Global IIS migration tool ?

External Since: Nov 07, 2003 Posts: 1

Hello, everyone

I've recently "inherited" the admin of an IIS server that serves about 300
low traffic sites. I've been practicing contingency plans (there was none
set up) in case something gets ugly on the HW side.

My main concern is, how do I move (with relative ease) all the domains to a
different server with different hw config? Aparently, the surest way to
get a working backup restore is to restore the whole system, since the
metabase is linked to the rest of the system.

I tried the IIS migration wizard, but it's mostly a pain. Even if I
restore just he settings and move the files manually from the backup
medium, it takes forever and still mucks up some settings (and it doesn't
even touches user permissions for FP extensions).

I've been thinking of dumping the metabase to a text file (using the
provided adsi scripts), doing whatever change is required on this file and
re-importing it into the new server. The advante of this is, that if I
want to perform a change on a large number of sites, I don't have to do it
one by one. For example, if I need to change every site that is in the
d:\web\whatever to e:\web\whatever, but not those on d:\website\whatever, a
quick search and replace on a text editor might save my day.

I tried using the metabase tool that microsoft provides, but unfortunately,
it doesn't dump on clear text.

My question is, is there a tool that might facilitate this? Either free or
commercial? I realize that the best practice would be to set a cluster on
high availability but since that would require a period of developement, I
need to come up with a shorter term solution.

I've already checked some sites like www.iistoolshed.com but would like to
know what other folks are using.

I appreciate any help you can provide.

External Since: Nov 07, 2003 Posts: 2

Aside from regular backups, we also script every web site
or application on a site to help with recovery and
portability. There is a script for the site or
application build and one for acls. Maybe not the most
efficient, but we can recreate a site or app to it's
exact configuration on another machine at anytime quickly.

As for commercial tools, there was a company here a few
days ago called Consera (www.consera.com) that says their
stuff can move a web site (as well as many other
functions) with a simple 'pick the source and the target
then click go' interface.

SM

>-----Original Message-----
>Hello, everyone
>
>I've recently "inherited" the admin of an IIS server
that serves about 300
>low traffic sites. I've been practicing contingency
plans (there was none
>set up) in case something gets ugly on the HW side.
>
>My main concern is, how do I move (with relative ease)
all the domains to a
>different server with different hw config? Aparently,
the surest way to
>get a working backup restore is to restore the whole
system, since the
>metabase is linked to the rest of the system.
>
>I tried the IIS migration wizard, but it's mostly a
pain. Even if I
>restore just he settings and move the files manually
from the backup
>medium, it takes forever and still mucks up some
settings (and it doesn't
>even touches user permissions for FP extensions).
>
>I've been thinking of dumping the metabase to a text
file (using the
>provided adsi scripts), doing whatever change is
required on this file and
>re-importing it into the new server. The advante of
this is, that if I
>want to perform a change on a large number of sites, I
don't have to do it
>one by one. For example, if I need to change every site
that is in the
>d:\web\whatever to e:\web\whatever, but not those on
d:\website\whatever, a
>quick search and replace on a text editor might save my
day.
>
>I tried using the metabase tool that microsoft provides,
but unfortunately,
>it doesn't dump on clear text.
>
>My question is, is there a tool that might facilitate
this? Either free or
>commercial? I realize that the best practice would be
to set a cluster on
>high availability but since that would require a period
of developement, I
>need to come up with a shorter term solution.
>
>I've already checked some sites like <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.iistoolshed.com" target="_blank">www.iistoolshed.com</a>
but would like to
>know what other folks are using.
>
>I appreciate any help you can provide.
>
>
>.
>