crashBlog

IIS 7.0 (and Vista)

I've been tinkering with Vista RC1, and specifically IIS 7.0, and have found a bunch of cool stuff, and some confusing stuff.

The most important thing to note about all of the comments I am about to make is that I purposely did NOT install IIS 6.0 metabase compatibility.  I wanted to see what I could do, and how things work, when using only configuration files and tools that are native to IIS 7.0.  I am doing this testing in the context of getting my product running with IIS 7.0 and learning the things that need to configured, but hopefully this information will be of interest to some others, as I have found little detail on the net (maybe I'm not looking in the right places?).  Here are my results so far:

Virtual Directories and Applications

In prior versions of IIS, a virtual directory and an application were pretty similar to each other.  The biggest difference was that for an application you could set it's processing to be in-proc, shared, or out-of-proc (isolated).  Other than that and a couple of debugging options, a virtual directory was similar to an application.

With IIS 7.0 and the changes to the configuration system (the metabase is gone -- yay!), a virtual directory is merely a symbolic link to a directory of pages.  An application on the other hand, can have its own overriding configuration settings (this is similar to how ASP.NET handled applications in prior IIS versions).  This is an important detail when testing a web-based application product on IIS 7.0, as the application web.config file is an essential ingredient to getting your application running.

To create an application or virtual directory in InetMgr, the drill is very similar to IIS 6.0.  Seemed pretty intuitive to me, so I won't delve into it here.  Effectively, when I created an application InetMgr edited my <Windows>\System32\Inetsrv\config\applicationHost.config file to show the changes.  That file is effectively the new metabase.  All general configuration settings are stored there.  Here is a sample of what the entry for the new application looks like:

    <location path="Default Web Site/NewApp">

        <system.webServer>

            <security>

                <authentication>

                    <anonymousAuthentication enabled="false" />

                    <basicAuthentication enabled="true" />

                </authentication>

            </security>

        </system.webServer>

    </location>

This will show up way at the end of the file, and you can add one just to see it get added.  I additionally specified that anonymous auth was disabled and basic auth enabled in the inetmgr interface, and you can see how they got set in the file.

Overrides and Handlers

The next thing I needed to handle was adding a MIME-type mapping so that our application could retrieve a file it needs when it is initializing.  This required two steps, and as far as I can tell, must be done manually (if someone knows how to do this in the interface, let me know!)

1.  Allow overriding of static file extension definition.  In order to specify a new MIME-type, you either need to add it to the applicationHost.config, which enables it for the entire site, or you need to allow your application to override the "staticContent" type in its own web.config.  To do this, modify the above application entry as follows:

    <location path="Default Web Site/NewApp" overrideMode="Allow" >

        <system.webServer>

                    <anonymousAuthentication enabled="false" />

                    <basicAuthentication enabled="true" />

                </authentication>

            </security>

        </system.webServer>

    </location>

Once you have done this, you can add entries to your application specific web.config (at "Default Web Site/NewApp").

2.  Specify the new MIME type to be used.  Add the following to your web.config in your application directory root:

      <system.webServer>

            <staticContent>

                  <mimeMap fileExtension=".newext" mimeType="text/xml" />

            </staticContent>

            <handlers>

                  <add name="Custom XML File" path="*.conf" verb="*" modules="StaticFileModule" resourceType="File" />

            </handlers>

      </system.webServer>

Now when you request myfile.newext from any directory outside your application, you'll get a 404.3 error, but from within your application, the file with be returned as static content.

More later on custom handlers and filters, if I have time...

Sign readable by all...

This made me laugh...

The Shotgun Rules

Nice start to the long season...

Popped a 574 (157, 182, 235) last night on our first night back on the lanes.  Considering I hadn't even moved the bowling bag since June (when it got stuffed in a pile in the back of the garage) I was pretty overjoyed.  When you add in that I have been feeling pretty crummy lately and didn't eat anything all day yesterday (until after bowling, anyway), I'm that much more pleased.  I am sure I'll stink up the lanes more like usual as the year progresses, but that was a nice start to the season.  I never did toss a 600 at Belmark last year (pitiful, I know) so at least this will suck me in for a while.  Dang, and I was thinking about not bowling on that league this year.  Now I'm stuck.

