CGI executables on IIS6 issue

Hi Everyone,

I'm porting a website from Windows 2000 (IIS5) to Windows 2003 (IIS6).
Everything works OK except CGI executables (exe files). None is willing to
run (user get 404 error) even if execute permissions for the folder are set
as "script and executable".

I guess it is a security issue for which IIS6 is more restrictive than IIS5.
Where is the setting to change to make the webserver execute the executable
files ?

Thanks in advance.
--
Francois PIETTE
http://www.overbyte.be

Re: CGI executables on IIS6 issue

Francois wrote on Thu, 3 Apr 2008 15:52:39 +0200:

> Hi Everyone,

> I'm porting a website from Windows 2000 (IIS5) to Windows 2003 (IIS6).
> Everything works OK except CGI executables (exe files). None is willing
> to run (user get 404 error) even if execute permissions for the folder
> are set as "script and executable".

> I guess it is a security issue for which IIS6 is more restrictive than
> IIS5.
> Where is the setting to change to make the webserver execute the
> executable files ?

You need to create new Web Service Extensions with each CGI (for instance,
you could have one WSE with all your CGIs listed, or you could use one WSE
per site making it easy to turn blocks of CGIs on and off) added allowing
them to be run - out of the box IIS6 doesn't allow much to run to increase
it's security, you need to turn things like this on.

--
Dan

RE: CGI executables on IIS6 issue

Thanks for Dan's prompt reply,

Hello Francois,

In order to minimize the attack surface of Server, IIS 6 doesn't enable Web
Service extensions such as CGI, ASP and WebDav Publishing. IIS returns 404
error when these features diabled.

You can enable these features through the Web Service Extensions node in
IIS Manager. For detailed information, you may refer to
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/WindowsServer20 03/Library/IIS/5
96ff388-bc4c-472f-b029-aea2b0418bea.mspx?mfr=true
[Enabling Web Service Extensions (IIS 6.0)]

Hope this helps. Please feel free to let us know if you have any more
concern. We are glad to assist you.

Have a great day,
Best regards,
Wen Yuan

Microsoft Online Community Support
Delighting our customers is our #1 priority. We welcome your comments and
suggestions about how we can improve the support we provide to you. Please
feel free to let my manager know what you think of the level of service
provided. You can send feedback directly to my manager at:
msdnmg@microsoft.com.
==================================================
Get notification to my posts through email? Please refer to
http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/managednewsgroups/de fault.aspx#notif
ications.
Note: The MSDN Managed Newsgroup support offering is for non-urgent issues
where an initial response from the community or a Microsoft Support
Engineer within 1 business day is acceptable. Please note that each follow
up response may take approximately 2 business days as the support
professional working with you may need further investigation to reach the
most efficient resolution. The offering is not appropriate for situations
that require urgent, real-time or phone-based interactions or complex
project analysis and dump analysis issues. Issues of this nature are best
handled working with a dedicated Microsoft Support Engineer by contacting
Microsoft Customer Support Services (CSS) at
http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/support/default.aspx .
==================================================
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Re: CGI executables on IIS6 issue

Thank for the article.
It works now as expected.

--
Francois PIETTE
http://www.overbyte.be

> Thanks for Dan's prompt reply,
>
> Hello Francois,
>
> In order to minimize the attack surface of Server, IIS 6 doesn't enable
Web
> Service extensions such as CGI, ASP and WebDav Publishing. IIS returns 404
> error when these features diabled.
>
> You can enable these features through the Web Service Extensions node in
> IIS Manager. For detailed information, you may refer to
>
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/WindowsServer20 03/Library/IIS/5
> 96ff388-bc4c-472f-b029-aea2b0418bea.mspx?mfr=true
> [Enabling Web Service Extensions (IIS 6.0)]
>
> Hope this helps. Please feel free to let us know if you have any more
> concern. We are glad to assist you.
>
> Have a great day,
> Best regards,
> Wen Yuan

Re: CGI executables on IIS6 issue

You are welcome, Francois.

Have a great day,
Best regards,
Wen Yuan

Microsoft Online Community Support
Delighting our customers is our #1 priority. We welcome your comments and
suggestions about how we can improve the support we provide to you. Please
feel free to let my manager know what you think of the level of service
provided. You can send feedback directly to my manager at:
msdnmg@microsoft.com.
==================================================
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.