VS.NET 2003 and IIS

[DougW2004]

We have two (2) workstations and one (1) server.
All are running Windows 2000 Professional (not "Server").
Have NOT loaded Visual SourceSafe Server yet, but intend to.
Loaded VS.NET and IIS on the server.

(Note: I realize that I didn't have to install VS.NET *on* the server, but I
wanted the ability to test stuff directly there)

Loaded VS.NET on a workstation, but did NOT install IIS.

(Note: The installation procedure led me to believe that I did not need IIS
on the workstation, as long as it was installed on the server.)

I mapped a drive letter from the server to my workstation.

I can open up a project/solution just fine on the server directly.

But when I try to open it up from the workstation, I get the error:

"Visual Studio .NET cannot create or open the application because no Web
server was detected at this URL: 'http://localhost/WebApplication1'. Make
sure the Web server is installed and running."
<ok> <help>

Clicking "help" instructs me to install IIS on the workstation.

I would like to avoid this if at all possible due to very stringent security
rules at my workplace. Please advise. Thank you.

(P.S. If having IIS on the workstation is not "necessary", but *is* "highly
desirable" from a functionality point-of-view, then I will have to request an
extra computer.)

[Mike S.]

Doug,
This is a common scenario - VS.NET on dev PC, code and IIS on a server or
IIS on a server and the code on a network share. I beat my head against the
wall trying to get this working each time I make a change to file locations.
Once you get it working you will probably have code access security issues
(which is a topic for another post). Thankfully, I understand that VS.NET
2005 takes care of these issues with a filesystem based storage methodology
rather than web based.

Anyway, the item I most often overlook is the sharing of wwwroot on the
server. By default, wwwroot is located on C:\inetpup\wwwroot but most people
repoint it to a different location. Make sure that wherever it points, the
share is setup as "wwwroot$" and that your Windows logon ID has rights to the
share. Also, since it is a workstation, make sure your server service is
running in order to be able to connect to the share.

Hope this helps
-Mike
"DougW2004" wrote:

We have two (2) workstations and one (1) server.
All are running Windows 2000 Professional (not "Server").
Have NOT loaded Visual SourceSafe Server yet, but intend to.
Loaded VS.NET and IIS on the server.

(Note: I realize that I didn't have to install VS.NET *on* the server, but I
wanted the ability to test stuff directly there)

Loaded VS.NET on a workstation, but did NOT install IIS.

(Note: The installation procedure led me to believe that I did not need IIS
on the workstation, as long as it was installed on the server.)

I mapped a drive letter from the server to my workstation.

I can open up a project/solution just fine on the server directly.

But when I try to open it up from the workstation, I get the error:

"Visual Studio .NET cannot create or open the application because no Web
server was detected at this URL: 'http://localhost/WebApplication1'. Make
sure the Web server is installed and running."
<ok> <help>

Clicking "help" instructs me to install IIS on the workstation.

I would like to avoid this if at all possible due to very stringent security
rules at my workplace. Please advise. Thank you.

(P.S. If having IIS on the workstation is not "necessary", but *is* "highly
desirable" from a functionality point-of-view, then I will have to request an
extra computer.)

[DougW2004]

Thanks, Mike.

Two questions:

1) Do I *need* IIS installed on the Dev PC or is it just really nice to have?
2) I did the "wwwroot$" share thing, and still no luck. I have rights to
the share 'cause my login has admin rights. I can browse to a simple HTML
file from the Dev PC, but I can't create a new project or open the existing
one.

Any ideas on what else to try to troubleshoot?

[Mike S.]

No, you don't need IIS installed on the dev machine at all. The problem now
is probably the url you are using to open the project.

When you browse to the server location of the .sln or .proj file and double
click on it, the box pops up with the error. In the textbox where it says
"http://localhost/WebApplication1", change "localhost" to whatever your
server name is. Keep in mind that the actual WebApplication1 project files
need to reside in a root level folder of wherever wwwroot$ is on your server.

"DougW2004" wrote:

Thanks, Mike.

Two questions:

1) Do I *need* IIS installed on the Dev PC or is it just really nice to have?
2) I did the "wwwroot$" share thing, and still no luck. I have rights to
the share 'cause my login has admin rights. I can browse to a simple HTML
file from the Dev PC, but I can't create a new project or open the existing
one.

Any ideas on what else to try to troubleshoot?