Backing Up Internet Information Services v7 Configuration

Internet Information Services (IIS) configuration in Windows 2008 can be backed up using the appcmd.exe executable, because the configuration is not backed up by any of the methods previously discussed.

The IIS 7 configuration is split between the web.config files and the applicationHost.config files. The applicationHost.config files include configuration information for the sites, applications, virtual directories, application pool definitions, and the default configuration settings for all sites on the web server.

To back up the IIS 7 configuration from a command prompt, follow these steps:

1. Log on to the Windows Server 2008 computer with an account that has administrator rights.
2. Open a command prompt by using the Run as Administrator option and change the directory to %windir%system32inetsrv.
3. At the command prompt, type appcmd add backup < backupname >. If you do not include the name of the backup, the system will name it for you by using a date, time format.