Update about Dad for Tuesday 9/5

From Michelle:

There was a team meeting this morning. They said that he is doing well. The therapists report that he is very responsive. He will be evaluated monthly, and as long as he continues to progress then he will stay at this rehab center. So he will be there for the next month at least.

She also mentioned that they do have him on anti-seizure meds for the time being, but they decided against putting him on anything to help him stay attentive and focused.  I think that might be good -- they've got him pretty wacked up with all the meds for his physical conditions, let his mind rest a heal a little.

Obviously we are long way from planning fishing trips or bird hunts -- the Big Kahuna still needs all the prayers and well-wishes he can get.  He seems to be making small improvements, but we've got a long way to go.

The Crocodile Hunter has died

Drivin...

Yesterday, I spent the day driving to Grand Rapids, and spending time with Dad.  He seemed like he was more chipper, but he was pretty sleepy so he wasn't a great conversationalist.  While I was there, he did seem less congested/coughy and he seemed to be more comfortable overall.  I'm not sure if it is improvement or the medical cocktail they've got him on, but it did please me to see him appear less uncomfortable and unhappy.

Coming home, I decided to take the back roads, just to mix it up.  I-96 and I-94 are pretty boring drives.  So I took M-37 South out of town, to about Hastings, where I caught M-79 to Charlotte (that was a nice drive), then caught M-50 through the Irish Hills area and by Michigan International Speedway (actually missing where I meant to turn to head East to Saline, but no matter), finally catching US-12 out of the Irish Hills to get back to Saline, and then I can just take regular surface streets back to our place.  Unfortunately, Mac's was closed for the holiday, so I couldn't stop in for a quick bowl of gumbo.  Surprisingly, this only added about 35 minutes to my overall drive, since I can only go about 65 in the Jeep on the freeway anyway.  The bonus effect was that I was a LOT less irritated when I finally got home.

Go Green!

The Green and White take on the Idaho Vandals today, hopefully dispatching them in short order.  The Sparties seem to usually do a pretty good job of taking care of business with the pre-season (not counting Notre Dame, they're practically a Big 10 team anyway).  I am not sure what to expect this year with this Spartan team.  Experience in the offensive positions, but not so much on the offensive line.  On Defense, we have an improved but new secondary, and our D-Line needs to prove they can pressure quarterbacks.  Unfortunately, with so many role-player positions with question marks, the season could get ridiculous very quickly.  At the same time, if some young guys step in and perform, we could have a fun season.

Given JohnL's performance to date, I don't expect to see a bunch of stars emerge from his recruits, and I don't expect the late season injuries and bull(censored) penalties to change.

My predictions:

• Today:
• MSU 42
• Idaho 30
• The defense comes out and beats up the Vandals on their first drive, then gets burned on routine plays when they get too aggressive.  JohnL takes his hat off and gets that pained look like always.  Spartan offense provides enough punch to pull it out.
• Season
• 6-6, with losses to Pitt, ND, UM, tOSU, PSU, and at Northwestern

Check back here to see how I do each week

(By the way, I am just a fan, not an oddsmaker -- I wouldn't place any bets based on my predictions! )

 EDIT: Result: MSU 27, Idaho 17.  Other than the score it was frighteningly close to what I predicted.  The bad news is the offense didn't exactly light it up.

Football is here, summer is ending

Bowling starts Tuesday, college football kicks off for real today, the temperature at night is falling into the 50's -- summer is coming to a close 

I am hoping to spend the day relaxing, as the last few weekends have left me worn out when I head back to work.  I will probably try to go see Dad tomorrow at some point, but for today, I hope to just relax for a while.

More on Dad again

I need to correct something posted before: Dad has blockage of the basilar artery, whereas I said vertebral before.  I think he also has blockage in the vertebral arteries but the really bad one is the basilar artery.

Michelle has been trying to keep me up to date.  I guess this week has seen some regression is his condition, yet again.  Yesterday afternoon, they sent him back to the hospital for more tests, and they determined he has developed pneumonia (which was a known risk, with the issues he was having with swallowing).  They are going to move him back to the rehab center and continue treating him there.

We continue to be hopeful, but each time there is a setback, it is impossible to not feel a little emotional drain.  Continue to keep us in your prayers.

EDIT: Michelle corrected and said that he is having seizures, but does not have pneumonia.  They are treating the seizures with medication, and he had a good day with his therapists today.  These are good things.