How to create a virtual directory with C#

Sample Image - virtualdir.jpg

Introduction

This "how to" is only one more sample of how to use the DirectoryServices namespace in the Microsoft.Net framework. This sample uses IIS as its Active Directory provider. The access to Active Directory in .Net is so easy. You use System.DirectoryServices.dll for simple access.

I implemented a simple class called IISManager, it has two methods: Connect and CreateVirtualDirectory.

// To use it...
            
// Default constructor initialize the servername to localhost
// you could use IISManager(servername) 
IISManager isMang = new IISManager();
isMang.Connect();
try
{
	isMang.CreateVirtualDirectory(txtName.Text,txtPath.Text);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
	MessageBox.Show(ex.Message);
}

License

This article has no explicit license attached to it but may contain usage terms in the article text or the download files themselves. If in doubt please contact the author via the discussion board below.

A list of licenses authors might use can be found here

About the Author

Gaston

Web Developer

Uruguay

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Does not work properly with Windows 7 64 bit and VS 2010

JVH3

5:33 5 Oct '11

It successfully creates the virtual directory, but then all other virtual directories cannot be found in IIS including it. IIs gives an error.

---------------------------
Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager
---------------------------
The path is not of a legal form.
---------------------------
OK
---------------------------

I had to modify the project to add the ability to remove the virtual directory in order to restore my dev machine to a usable state.

public void DeleteVirtualDirectory(string nameDirectory, string realPath)
{
    DirectoryEntry folderRoot = _iisServer.Children.Find("Root", VirDirSchemaName);
    try
    {
        foreach( DirectoryEntry de in folderRoot.Children )
        {
            if (de.Name == nameDirectory)
            {
                folderRoot.Children.Remove(de);
                break;
            }
        }
        // Set Properties
        folderRoot.CommitChanges();
        _iisServer.CommitChanges();
    }
    catch (Exception e)
    {
        throw new Exception("Virtual Directory " + nameDirectory + " Already Exists", e);
    }
}

Re: Does not work properly with Windows 7 64 bit and VS 2010

Marcus Kramer

4:35 24 Jan '12

That is because this code is for dotNet1.0 and is light-years away from being compatible with Windows 7 and newer versions of dotNet. I wasn't, now I am, then I won't be anymore.
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Unable to create virtual directory in a remote machine using directory entry class

santhoshkumars@zylog.co.in

3:02 13 Oct '09

I tried to create the virtual directory in the remote machine and I have given the server name as _serverName = "Remote Machine IP"; public IISManager() { _serverName = "172.16.0.46"; } Im getting the exception "Access Deneid"
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Sharing folder via internet...

b007

10:49 4 Nov '08

Can I share those folder with outher computers / users over the internet? Or, Other type of folders / directories..? Thanks, Gil
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how to access the files of public folder of a remote machine in vb.net window application

kk_upadhyay

20:16 27 Feb '08

hi, i am making a window application in vb.net .in that application i want to get the files which are placed in a folder in wwwroot of a remote machine . how can i do this please provide me the proper solution.
Sign In·View Thread·Permalink	2.33/5 (3 votes)

Example systray app to create/edit virtual directories

MonkeyBumps

17:08 27 Nov '07

i created this little app playing around with how to delete and create virtual directories from within C#. check it out.. you can download the source. i used this post and one other as a source to create this app. thanks. http://yetanotherdeveloper.com/post/2007/11/Using-CSharp-to-Dynamically-change-virtual-directories-in-IIS.aspx[^]
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Modified CreateVirtualDirectory method to allow running ASP.Net App's

Vahid_Nasiri

20:48 24 Jun '07

public void CreateVirtualDirectory(string nameDirectory, string realPath)
                  {
                        DirectoryEntry folderRoot = _iisServer.Children.Find("Root", VirDirSchemaName);
                        try
                        {
                              DirectoryEntry newVirDir = folderRoot.Children.Add(nameDirectory, VirDirSchemaName);
                              // Set Properties
                              newVirDir.Properties["Path"].Value = realPath;
                              // Create a Application
                              newVirDir.Properties["AppFriendlyName"][0] = nameDirectory;//Application name
                              newVirDir.Properties["AppIsolated"].Value = 2; //"Medium (Pooled)"
                              newVirDir.Properties["AccessScript"][0] = true;//Execute Permission = Scripts Only
                              newVirDir.Invoke("AppCreate", true);
                              // Save Changes
                              newVirDir.CommitChanges();
                              folderRoot.CommitChanges();
                              _iisServer.CommitChanges();
                        }
                        catch (Exception e)
                        {
                              throw new Exception(e.ToString());
                        }
                  }

How to Turn Off Anonymous Authentication

Tom So

8:41 12 Jan '07

Good article. It got me started but I still wasn't able to turn off anonymous authentication on my existing site.
Here's my solution:

string serverName = System.Environment.MachineName;

