How to Install IIS Web Server on Windows Server

How to Install IIS Web Server on Windows Server

Internet Information Services (IIS) is the built-in web server for Windows Server. It supports HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, and more, making it ideal for hosting websites and web applications on your Kazepute Breeze. This guide covers installation, basic configuration, and hosting your first site.

Prerequisites

• A Kazepute Breeze running Windows Server 2019 or 2022
• Administrator access
• Ports 80 and 443 open in Windows Firewall

Install IIS via Server Manager

1. Open Server Manager and click Add roles and features.
2. Click Next through the wizard until you reach Server Roles.
3. Check Web Server (IIS) and accept the additional features prompt.
4. On the Role Services page, select the features you need (the defaults are fine for most setups).
5. Click Install and wait for the process to complete.

Install IIS via PowerShell

For a faster installation, use PowerShell:

# Install IIS with common features
Install-WindowsFeature -Name Web-Server -IncludeManagementTools

# Install additional features for ASP.NET support
Install-WindowsFeature -Name Web-Asp-Net45, Web-Net-Ext45, Web-ISAPI-Ext, Web-ISAPI-Filter

# Verify installation
Get-WindowsFeature -Name Web-* | Where-Object Installed -eq $true

Verify IIS Is Running

After installation, open a web browser and navigate to http://localhost or your Breeze's public IP. You should see the default IIS welcome page.

You can also verify the service status:

# Check the W3SVC service
Get-Service -Name W3SVC

# Start IIS if not running
Start-Service -Name W3SVC

IIS Manager Overview

Open IIS Manager by running inetmgr from the Run dialog. The console shows:

• Sites: Manage websites and their bindings.
• Application Pools: Isolated process pools for your web applications.
• Features View: Configure modules like authentication, SSL, compression, and URL rewrite.

Creating Your First Website

1. Create a directory for your site: C:\inetpub\mysite
2. Add an index.html file with your content.
3. In IIS Manager, right-click Sites and select Add Website.
4. Set the site name, physical path, and binding (hostname, port, IP).
5. Click OK to create the site.

# Or create the site via PowerShell
New-Item -Path "C:\inetpub\mysite" -ItemType Directory
Set-Content -Path "C:\inetpub\mysite\index.html" -Value "<h1>Hello from Kazepute!</h1>"

# Create the IIS site
New-IISSite -Name "MySite" -PhysicalPath "C:\inetpub\mysite" -BindingInformation "*:80:mysite.example.com"

Configuring HTTPS with SSL

To enable HTTPS, you need an SSL certificate:

# Create a self-signed certificate (for testing)
New-SelfSignedCertificate -DnsName "mysite.example.com" -CertStoreLocation "cert:\LocalMachine\My"

# Bind the certificate to your site on port 443
New-IISSiteBinding -Name "MySite" -BindingInformation "*:443:mysite.example.com" -Protocol https -CertificateThumbPrint (Get-ChildItem cert:\LocalMachine\My | Where-Object Subject -like "*mysite*").Thumbprint -CertStoreLocation "cert:\LocalMachine\My"

Common IIS Management Commands

# List all sites
Get-IISSite

# Stop a site
Stop-IISSite -Name "MySite"

# Start a site
Start-IISSite -Name "MySite"

# Restart IIS entirely
iisreset

Best Practices

• Use separate application pools for each site to isolate processes.
• Enable HTTPS and redirect all HTTP traffic to HTTPS.
• Remove the default site if it is not needed.
• Keep IIS and Windows Server updated with the latest security patches.
• Enable request filtering and configure maximum allowed content length appropriately.