How to Host ASP.Net Web API on IIS Server

Introduction

In this article, I show how to host our ASP .NET Web API on an Internet Information Services (IIS) server. This is useful when we want to host our Web API application in localhost.

Internet Information Services (IIS)

IIS is the acronym for Internet Information Services. It is the set of feature extension modules that are created by Microsoft. IIS is an integral part of the Windows Server products. It supports the Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) etc. IIS is not turned on automatically when Windows is installed.

Benefits of IIS Hosting

• When we host the Web API in IIS, it is deployed and managed like other IIS applications.
• When we host the application on IIS, it can provide the process activation and recycling capabilities that increase the reliability of the hosted application.
• The Web API is hosted on IIS, that simplifies the development and deployment of hosted services.

Hosting Web API on IIS Server

Step 1

First open IIS. We can start it from the Start menu; enter "inetmgr" into the search box. The image looks like this:

We can open it using the Control Panel.

• In the "Control Panel".
• Click on "Administrative Tools" -> "Internet Information Services (IIS) manager".
• The image is displayed in the following picture.

If you are not able to see the IIS manager then your system might not have IIS installed. For the installation follow this procedure:

• Open the "Control Panel".
• "Programs and Feature" -> "Turn Window features on or off".

• There is open the "Windows Feature" window in "tree view".
• There are checkboxes for installation; select the checkboxes.

Step 2

When you will open the Internet Information Services (IIS) manager, the window looks like this:

• Now, right-click on the sites.
• "Sites" -> "Add Web Site".