Chapter 6: Migrating Web Sites from IIS 4.0 to IIS 6.0

Migrating is installing the Microsoft Windows Server 2003 operating system and Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0 on a new server and then moving existing Web sites that are hosted on a computer running the Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0 operating system and Internet Information Server (IIS) 4.0 to that server. This process involves minimal outage of service to users who access the Web sites, and it retains the majority of the original configuration settings and fully preserves the content of the Web sites.

Related Information

• For information about migrating a file or print server, see Migrating File and Print Servers to Windows Server 2003 in this book.

• For information about installing IIS 6.0 on an existing computer running Windows NT Server 4.0 and IIS 4.0, see Upgrading an IIS Server to IIS 6.0 in Deploying Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0 of the Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Deployment Kit (or see Upgrading an IIS Server to IIS 6.0 on the Web at http://www.microsoft.com/reskit).

Overview of Migrating Web Sites from IIS 4.0 to IIS 6.0

You start the migration process by determining whether the Web site that you want to migrate is compatible with Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0 and the Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition; and the Windows Server 2003, Web Edition operating system. Next, you install Windows Server2003 and IIS 6.0 on the target server , which is the server that will host your Web site after migration. Then, you use the IIS 6.0 Migration Tool to help migrate the Web site content and configuration settings from the source server , which is a server running the Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 operating system, to the target server.

After the migration of your Web site content, you customize the configuration of IIS 6.0 to meet your needs. Finally, after you have completed the customization of IIS 6.0, you back up the target server, enable client access to the Web site on the target server, and decommission the source server.

Tip  

To migrate mulle Web sites, use the process described in this chapter to migrate each of your existing Web sites from the source server to the target server. Then, after moving all of your Web sites to the target server and enabling client access to those sites, decommission the source server.

The migration process focuses on transferring the Web site content and configuration settings only. If your Web site contains only static content, you can most likely complete the migration process in a few steps. However, if your IIS Web site contains dynamic content, such as Active Server Pages (ASP), you might need to modify the code in the dynamic content. For more information about possible code modifications, see Migrating IIS Web Sites to IIS 6.0 in Deploying Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0 of the Microsoft Windows Server2003 Deployment Kit (or see Migrating IIS Web Sites to IIS 6.0 on the Web at http://www.microsoft.com/reskit).

Upon completing the process outlined in this chapter, you will have a Web server running IIS 6.0 and hosting a single Web site. This server will fulfill your security requirements, but you can further enhance security after migration. Also, to maintain the security of your server, you need to implement continuing security practices such as security monitoring, detection, and response. For more information about enhancing and maintaining Web server security, see Enhancing and Maintaining Web Site Security After Migration later in this chapter.