How to manually restore the metabase when no proper backup exists or when the MMC does not start (234429)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Internet Information Server 5.0
  • Microsoft Internet Information Server 4.0
This article was previously published under Q234429
We strongly recommend that all users upgrade to Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) version 6.0 running on Microsoft Windows Server 2003. IIS 6.0 significantly increases Web infrastructure security. For more information about IIS security-related topics, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/prodtech/IIS.mspx

SUMMARY

To restore the metabase, it is recommended that you use the Restore action in the Microsoft Management Console (MMC). However, if no backup of the metabase was ever created by the MMC, or if the MMC cannot be started because the metabase has been corrupted too badly, you can attempt to manually restore the metabase by using one of the methods described in the "More Information" section.

MORE INFORMATION

Note You should back up the metabase regularly by using the Backup action in the MMC.

IIS 5.0

For more information about Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 5.0, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

300672 How to create a metabase backup in IIS 5

If a backup file created by the MMC is available

If the Backup action in the MMC was used to create a backup file (FileName.mdBackupNumber), but the MMC cannot be opened because the current metabase is corrupted, perform the following steps to manually restore the metabase from the FileName.mdBackupNumber file.
  1. Stop all IIS services and other services that rely on IIS, such as third-party applications or Microsoft Site Server.

    Note To stop IIS and its dependent services, use the NET STOP IISADMIN /Y command. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

    236166 Using NET STOP and NET START commands to force IIS services to re-read the registry

  2. Rename the corrupted metabase file, Metabase.bin, to a new name such as Metabase.bad. The Metabase.bin file is located in the %SystemRoot%\System32\Inetsrv folder.
  3. Copy the MMC backup metabase file, FileName.mdBackupNumber, which is located in the %SystemRoot%\System32\Inetsrv\Metaback folder, to the %SystemRoot%\System32\Inetsrv folder. Rename it to Metabase.bin.
  4. Restart the computer.

If an older copy of the Metabase.bin file exists

If no backup file that was created by the MMC is available, but an older copy of the Metabase.bin file exists elsewhere (typically on a system tape backup), perform the following steps:
  1. Stop all IIS services and other services that rely on IIS, such as third-party applications or Microsoft Site Server.

    Note To stop IIS and its dependent services, use the NET STOP IISADMIN /Y command. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

    236166 Using NET STOP and NET START commands to force IIS services to re-read the registry

  2. Rename the corrupted metabase file, Metabase.bin, to a new name such as Metabase.bad. The Metabase.bin file is located in the %SystemRoot%\System32\Inetsrv folder.
  3. Copy the older copy of the Metabase.bin file to the %SystemRoot%\System32\Inetsrv folder.
  4. Restart the computer.

If no MMC backup file or older copy of the Metabase.bin file exists

If no backup file that was created by the MMC is available, and no older copy of the Metabase.bin file exists, a temporary backup of the metabase may still exist.

When the metabase is updated through the MMC or another process, a temporary backup of the metabase may be created. If the update was interrupted (which is possibly the cause of the corruption in the first place), there is a chance that this temporary file may still exist.

This temporary file is named either Metabase.bak or Metabase.bin.bak, and is located in the %SystemRoot%\System32\Inetsrv folder. If this temporary file exists, perform the following steps to attempt to restore the metabase:
  1. Stop all IIS services and other services that rely on IIS, such as third-party applications or Microsoft Site Server.

    Note To stop IIS and its dependent services, use the NET STOP IISADMIN /Y command. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

    236166 Using NET STOP and NET START commands to force IIS services to re-read the registry

  2. Rename the corrupted metabase file, Metabase.bin, to a new name such as Metabase.bad. The Metabase.bin file is located in the %SystemRoot%\System32\Inetsrv folder.
  3. Rename the temporary backup file (Metabase.bak or Metabase.bin.bak) to Metabase.bin.
  4. Restart the computer.

If no metabase backup file exists

If no backup files of the metabase are available, the only way to restore IIS functionality is to do the following.

Note All IIS settings that are stored in the metabase will be lost.

IIS 4.0

  1. Uninstall the Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

    187870 How to remove and reinstall the Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack

  2. Uninstall Microsoft Internet Explorer.
  3. Delete the Metabase.bin file from the %SystemRoot\System32\Inetsrv\ folder.
  4. Install Internet Explorer.
  5. Install the Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack.

IIS 5.0

Uninstall and then reinstall IIS 5.0.



(c) Microsoft Corporation 2000, All Rights Reserved. Contributions by Kevin Zollman, Microsoft Corporation.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:8/8/2006
Keywords:kbhowto kbpending KB234429
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