Migrating a Web Server to IIS 5.0

Preparing the Destination Server

Once you’ve acquired and set up the necessary hardware, you need to take several steps to prepare the destination server for migration, including installing Windows 2000 Server and IIS 5.0, configuring directories, and installing tools and utilities.

Note The destination server (sometimes called the target server) is running Windows 2000 Server with IIS 5.0, and the source server is running the Web server software you plan to migrate. While source and destination servers could exist on the same physical computer, carrying out a migration on a single computer is not recommended. (The issues involved are described in the previous topic, Assessing Hardware Requirements.) Therefore, in this discussion, source and destination servers are assumed to exist on separate computers.

Back up the source server. Before you begin, create a backup file of all source server configuration settings, as well as files, applications, utilities, and other software used by your Web and FTP sites.
It’s always good policy to have a backup of the server even when you are migrating to a separate computer. This step is critical if you plan to perform the migration on the actual production Web server (which, again, is not recommended). If anything goes wrong, you can then restore the original system and content.
Identify items to migrate. Decide which items to migrate from the source server. Note any applications and scripts you need to modify in order for them to run on IIS 5.0. To migrate these items, you need to transfer them to a development computer for modification, then to a test server for testing, and finally to the production Web server for deployment. For more information, see Migrating Web Applications.
Estimate disk space and partition requirements. Estimate the total disk space needed for data, files, applications, and server software on the destination computer. For each item, make a note of the disk partition on which it will reside (some considerations are discussed in the next step). Make sure the destination computer has sufficient hard disk space for your requirements.
Install Windows 2000 Server and IIS 5.0. Install Windows 2000 Server and IIS 5.0 on the destination computer. For more information, see the Windows 2000 Server product documentation. When installing to a new computer, choose the clean install option. By default, Windows 2000 installs as a file server. If you are using your server primarily as a Web server, you should install it as an application server.
During setup you create disk partitions and specify the file format for the primary, or system, partition onto which Windows 2000 Server will be installed. Be sure to allocate sufficient space in each partition for the content or system files it will hold. The following are some other issues to consider when creating disk partitions and specifying file format:
- Security To implement the highest level of security, format the partition onto which you install Windows 2000 Server as the NTFS file system. For more information about NTFS and security, see Security in this book.
  For security reasons, it is also a good idea to install the Windows 2000 Server and IIS 5.0 system software on a separate partition from the Web and FTP site content and applications. A good configuration might be as follows:
  Drive C: Allocate 1.5 to 2 GB of disk space for Windows 2000 Server and IIS 5.0 executables.
  Drive D: Allocate 1 to 2 GB of disk space for the IIS root and Web site directories.
  Drive E: Allocate sufficient disk space to contain remaining software and content for your server.
- Access from UNIX-based Computers Keep in mind that only Windows NT– or Windows 2000–based computers can natively access data and files stored on NTFS partitions. Therefore, when using NTFS in a mixed environment, you need to take additional steps to make sure files are available to UNIX-based computers. There are a couple of ways to do this. You can use Microsoft® Network File Sharing (NFS) client and server components that run on Windows 2000 and that support cross-platform file sharing. These and other useful tools and utilities are available as part of Windows NT Services for UNIX. For more information about these utilities, see http://www.microsoft.com/ntserver/nts/exec/overview/sfu.asp.
  Likewise the SAMBA shareware application suite allows UNIX clients to access Windows-based file systems. It also allows Windows-based clients to access files and printers on UNIX, NetWare, OS/2, or VMS servers that support the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol. For more information about SAMBA, see http://samba.anu.edu.au/samba/.
For more information about creating and configuring Windows 2000 operating system partitions and directories, see the Windows 2000 Server online product documentation.
Configure Windows 2000 Server. After installation, the next step is to configure Windows 2000 Server networking and security, and any additional services. For references on setup and administration, see the Windows 2000 Server online product documentation, as well as Additional Resources at the end of this section.

Structure Web and FTP site directories. When you install IIS 5.0 for the first time, the Windows 2000 Server setup program creates a Web server directory structure in Windows Explorer at c:\Inetpub\wwwroot\. This is where actual Web site content and application files are stored. IIS 5.0 also creates a Default Web Site in the IIS snap-in of Microsoft® Management Console (MMC). It points to the content stored in the root directory and provides configuration settings (properties) for the Web site and its associated files. IIS 5.0 gives the Default Web Site the same name as the computer running IIS 5.0, unless the computer Internet Protocol (IP) address is registered with a different name on the Internet or your corporate network.

The following figure shows the Wwwroot directory in Windows Explorer and its associated Web site (in this case, the Default Web Site) in the IIS snap-in.

The Wwwroot Directory in Windows Explorer and the Default Web Site in the IIS Snap-in

You might be able to use the default directory structure as it is, or you might want to make some modifications to preserve paths (also called pathnames) within your content and application files. As much as possible, try to replicate the directory structure and names used on the source server. This minimizes broken links and the need to update URLs and pathnames within files following migration.

Note The Default Web Site in the IIS snap-in points to the IIS 5.0 online product documentation, supporting code, and application samples (accessible from the IIS snap-in Help menu, or by typing http://localhost/ in the address bar of your browser). If you delete the Default Web Site, you will no longer be able to open these items. Also, be aware that the Default Web Site is assigned port 80 by default. When you create a new Web site in the IIS snap-in, it also will be assigned port 80 by default. In order to continue accessing the documentation, you must change the port number of any new Web site you create to something besides 80 so that it doesn’t conflict with the Default Web Site. To avoid these problems, it is best to use the Default Web Site to manage your Web site, rather than creating a new one. For more information, see the “Adding Sites” topic in the IIS 5.0 online product documentation.

Storing Content outside the Web Server Root Directory
The Virtual Directory feature of the IIS 5.0 snap-in allows you to publish content to your Web and FTP sites that is stored outside of the Web server root directory tree (c:\Inetpub\wwwroot) in Windows Explorer. Content—HTML files, scripts, images, and other files—can be stored in any Microsoft® Windows® directory on the local computer or another computer on your network. The only restriction is that the network drive containing the directory must be in the same Windows 2000 Server Domain as the computer running IIS 5.0. For more information about virtual directories, see the “Creating Virtual Directories” topic in the IIS 5.0 online product documentation.

Install tools and utilities. Next, install tools and utilities on the destination server. These include all of the items you listed during the planning phase that must reside on the new server. If you’re migrating from UNIX, you’ll want to obtain and install the Windows 2000 Server counterparts of UNIX tools and utilities. Many of these are available on the Resource Kit companion CD. Others are available with Windows NT Services for UNIX. For more information, see http://www.microsoft.com/ntserver/nts/exec/overview/sfu.asp.
You’ll also want to obtain and install the appropriate script interpreters (also called scripting engines) to run applications written as scripts. IIS supports any scripting language for which you have installed a script interpreter that follows the Active Scripting standard. For ASP applications, IIS natively supports Microsoft® Visual Basic® Scripting Edition (VBScript) and Microsoft® JScript®, so you don’t need to install their interpreters. Active Scripting interpreters for Perl 5.0 and Regina REXX are included on the Resource Kit companion CD and are also available through third-party developers. TCL/Tk, Python, and REXX script interpreters that are compatible with Microsoft® Win32® are available from third-party sources. In most cases, you should install the script interpreter in the Web server root directory (c:\Inetpub\wwwroot) and set appropriate NTFS and IIS 5.0 permissions. For more information, see Configuring a Script Interpreter and Additional Resources later in this section.