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Restoring a Section of the Metabase

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Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 with SP1

You can make fixes to specific sections of the metabase in two ways:

  • You can use the import feature without the merge option to import metabase elements over damaged data.

  • If the damaged section prevents IIS from loading the metabase, you can manually edit the MetaBase.xml file in any text editor by copying sections from an export or backup file and pasting them into the MetaBase.xml file.

    For information about importing and exporting metabase elements, see Metabase Import and Export.

You can be prepared to make fixes to the metabase by creating a template of your entire metabase, as well as by creating export files of new sections of your metabase file at various stages of its life, so that you have something to work from if a section becomes corrupted.

To create a template of your entire metabase, first create a backup file. Remove any machine-specific and system-specific information from your backup file, and then remove extraneous information and configuration information that is specific to applications, sites, and virtual directories.

What you are left with is a template of top-level configuration information that might not be recoverable using metabase import/export. Together with the export files of specific sections that you created, you are prepared for any loss of data or corruption. One way to identify where XML syntax corruption exists is to open the MetaBase.xml file with Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer will identify the line at which it encountered invalid xml syntax.