How to install IIS URL Rewrite Module on Windows Server 2016 & IIS 10

When you start to play with Windows Server 2016 and IIS 10, you’ll receive an error when you try to install the IIS URL Rewrite Module in IIS. The error occurs because the URL Rewrite Module installer contains an invalid version check for the IIS being used. Here is how to install IIS URL Rewrite Module in IIS 10…

IIS URL Rewrite “Rewrite Module error: Expression contains a repeat expression”

How to fix the URL Rewrite Module error “Rewrite error: Expression contains a repeat expression” on Windows Server IIS.

How to hide the .php file extension with IIS URL Rewrite Module

How to hide the .php file extension with URL Rewrite on Windows Server IIS? Sometimes it’s important to hide the file extension of scripts you use. Security by obscurity might be that reason, if you don’t want others to know what script language you are using for your website. This example will hide the .php extension using the IIS URL Rewrite module, in a ready to use web.config & .htaccess example.

Ghost on IIS with HTTPS, how to resolve a “Too many redirects” error

When you use iisnode to host the Node.js blogging software Ghost on your IIS web server, and you set up an SSL certificate for your Ghost website, you may run into too many redirect issues when changing Ghost’s config.js file. This happend to me yesterday, and here is the solution.

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HackRepair.com’s Bad Bots .htaccess in web.config for IIS

Jim Walker from HackRepair.com posted a 2016 version of his Bad Bots .htaccess on Pastebin. I offered Jim to translate his Bad Bots .htaccess to web.config, to be used with Windows Server IIS. And here it is, learn to protect your WordPress website with this web.config file!

RewriteProxy with .htaccess in IIS

Rewrite and proxy HTTP requests in IIS using a .htaccess

In my case scenario, I had to proxy requests in IIS, because a website was moved from web server A to B, and the DNS wasn’t updated yet. All HTTP requests for the moved website are handled in IIS’ Default Web Site; that’s the wildcard host, and the original host no longer existed there. We needed to match our website and proxy those requests to the new IIS web server. This can either be done using a proxy with URL Rewrite, IIS Application Request Routing (ARR), or a .htaccess file handled by Helicon Ape.

HTTP to HTTPS redirect using IIS web.config

An HTTP to HTTPS redirect on IIS is often better left to the web server, with a simple httpRedirect redirection, than to a resource expensive URL Rewrite. This is easily done in a web.config IIS website configuration file. Where possible, use the IIS httpRedirect element for a HTTP to HTTPS redirection, and here is how:

Remove IIS Server version HTTP Response Header

Remove HTTP response headers in IIS 7, 7.5, 8.0, 8.5, 10 and ASP.NET

Windows Server IIS loves to tell the world that a website runs on IIS. It does so with the Server header in the HTTP response, as shown below. In this post I’ll show you how to remove response server headers in IIS. You don’t want to give hackers too much information about your servers, heh? ;-).

IIS Outbound Rules with gzip compression

Saotn.org uses used URL Rewrite Outbound Rules in IIS, to offload content from a different server and/or host name. This is also known as IIS with URL Rewrite as a reverse proxy, and should improve website performance. Just recently I noticed Outbound Rules conflicted with gzip compressed content. The following HTTP 500.52 URL Rewrite Module Error was thrown:

Install Node.js, iisnode module and Ghost on Windows Server / IIS

This post describes the steps necessary to install Node.js and Ghost on Windows Server IIS. Ghost is a Node.js web application, specific for just blogging. To run Node.js applications in IIS, you need iisnode as a module. Here is how to install all of this.

Create your own CDN using IIS Outbound Rules

Use these IIS Outbound Rules to offload javascript and CSS stylesheets.

Here’s how to create a Content Delivery Network (CDN) using IIS outbound rewrite rules. Offload your static content and speed up your website with these tips. Offloading content is important for the performance of your website, because then content is downloaded in parallel and thus faster. A faster website attracts more visitors, is more user friendly, improves CTR and Google SEO.

Remove ETags HTTP response header in IIS

Yahoo! YSlow recommends removing Entity tags – also known as ETag. Unfortunately removing the ETag response header is not an easy task on Windows Server IIS web servers. Here I show you how to properly remove ETag HTTP response headers with an Outbound rewrite rule…

Multiple IIS 6.0/7.5 Vulnerabilities

Multiple vulnerabilities found in IIS 6.0 and 7.5 web servers. On the Full-Disclosure mailinglist Kingcope posted several IIS 6.0 and 7.5 bugs. Because I am a Windows Server and IIS admin, I took some time to test the various vulnerabilities …

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How to use .htaccess files on Windows Server IIS

Learn how to use .htaccess in Windows Server IIS. In this post I’ll provide you with some useful .htaccess URL rewrite examples. URL rewrite examples that you can use on Window Server IIS for your website.

17+ Useful WordPress snippets

Here are 17+ valuable WordPress snippets for site-specific plugins and functions.php to provide you a better WordPress experience. Enhance your WordPress site with these small PHP snippets: WordPress filters, actions and functions. Quickly add or extend the functionality you need for your WordPress website! Read on…