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Step 2: Configure ASP.NET Settings

  • Article

Updated: February 29, 2012

Applies To: Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2

In this phase of building your website, you configure the following IIS server and website settings that support ASP.NET:

  • 2.1. Session State Settings

  • 2.2. Pages and Controls Settings

  • 2.3. Application Settings

  • 2.4. .NET Compilation Settings

  • 2.5. .NET Globalization Settings

2.1. Session State Settings

In Plan an ASP.NET Website on IIS, you decided to use one of the following session-state-storage options:

  • In-process: Session state is stored in the worker process where the ASP.NET application runs.

  • State Server: Session state is stored outside the worker process where the ASP.NET application runs.

  • SQL Server: Session state is stored in a SQL Server database.

You might have also chosen to store session data on the client computer in a cookie. You can even combine the use of cookies with one of the other storage methods. For example, you could store authentication data in a cookie while storing other session-state data in a SQL Server database.

The following sections describe how to configure session state based on the planning decisions you have made:

  • Store Session State in Process

  • Store Session State by using State Server

  • Store Session State by using SQL Server

  • Cookie Mode for Session State

Store Session State in Process

This section describes how to configure in-process session state by using either the IIS Manager UI or the command line.

To enable in-process session state by using the UI

  1. Open IIS Manager and navigate to the level you want to manage.

  2. In Features View, double-click Session State.

  3. On the Session State page, in the Session State Mode Settings area, click In process.

  4. (Optional) Configure cookie settings in the Cookie Settings area on the Session State page.

    For more information about cookie settings, see Cookie Mode for Session State.

  5. In the Time-out field, enter a time-out value in the format hh:mm:ss. For example, enter 00:15:00 for 15 minutes.

  6. (Optional) Check the Use hosting identity for impersonation check box to use Windows authentication and the host process identity (either ASP.NET or a Windows service identity) for remote connections.

  7. Click Apply in the Actions pane.

To enable in-process session state by using the command line

  • To enable in-process session state, use the following syntax:

    appcmd set config /commit:WEBROOT /section:sessionState /mode:InProc

    The variable mode:InProc enables in-process session state. By default, in-process session state is enabled.

    Note

    When you use Appcmd.exe to configure the <sessionState> element at the global level in IIS 8, specify /commit:WEBROOT in the command so that configuration changes are made to the root Web.config file instead of ApplicationHost.config.

  • To specify the default time that a session object is maintained after the last request associated with the object is made, use the following syntax:

    appcmd set config /section:asp /timeout: timeSpan

    The variable timeSpan represents the maximum time (hh:mm:ss) that a session object is maintained after the last request associated with the object is made. The default value is 00:20:00.

Store Session State by using State Server

This section describes how to configure a state server for session-state storage by using either the IIS Manager UI or the command line.

In Plan an ASP.NET Website on IIS, you made the following design decisions:

  • Define a connection string for the state server.

  • Specify the number of seconds to wait before the connection time-out.

  • Decide whether to enable compression.

  • Decide whether to store any session state data in a cookie.

To configure a state server to maintain session state by using the UI

  1. Open IIS Manager and navigate to the level you want to manage.

  2. In Features View, double-click Session State.

  3. On the Session State page, in the Session State Mode Settings area, click State Server.

  4. Type a connection string in the Connection string text box, or click Create to create a connection string.

  5. Type a time-out value in the Time-out (in seconds) text box. The default time-out value is 10 seconds.

  6. (Optional) Configure cookie settings in the Cookie Settings area on the Session State page.

    For more information about cookie settings, see Cookie Mode for Session State.

  7. (Optional) Select the Use hosting identity for impersonation check box to use Windows authentication and the host process identity (either ASP.NET or a Windows service identity) for connections to the database.

  8. Click Apply in the Actions pane.

To configure a state server to maintain session state by using the command line

  • To configure a state server to maintain session state, use the following syntax:

    appcmd set config /commit:WEBROOT /section:sessionState /mode:StateServer /stateConnectionString: string /stateNetworkTimeout: timeSpan /useHostingIdentity:True|False

    The variable mode:StateServer sets the session state mode to store session data in a state server. By default, the variable string defines the connection string that the state server uses. The default setting is tcpip=loopback:42424. The variable timeSpan sets the time, in seconds, that the connection to the state server is maintained. The default is 10 seconds. The variable useHostingIdentity:True|False enables or disables the use of Windows authentication and the host process identity (either ASP.NET or a Windows service identity) for connections to the database. The default value is True.

