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Configuring Step 5: Configure Application Deployment

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by Keith Newman and Robert McMurray

In this step of building a web farm, you install and configure FTP for deploying website updates and new websites. You also install and configure Web Deploy for deploying web applications.

5.1. Install and Configure FTP for Your Web Farm

The procedures in this section guide you through installing and configuring FTP for you web farm. Install FTP on your load balancing computer (ARR server) only. The web servers do not need FTP installed. For more information about FTP configuration, see Build an FTP Site on IIS.

To install FTP for your farm

  1. On the Start screen, and click the Server Manager tile.
  2. In the Server Manager Dashboard, click Add roles and features.
  3. If the Before you begin page of Add Roles and Features Wizard is displayed, click Next.
  4. On the Select installation type page, select Role-based or feature-based installation, and click Next.
  5. On the Select destination server page, select Select a server from the server pool, select your server from the Server Pool list, and then click Next.
  6. On the Select server roles page, expand the Web Server (IIS) node, and then expand the FTP Server node.
  7. Select the FTP Server check box and the FTP Service check box, and then click Next.
  8. On the Select features page, click Next.
  9. On the Confirm installation selections page, click Install.

To add an FTP site

  1. Open IIS Manager.

  2. In the Connections pane, expand the server node and click the Sites node.

  3. In the Actions pane, click Add FTP Site to open the Add FTP Site wizard.

  4. On the Site Information page, in the FTP site name box, type a unique friendly name for the FTP site.

  5. In the Physical path box, type the UNC path to the shared content folder on your back-end file server.

  6. Click Next to open the Binding and SSL Settings page.

  7. Under Binding, in the IP Address list, select or type an IP address if you do not want the IP address to remain All Unassigned.

  8. In the Port box, type the port number.

  9. Optionally, in the Virtual Host box, type a host name if you want to host multiple FTP sites on a single IP address. For example, type www.contoso.com.

  10. Clear the Start FTP site automatically box if you want to start the site manually.

  11. Under SSL, from the SSL Certificate list, select a certificate. Optionally, click View to open the Certificates dialog box and verify information about the selected certificate.

  12. Select one of the following options:

    • Allow SSL: Allows the FTP server to support both non-SSL and SSL connections with a client.
    • Require SSL: Requires SSL encryption for communication between the FTP server and a client.

  13. Click Next to open the Authentication and Authorization Information page.

  14. Under Authentication, select the authentication method or methods that you want to use:

    • Anonymous: Allows any user to access content providing only the user name anonymous or ftp. (Most, but not all, FTP clients enter user name for you automatically.)
    • Basic: Requires users to provide a valid user name and password to access content. Because Basic authentication transmits unencrypted passwords across the network, use this authentication method only when you know that the connection between the client and FTP server is secure, such as by using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL).

  15. Under Authorization, from the Allow access to list, select one of the following options:

    • All Users: All users, whether they are anonymous or identified, can access the content.
    • Anonymous Users: Anonymous users can access the content.
    • Specified Roles or User Groups: Only members of certain roles or user groups can access the content. Type the role or user group in the corresponding box.
    • Specified Users: Only specified users can access the content. Type the user name in the corresponding box.

  16. If you selected an option from the Allow access to list, select one or both of the following permissions:

    • Read: Permits authorized users to read content from the directory.
    • Write: Permits authorized users to write to the directory.

  17. Click Finish.

5.2. Install and Test Web Deploy for Your Web Farm

Install Web Deploy on your source computer (your development machine with IIS installed). Install Web Deploy on each of your web application servers.

To test your Web Deploy installation, use it to update your website.

To install Web Deploy for your farm

  1. Open a browser to the Web Deployment Tool website.
  2. Locate the MSI packages for the current version of Web Deploy and download them to your server.
  3. Run the MSI package to install Web Deploy.

To update your website with Web Deploy

  1. On your development computer, open IIS Manager.
  2. In the Connections pane, select the updated website.
  3. In the Actions pane, click Export Application. The Export Application Package wizard appears.
  4. On the Select the Contents of the Package page, make sure all check boxes are selected, and click Next.
  5. On the Select Parameters page, add parameters if needed for your application, and click Next.
  6. On the Save Package page, type the path (including the package name) to the location where you want the package saved. This location could to a shared folder on the development computer or a shared folder on the destination computer (the ARR server).
  7. Click Next. The package is exported and saved.
  8. Click Finish.
  9. On one of your web application servers, open IIS Manager.
  10. In the Actions page, click Import Application. The Import Application Package appears.
  11. On the Select the Package page, type the path (including the package name) to the location where you exported the package.
  12. Click Next.
  13. On the Select the Contents of the Package page, make sure all check boxes are selected, and click Next.
  14. On the Enter Application Package Information page, type the path to your website, and click Next.
  15. On the Overwrite Existing Files page, choose whether to delete all files that are in the new package, and click Next.
  16. Click Finish. Web Deploy has updated your website.

5.3. Where do I go from here?

You now have a working web farm. It uses ARR for load balancing. It employs shared content and shared configuration. You have a central certificate store for use with SSL-secured websites. And you can deploy websites and web applications with either FTP or Web Deploy.

There are many ways to improve your web farm, here are a few suggestions:

  • Allow users who are not administrators to deploy web applications with Web Deploy. For more information, see Allowing non-admin users to deploy web applications.
  • Use failover clustering to mirror your back-end file servers, eliminate signal points of failure on the back-end, and improve throughput. For more information, see Failover Clustering.
  • You should also to eliminate signal points on failure on the front end. You can use Network Load Balancing (NLB) with multiple ARR servers achieve high availability, scalability, and stability on the front end of your farm. To learn more about using ARR and NLB together, see Achieving High Availability and Scalability-ARR and NLB.

See Also