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Using the Web Application Server with Windows 7

As part of enhanced security in Windows 7, Internet Information Server (IIS) is not installed by default. You must therefore first install IIS and enable various features to successfully install and use the Web Application Server.

Note that you must install and enable the following features before you can successfully install and use the Web Application Server.

Installing and Configuring IIS

  1. Go to Control Panel, select Programs, and then select Turn Windows Features on or off.

  2. Locate the option called Internet Information Services and select it. This will install IIS with the default features. Note that selecting this does not display a checkmark because it only selects some of the available IIS features. The default installation is a basic web server without support for advanced features such as ASP, so we must install additional IIS features required by the Web Application Server.

  3. Open the branch Internet Information Services -> World Wide Web Services -> Application Development Features, select and ensure that the option named ASP is checked. Also verify that the option named ISAPI Extensions is checked.

  4. Open the branch Internet Information Services -> Web Management Tools -> IIS 6 Management Compatibility, select and ensure that the option named IIS Metabase and IIS 6 configuration compatibility is checked.

  5. You can select additional options for your server, but you must ensure that ASP, ISAPI Extensions, and IIS Metabase and IIS 6 configuration compatibility are all checked, as they are required options to install and use the Web Application Server. When you are done configuring IIS, select OK to install the selected features.

Enabling ASP Script Error Messages

When IIS has been installed properly, there is one other configuration that we recommend enabling for development purposes. In order for IIS to send back ASP script error messages to your browser, so that you can diagnose ASP script errors in your Web Application, you must specifically enable this option. Without this option selected, you will not see ASP script errors in your browser; instead, you'll see a generic error message such as "An error occurred on the server when processing the URL. Please contact the system administrator."

  1. Right-click the Computer icon on your desktop (or in the Start menu), and select Manage. This will bring up the Computer Management Console.

  2. In the Computer Management Console, open the branch Services and Applications and select Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager. Then scroll down until you see the IIS group, and double-click the ASP icon (or right-click and select Open Feature).

  3. In the configuration page for ASP, open the branch Debugging Properties, and change Send Errors To Browser to the value True.

  4. Select Apply Changes to save the changes.

Tip: If you're using Internet Explorer and you still do not see ASP Script errors in your browser, in Internet Explorer, select Tools -> Internet Options -> Advanced, and then un-check Show friendly HTTP error messages, and click OK. You then need to restart your browser, and you should be able to see ASP script errors.

Running Web Application Server Applications on 64-bit Operating Systems

As of DataFlex 2009, 64-bit (x64) versions of Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 are fully supported. However, DataFlex web applications still run as 32-bit applications. By default, 32-bit applications are not enabled on these 64-bit platforms, so you must enable them for your web applications to run.

Steps to Enable 32-bit Applications in IIS on Windows Vista x64 and Windows 7 x64:

  1. Open the IIS Manager via Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

  2. In the Connections panel on the left, select Application Pools.

  3. Right-click on DefaultAppPool on the right.

  4. Click on Advanced Settings in the context menu.

  5. Under (General) settings, set Enable 32-Bit Applications to True.

Steps to Enable 32-bit Applications in IIS on Windows Server 2008 x64:

  1. Open Server Manager.

  2. Expand Roles | Web Server | Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

  3. On the tree on the right, click on Application Pools.

  4. On the panel to the right, select DefaultAppPool.

  5. From the Action panel, select Set Application Pool Defaults.

  6. In the General group, highlight Enabled 32-bit Applications.

  7. From the combo, select True.

  8. Click on OK.

See Also