    Note

    When you use Appcmd.exe to configure the <sessionState> element at the global level in IIS 8, specify /commit:WEBROOT in the command so that configuration changes are made to the root Web.config file instead of ApplicationHost.config.

Store Session State by using SQL Server

This section describes how to configure a SQL Server database for session-state storage using either the IIS Manager UI or the command line.

In Plan an ASP.NET Website on IIS, you made the following design decisions:

  • Define a connection string for the database.

  • Specify the number of seconds to wait before the connection time-out.

  • Specify the number of seconds to wait before trying to reconnect.

  • Decide whether to enable a custom database.

  • Decide whether to enable compression.

  • Decide whether to store any session state data in a cookie.

To configure a SQL server to maintain session state by using the UI

  1. Open IIS Manager and navigate to the level you want to manage.

  2. In Features View, double-click Session State.

  3. On the Session State page, in the Session State Mode Settings area, click SQL Server.

  4. Type a connection string in the Connection string text box, or click Create to create a connection string. If the SQL server is on the server you are managing, select LocalSqlServer in the Connection string text box.

  5. Type a time-out value in the Time-out text box.

  6. (Optional) Check the Enable custom database check box to use a custom database for storing session state data.

  7. (Optional) Configure cookie settings in the Cookie Settings area on the Session State page.

    For more information about cookie settings, see Cookie Mode for Session State.

  8. (Optional) Check the Use hosting identity for impersonation check box to use Windows authentication and the host process identity (either ASP.NET or a Windows service identity) for remote connections to the SQL database.

  9. Click Apply in the Actions pane.

To configure a SQL server to maintain session state by using the command line

  1. To configure a state server to maintain session state, use the following syntax:

    appcmd set config /commit:WEBROOT /section:sessionState /mode:SqlServer /sqlConnectionString: string /sqlCommandTimeout: timeSpan /useHostingIdentity:True|False

    The variable mode:SqlServer sets the session state mode to store session data in a SQL server database. By default, the variable string defines the connection string that the SQL server uses. The default setting is LocalSqlServer. The variable timeSpan sets the time, in seconds, that the connection to the SQL server is maintained. The default is 30 seconds. The variable useHostingIdentity:True|False enables or disables the use of Windows authentication and the host process identity (either ASP.NET or a Windows service identity) for connections to the database. The default value is True.

    Note

    When you use Appcmd.exe to configure the <sessionState> element at the global level in IIS 8, specify /commit:WEBROOT in the command so that configuration changes are made to the root Web.config file instead of ApplicationHost.config.

This section describes how to configure a SQL Server database for session-state storage by using either the IIS Manager UI or the command line.

In Plan an ASP.NET Website on IIS, you made the following design decisions:

  • Select a cookie mode: auto detect, use cookies, use device profile, or use URI.

  • Unless you selected use URI, specify the name of the cookie.

  • Unless you selected use URI, specify the number of minutes before the cookie times out.

  • Unless you selected use cookies, decide whether to regenerate an expired session ID.

To configure Use Cookies mode for session state by using the UI

  1. Open IIS Manager and navigate to the level you want to manage.

  2. In Features View, double-click Session State.

  3. On the Session State page, in the Cookie Settings area, select Use Cookies from the Mode drop-down list.

  4. Type a cookie name in the Name text box, or use the default cookie name, ASP.NET_SessionId.

  5. Type a time-out value in the Time-out text box, or use 20 minutes, the default time-out value.

  6. Click Apply in the Actions pane.

To configure Use Cookies mode for session state by using the command line

  • To configure use cookies mode for session state, use the following syntax:

    **appcmd set config /commit:WEBROOT /section:sessionState /cookieless:UseCookies /cookieName:**string **/timeout:**timeSpan

    The variable cookieless:UseCookies configures IIS 8 to use cookies mode for session state. This is the default value. The variable string is the name of the cookie. The default value is ASP.NET_SessionId. The variable timeSpan sets the time, in minutes, after which the cookie times out. The default is 20 minutes. For example, to set a cookie-mode cookie for session state (called MyCookie and that expires after 40 minutes), type the following at the command prompt, and then press Enter:

    appcmd set config /commit:WEBROOT /section:sessionState /cookieless:UseCookies /cookieName:MyCookie /timeout:40

    Note

    When you use Appcmd.exe to configure the <sessionState> element at the global level in IIS 8, specify /commit:WEBROOT in the command so that configuration changes are made to the root Web.config file instead of ApplicationHost.config.

