Professional Microsoft IIS 8

Web Deployment Tool

The Microsoft Web Deployment Tool (Web Deploy, previously called MS Deploy) is fully integrated into IIS 8.0, Visual Studio 10, Web Matrix, and the Web PI. The latest version, 3.0, is available online at http://www.iis.net/download/webdeploy and can be installed by loading the module directly or by using the Web PI. Installation requires that Windows Server 2012 be already installed, but the web server and module can be installed together using Web PI.

Web Deploy is faster than other methods, such as FTP, for publishing or syncing files, because it transfers only changes between the source and destination systems. Web Deploy also supports Microsoft SQL Server directly, scripting databases for deployment to the new location. A major advantage of Web Deploy over other deployment methods is its capability to handle transformations during deployment, such as changing a database connection string from a development system to a production system as well as settings within IIS 8.0.

When you finish this section, you should be able to install Web Deploy and use it to back up IIS 8.0 configurations, migrate sites between servers, and deploy application packages from products such as Visual Studio. Other deployment options exist and will be covered later in the chapter.

Installing Web Deploy with Web PI

To install Web Deploy, first download the Web Platform Interface (Web PI) and install it as previously described. Open Web PI and search for Web Deploy, and then add it ...