Changes to the application pool

1. Open the applicationhost.config (found at: C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\config)

2. Look for the concerned applicationpool name in the <applicationpools> section and make sure you have the following two settings present for the application Pool:

<add name="DefaultAppPool" autoStart="true" startMode="alwaysRunning”  />

3. In addition to these make sure that the application pool runs in Integrated mode and the .net framework for the same is v4.0 (as shown below) .

Changes for the website or Application in the applicationHost.config file:

1. Look for the <sites> section under <system.applicationHost> section.

2. Under <sites> look for the concerned website( or application ;  I have chosen  application “AppInit” present under “Default Web Site” here to explain the settings).  For this website make sure you have preloadEnabled setting = “True” as shown below.

<system.applicationHost>
  <sites>
    <site name="Default Web Site" id="1">
      <application path="/">
        <virtualDirectory path="/" physicalPath="%SystemDrive%\inetpub\wwwroot" />
      </application>
      <application name="AppInit" applicationPool="DefaultAppPool" preloadEnabled="true">
        <virtualDirectory path="/AppInit" physicalPath="c:\inetpub\wwwroot\appinit" />
      </application>
    </site>
  </sites>
</system.applicationHost>

Changes to the concerned Website/Application (These changes can be also made in applicationHost.config file, here,for simplicity, I am mentioning the steps to do so using web.config of the concerned site ):

1. Go the web.config of the website and look for the <configuration> section and under this for  <system.webServer> section.  If the web.config is not present or these sections don’t exist, you will have to create them.

2. Under this  <system.webServer> section please add the following appropriately as shown below:

=================================================

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<configuration>

<system.webServer>

        <applicationInitialization remapManagedRequestsTo="splash.html" skipManagedModules="true">

            <add initializationPage="default.aspx" />

        </applicationInitialization>

</system.webServer>

</configuration>

================================================

Note:

1.  The “splash.html” will be shown to the users when they browse to the “default.aspx” page until it is ready to be served.

2. You will need to restart w3svc service to make sure that the changes take effect.  You can do this from the command prompt (running in admin mode) by following the steps below:

· net stop w3svc

· net start w3svc

This module provides a UI for Application Initialization (called Application Warm-Up module previously).

Application Initialization makes sure that your application is ready to serve requests without having to wait for an actual client to make a request. It proactively loads and initializes all the dependencies of the application such as data base connections, Compilation of ASP.NET code, loading modules, thereby making the websites responsive at all times even if the Application Pool is recycled.

The UI helps you configure settings at two Levels:

1. Global settings at the server level

2. Local settings at Application/Website level

  Configuring Global settings:

• Select the application Pool and make changes required to configure AppPool settings. ( Set the .Net framework as v4.0 and Start Mode as AlwaysRunning for setting up Application Initialization)

Configuring Website/Application level settings:

Configure All the settings for your Web Site or Application to enable Application Initialization using this UI. Apart from the “Global Application Settings” , changes made here are saved to the web.config of your application/website.

Downloading and Installing this UI Extension for IIS 8:

Once you download and install this UI , It:

• Registers ApplicationInitializationUI.dll to the GAC (Global Assembly Cache) on the server.
• Adds the following lines to your administration.config under their respective sections:

<moduleProviders>

<add name="ApplicationInitializationUI" type="ApplicationInitializationUI.AppInitProvider,ApplicationInitializationUI, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=200af7975825e805" />

</moduleProviders>

<modules>

<add name="ApplicationInitializationUI" />
    </modules>

NOTE: Before Installing this UI Extension, Please make sure you have “Application Initialization Feature” installed on IIS. You can read the Step by Step instructions mentioned  here for more information on how to install this Feature.

To read more about Application Initialization you might like to refer to the blogs below:

https://www.iis.net/learn/get-started/whats-new-in-iis-8/iis-80-application-initialization

https://blogs.iis.net/wadeh/archive/2012/05/01/application-initialization-part-2.aspx