  • To configure use device profile cookie mode for session state, use the following syntax:

    **appcmd set config /commit:WEBROOT /section:sessionState /cookieless:UseDeviceProfile /cookieName:**string **/timeout:**timeSpan /regenerateExpiredSessionId:True|False

    The variable cookieless:UseDeviceProfile configures IIS 8 to use device-profile cookie mode for session state. The variable string is the name of the cookie. The default value is ASP.NET_SessionId. The variable timeSpan sets the time, in minutes, after which the cookie times out. The default is 20 minutes. The variable regenerateExpiredSessionId:True|False enables or disables the regeneration of expired session IDs.

    Note

    When you use Appcmd.exe to configure the <sessionState> element at the global level in IIS 8, specify /commit:WEBROOT in the command so that configuration changes are made to the root Web.config file instead of ApplicationHost.config.

  • To configure auto-detect cookie mode for session state, use the following syntax:

    **appcmd set config /commit:WEBROOT /section:sessionState /cookieless:AutoDetect /cookieName:**string **/timeout:**timeSpan /regenerateExpiredSessionId:True|False

    The variable cookieless:AutoDetect configures IIS 8 to use auto-detect cookie mode for session state. The variable string is the name of the cookie. The default value is ASP.NET_SessionId. The variable timeSpan sets the time, in minutes, after which the cookie times out. The default is 20 minutes. The variable regenerateExpiredSessionId:True|False enables or disables the regeneration of expired session IDs.

    Note

    When you use Appcmd.exe to configure the <sessionState> element at the global level in IIS 8, specify /commit:WEBROOT in the command so that configuration changes are made to the root Web.config file instead of ApplicationHost.config.

  • To configure URI cookie mode for session state, use the following syntax:

    appcmd set config /commit:WEBROOT /section:sessionState /cookieless:UseUri /regenerateExpiredSessionId:True|False

    The variable cookieless:UseUri configures IIS 8 to use URI cookie mode for session state. The variable regenerateExpiredSessionId:True|False enables or disables the regeneration of expired session IDs.

    Note

    When you use Appcmd.exe to configure the <sessionState> element at the global level in IIS 8, specify /commit:WEBROOT in the command so that configuration changes are made to the root Web.config file instead of ApplicationHost.config.

2.2. Pages and Controls Settings

This section describes how to configure ASP.NET pages and control settings by using either the IIS Manager UI or the command line.

Note

These settings apply only to ASP.NET Web Forms. They do not apply to ASP.NET MVC or ASP.NET Web Pages.

Edit Pages and Controls

You can edit the settings of existing pages and controls, and the changes are reflected into the Web.config file.

To edit settings for pages and controls by using the UI

  1. Open IIS Manager and navigate to the level you want to manage.

  2. In Features View, double-click Pages and Controls.

  3. On the Pages and Controls page, edit settings as necessary.

  4. When finished, click Apply in the Actions pane.

To edit settings for pages and controls by using the command line

  • To enable or disable page output buffering, use the following syntax:

    appcmd set config /commit:WEBROOT /section:pages /buffer:True|False

    The variable buffer:True enables buffering of page output. The default is True.

Add a Custom Control

In Plan an ASP.NET Website on IIS, you made the following design decisions for each custom control you want to add:

  • Specify the tag prefix of the control.

  • Specify the .NET namespace of the control.

  • Specify the assembly the control is in.

To add a custom control by using the UI

  1. Open IIS Manager and navigate to the level you want to manage.

  2. In Features View, double-click Pages and Controls.

  3. In the Actions pane, click Register Controls.

  4. In the Actions pane, click Add Custom Control.

  5. In the Add Custom Control dialog box, type a tag prefix in the Tag prefix text box.

  6. In the Namespace text box, type the namespace to which the custom control belongs. This is the same namespace that was specified in the application code.

  7. In the Assembly text box, type the name of the source or assembly for the custom control, and then click OK.

To add a custom control by using the command line

  • To add a custom control, use the following syntax:

    appcmd set config /commit:WEBROOT /section:system.web/pages /+"controls.[assembly=' string ',namespace=' string ',src=' string ', tagName=' string ', tagPrefix=' string ']"

    The variable assembly string is the name of the assembly that contains the COM control implementation and requires that the namespace attribute is also set. The variable namespace string is the namespace that is associated with the tag prefix and requires that the assembly attribute is also set, if the COM control is not located in the application code directory. The variable src string is the name of the file that contains the user control and requires that the tagName attribute is also set. The variable tagName string is the name of the control to use in the page and requires that the src attribute is also set. The variable tagPrefix string is the tag prefix that is being mapped to a source file or namespace and assembly. This attribute requires one of the following combinations of other attributes:

    • namespace to define a COM control, if the control is in the application code directory.

