How to use appcmd to set debug=false in IIS7

Question

I'm trying to use APPCMD to set debug=false in web.config, per the documentation.

The specific syntax I am using is:

APPCMD SET CONFIG "SITE/VDIR" section:compilation /debug:False /commit:APP

the output is

INFO ( section:compilation, timetaken:219, hresult:00000000, objects:1 ) Applied configuration changes to section "system.web/compilation" for "MACHINE/W EBROOT/APPHOST/SITE/VDIR" at configuration commit path "MACHINE/WE BROOT/APPHOST/SITE/VDIR"

Afterwards, debug still is set to true.

I have ruled out the file being read only; I have used process monitor to watch appcmd actually write to web.config in the correct location. My environment is Windows 2008 x64, SP2.

I understand that there are many different ways to solve the problem; different config files, doing it myself in xpath, nant, etc, but I'm specifically interested in why APPCMD does not seem to be working, and to help others who may also be struggling with the tool. Thanks for your help!

Answer 1

I think this is a bug or 'by design'. Having investigated this I noticed that it's possible to add and modify other attributes of the <compilation /> section (I haven't tried them all).

For example the following work just fine:

APPCMD SET CONFIG "SITE/VDIR" section:compilation /batch:False /commit:APP
APPCMD SET CONFIG "SITE/VDIR" section:compilation /defaultLanguage:"c#" /commit:APP

But as you observe it's just not possible to alter the debug attribute. It may be worth raising this as a bug on the MS Connect site if you've got that ability:

Microsoft Connect

I also popped a question on the IIS forums:

Possible bug: Unable to set the "debug" attribute in the "compilation" section in web.config (IIS.NET)

Update:

This has been confirmed as an issue by a Microsoft employee:

Reply to Possible bug: Unable to set the "debug" attribute in the "compilation" section in web.config (IIS.NET)