Visual Basic Concepts

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Deploying Your IIS Application

You package and deploy your IIS application using the Visual Basic Package and Deployment Wizard. The Package and Deployment Wizard packages your project .dll files and all associated files into a "cabinet" or . The wizard can then deploy this cabinet file and its associated support files to a location you indicate on a Web server.

Note   Although IIS applications are deployed to a Web server and not to the client computer, you still must package them into a cabinet file and deploy them to the Web site. The .cab file is then unpacked on the Web server and the necessary components are installed and registered.

You must either deploy to an existing virtual directory on the server or manually create a virtual directory before you deploy your .cab file to it. To create a virtual directory, you define a directory on the Web server, then use the Internet Server Manager in Internet Information Server to define this directory as a virtual directory and set an alias for it. See your Microsoft Internet Information Server product documentation for further details on creating virtual directories.

The application files that must be deployed include:

  • The .dll files for the project — including the WebClass object and the Visual Basic run time, and the .dsr and .dsx files for the project. These are automatically packaged into the .cab file when you run the Package and Deployment Wizard.

  • The HTML page or pages associated with the project. The Package and Deployment Wizard does not package these into the .cab file, but it copies them to the indicated location on the Web site when you deploy the .cab file.

  • Any files referenced by the HTML pages, such as images. The Package and Deployment Wizard does not automatically recognize these dependencies, but you can add them to the list of dependency files the wizard displays.

These are the steps in deploying your IIS application to the Internet:

  1. Debug and compile your application.

  2. Use the Package and Deployment Wizard to build a .cab file that contains the necessary files for your application.

Tip   Make sure that the HTML and ASP files for your application are listed on the Included Files screen, while you are packaging. If they are not, use the Add button to manually include these files.

  1. Use the Package and Deployment Wizard to deploy your application to the Web server you want to use.

For More Information   See "Distributing Your Applications," in the Programmer's Guide for instructions on using the Package and Deployment Wizard to package and deploy your IIS application.