    • namespace and assembly to define a COM control.

    • tagName and src to define a user control.

    For example, to add a custom control that uses the specified source for a user control, type the following at the command prompt, and then press Enter:

    appcmd set config /commit:WEBROOT /section:system.web/pages /+"controls.[tagPrefix='MyTag', tagName='MyControl',src='controls/MyControl.asx']"

    Note

    When you use Appcmd.exe to configure the <controls> element at the global level in IIS 8, specify /commit:WEBROOT in the command so that configuration changes are made to the root Web.config file instead of ApplicationHost.config.

2.3. Application Settings

This section describes how to configure application settings by using either the IIS Manager UI or the command line.

In Plan an ASP.NET Website on IIS, you made the following design decisions for each application setting you want to configure:

  1. Specify a name for the setting.

  2. Specify a value for the setting.

To create an application setting by using the UI

  1. Open IIS Manager and navigate to the level you want to manage.

  2. In Features View, double-click Application Settings.

  3. In the Actions pane, click Add.

  4. In the Add Application Setting dialog box, type a name for the application setting in the Name text box.

  5. In the Add Application Setting dialog box, type a value for the application setting in the Value text box, and then click OK.

To create an application setting by using the command line

  • To add an application setting, use the following syntax:

    appcmd set config /commit:MACHINE /section:appSettings /+"[key=' string ',value=' string ']"

    The variable key string is the name of the application setting and the variable value string is the value for the application setting. For example, to add an application setting for the name of your application, type the following at the command prompt, and then press Enter:

    appcmd set config /commit:MACHINE /section:appSettings /+"[key='Application Name',value='MyApplication']"

2.4. .NET Compilation Settings

Edit .NET compilation settings in IIS 8 when you want to control how ASP.NET code is compiled. This section describes how to edit the compilation settings for you ASP.NET application.

To configure .NET compilation settings by using the UI

  1. Open IIS Manager and navigate to the level you want to manage.

  2. In Features View, double-click .NET Compilation.

  3. On the .NET Compilation page, edit settings as necessary.

  4. When finished, click Apply in the Actions pane.

To configure .NET compilation settings by using the command line

  • To enable or disable batch compilation for a site, use the following syntax:

    appcmd set config /commit:WEBROOT /section:compilation /batch:True|False

    The variable batch:True enables batch compilation, and the variable batch:False disables batch compilation. The default value is True.

  • To change the maximum file size (in KB) of the batch compilation, use the following syntax:

    appcmd set config /commit:WEBROOT /section:compilation /maxBatchGeneratedFileSize: int

    The variable int is the maximum file size (in KB). The default value is 1000.

  • To specify the maximum number of pages per batched compilation for a site, use the following syntax:

    appcmd set config /commit:WEBROOT /section:compilation /maxBatchSize: int

    The variable int is the maximum number of pages per batched compilation.

  • To define the time-out period, in seconds, for batch compilation for a site, use the following syntax:

    appcmd set config /commit:WEBROOT /section:compilation /batchTimeout: timeSpan

    The variable int is the maximum number of pages per batched compilation.

  • To specify compilation of retail or debug binaries for a site, use the following syntax:

    appcmd set config /commit:WEBROOT /section:compilation /debug:True|False

    The variable debug:True enables compilation of debug binaries and the variable debug:False enables compilation of retail binaries. The default value is False.

  • To specify the number of times resources can be dynamically recompiled before an application restarts for a site, use the following syntax:

    appcmd set config /commit:WEBROOT /section:compilation /numRecompilesBeforeAppRestart: int

    The variable int is the number of times resources are dynamically recompiled before the application is restarted. The default is 15.

  • To enable or disable URL line pragma for a site, use the following syntax:

    appcmd set config /commit:WEBROOT /section:compilation /urlLinePragmas:True|False

    The variable urlLinePragmas:True enables URL line pragma and the variable urlLinePragmas:False disables URL line pragma. The default value is False.

