How to Manage IIS Servers Remotely

Managing several IIS servers can be overwhelming if you have to RDP to each server to perform your tasks. Unfortunately, there are many IT professionals still doing it the hard way by not taking advantage of this capability to manage IIS servers from their workstations.

Using IIS Manager for Remote Administration, you can manage remote IIS with the same experience as if you’re logged into the remote server since it has the same user interface.

As this setup is done on the client side where it will be used to manage the IIS servers from, make sure the remote server has its remote connections enabled under IIS Management Service (WMSVC).

After the remote server is properly configured, here are the steps to enable your workstation to manage remote IIS servers:

Steps

1. Download IIS Manager for Remote Administration.

   For a 64-bit OS, use the inetmgr_amd64_en-US.msi. The word ‘amd’ on amd64 has nothing to do with whether you are using Intel or AMD processor.

   

2. The first time you run it, you may see a dialog box with the following error:

   The IIS Management Console is not installed, but it is required for managing remote IIS Servers. Please install the IIS Management Console before installing the remote management support by opening the 'Control Panel->Programs->Turn Windows Features On or Off' and selecting the IIS Management Console in the Inet... [OK]
   If that’s the case, just click OK and install the IIS Management Console first before you continue.

3. Run the inetmgr_amd64_en-US.msi (substitute this with the file you downloaded if different) and just follow the instructions until the end.
4. You can find the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager under Control Panel and Administrative Tools.
5. If you did not install IIS Remote Administration, IIS Manager can only be used to manage the IIS on your local PC. Remote Administration gives you an additional ability to connect to a different server (Connect to a Server…) as shown below:

   

The IIS Manager for Remote Administration 1.2 (inetmgr_amd64_en-US.msi) works on the 64-bit version of Windows 10, although it’s not mentioned in its System Requirements.

Downloads

IIS Manager for Remote Administration 1.2
IIS Manager for Remote Administration 1.2 Direct Download

Further Reading

How to Manage IIS Servers Remotely with WMSVC
How to Install IIS Management Console on Windows