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Q322603: HOW TO: Enable ASPX Compression in IIS

Article: Q322603
Product(s): Internet Information Server
Version(s): 5.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbHOWTOmaster
Last Modified: 21-MAY-2002

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Internet Information Services version 5.0 
- Microsoft ASP.NET (included with the.NET Framework) 
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IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the metabase. Before you edit the metabase, verify that you have a backup copy that can be restored if a problem occurs. For information about how to do this, view the "Configuration Backup/Restore" Help topic in Microsoft Management Console (MMC).

IN THIS TASK
------------

- SUMMARY

   - HTTP Compression
- Edit the Metabase

- REFERENCES

SUMMARY
=======

This step-by-step article describes how to configure Internet Information
Services (IIS) 5.0 to compress .aspx pages. To use .aspx pages, you must have
the ASP.NET page framework installed. You add the compression functionality for
.aspx files by editing the IIS metabase.

HTTP Compression
----------------

HTTP compression provides faster transmission time between compression-enabled
browsers (Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 or later) and IIS. You can either
compress static files alone, or both static files and applications. If your
network bandwidth is restricted, consider HTTP compression, at least for static
files, unless your processor utilization is already extremely high.

When IIS receives a request, it checks to see if the browser is
compression-enabled. IIS then checks the file name extension to see if the
requested file is a static file or contains dynamic content. If the file
contains static content, IIS checks to see if the file has previously been
requested and is already stored in a compressed format in the temporary
compression directory. If the file is not stored in a compressed format, IIS
sends the uncompressed file to the browser, and adds a compressed copy of the
file to the temporary compression directory. If the file is stored in a
compressed format, IIS sends the compressed file to the browser. No files are
compressed until they have been requested one time by a browser.

If the file contains dynamic content, IIS compresses the file as it is generated
and sends the compressed file to the browser. No copy of the file is stored.

The cost of compressing a static file is modest and is typically incurred only
one time, because the file is then stored in the temporary compression
directory. The cost of compressing dynamically generated files is a little
higher, because they are not stored and must be regenerated with each request.
The cost of expanding the file at the browser is minimal. Compressed files
download faster, so are particularly beneficial to the performance of any
browser that uses a network connection with restricted bandwidth (a modem, for
example).

Edit the Metabase
-----------------

WARNING: Editing the metabase incorrectly can cause serious problems that may
require you to reinstall any product that uses the metabase. Microsoft cannot
guarantee that problems resulting from incorrectly editing the metabase can be
solved. Edit the metabase at your own risk.

NOTE: You should always back up the metabase before you edit it.

To enable IIS 5.0 to compress .aspx pages, follow these steps:

1. Open a command prompt.

2. Type net stop iisadmin, and then press ENTER.

3. Type cd C:\InetPub\adminscripts, and then press ENTER.

4. Type the following, and then press ENTER:

  CSCRIPT.EXE ADSUTIL.VBS SET
  W3Svc/Filters/Compression/GZIP/HcScriptFileExtensions "asp" "dll" "exe"
  "aspx"

5. Type the following, and then press ENTER:

  CSCRIPT.EXE ADSUTIL.VBS SET
  W3Svc/Filters/Compression/DEFLATE/HcScriptFileExtensions "asp" "dll" "exe"
  "aspx"

6. Type net start w3svc, and then press ENTER.

REFERENCES
==========

For more information about compression, see the IIS 5.0 online documentation at
the following Microsoft Web site:

  http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/en/server/iis/


Additional query words:

======================================================================
Keywords          : kbHOWTOmaster 
Technology        : kbiisSearch kbAudDeveloper kbASPsearch kbiis500 kbASPNet
Version           : :5.0
Issue type        : kbhowto

=============================================================================

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