Deploying a Windows Server on a Virtual Machine (VM) and setting up an IIS (Internet Information Services) server is a crucial skill for developers, system administrators, and IT enthusiasts. This guide walks you through the process step-by-step, from creating a VM to verifying the IIS installation.
Windows Server: A robust operating system designed for enterprise environments, offering features such as Active Directory for user and security management, Hyper-V for virtualization, and built-in security tools like Windows Defender and BitLocker. It supports scalable deployments with load balancing and integrates seamlessly with Microsoft tools like SQL Server and Exchange.
IIS (Internet Information Services): A web server platform that hosts websites and applications, providing native support for ASP.NET, SSL security, and application pools to isolate services. IIS is scalable with load balancing and web farms and offers powerful extensions such as URL Rewrite and detailed logging for performance monitoring.
This combination is ideal for hosting websites, web services, and enterprise applications with high performance and security.
Step 1: Set Up a Virtual Machine (VM)
If you’ve read my previous post on setting up a Windows 11 VM, you’re already halfway there! If not, no worries—you can catch up by checking it out here. But this time, we’re stepping up our game. Instead of Windows 11, we’re choosing a Windows Server image. Why? Because this isn’t just about a desktop experience—it’s about building a powerhouse that can host websites, applications, and more.
- Select the Windows server image and leave other configuration as default
- For the inbound port selection, ensure that RDP and HTTP is checked
- Connect to the windows server using the native RDP
Congratulations!!! Your windows server is up!
Step 2: Install IIS (Internet Information Services)
We will be installing IIS using powershell. PowerShell is a powerful command-line shell and scripting language built on .NET, designed for system administration and automation on Windows systems. It is an essential tool for managing Windows Server, making complex tasks quicker and more efficient.
- Run Windows Powershell as an administrator
- Click on the Start menu.
- Type PowerShell and open Windows PowerShell or Windows PowerShell ISE as an administrator (right-click and select Run as administrator)
- Run the following command to install the IIS role and management tools:
Install-WindowsFeature -name Web-Server -IncludeManagementTools
- Verify Installation You can verify that IIS has been installed by opening a web browser and navigating to the ip address of the VM in a browser and verifiy that you installed the webserver.
Conclusion:
Congratulations! You've successfully deployed a Windows Server on a VM and installed IIS. This server can now host websites, web apps, or services. You can further explore SSL configurations, custom domains, and advanced IIS settings to enhance your server's capabilities.
Would you like to learn more about configuring IIS for a specific website or setting up virtual directories? Let us know in the comments below!
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