OK, I admit it; I'm IIS-ly challenged.
I know that some people freeze on the spot at the sight of slithery snakes. Some people are terrified of the dentist's drill. But the pits for me is when I turn a coding corner and see the dreaded IIS looming in my path. I get worse collywobbles than a Treasure Island pirate who's just been handed the Black Spot.
When I finally go to that great software house in the sky and St Peter calls out "Alright, step forward those of you who understand IIS!" I'll be the one rooted to the spot, trying to sink far enough into my cloud to hide my red faced shame.
I used to work with a man who never stopped complaining. A colleague of mine once said that Trevor was a self-fulfilling prophecy; he always thought that life was going to be a pile of dog's pooh - and so it was. IIS is a bit like that for me. I just know that as soon as I have to deal with it, something will go wrong. And so it does.
My latest brawl with the Infuriatingly Intractable Software, as I've come to think of it, was when I was
trying out the spiffy new Visual Web Developer 2005 Express package. Now, of course, if you are among the ranks of those who are comfortable with this IIS stuff (and I'll try not to hate you too much) you will know that it isn't actually necessary to use IIS with VWD Express. Thanks to the inclusion of Cassini in the bundle, you can simulate the web server experience without ever having to enter the virtual nightmare zone.
But you know how it is - you read somewhere that it's just a matter of a couple of clicks and you'll be
IIS'ed up to your armpits, so foolishly and naively you believe it. I should have know better. 'Messed up' is more like it! One click and the dreaded Red X message box is plastered across the centre of the screen again. (I swear I could hear the IIS gremlins guffawing inside the back of the machine, rolling around and digging each other in the ribs as they pointed at me, perspiring over my keyboard; "Got him again, fellas! Ho Ho Ho").
I'll be honest with you. The problem was partly self-inflicted. For reasons I won't bore you with*, I had reinstalled Windows XP on a test machine and slapped in VWD Express without first installing IIS on to the system.
(* OK, OK, I admit it - I forgot, all right?).
Not a problem though these days, though is it? As soon as you try to select the Local IIS choice clever ol' VWD spots the missing IIS and thoughtfully offers to do the necessary ASP.NET 2.0 configuration, black magic, voodoo charm or whatever the heck it is that goes on down there in the bowels of virtual web site hell.
"Yes please" I respond, full of gratitude but wth fingers still tightly crossed. (Have you ever tried hitting keys with crossed fingers, by the way? - Not recommended for the weak of stomach; it plays hell with your knuckles).
Milliseconds later the truth smacks me in the face. The first smarmy "Don't worry little man, we'll make all your tiny troubles go away" message is replaced with a curt "Sorry, we failed to configure IIS. Please get off your backside and do it yourself. Love and kisses, the Microsoft IIS Team, chortle, chortle"
OK, maybe that wasn't the exact wording but you get the idea. I was back out there on my own again, IIS-less and unloved.
What's a man to do when that happens ? - well, apart from throwing the VWD book into the corner and kicking the cat, that is. (Funny how, even though I'm now a Black Belt expert in the tantrum throwing, cat kicking arena, it never seems to make my computer work any better. Perhaps I should upgrade?
But I digress....)
So roll up the sleeves, crack another bottle of beer and start the web search to find fellow sufferers and - hopefully - track down some solutions. I didn't fare too badly this time; I only had to wade through a few surefire 100% certain-to-work hot tips that didn't. And the inevitable "I don't know why it doesn't work for you - It works just fine on my machine" type *answers* . Why do people do that? He-llo! I don't care what's happening on your machine, you smug sad git - it ain't working on mine!
The solution in the end was simple. But then it usually is once you know it. Forget all that stuff about running aspnet_regiis with lots of "- x" , ":y" and "/z" type command line parameters
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Go to Control Panel.
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Select "Add or Remove programs".
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Scroll down to the Microsot .NET Framework 2.0.
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Click on the Change/Remove button (Don't worry you aren't going to have to grind through a full uninstall/reinstall cycle again!)
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Select the "Repair" Radio Button from the next screen.
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Sit back and try to relax. (Did I mention the mandatory offering of human sacrifices to the IIS Gods? )
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Reboot the system.
In my case, this time some wonderful magical trickery did take place under the covers and when I reopened VWD Express, selected Local IIS to open a Web Site - Ai Caramba! No error messages and a neat little display of files in the Local Web Site/ Default Web Site entry in the window.
Big sigh of relief, add it to my ever-growing list of "Things to Try when Things go Wrong" and get on with playing around with VWD Express. So far, it seems to be working OK and I'm quite pleased with my new-found fix. but I'm not going to be signing up as a Moderator on the IIS 'R 'Us site any time soon.
If you are unlucky enough to come across this little problem while trying to use IIS in VWD Express, I
hope that my Seven Steps to IIS Heaven plan will get you out of the red mist rage zone and back up and
running.
I'm pretty confident that it will: After all (dare I say this): "It worked just fine on my machine"