IIS Automation on a CF8 Server

[chazman113]

I have some web-based software that has several instancesset up running on a "Core" written in Coldfusion 8 with Fusebox 5. Setting up each instance is a pain because I have to go in IIS and set up the site, virtual mappings, dns ect. I would like to be able to automate this process with an administrator that will:

Create Database Entries Relevant to the Instance
Build any files required for that instance
Create an IIS Site and assign DNS

The first two are easy but I need some guidance on how to do the last part. If anyone knows any good articles that you think my situation fits into it would be helpful. I know very little about IIS scripting (or IIS in general) but am willing to learn.

[Grizzly9279]

Assuming you're working with IIS 6 or greater, there are two VBS scripts/utilities available that can help you here.

1) "IIsCnfg.vbs" - usually located at %WINDDIR%system32\IIsCnfg.vbs
2) "adsutil.vbs" - usually located in Inetpub\AdminScripts

You should be able to search the web for documentation on each of these VBS utilities pretty easily. Essentially, you can export IIS configuration data from the IIS "metabase" into XML format. You can then use that as a "template" for your site configurations moving forward. Ideally, if there are only a few values you need to search & replace, you can set up new IIS configurations pretty rapidly, and load them via the command line with these VBS utils.

[Grizzly9279]

If it helps, here is a copy & paste from a batch script I wrote a while back to load an IIS web site config via a batch script. (this was used to put up a maintenance page)

[chazman113]

Thanks! That should be enough to get me started.