Configuring 32-Bit ASP.NET Application on a 64-Bit IIS Server

Question

Hello,

I’m trying to install a 32-bit ASP.NET application onto a 64-bit IIS server running on Windows Server 2008. This is a clean installation of the operating system with no other applications installed.

As a prerequisite for our installation, we run the 32-bit version of aspnet_regiis –i

It fails with the following message: The error indicates that IIS is not installed on the machine. Please install IIS before using this tool.

Additionally:

• IIS is definitely installed.
• The 64 bit version of aspnet_regiis runs cleanly without warnings.
• “Enable 32 bit applications” is set to True in the DefaultAppPool’s Advanced Settings.
• The IIS Metabase and IIS 6 configuration compatibility” component is installed.
• We have a test VM where this error occurs as well as test VM where both the 32 bit and 64 bit versions of aspnet_regiis run without errors. We've had no luck distinguishing the differences between the two test VMs.

We have struggled with this issue for several days to no avail. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

Is it necessary to run aspnet_regiis? 32 bit asp.net should already be installed and running on iis7, all you should need to do is set the app pool to “Enable 32 bit applications” and set you web app to use that app pool. You do not say what happens when you install/setup your web app, do you get any errors when you try to access it in a browser?

Answer 2

Problem solved! Apparently the issue stems from Windows Server 2008 (R1). Applying the SP2 update to the operating system cures the problem. Later iterations of the OS don't seem to exhibit this behavior.