This step-by-step article describes important considerations for deploying applications that are built on the .NET Framework. This is one of a series of articles that provide detailed information for applications that are built on the .NET Framework.

The articles in this series include the following:

Create the Web.Config File for an ASP.NET Application

The Web.config file is an XML file that contains application-specific settings that override system defaults. While most ASP applications that are built on the .NET Framework are deployed with a Web.config file, the Web.config file is optional. You may have to create a Web.config file to override default settings on an application-by-application basis.

For additional information about how to create a Web.config file for an application that does not already have one, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Edit the Configuration of an ASP.NET Application

All systems where the .NET Framework has been deployed have system-wide ASP.NET configuration settings that are defined in the <system.web> element of the Machine.config file. You can modify these settings (frequently, you must modify these settings) on an application-by-application basis.

For additional information about how to override .NET framework default configuration settings for a specific application, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Determine if a Client System Meets the Minimum Requirements for Installing the .NET Framework

Before you can deploy applications that are built on the .NET Framework to a client system, that system must have specific software components and patches installed. Most client systems meet the requirements. However, you may have to manually verify that a specific system is ready to receive the .NET Framework redistributables.

For additional information about how to deploy the .NET framework to client systems, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Determine if a Server System Meets the Minimum Requirements for Installing the .Net Framework

Before you can deploy applications that are built on the .NET Framework to a server, the server must have specific software components and patches installed. Most server systems meet the requirements. However, you may have to manually verify that a specific system is ready to receive the .NET Framework redistributables.

For additional information about how to deploy the .NET framework to server systems, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Selectively Enable and Disable ASP.NET Functionality in IIS

When the .NET Framework is installed on a server computer running Internet Information Services (IIS), ASP.NET is automatically enabled for virtual servers. However, you might not want this configuration. As new ASP Web applications that are built on the .NET Framework are deployed to a server computer running IIS 5.0, you can control which virtual servers and directories support ASP.NET and which virtual servers do not.

For additional information about how to enable and disable ASP.NET functionality for virtual servers and directories in IIS 5.0, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Configure Custom Error Messages for an ASP.NET Application

Many sites change IIS default error message to display a user-friendly page or to notify an administrator. When a server computer running IIS 5.0 has custom error messages, and an ASP Web application that is built on the .NET Framework is deployed to that server computer, errors in the ASP.NET application do not use IIS 5.0 custom error messages unless the application is specifically configured to do so.

For additional information about how to configure custom error messages for ASP applications built on the .NET Framework, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Make Application-Specific and Directory-Specific Configuration Settings in an ASP.NET Application

The most common way to override system defaults for a whole ASP.NET application is to create or edit a Web.config file for that application. However, configuration changes frequently must apply only to specific files or folders in an application. There are two ways to limit the scope of configuration changes:

• Add the <location> configuration element to the Machine.config file to the Web.config file.
  
  -or-
• Add additional Web.config files to subfolders.

For additional information about how to apply changes that affect specific applications and directories, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Configure Session State Management for ASP.NET Applications

ASP.NET has new features for Session State Management. Session state settings in ASP.NET are configured through the Web.config file of an ASP.NET application. Several Sessions State Management options are available in ASP.NET. These options include mode (inproc, State Server, SQL Server), cookieless state management, out-of process mode stateserver, and the port settings. For more information about ASP.NET Session State Management, visit the following Microsoft Web site: For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Build and Deploy a .NET Security Policy Deployment Package

The .NET Framework introduces security policy. The security policy is a new way to control the resources that an application can gain access to on a system. It defines an application’s authorization based on the application's location or source. As an administrator, you can control security policy on a computer-by-computer basis. However, you can use deployment packages as a more scaleable method for deploying and managing security policies in Active Directory environments.

For additional information about how to build and deploy .NET security policies by using deployment packages, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Migrate an ASP Web Application to ASP.NET While Retaining Existing File Names

ASP.NET offers many benefits over the earlier ASP 3.0 scripting environment. Specifically, ASP applications that are built on the .NET Framework offer improved performance, scalability, and reliability. As a result, many new ASP applications that are built on the .NET Framework are actually upgrades to existing ASP 3.0 applications.

One of the challenges of upgrading an application from ASP 3.0 to ASP.NET is that the two environments use different file name extensions. By default, ASP 3.0 uses .asp file name extensions. However, ASP.NET uses .aspx file name extensions. Although the different file name extensions permit the two applications to be located in a single folder, they require bookmarks and hyperlinks to be changed before the ASP 3.0 application is taken offline.

For additional information about how to migrate from ASP 3.0 to ASP.NET while using the same file names, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Configure an ASP.NET Application to Use the Same Authentication and Authorization as an Existing ASP Web Application

ASP.NET includes more flexible and sophisticated authentication and authorization systems than ASP 3.0. By default, you can use only Windows authentication to authenticate ASP 3.0 applications. Also, you can control authorization only by using NTFS file permissions.

ASP.NET supports Windows authentication, and can impersonate the end-user in much the same way that ASP 3.0 does. However, by default, this setting is not enabled.

For additional information about how to configure an ASP.NET application to authenticate and authorize users in a way that is similar to the way that an existing ASP 3.0 application does this, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Deploy an ASP.NET Web Application by Using XCopy Deployment

You can deploy your ASP.NET Web application by using the MS-DOS xcopy command-line utility. However, it is a good idea to deploy your project instead of using xcopy. As with the Copy Project command, xcopy does not register or verify the location of assemblies. Also, for Web projects, xcopy does not automatically configure IIS directory settings. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Set Up Multiple Server ASP.NET Web Applications and Web Services

For most uses of ASP.NET, a single server can handle all requests in a timely manner. However, many environments must deploy multiple servers to handle consistently high volumes of traffic, to support processor-intensive applications, to respond to sudden bursts in traffic, or to meet redundancy requirements.
For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

For more information about how to deploy applications that are built on the .NET Framework, and about .NET interoperability, visit the following Microsoft Web sites:

For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: