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Configure Workflow Host Management Using IIS Manager

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This topic has procedures that describe how to configure hosting features for a workflow service by using AppFabric IIS Manager extensions. You can configure hosting features at the service level for a specific workflow service, or at the server, site, or application level and have the service inherit these settings defined at a higher level. For more information about how configurations work in the IIS hierarchy, see Configuration Process in Windows Server AppFabric.

Important

It is not possible to use non-service workflows in Windows Server AppFabric. A message is required to create and start an instance of a workflow in AppFabric, and a non-service workflow does not have an message or receive activity.

Important

For detailed descriptions of the fields of dialog boxes that are used to configure hosting features, see Configure Service: Workflow Host Management Tab.

To configure hosting features for a workflow service by using IIS Manager

  1. In the Connections pane (left pane), in the tree view, select the server, site, or application in which the workflow service exists.

  2. In the Workspace pane, in the Features view, in the AppFabric section, double-click Services.

  3. Select the workflow service from the Services list and then click Configure in the Manage WCF and WF Services section of the Actions pane to launch the Configure Service dialog box. You can also launch this dialog box by performing the following steps: Right-click the workflow service for which you want to configure hosting features in the Services list, and then click Configure on the context menu.

  4. Click the Workflow Host Management tab.

  5. Select or clear the Enable instance control option to enable or disable controlling workflow service instances. If you do not have the net.pipe protocol enabled for the application containing the service, you will see a warning message at the top of the tab. See Configure Service: Workflow Host Management Tab for information about enabling the net.pipe protocol for an application and the net.pipe binding for a Web site.

  6. Select or clear the Unload instances when idle option to enable or disable unloading workflow service instances that are in idle state for a certain period of time from memory and persisting them into a persistence store. If you select Unload instances when idle, specify the Unload timeout value based on your requirements.

    The Unload timeout field specifies how long a workflow service instance can be in idle state before the host unloads the instance from memory and persists the instance state information into a persistence store. The default value for this parameter is 60 seconds. If the value is set to 0, the host aggressively persists and unloads an instance as soon as the instance becomes idle. The maximum allowed value is TimeSpan.MaxValue.

  7. Select or clear the Persist instances when idle option to enable or disable persisting instances (but not unloading them) when they become idle. After the instance state information is persisted, the instances continue to execute in memory. If you select the Persist on Idle option, specify the appropriate Persist timeout value.

    The Persist timeout field specifies how long a workflow service instance can be in idle state before the host persists the instance into a persistence store. The default value for this parameter is TimeSpan.MaxValue seconds. When the value of this parameter is set to TimeSpan.MaxValue, the runtime never persists workflow instances when they are idle. If the value is set to 0, the host aggressively persists an instance as soon as the instance becomes idle.

    Note

    When Unload on idle and Persist on idle are both enabled, the unload time-out value needs to be greater than the persist time-out value; otherwise the instance will never persist on idle.

  8. Select a value from the Action on unhandled exception list to specify the action to be taken when an instance experiences an unhandled exception. The allowed values are: Abandon, AbandonAndSuspend, Terminate, and Cancel. The default value is Abandon. See Configure Service: Workflow Host Management Tab for descriptions of these options.

  9. Click Apply to apply the settings.

    See Configure Service: Workflow Host Management Tab for the detailed description of fields in the Workflow Host Management tab of the Configure Service dialog box.

  1. In the Connections pane (left pane), in the tree view, select the server, site, or application level at which you want to configure the default workflow hosting settings.

  2. Click Configure in the Manage WCF and WF Services section of the Actions pane to see the Configure WCF and WF Server, Configure WCF and WF Site, or Configure WCF and WF Server dialog box. You can also launch this dialog box by performing the following steps: Right-click the root, Web site, or virtual application node for which you want to configure default values for workflow hosting settings in the tree view, point to Manage WCF and WF Services in the context menu, and then click Configure.

  3. Click the Workflow Host Management tab.

  4. Select or clear the Enable instance control option to enable or disable controlling workflow service instances.

  5. Select or clear the Unload instances when idle option to enable or disable unloading workflow service instances that are in idle state for a certain period of time from memory and persisting them into a persistence store. If you select Unload instances when idle, specify the Unload timeout value based on your requirements.

  6. Select or clear the Persist instances when idle option to enable or disable persisting instances (but not unloading them) when they become idle. After the instance state information is persisted, the instances continue to execute in memory. If you select Persist on Idle, specify the appropriate Persist timeout value.

  7. Select a value from the Action on unhandled exception list to specify the action to be taken when an instance experiences an unhandled exception. The allowed values are: Abandon, AbandonAndSuspend, Terminate, and Cancel. The default value is Abandon. See Configure Service: Workflow Host Management Tab for descriptions of these options.

  8. Click Apply to apply the settings.

    See Configure WCF and WF for Server, Site, Application, or Virtual Directory: Workflow Host Management Tab for detailed descriptions of fields in the Workflow Host Management tab of this dialog box.