SoftwareCentral · Web site setup

Create the Web Site

Create the folder and the IIS web site that SoftwareCentral is served from, and the DNS host record that users need to reach it. This is the first step of the web site setup.

Folder: SoftwareCentral IIS: Add Web Site DNS host record

1 Create the folder

Create a folder called SoftwareCentral in the root of your website. The usual location is %SystemDrive%\Inetpub\SoftwareCentral.

2 Add the web site in IIS Manager

StepWhat to do
1Start Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.
2Expand the tree to Sites, right-click Sites and select Add Web Site… from the context menu.
3Set Site name to SoftwareCentral, and use the … button next to Physical path to browse to the folder you created in step 1.
IIS Manager with the context menu open on the Sites node. The menu shows Add Web Site, Refresh and Switch to Content View. The server name in the tree is masked.
Right-click Sites and select Add Web Site…. The server name is masked in this picture.
Add Web Site dialog with Site name set to SoftwareCentral, the physical path set to C:\inetpub\SoftwareCentral, the port set to 80 and the host name left empty.
The Add Web Site dialog with Site name set to SoftwareCentral and Physical path set to the SoftwareCentral folder.
Important Don't forget to create a host record for SWC in the corporate DNS. Host records may not contain underscores (_), because of restrictions in Internet Explorer.

3 Create the DNS host record

Create a host record for SWC in the corporate DNS, for example swc.contoso.com, that points to the web server. Do this before users, or the other web sites in this setup, use the name.

4 Best practice

  • Create the DNS record before you enter a host name. A host name in IIS only helps users when the name resolves to the web server. Host names must not contain underscores.
  • Plan for HTTPS. The Settings page says that the anonymous site should use HTTPS when self-service password reset is used, so decide on the certificate before you publish the names.
  • Expect Anonymous Authentication to be on. A new IIS site starts with Anonymous Authentication enabled. Set the authentication (see Set the Authentication for the SoftwareCentral website) before you give users the address.