Creating Test and Production Sites with Only One IIS Server - Step 3: Configuring IIS (Page 4 of 5 )
Wow, I can hardly believe we're already on step 3. It just seems like minutes ago we were on step 2 [nostalgic sigh]. Alright then, let's move on!
The first thing you're going to have to do is open the IIS console. I realize that you want to slap me for stating something so blatantly obvious, but I'm just trying to be thorough.
Once loaded, you can right-click on Web Sites and click New > Web Site:
Now you can type in a description of the site. Again, this is not critical, this is simply what's you'll see when using IIS. I figure 'test site' will suffice.
Now this is the more important part. This is how we differentiate the sites. The default TCP port for a website to use is 80. We will set this one differently. What this will result in will be our ability to connect to the website with exactly the same URL, but with a different port number appended to it. We should try to pick a port that won't be used by other common applications (you can find a list to avoid here). I'm going to pick 8020. It's right up there, should be safe enough, and not too difficult to remember.
Now comes the time to remember exactly where we made the duplicate of our application by copying to directory. Just type it in here. I also generally disallow anonymous access, even if it is allowed on the production site. The reason for this is that I don't want just anybody stumbling upon the test site, previewing enhancements they're not yet meant to see.
And the final screen we can most likely leave as default. If you have different requirements for your application, just mimic those of the production website.
That's it! IIS is configured! If you've already changed the variables in the test application, you should be able to connect now with the new port number, and see an identical site. Have fun!
Next: Step 4: Code Control >>
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