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IIS Frequently Asked Questions

Description

Frequently asked questions about the Application Server for IIS

How do I Install and Configure the Alpha Anywhere Application Server for IIS?

To install the Application Server for IIS, you must install several components: IIS, Web Deploy, and the Alpha Anywhere Application Server for IIS. See the IIS Installation Guide for more information.

How do I Publish my Application to IIS?

An application requires an IIS Publish profile to publish the application to the Application Server for IIS. See Getting Started with IIS and Create a Publish Profile (for IIS) for more information about how to publish to IIS and the options available for configuring an IIS Publish profile.

How do I stop the Application Pool(s) so I can install an update for the Alpha Anywhere Application Server for IIS?

When installing an update for the Alpha Anywhere Application Server for IIS, both all application pools for published Alpha Anywhere applications must be stopped to avoid a system reboot after installing the update. Stopping application pools can be done through the IIS Manager. For more information on how to stop an application pool, see How to Stop IIS Application Pools.

Why am I getting HTTP 4xx and 5xx errors?

HTTP 4xx and 5xx errors indicate a problem with the client (requested missing resource, incorrect security configuration, etc) or the server (Xbasic error, overloaded server, server timeouts.) HTTP status codes of 400 and above can be diagnosed using Failed Request Tracing. Tracing will log additional information about the error. See Tracking Down Request Failures to learn how to enable tracing.

How do I preserve Custom Modifications to the web.config file?

The web.config file is generated from the profile settings every time an Alpha Anywhere application is published. If you have added features to your site, such as HTTP redirect settings, these settings will be lost if Preserve web.config Elements is not enabled in the IIS Publish profile. See Create a Publish Profile for more information about Preserve web.config Elements.

Why do I receive an error that the web.config file is too large?

The default maximum size of a web.config file is 250kb. This issue is typically encountered if web security data is published to the web.config file.

You can work around this limitation by setting two registry values. See Publish error when web.config file is too large for complete instructions on how to configure the registry to allow for larger web.config files.

I can't Publish my application directly to IIS. How do I create an external deployment package to publish my app?

If there is completely no access to the IIS server, Alpha Anywhere does not currently support creating a package that can be independently deployed on the IIS server. However, a deployment package can be created outside of Alpha Anywhere. To learn more, see How to Build an IIS Deployment Package.

How do I install two versions of the Alpha Anywhere Application Server for IIS?

Multiple versions of the Alpha Anywhere Application Server for IIS can be installed and run on the same server. Each version of the Application Server for IIS must be installed in a separate directory.

See How to Install Multiple Versions of the Alpha Anywhere Application Server for IIS for more information.

If more than one version of Alpha Anywhere Application Server for IIS is installed, the last one that was installed will set the registry key used by the "Default" location type. To ensure the correct version of Alpha Anywhere is used by a published application, the IIS Publishing Profile must specify the installation location of the version of the Application Server to use on the server. See How to Install Multiple Versions of the Alpha Anywhere Application Server for IIS for more information.

How do I configure my application to use a different version of the Alpha Anywhere Application Server for IIS?

An application can be configured to use a different version of the Alpha Anywhere Application Server for IIS. This is done by setting the Location of Alpha Anywhere Application Server in to "Custom" in the publishing profile. Specify the location on the server where the desired Application Server for IIS is installed in the Path to Alpha Anywhere Application Server property and publish your application with the modified publishing profile.

See How to Install Multiple Versions of the Alpha Anywhere Application Server for IIS for more information.

How do I test my application on a new version of the Application Server for IIS?

Multiple versions of the Alpha Anywhere Application Server for IIS can be installed and run on the same server using a single license. To create an environment for testing an application on a new or pre-release version of Alpha Anywhere, install the desired version of the Application Server for IIS in a separate directory on the server. Copy the existing publishing profile for your application and change the Application Name and version of Alpha Anywhere used by IIS. Finally, publish your application to the server using the new profile.

For more detailed information, see How to Test Your Application Using a New Version of Alpha Anywhere.

How do I replace the users and groups in the security system published to IIS?

How do I delete all the users in the security system in IIS?

In the development environment, the web security system communicates with a local database that contains users and groups. The first time an IIS application is published, the locally defined users and groups are published to the server.

You can edit the users and groups locally in the Security Control Panel to change the users and groups - including deleting all users and groups. When you are set, you can publish to IIS using Replace mode in your publish settings. Alpha Anywhere will read the data out of your local security database and publish it to IIS, replacing existing users and groups on the server for the application.

How do I set an HTTPS certificate for a site in IIS?

See How to configure HTTPS for an IIS site

See Also