Installing and Running Node.js applications on IIS – Windows

Go to: https://nodejs.org/en/#download and download Node.js for Windows. For this exercise, we are using v6.9.1 LTS version.

Place it in C:\node 

 Also, we need to install iisnode. Go to: https://github.com/tjanczuk/iisnode/releases

Download and install the version Windows OS requires (32 or 64 bits). For this exercise, we are using iisnode-full-v0.2.21-x64.msi

Install URL rewrite module for IIS. Go to: http://www.iis.net/downloads/microsoft/url-rewrite

URL Rewrite allows Web administrators to easily build powerful rules using rewrite providers written in .NET, regular expression pattern matching, and wildcard mapping to examine information in both URLs and other HTTP headers and IIS server variables. Rules can be written to generate URLs that can be easier for users to remember, simple for search engines to index, and allow URLs to follow a consistent and canonical host name format. URL Rewrite further simplifies the rule creation process with support for content rewriting, rule templates, rewrite maps, rule validation, and import of existing mod_rewrite rules.

For testing purposes, create a Default site in IIS to test our Node.js installation. Follow the next steps:

Go to Internet Information Services Manager (IIS). Right click on Sites and click on Add Web Site…

   

Add Web Site dialog box will prompt for some input. Fill out this dialog with:

·        Site Name: Default Web Site

·        Application pool: choose DefaultAppPool

·        Physical path: C:\Program Files\iisnode\www

Make sure to Test your settings before clicking OK.

  

To set up samples, from the administrative command prompt call:

%programfiles%\iisnode\setupsamples.bat   (it is recommended to run it as Administrator)

Or go to: C:\Program Files\iisnode and run setupsamples.bat from there

The setupsamples.bat will:

·        Unregister existing "iisnode" global module from your installation of IIS if such registration exists

·        Register iisnode as a native module with your installation of IIS

·        Install configuration schema for the "iisnode" module

·        Remove existing "iisnode" section from system.webServer section group in applicationHost.config

·        Add the "iisnode" section within the system.webServer section group in applicationHost.config

·        Delete the iisnode web application if it exists

·        Add a new site iisnode to IIS

At this point your site should look like:

And if you click on Modules for this Site in IIS7 you should see iisnode as a native module:

                      

If everything went well, you should be able to hit:  http://localhost/node

Navigate to: http://localhost/node/helloworld/hello.js and if you are able to see this:

It is because the installation was successful and your Node.js app is running within IIS on Windows!

---

Programming thought of the day:

• Michael Sinz: “Programming is like sex, one mistake and you have to support it for the rest of your life.”