Backup of Metabase.bin Does Not Back Up IIS Configuration (332106)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Internet Information Services version 6.0
This article was previously published under Q332106

SYMPTOMS

When an administrator backs up the Metabase.bin file in Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0, this does not back up the IIS configuration.

CAUSE

Microsoft IIS 4.0 and Microsoft IIS 5.0 store current configuration information in the Metabase.bin binary file. Metabase.bin resides in the following location:

%systemroot%\SYSTEM32\INETSRV

However, in IIS 6.0, this single binary file (Metabase.bin) has been replaced with two XML files named Metabase.xml and MBSchema.xml. These two files are also located in %systemroot%\SYSTEM32\INETSRV. The INETSRV folder also contains the Metaback folder. The Metaback folder contains backups created in the Internet Service Manager (ISM), and the History folder contains backups that were created automatically by IIS.

Note Metabase.bin still exists in the INETSRV folder for backward compatibility. Some backup utilities may be designed to report a failed backup if they cannot copy Metabase.bin. In IIS 6.0, Metabase.bin contains no information about IIS and cannot be used to restore your IIS configuration.

MORE INFORMATION

To make sure that you have a backup that can be used to restore IIS 6.0 to a previous configuration, configure your backup software to copy the whole INETSRV folder.

For more information about how to back up and restore the IIS 6.0 metabase, see your product documentation. To view this documentation, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/IIS/6/all/proddocs/en-us/Default.asp?url=/resources/documentation/IIS/6/all/proddocs/en-us/mb_rely_reliability.asp

REFERENCES

For additional information about how to back up the IIS Metabase, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

324277 HOW TO: Create a Metabase Backup by Using IIS 6.0 in Windows Server 2003

815435 Metabase.bin File Is Not Created on Clean Installations of IIS 6.0

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:4/13/2004
Keywords:kbprb KB332106 kbAudDeveloper
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