Cyotek Development Bloghttps://devblog.cyotek.com/tag/rewrite/atom.xml2017-11-19T13:25:46ZInstalling the URL Rewrite module into Internet Information Servicesurn:uuid:04e9ede1-8629-49c0-be74-9033941363a12017-11-19T13:25:46Z2017-11-19T13:25:46Z<p>For quite some time now Internet Information Services (IIS) has
had an URL Rewriter component that you can optionally install.
As one of my upcoming shorter posts mentions the use of it, I
thought I'd better provide installation instructions separately
rather than cluttering up that post.</p>
<h2 id="a-note-on-iis-versions">A note on IIS versions</h2>
<p>Some versions of Internet Information Services Manager (IIS
Manager) have a Start Page, as demonstrated in the below
screenshot. All instructions on this post assume that on opening
IIS Manager the user has selected the root server node in the
tree if it wasn't already selected.</p>
<figure class="screenshot" ><a href="https://images.cyotek.com/image/devblog/install-url-rewriter-1a.png" class="gallery" title="An example of a Start Page on older versions of IIS" ><img src="https://images.cyotek.com/image/thumbnail/devblog/install-url-rewriter-1a.png" alt="An example of a Start Page on older versions of IIS" decoding="async" loading="lazy" /></a><figcaption>An example of a Start Page on older versions of IIS</figcaption></figure><h2 id="checking-if-the-url-rewrite-module-is-installed">Checking if the URL Rewrite module is installed</h2>
<p>To see if the URL Rewrite module is installed, open IIS Manager
and look in the <strong>IIS</strong> group - if the module is installed, an
icon named <strong>URL Rewrite</strong> will be present. The screenshot below
shows an example of a server when the module is installed.</p>
<figure class="screenshot" ><a href="https://images.cyotek.com/image/devblog/install-url-rewriter-1b.png" class="gallery" title="An example of an IIS instance containing the URL Rewrite module" ><img src="https://images.cyotek.com/image/thumbnail/devblog/install-url-rewriter-1b.png" alt="An example of an IIS instance containing the URL Rewrite module" decoding="async" loading="lazy" /></a><figcaption>An example of an IIS instance containing the URL Rewrite module</figcaption></figure><h2 id="installing-the-module">Installing the module</h2>
<p>You can download the module from Microsoft's URL Rewrite
<a href="https://www.iis.net/downloads/microsoft/url-rewrite" rel="external nofollow noopener">homepage</a>, but as IIS Manager includes a helpful tool for
installing new features called the Web Platform Installer I'm
going to detail using that.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I can't remember if the Web Platform Installer itself is
included with IIS or if you need to download and install that
first too. If it's not installed then you could always use the
link above to download the URL Rewrite module directly.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="screenshot" ><a href="https://images.cyotek.com/image/devblog/install-url-rewriter-1c.png" class="gallery" title="An example of an IIS instance where the URL Rewrite module is not installed" ><img src="https://images.cyotek.com/image/thumbnail/devblog/install-url-rewriter-1c.png" alt="An example of an IIS instance where the URL Rewrite module is not installed" decoding="async" loading="lazy" /></a><figcaption>An example of an IIS instance where the URL Rewrite module is not installed</figcaption></figure>
<p>In the <strong>Management</strong> group, double click the <strong>Web Platform
Installer</strong> icon to start the tool.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I'm sure this tool used to open as a separate application, but
when testing today it was embedded within the IIS Manager
window so the behaviour may differ depending on which version
of the Web Platform Installer is installed.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Once the Web Platform Installer has loaded and displayed the
Spotlight product list, type <kbd>rewrite</kbd> into the search
box and press <kbd>Enter</kbd>.</p>
<figure class="screenshot" ><a href="https://images.cyotek.com/image/devblog/install-url-rewriter-1d.png" class="gallery" title="Search results listing matching applications" ><img src="https://images.cyotek.com/image/thumbnail/devblog/install-url-rewriter-1d.png" alt="Search results listing matching applications" decoding="async" loading="lazy" /></a><figcaption>Search results listing matching applications</figcaption></figure>
<p>Find the entry for the URL Rewrite module then click the <strong>Add</strong>
button for the entry. Now click the <strong>Install</strong> button.</p>
<figure class="screenshot" ><a href="https://images.cyotek.com/image/devblog/install-url-rewriter-1e.png" class="gallery" title="Web Platform Installer prerequisites dialog" ><img src="https://images.cyotek.com/image/thumbnail/devblog/install-url-rewriter-1e.png" alt="Web Platform Installer prerequisites dialog" decoding="async" loading="lazy" /></a><figcaption>Web Platform Installer prerequisites dialog</figcaption></figure>
<p>Sometimes a component might need additional features which will
be automatically included and listed in this dialog, although in
this case the module has no additional dependencies.</p>
<p>Click <strong>I Accept</strong> to begin the installation.</p>
<figure class="screenshot" ><a href="https://images.cyotek.com/image/devblog/install-url-rewriter-1f.png" class="gallery" title="Web Platform Installer progress dialog" ><img src="https://images.cyotek.com/image/thumbnail/devblog/install-url-rewriter-1f.png" alt="Web Platform Installer progress dialog" decoding="async" loading="lazy" /></a><figcaption>Web Platform Installer progress dialog</figcaption></figure>
<p>After a few moments the installation should be completed.</p>
<figure class="screenshot" ><a href="https://images.cyotek.com/image/devblog/install-url-rewriter-1g.png" class="gallery" title="Web Platform Installer installation complete dialog" ><img src="https://images.cyotek.com/image/thumbnail/devblog/install-url-rewriter-1g.png" alt="Web Platform Installer installation complete dialog" decoding="async" loading="lazy" /></a><figcaption>Web Platform Installer installation complete dialog</figcaption></figure>
<p>Click <strong>Finish</strong> to dismiss the Web Platform Installer window.</p>
<p>Even though the module has been installed, it still won't appear
in the running instance of IIS Manager - you need to exit and
restart the application.</p>
<p>On restarting IIS Manager, you should now see the <strong>URL
Rewrite</strong> icon present in the <strong>IIS</strong> group.</p>
<figure class="screenshot" ><a href="https://images.cyotek.com/image/devblog/install-url-rewriter-1h.png" class="gallery" title="Another example of an IIS instance where the URL Rewrite module is installed" ><img src="https://images.cyotek.com/image/thumbnail/devblog/install-url-rewriter-1h.png" alt="Another example of an IIS instance where the URL Rewrite module is installed" decoding="async" loading="lazy" /></a><figcaption>Another example of an IIS instance where the URL Rewrite module is installed</figcaption></figure><h2 id="update-history">Update History</h2>
<ul>
<li>2017-11-19 - First published</li>
<li>2020-11-22 - Updated formatting</li>
</ul>

<p><small>
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</small></p>Richard Mosshttps://www.cyotek.com/richard.moss@cyotek.com