Professional Microsoft IIS 8

Configuring Default Document Settings

IIS uses default documents to determine which file to serve when a site (/) or directory (/folder/) is requested and no explicit filename is specified. The following default documents are set up automatically by IIS 8.0:

• Default.htm
• Default.asp
• Index.htm
• Index.html
• Iisstart.htm
• Default.aspx

IIS serves the files in order from the top down. If both a default.aspx and a default.htm exist within a directory, the Default Document setting will need to be adjusted to place default.aspx higher in the order if that is the file that should be served automatically when the website is accessed.

Reordering a Document

Default Document settings can be adjusted at the server, website, or individual folder level. If the desired document is not at the top of the default list, it can be moved. To do so, open the Default Document setting for the server, site, or folder to be edited, select the desired document, and then click Move Up in the Actions pane until the document is at the top of the list.

Adding a Default Document

There may be times when an additional filename will need to be added that is not in the prepopulated list. To add a new document to the Default Document settings, follow these steps:

1. Open IIS Manager, and select the server, site or directory where the new default document should be added.

2. Double-click the Default Document icon to navigate to the Default Document page.

3. Click Add in the Actions pane. The Add Default Document dialog ...