  • To enable or disable Visual Basic explicit compilation for a site, use the following syntax:

    appcmd set config /commit:WEBROOT /section:compilation /explicit:True|False

    The variable explicit:True enables Visual Basic explicit compilation and the variable explicit:False disables explicit compilation. The default value is False.

  • To enable or disable Visual Basic strict compilation for a site, use the following syntax:

    appcmd set config /commit:WEBROOT /section:compilation /strict:True|False

    The variable strict:True enables Visual Basic strict compilation and the variable strict:False disables strict compilation. The default value is False.

  • To add an ASP.NET compilation processing directive for a site, use the following syntax:

    appcmd set config /commit:WEBROOT /section:compilation /+"assemblies.[assembly=' string ']"

    The variable string is the ASP.NET compilation processing directive.

  • To remove an ASP.NET compilation processing directive for a site, use the following syntax:

    appcmd set config /commit:WEBROOT /section:compilation /-"assemblies.[assembly=' string ']"

    The variable string is the ASP.NET compilation processing directive.

  • To remove an ASP.NET compilation processing directive for a site, use the following syntax:

    appcmd set config /commit:WEBROOT /section:compilation /-"assemblies.[assembly=' string ']"

    The variable string is the ASP.NET compilation processing directive.

  • To change the default programming language that is used in dynamic compilation files for a site, use the following syntax:

    appcmd set config /commit:WEBROOT /section:compilation /defaultLanguage: string

    The variable string is the default programming language. The default value is vb. For example, to change the default programming language that is used in dynamic compilation files from Visual Basic to C#, type the following at the command prompt, and then press Enter:

    appcmd set config /commit:WEBROOT /section:compilation /defaultLanguage:c#

  • To specify the directory to use for temporary file storage during compilation for a site, use the following syntax:

    appcmd set config /commit:WEBROOT /section:compilation /tempDirectory: string

    The variable string is the directory path.

    Note

    When you use Appcmd.exe to configure the <compilation> element at the global level in IIS 8, specify /commit:WEBROOT in the command so that configuration changes are made to the root Web.config file instead of ApplicationHost.config.

2.5. .NET Globalization Settings

This section describes how to edit the globalization settings for you ASP.NET application by using either the IIS Manager UI or the command line.

To edit .NET globalization settings by using the UI

  1. Open IIS Manager and navigate to the level you want to manage.

  2. In Features View, double-click .NET Globalization.

  3. On the .NET Globalization page, in the property sheet, click to select the global setting you want to edit, and select a value from the drop-down list.

  4. In the Actions pane, click Apply.

To edit .NET globalization settings by using the command line

  • To edit the default culture for processing Web requests, use the following syntax:

    appcmd set config /commit:WEBROOT /section:globalization /culture: string

    The variable string is the default culture for processing web requests. For example, to change the default culture for processing Web requests to US English, type the following at the command prompt, and then press Enter:

    appcmd set config /commit:WEBROOT /section:globalization /culture:en-us

    Note

    When you use Appcmd.exe to configure the <globalization> element at the global level in IIS 8, specify /commit:WEBROOT in the command so that configuration changes are made to the root Web.config file instead of ApplicationHost.config.

  • To enable or disable client-based culture, use the following syntax:

    appcmd set config /commit:WEBROOT /section:globalization /enableClientBasedCulture:True|False

    The variable enableClientBasedCulture:True enables client-based culture and the variable enableClientBasedCulture:False disables client-based culture. The default is False.

  • To edit the default culture for processing locale-dependent resource searches, use the following syntax:

    appcmd set config /commit:WEBROOT /section:globalization /uiCulture: string

    The variable string is the default culture for processing locale-dependent resource searches.

  • To edit the default culture for processing locale-dependent resource searches, use the following syntax:

    appcmd set config /commit:WEBROOT /section:globalization /uiCulture: string

    The variable string is the default culture for processing locale-dependent resource searches.

  • To change the default encoding when parsing .aspx, .asmx, and .asax files, use the following syntax:

    appcmd set config /commit:WEBROOT /section:globalization /fileEncoding: string

    The variable string is the default encoding to be used when parsing .aspx, .asmx, and .asax files.

  • To change the header encoding for responses, use the following syntax:

    appcmd set config /commit:WEBROOT /section:globalization /responseHeaderEncoding: string

    The variable string is the header encoding used for responses. The default is utf-8.

  • To edit the content encoding for responses, use the following syntax:

    appcmd set config /commit:WEBROOT /section:globalization /responseEncoding: string

    The variable string is the content encoding used for responses. The default is utf-8.