IIS Aid

There is absolutely nothing more frustrating than having spent considerable time and effort in configuring your IIS server only to find that for some unforeseen reason an issue arises with it that renders it useless which you are at a loss at how to solve. Nothing more frustrating that is apart from getting to this point and then realising that you have no backup to roll back to, and you have to start all over again.

Well, it doesn't have to be like this, and what is more it shouldn't. This how-to guide is only going to be very short, and that is not because I do not think it is important, but rather because backing up and restoring your IIS configuration through the IIS admin MMC is achieved with less than half a dozen clicks of the mouse button. Even setting up task scheduler to backup IIS using scripts only takes five minutes and can save you a world of hurt. Read on to see just how easy it is.

ARTICLE SCOPE

In this article we will look at the basics of what is involved in backing up and restoring your IIS 6 configuration, both through the IIS Admin MMC and also via the command line. This article is important for anyone using IIS, and should be suitable for beginners and upwards. If you have used the IIS Admin MMC, and know what a command line is then you shouldn't have any trouble following this article.

Backing up your IIS 6 Metabase via the IIS Admin MMC

This is probably the most immediately accessible way to backup your IIS configuration if you are new to IIS. I find that it is a good practise to get into making a backup prior to any configuration change I make, especially when making changes I am not used to. This way you can proceed with the knowledge that you are able to roll back at any time.

1. Open your IIS admin MMC
2. Select the Server node at the top of the tree (where Server is the name of the computer), right click it, select the All tasks menu item and then select Backup/restore configuration option as shown below in figure 1

Figure 1

1. This will now open the Configuration backup/restore window as shown in figure 2 below
2. Click on the create backup button

Figure 2

1. You should now be presented with the Configuration backup window as shown in figure 3 below
2. Type an name for the backup in the backup configuration name text field, and then tick the encrypt backup using password tick box in you wish to password protect your backup. If you select this option you will need to specify the password in the password and confirm password text fields.
3. Once you have filled in the appropriate fields in this window, click the OK button to create the backup

Figure 3