How to set Allow Parent Paths in IIS Express Config

Question

I'm assuming this is possible in the applicationhost.config file but I did not see a parent paths setting.

How do you allow parent paths for a specific site running under IIS Express?

Orobanchaceous

Answer 1

Browse to C:\Documents and Settings\$your user name$\My Documents\IISExpress\config

Open applicationHost.config

Find the <system.webServer> section

Change the <asp> section to the following… By default it only had the cache and empty limits bits but feel free to adjust any parameters you don't want.

<asp 
     enableParentPaths="true" 
     bufferingOn="true" 
     errorsToNTLog="true" 
     appAllowDebugging="true" 
     appAllowClientDebug="true" 
     scriptErrorSentToBrowser="true">

     <session allowSessionState="true" />
     <cache diskTemplateCacheDirectory="%TEMP%\iisexpress\ASP Compiled Templates" />
     <limits />
</asp>

Save and restart iis express.

Benthos

Thanks! What Windows OS does your answer apply? – Orobanchaceous

this was actually on windows xp but should apply anywhere as I believe this is the default install settings for iis express – Benthos

@Benthos I know, it has been a while since you answer it but I got the same problem, changed the asp section as you said but I get still the same error, do you have any idea? you can see my question under that link #20108576 thanks in advance – Brisson

You have to change the real asp section inside system.webServer, not the one in the commented section on the top of the applicationhost.config file. – Asteriated

Windows 8.1 x64 + Web Matrix. Works – Spacing

Note, that on Windows 8.1, the path is C:\Users\$your_name$\Documents\IISExpress\config. – Donee

I had to: find <sectionGroup name="system.webServer">. There are a bunch of elements with attribute overrideModeDefault. I had to change from Deny to Allow for the settings I was trying to change. – Harvell

As of VS 2015, there is now a .vs folder that contains the applicationhost.config file. gyorgybalassy.wordpress.com/2015/03/06/… – Henrietta

Answer 2

The following should get you going.

• On 32bit system "%programfiles%\iis express\appcmd" set config "Default Web Site/myapp -section:asp -enableParentPaths:true

• On 64 bit system"%programfiles(x86)%\iis express\appcmd" set config "Default Web Site/myapp -section:asp -enableParentPaths:true

Link to related IIS 7 config reference: http://www.iis.net/ConfigReference/system.webServer/asp

Borderer

thanks very much. I tried to find that very page but was not successful. – Orobanchaceous

"Default Web Site/myapp -- where's the closing " go? – Helli

Can you be more specific. I got Can not set attribute "enableParentPaths" to value "true".. Reason: This configuration section cannot be used at this path. This happens when the section is locked at a parent level. Locking is either by default (overrideModeDefault="Deny"), or set explicitly by a location tag with overrideMode="Deny" or the legacy allowOverride="false". – Cum

@Eduardo, try adding /commit:apphost – Lejeune

To bring it all together, execute this in PowerShell to enable parent paths for all IIS Express sites: $appcmd = 'C:\Program Files\IIS Express\appcmd.exe'; (& $appcmd list site) -replace '^[^"]+"', '' -replace '".*', '' | %{ & $appcmd set config $_ -section:asp -enableParentPaths:true /commit:apphost } – Wholism

Answer 3

If I'm not the only one still supporting .asp in 2022 AD with Visual Studio you may need to change the application.config in the hidden .vs[solution name]\config folder if the answer by @Flapper does not work.

What might be happening is that VS copies the root IIS application.config into .vs for the solution so any changes to the root would not impact an existing solution config. In my case I had to change the solution .config as well as the root IIS .config for it to work.

Deutoplasm

Answer 4

In my case, I'm runninig iisexpress from the command-line and @Flapper's solution and a few others didn't work, then I noticed iisexpress outputs the template config path when running from the command-line:

> "C:\Program Files (x86)\IIS Express\iisexpress.exe" /path:%cd% /port:8080 /clr:v2.0

Which outputs:

Copied template config file 'C:\Program Files (x86)\IIS Express\AppServer\applicationhost.config' to 'C:\Users\rcdmk\AppData\Local\Temp\iisexpress\applicationhost20244285325599.config'
Updated configuration file 'C:\Users\rcdmk\AppData\Local\Temp\iisexpress\applicationhost20244285325599.config' with given cmd line info.
Starting IIS Express ...
Successfully registered URL "http://localhost:8080/" for site "Development Web Site" application "/"
Registration completed
IIS Express is running.
Enter 'Q' to stop IIS Express

I updated that template file, located at C:\Program Files (x86)\IIS Express\AppServer\applicationhost.config with @Flapper's config and restarted the server, then it worked.

Asteriated