How to develop a snap-in for IIS 6.0 manager in MMC 2.0

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How to develop a snap-in for IIS 6.0 manager in MMC 2.0

I have some IIS 6.0 filters and extensions that I need to create a configuration panel for in IIS Manager. I need to create something similar to the ASP.NET tab, for instance.

I need to support versions of Windows Server 2003 prior to R2, and can't assume that they will have the MMC 3.0 update installed, so I guess I have to do it with unmanaged C++.

I've read up on MMC snap-ins, and I have a very basic idea of how they work, but I'm not sure about how to get one that is loaded as a tab in the IIS Manager. I'm thinking that maybe an "extension snap-in" is what I need, but I'm not positive.

So, I'm looking for any kind of documentation, literature, tutorials, examples, etc on how to do something like this. Any ideas?

Have you checked the Ironring MMC framework ?

This article speak about a C++ implementation of this framework :

http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/UploadFile/harishkumar2005/MMCSnapIn11282005021052AM/MMCSnapIn.aspx

Same on codeproject: http://www.codeproject.com/KB/cs/mmcfileactcs.aspx

Hope this help.

JoeBilly 2010-08-16 16:01:02

Thanks, but I'm looking for something more specific to IIS Manager, not just general MMC stuff.

Gerald 2010-08-18 07:44:00

Unfortunately, there is no way to do what you are asking. You can create a snap-in/extension for MMC, but you will not be able to extend the IIS snap-in.

Mike 2010-08-19 01:03:51

That is obviously incorrect, as IIS snap-in extensions already exist, such as the ISAPI_Rewrite snap-in from Helicon.

Gerald 2010-08-19 02:12:07

@Gerald, you may be confusing writing an IIS ISAPI extension with writing an extension for the IIS Manager within the MMC. If you are not, please provide me a link to your sources so I can educate myself.

Mike 2010-08-19 02:49:52

@Mike, As the first sentence in my question indicates, I've already developed some ISAPI filters and extensions, so I know all about those. I'm just trying to provide a convenient way to configure them from within IIS Manager. If you go to http://www.helicontech.com/ and download the trial of ISAPI_Rewrite 3 and install it on a machine with IIS6, then open the properties for any website, you will then see a new tab for ISAPI_Rewrite.

Gerald 2010-08-19 03:07:54

@Gerald, thanks for the clarification, I will have to check it out. I have no idea how they would have done this.

Mike 2010-08-19 03:23:20

NP. Since I haven't gotten any good answers and I can't find any documentation on this (as it relates to IIS), I'm going to start doing some deeper learning of MMC snap-in extension in general and see if I can figure it out on my own. So far I've figured out that it needs to be a PropertySheet extension of the IIS snap-in. The ISAPI_Rewrite docs explain how to manually register the IIS snap-in via the MMC control panel, so maybe I can get an extension of my own to register that way, and then figure out exactly what it's doing. I'll post my results back here when I get it whipped.

Gerald 2010-08-19 05:12:10

This isn't the answer you're looking for, but it's the answer you need to hear:

MMC 2.0 is no longer supported by Microsoft.

MMC 3.0 is included with Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2, which is the only remaining service pack release supported by Microsoft. Do you really have customers that refuse to upgrade to Server 2003 Service Pack 2? It came out 3.5 years ago and represents the best the Server 2003 platform has to offer in terms of security, performance, and software compatibility. It's also the only release that continues to receive security updates for IIS.

And if there are people out there that refuse to upgrade to 2003 SP2 due to specific compatibility concerns, do you really think they're going to jump at the opportunity to pay you and install your snap-in on their servers?

Probably not.

So save yourself a lot of grief, and position yourself well for the future -- do your development in MMC 3.0.

Warren 2010-08-19 18:12:36

Well... thanks for the advice, but those people that you say won't pay me and install my snap-in are paying me a lot of money and asking for a snap-in. Microsoft may not support their servers any more, but I do. I would prefer not to, and I've recommended that they upgrade, but I'm not going to tell them that I won't take their money just because they're irrational.

Gerald 2010-08-19 19:22:58

So you're saying that they won't install MMC 3.0 (which is a piddly 7 megabyte installer) and they won't install Server 2003 Service Pack 2, but they'll install your software. Even if you -- the expert in Windows Server software development -- say MMC 3.0 is a requirement? As someone who's spent considerable time writing MMC snap-ins (most of the Wikipedia article on the topic was written by me, BTW), I can assure you that an MMC 2.0 -> 3.0 upgrade is an extremely easy pitch. It's more stable, has a better UI, and ensures you get the job done faster. Businesses won't argue with this.

Warren 2010-08-19 20:00:21

..... oh, and if they -do- argue, charge them more.

Warren 2010-08-19 20:03:35

You're right, I just made that up because I just enjoy the hell out of developing things for antiquated platforms with no available reference material. Of course businesses never argue about anything that is rational. It's not like I actually had to support Windows 98 up until last year or anything. Or that some of my clients won't even install .NET 2.0 because they don't want to take the chance that it will break their legacy ASP applications, even though I've assured them it wont.

Gerald 2010-08-20 06:20:58

Hey man, I'm just trying to help you with your development goals -- there's no need or benefit in getting snarky with me.

Warren 2010-08-20 12:56:05

+2 A:

There isn't much out there on how to do this....

Here's a link to the MMC 2.0 guides:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa815085(v=VS.85).aspx

Here's a link on extending IIS via snap-ins:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa814685(VS.85).aspx

About the only tutorial out there from what I could find but it is not specific to IIS....

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc301779.aspx

klabranche 2010-08-19 21:11:57

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How to develop a snap-in for IIS 6.0 manager in MMC 2.0

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