For starters, I will provide instructions on how to install IIS in case that hasn’t already been done. An easy starting point for enabling the IIS Role and additional features is to use the . After you have installed this application, follow these steps:
1. Run Web Platform Installer and search for IIS Recommended.
2. Click Add to select IIS Recommended Configuration to be installed.
Once the installation has completed, there will be new features added to IIS Manager. Open IIS Manager to configured the Management Service. Double click on the Management Service icon to begin.
Once the feature configuration page is open, there are a few settings that needs to be updated. If the service is running, you can not make updates to the settings. Click Stop in the Actions pane if this is the case. To begin with, check the Enable remote connections setting. Rather than having to maintain IIS Manager users, I choose Windows credentials only. Notice the Enable failed request tracking option below the log setting. In the event of issues using Web Deploy, you can enable this setting to gather additional information. For additional security, you can also set IP Address Restrictions. You can restrict access to specific IP addresses by changing the Access for unspecified clients to Deny. After doing that, add an Allow entry for any IP Addresses that should be allowed to connect.
Click Apply to save the settings and then Start to start the Management Service. Minimize or close IIS Manager.
To ensure that the server is now listening on port 8172, open a command prompt and run netstat –aon | findstr :8172. You should see at least the following response. You could see others depending on your server configuration. If you do not get any response, check services and ensure that the Web Management Service is running. If it is running, check the above steps and ensure that everything is configured correctly.
We will now check the Windows Firewall to ensure that the rule for Web Management Service (HTTP Traffic-In) is enabled. This rule is created when the Web Management Service is installed.
The last thing that will need to be configured is the endpoint for your Azure VM. Login to the Azure portal and navigate to your Virtual Machine endpoints. This is done differently depending on if you are using the classic portal (manage.windowsazure.com) or the new portal (portal.azure.com). Once you have located the Endpoints configuration screen for your VM, add an entry for Web Deploy for port 8172.
You are now ready to connect using Visual Studio and deploy your website or application.
For reference, here is what a deployment configuration within Visual Studio looks like.
These steps can be followed for configuration of Web Deploy for other providers such as as well.
is a Microsoft MVP (ASP .NET/IIS), an MCSA: Windows Server 2012, and IT Infrastructure Specialist at .