'll often have
to start, stop, or pause IIS services. You manage IIS services through the
Computer Management console or through the Services console. When you manage
IIS services at this level, you're controlling all sites or virtual servers
that use the service. For example, if a computer publishes three Web sites and
you stop the World Wide Web Publishing Service, all three Web sites are stopped
and are inaccessible.
To start, stop, or pause services in
the Computer Management console, follow these steps:
1.
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In the left pane, right-click Computer Management in the
console tree and on the shortcut menu, select Connect to Another Computer. You
can now choose the IIS server whose services you want to manage.
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2.
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Expand the Services And Applications node by clicking the plus
sign (+) next to it, and then choose Services.
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3.
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In the right pane, right-click the service you want to
manipulate, and then select Start, Stop, or Pause as appropriate. You can also
choose Restart to have Windows stop and then start the service after a brief
pause. In addition, if you pause a service, you can select Resume to resume
normal operation.
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Tip
When services that are set to start
automatically fail to do so, the status area is blank, and you'll usually
receive notification in a dialog box. Service failures can also be logged to
the system's event logs. In Windows Server 2008, you can configure actions to
handle service failures automatically. For example, you could have Windows
Server 2008 attempt to restart the service for you.
Configuring Service Startup
Most
IIS services are configured to start automatically, and normally they shouldn't
be configured with another startup setting. That said, if you're
troubleshooting a problem, you might want a service to start manually. You
might also want to disable a service so that its related virtual servers don't
start. For example, if you move an FTP server to a new server, you might want
to disable the FTP Publishing service on the original IIS server. In this way
the FTP Publishing service isn't used, but you could turn it on if you need to
(without your having to reinstall FTP support).
Tip
With IIS 7.0, it is important to note that
two important services are configured for manual startup: ASP.NET State Service
and FTP Publishing Service. If a server uses out-of-state processing, you'll
want to enable ASP.NET State Service for automatic startup. If a server uses
FTP, you'll want to enable FTP Publishing Service.
You configure service startup as follows:
-
In the left
pane of the Computer Management console, connect to the IIS server whose
services you want to manage.
-
Expand the
Services And Applications node by clicking the plus sign (+) next to it, and
then choose Services.
-
In
the right-hand pane, right-click the service you want to configure, and then
choose Properties.
-
On the General
tab, choose a startup type in the Startup Type drop-down list as shown in
Figure 3-7. Select Automatic to start the
service when the system boots up. Select Automatic (Delayed Start) to delay the
start until other automatic services are started. Select Manual to allow the
service to be started manually. Select Disabled to turn off the service.
-
Configuring Service Recovery
You can configure Windows services to take
specific actions when a service fails. For example, you could attempt to
restart the service or reboot the server. To configure recovery options for a
service, follow these steps:
1.
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In the left pane of the Computer Management console, connect
to the computer whose services you want to manage.
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2.
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Expand the Services And Applications node by clicking the plus
sign (+) next to it, and then choose Services.
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3.
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In the right pane, right-click the service you want to
configure, and then choose Properties.
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4.
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Select the Recovery tab, shown in
Figure 3-8. You can now configure recovery choices for the first,
second, and subsequent recovery attempts. The available choices are:
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Take No Action
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Restart The Service
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Run A Program
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Restart The Computer
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5.
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Configure other settings based on your previously selected
recovery settings. If you elected to restart the service, you'll need to
specify the restart delay. After stopping the service, Windows waits for the
specified delay before trying to start the service. In most cases a delay of
1–2 minutes should be sufficient.
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6.
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When you configure recovery options
for critical services, you might
want Windows to try to restart the service on the first and second attempts and
then reboot the server on the third attempt.