Learning Windows Server 2003

8.11. Remote Administration

The Remote Administration web site is a way to manage IIS functions and configurations from a web browser. You can administer most settings within IIS from a web browser anywhere in the world. Remote Administration is installed by default when you install IIS on a server running Windows Server 2003 Web Edition. This might not be the best security idea in the world, so I provide instructions for disabling it in the next section.

To use Remote Administration, you first need to find out the port on which it's installed. You can do this from within IIS Manager by opening the properties for the web site called Administration Website. Look on the General tab, note the port numberfor non-secure connections, the default port is 8099, and for secure connections, it's 8098. You'll also want to lock down access to Remote Administration to a few specific IP addresses, so navigate to the Directory Security tab and proceed to lock out access via IP address. By default, everyone has access. Click Apply and then OK when you're done.

Once you've configured Remote Administration, you can access it from any web browser after authenticating. The default screen is shown in Figure 8-44.