// in my case, this was passed in via CustomActionData from my installer
string vDir = Context.Parameters["VirtualDir"];

// Anonymous Authentication bit is 0x00000001
int AnonAuthBitMask = 0x11111110;

DirectoryEntry iisServer = new DirectoryEntry("IIS://" + serverName + "/W3SVC/1/ROOT/" + vDir);

// apply bit mask to turn off anon auth
iisServer.Properties["AuthFlags"].Value = Convert.ToInt32(iisServer.Properties["AuthFlags"].Value) & AnonAuthBitMask;

// Save changes
iisServer.CommitChanges();

Unknown name exception while creating Virtual Directory on remote machine

kdp_123

17:45 6 Dec '06

Hi,
I have used this Code and successfully created Virtual directory in local machine. Now i am trying to create it on Remote machine. i did it by adding some code..
public void CreateVirtualDirectory(string nameDirectory,string realPath)
{
// Newly Added code
_iisServer.Username="myuser";
_iisServer.Password="mypwd";
// Newly Added code
DirectoryEntry folderRoot = _iisServer.Children.Find("Root",VirDirSchemaName);
try
{
DirectoryEntry newVirDir = folderRoot.Children.Add(nameDirectory,VirDirSchemaName);
newVirDir.Properties["EnableDirBrowsing"].Add(false);
newVirDir.Properties["AppFriendlyName"].Value = nameDirectory;
newVirDir.Properties["DefaultDoc"].Value="default.htm,default.aspx,default.asp";
newVirDir.Properties["Path"].Value = realPath;
// Create a Application
newVirDir.Invoke("AppCreate",true);
// Save Changes
newVirDir.CommitChanges();
folderRoot.CommitChanges();
_iisServer.CommitChanges();
}
catch (Exception e)
{
throw new Exception("Virtual Directory " + nameDirectory + " Already Exists",e);
}
}

but it throws Unknown Name exception.
if i am ignoring newVirDir.Invoke("AppCreate",true); line. means if i do this line commented and then trying then it creates virtual directory but Application is not created so its of no use. and if i am keeping this line then Unknown Name exception arise.. i cant und what to do ?? pl help me..

Re: Unknown name exception while creating Virtual Directory on remote machine

pavankumarchakilam

21:03 1 Apr '10

please help me i am also getting the same error , did u get the solution
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Not works with Add method

Yuri Kiselev

0:00 22 Nov '06

Class not worked until I replaced Add methods to Insert Old scenario: newVirDir.Properties["Path"].Add(realPath) New scenario: newVirDir.Properties["Path"].Insert(0,realPath)
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Re: Not works with Add method

WIROL

0:04 18 Oct '07

hi, thanks for ur finding...
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Another way of creation and deletion of VD in 2.0

digitally_urs

2:35 17 Nov '06

good piece of code (thumbs up)
however following is another solution for .net 2.0 ( i m not sure of v1.1

public string DeleteVDir(string metabasePath, string vDirName, string physicalPath)

        {

            //  metabasePath is of the form "IIS://///Root[/]"

            //    for example "IIS://localhost/W3SVC/1/Root" 

            //  vDirName is of the form "", for example, "MyNewVDir"

            //  physicalPath is of the form ":\", for example, "C:\Inetpub\Wwwroot"            

            System.EnterpriseServices.Internal.IISVirtualRoot vr = new System.EnterpriseServices.Internal.IISVirtualRoot();

            string sError;

            vr.Delete(metabasePath, physicalPath, vDirName, out sError);        

return sError;  

        }

        public string CreateVDir(string metabasePath, string vDirName, string physicalPath)

        {

            //  metabasePath is of the form "IIS://///Root[/]"

            //    for example "IIS://localhost/W3SVC/1/Root" 

            //  vDirName is of the form "", for example, "MyNewVDir"

            //  physicalPath is of the form ":\", for example, "C:\Inetpub\Wwwroot"            

            System.EnterpriseServices.Internal.IISVirtualRoot vr = new System.EnterpriseServices.Internal.IISVirtualRoot();

            string sError;

            vr.Create(metabasePath, physicalPath, vDirName, out sError);

return sError;

        }

you might have to add reference to enterprise Services

IIS Virtual Directory

Sen K Mathew

20:12 17 Jul '05

Dear ALL I have a problem. I wrote a Web application C#.net to creat a virtual directory. It works fine in windows application mode but showing an error (Catch) Access denied in web application(C#.net). Could any one help me to creat a Virtual directory(IIS) throught C#.net. My email address is anishasen@yahoo.com sen K. Mathew
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Re: IIS Virtual Directory

avidgator

15:01 18 Aug '05

Your problem is the permissions (or lack thereof) of the user under whom your web service is running. On a Windows Server 2003 system, web services run by default as the NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE user. Elevating the permissions of this user is generally a bad idea. Instead, you will want to look into impersonation, either programatically through WindowsIdentity.Impersonate or in your web.config file through the <Identity> entry.

