WCF REST Starter Kit Preview 2, Windows 7 and the IIS 7 URL Rewrite Module

Someone was asking on the WCF REST Starter Kit Forum if the WCF REST Starter Kit Preview 2 release works with Windows 7.  My first reaction was to say yes!

Then I remembered an issue I had when developing the hands on labs.  Lab 2 – Addressability uses the IIS7 URL rewrite module.  This module when installed does a number of things and one of them is to install an ASP.NET hotfix.  Currently the hotfix setup fails because Windows 7 is missing some part of .NET 3.5 SP1 that it requires.  Some people on the web have found ways to trick the installer into getting past this, I tried the tricks and though the installer completed, the URL rewrite module still didn’t work so I don’t recommend trying this.

For now, run through lab 2 using Vista or Windows Server 2008.  You will notice the screenshots in the lab came from Windows Server 2008.  Ultimately the URL Rewrite install problem will be fixed as Windows 7 gets closer to RC.  I installed the latest build on Friday and I tried installing it again just now and I can tell you that the problem still exists.

Comments

• Anonymous
  March 26, 2009
  Hi, there is a workarround to install the URL Rewrite Module on Win7: http://blogs.msdn.com/rjacobs/archive/2009/03/16/wcf-rest-starter-kit-preview-2-windows-7-and-the-iis-7-url-rewrite-module.aspx