Getting started with IIS and COM+

WARNING: If at all possible, you should prefer to run USoft web pages with a USoft service.

The option described in this topic, necessary in previous versions of USoft, is now deprecated. It may not be supported in future versions of USoft. Use this option only if you have a special reason for using IIS and COM+.

Installation

These installation notes apply to each individual development computer.

MS Internet Information Services (IIS)

Install Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) on the computer that acts as the web server. IIS is included in current Windows versions.

MS Component Services (COM+)

Install Microsoft Component Services (COM+) on the computer that acts as the web server. Component Services is included in current Windows versions.

ASP and ASP.NET

Install the ASP and ASP.NET features of IIS:

1.	Choose Programs and Features in the Control Panel, and then select "Turn Windows features on or off".

2.	Enable the items listed as "ASP" and as "ASP.NET" (all versions listed) by clicking the checkbox against these items and then pressing OK.

Web server

For development and test purposes, you can also install the web server software and transaction server on your development computer.

On the web server, install the Microsoft Installer utility (MSI).

When Installing USoft Series, you must include the Microsoft XML parser. This is described in the USoft Setup help, accessible from the Start menu.

Browser

As a browser, use Internet Explorer 8 or higher, or a recent version of Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome. JavaScript must be enabled. Internet Explorer versions older than version 8 are not supported.

IIS configuration

In Internet Information Services (IIS), a virtual folder must be created to serve the generated web pages. A virtual folder treats the physical directory as an application.

The session timeout must be set to a value larger than 0. This setting determines how long users can be idle and still continue working without re-login.Raising this value consumes more system resources because some data is kept on behalf of each user. Lowering this value forces a user to type his password after an short idle period.

To force shutdown (e.g. when a USoft version is being replaced) the application within IIS must be unloaded, and the component must be shutdown. Refer to your IIS or Component Services help for details.

If you are using the Rules Service in combination with a USoft Web Application or Web Service, the Rules Service can appear to have a delay in responding when the Rules Service is not activated for a period ( >5 min.). The first new request will then take about 15-20 seconds to respond, but after this wake up the responses will be instantaneous.

On Windows Servers this behavior can be influenced in the 'Component Services' (Under Control Panel / Administrative Tools) settings. On the Advanced tab from the application where the USoft Web Service component (USoftComJavaCall.dll) is registered, change the 'Service Process Shutdown' setting if necessary. Ensure that the option 'Leave running when idle' is enabled. In this case the USoft Web service component will always be ready for use.

On Windows XP, it may be that an ASP page on IIS can only read 200 Kbytes from a request. This is not enough for a USoft Web Application, and must be increased. To do this, you must update the metabase.XML file, which is located in the c:\Windows\System32\Inetsrv folder:

1.	Stop the IIS service, otherwise you will not be able to save the edited file.

2.	Open the metabase.XML file with an editor.

3.	Find the line in the file that reads "AspMaxRequestEntityAllowed" and change it to "1073741824".

4.	Save the edited file and restart IIS.

COM+ component

You need to register a USoft COM+ component with Microsoft Component Services. Follow these steps:

Registering a new COM+ application

1.	Open Component Services from the control panel.

2.	Click the Component Services, Computers, My Computer, COM+ Applications.

3.	Click with your right mouse button on COM+ Applications and select New, Application.

4.	Click Next, create an empty application.

5.	Enter "USoft Page Engine" as name for the application (for example), and click Next.

6.	Select "This User" and enter a user id and password that has domain administrator privileges on the server.

7.	Click Next and Finish.

Registering a new COM+ component

1.	Click on the "USoft Page Engine" application box.

2.	Click with your right mouse button on Components and select New, Component.

3.	Click Next; install New Components(s).

4.	Browse to the BIN directory in the USoft installation directory.

5.	Select the USoftComJavaCall.dll file.

6.	Click Next, Finish. The tree view and list view (if displayed with Large Icons) in the Component Services console should now look something like this:

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Required settings for the COM+ component

the following settings must be made for the USoftComJavaCall component in Component Services:

•On the Identity tab of the Application Properties, Account must be set either to "System Account\Local Service" or to "System Account\Network Service".

•"This user" must be set to <some user account>.

•On the Security tab, the: "Authorization ->Enforce access checks for this application" setting must be unchecked, i.e. switched off. If you do not do this, you will receive server component access error messages.

•On the Activation tab, choose Server application (NOT client).