Remember - you need to be aware of the security consequences of elevating the permissions under which your web service is running, important factors being whether it is running over the Internet, on an Intranet, using Https, etc.

Hope this helps
--John

WindowsIdentity.Impersonate method:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/cpref/html/frlrfsystemsecurityprincipalwindowsidentityclassimpersonatetopic.asp[^]

<Identity> Element in web.config
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/cpgenref/html/gngrfidentitysection.asp[^]

How do I create VD pointing to another site

Kushal Prasad

20:38 29 Mar '05

I want to create virtual directory pointing to another website rather than a directory on the local drive. How can I achieve this?
Sign In·View Thread·Permalink	1.67/5 (3 votes)

I found this version

alan_every

3:10 18 Dec '03

I tried the option provided here and found it worked of sorts... but experienced the problems already mentioned. Found a similar, though nicer looking example (no offence) at http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/Code/2002/July/CreateVirtualDirs.asp Alan
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I am unable to set a path in the real path

vimalkd

5:11 19 Oct '03

Hi well whenever I am running this program I am having a problem that it is unaable to find the path. So can anyone help me with how to define the real path of the virtual directory
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Re: I am unable to set a path in the real path

cuongnle

22:28 6 Aug '07

I got similar one, but that's bad when noone find an answer for this
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Re: I am unable to set a path in the real path

WIROL

0:09 18 Oct '07

hi guys, pls look carefully above posts... u can use Insert() instead of Add() cheer
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Virtual Directory not showing in Internet Services Manager

SeattleCoder

11:04 23 Jun '03

I am running Win2000 Pro and once I run the included demo, it creates the virtual directory but it doesnt show up in the Internet Services Manager. Plus when I try to view a default page that is located in the real path, I get a File Not Found Error. Anyone know why its not working? Thanks in advance Kenneth Looney
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Re: Virtual Directory not showing in Internet Services Manager

Anonymous

0:45 28 Jun '05

Make sure the "Virtual Directory" is actually a Virtual Directory, I'm having the same problem in VS.NET 2003 Pro with the same OS as you. I found the fix here: http://www.experts-exchange.com/Programming/Programming_Languages/Dot_Net/ASP_DOT_NET/Q_21309471.html Basically I had to create the VD again manually.
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How to Create a VD in non-Default web Site

JShi

8:51 21 Jun '03

I just configured a new "My Web Site" on IIS in addition to the "Default Web Site", and of course, a new port (in my case 2468) is assigned to "My Web Site". How to use the sample to create a VD in "My Web Site"? I tried to use "localhost:2468", but I got "Unknown error".
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Re: How to Create a VD in non-Default web Site

PhoneTech

6:22 10 Jul '03

You will need to find out what the correct IISPath is.

This method i created, lists all the websites currently installed on your IIS.



public static DataTable getAllWebsites()

{

	DataTable dt = new DataTable();

	dt.Columns.Add(new DataColumn("IISPATH", typeof(string)));

	dt.Columns.Add(new DataColumn("Name", typeof(string)));

	dt.Columns.Add(new DataColumn("DisplayName", typeof(string)));

	dt.Columns.Add(new DataColumn("Path", typeof(string)));			

 

	DataRow dr;

	string MachineName = "localhost";

	string IIsObjectPath = "IIS://" + MachineName + "/w3svc";

	const string WebServerSchema = "IIsWebServer"; // Case Sensitive		

 



	DirectoryEntry IIsObject = new DirectoryEntry(IIsObjectPath);			

	

	DirectoryEntry SiteRoot;

	foreach (DirectoryEntry Site in IIsObject.Children) 

	{

		if (Site.SchemaClassName == WebServerSchema)

		{

			SiteRoot = new DirectoryEntry(Site.Path + "/Root");

			

			dr = dt.NewRow();

			dr["IIsPath"] = Site.Path;

			dr["Name"] = Site.Properties["ServerComment"].Value.ToString(); 

			dr["Path"] = SiteRoot.Properties["Path"].Value.ToString();

			dr["DisplayName"] = SiteRoot.Path + "-" + Site.Properties["ServerComment"].Value.ToString(); 

 

			dt.Rows.Add(dr);

		}

	}			

	return dt;

}

Just bind it to a datagrid... '
goodluck

ApplicationProtection Property.

Kent Moyle

17:49 28 May '03

I am trying to set the Application Protection, however I have not been able to find the correct property name. Can anyone point me in the right direction? If anyone can do the deletion as well that would be great too. Thanks in anticipation, Kent
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