3 Catalyst::Manual::Deployment::IIS::FastCGI - Deploying Catalyst with Microsoft IIS
7 Probably the best way to deploy a Catalyst application on IIS is by using
8 IIS as a front end proxy. However if you positively must use FastCGI (say
9 due to internal IT policies) then this manual shows you how.
11 It is possible to run Catalyst under IIS with FastCGI, but only on IIS
12 6.0 (Microsoft Windows 2003), IIS 7.0 (Microsoft Windows 2008 and
13 Vista), and (hopefully) its successors.
15 FastCGI is sometimes said to be supported on IIS 5.1 (Windows XP), but
16 some features (specifically, wildcard mappings) are not supported. This
17 prevents Catalyst applications from running on the server.
19 Let us assume that our server has the following layout:
21 d:\WWW\WebApp\ path to our Catalyst application
22 d:\strawberry\perl\bin\perl.exe path to perl interpreter (with Catalyst installed)
23 c:\windows Windows directory
25 =head2 Setup IIS 6.0 (Windows 2003)
29 =item Install FastCGI extension for IIS 6.0
31 FastCGI is not a standard part of IIS 6 - you have to install it
32 separately. For more info and the download, go to
33 L<https://www.iis.net/downloads/microsoft/fastcgi-for-iis>. Choose the appropriate version
34 (32-bit/64-bit); installation is quite simple (in fact no questions, no
37 =item Create a new website
39 Open "Control Panel" > "Administrative Tools" > "Internet Information Services Manager".
40 Click "Action" > "New" > "Web Site". After you finish the installation wizard
41 you need to go to the new website's properties.
43 =item Set website properties
45 On the tab "Web site", set proper values for: Site Description, IP
46 Address, TCP Port, SSL Port, etc.
48 On the tab "Home Directory" set the following:
50 Local path: "d:\WWW\WebApp\root"
51 Local path permission flags: check only "Read" + "Log visits"
52 Execute permitions: "Scripts only"
54 Click "Configuration" button (still on Home Directory tab) then click "Insert"
55 the wildcard application mapping, and in the next dialog set:
57 Executable: "c:\windows\system32\inetsrv\fcgiext.dll"
58 Uncheck: "Verify that file exists"
60 Close all dialogs with "OK".
62 =item Edit fcgiext.ini
64 Put the following lines into c:\windows\system32\inetsrv\fcgiext.ini (on 64-bit
65 system c:\windows\syswow64\inetsrv\fcgiext.ini):
69 ;replace 8 with the identification number of the newly created website
70 ;it is not so easy to get this number:
71 ; - you can use utility "c:\inetpub\adminscripts\adsutil.vbs"
72 ; to list websites: "cscript adsutil.vbs ENUM /P /W3SVC"
73 ; to get site name: "cscript adsutil.vbs GET /W3SVC/<number>/ServerComment"
74 ; to get all details: "cscript adsutil.vbs GET /W3SVC/<number>"
75 ; - or look where are the logs located:
76 ; c:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\Logfiles\W3SVC7\whatever.log
77 ; means that the corresponding number is "7"
78 ;if you are running just one website using FastCGI you can use '*=CatalystApp'
81 ExePath=d:\strawberry\perl\bin\perl.exe
82 Arguments="d:\WWW\WebApp\script\webapp_fastcgi.pl -e"
84 ;by setting this you can instruct IIS to serve Catalyst static files
85 ;directly not via FastCGI (in case of any problems try 1)
88 ;do not be fooled by Microsoft doc talking about "IgnoreExistingDirectories"
89 ;that does not work and use "IgnoreDirectories" instead
94 =head2 Setup IIS 7.0 (Windows 2008 and Vista)
96 Microsoft IIS 7.0 has built-in support for FastCGI so you do not have to
101 =item Necessary steps during IIS7 installation
103 During IIS7 installation, after you have added role "Web Server (IIS)"
104 you need to check to install the role feature "CGI" (do not be nervous
105 that it is not FastCGI). If you already have IIS7 installed you can add
106 the "CGI" role feature through "Control panel" > "Programs and
109 =item Create a new website
111 Open "Control Panel" > "Administrative Tools" > "Internet Information Services
112 Manager" > "Add Web Site".
114 site name: "CatalystSite"
115 content directory: "d:\WWW\WebApp\root"
116 binding: set proper IP address, port etc.
118 =item Configure FastCGI
120 You can configure FastCGI extension using commandline utility
121 "c:\windows\system32\inetsrv\appcmd.exe"
125 =item Configuring section "fastCgi" (it is a global setting)
127 appcmd.exe set config -section:system.webServer/fastCgi /+"[fullPath='d:\strawberry\perl\bin\perl.exe',arguments='d:\www\WebApp\script\webapp_fastcgi.pl -e',maxInstances='4',idleTimeout='300',activityTimeout='30',requestTimeout='90',instanceMaxRequests='1000',protocol='NamedPipe',flushNamedPipe='False']" /commit:apphost
129 =item Configuring proper handler (it is a site related setting)
131 appcmd.exe set config "CatalystSite" -section:system.webServer/handlers /+"[name='CatalystFastCGI',path='*',verb='GET,HEAD,POST',modules='FastCgiModule',scriptProcessor='d:\strawberry\perl\bin\perl.exe|d:\www\WebApp\script\webapp_fastcgi.pl -e',resourceType='Unspecified',requireAccess='Script']" /commit:apphost
133 Note: before launching the commands above, do not forget to change the
134 site name and paths to values relevant for your server setup.
140 =head3 Setup of your application
142 Note that you B<MUST> have the config setting C<use_request_uri_for_path> set to true
143 to work in IIS7 - if you do not have this then all sub paths in your application
144 (e.g. /foo/bar) will resolve to the root path, i.e. /
148 Catalyst Contributors, see Catalyst.pm
152 This library is free software. You can redistribute it and/or modify it under
153 the same terms as Perl itself.