We have a known leaky application running on our Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 5.0 server. Periodically, we need to restart the server to free up memory. How can we set IIS to restart when not enough memory is available?
Microsoft has provided a useful utility for such situations. The IIS 5.0 Process Recycling Tool (IIS5Recycle.exe) runs as a service on Windows 2000 and lets you schedule restarts according to criteria you provide. For more information about this free tool or to download it, visit http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/release.asp?releaseid=31106.
The tool runs from a command line and has two switches. The command
installs the IIS5Recycle service. The command
brings up the recycle tool's configuration screen, which lets you set the following parameters:
You can also set up the tool to run a program or script before and after the tool recycles IIS, which is useful for running further testing scripts, sending alerts, and making log entries. A reporting-only mode lets you configure the tool to report when it's triggered but to take no other action. I like this feature because you can study the tool's effects before implementing it.
Another useful resource is Microsoft Application Center 2000. Application Center implements health monitoring for Web-based applications and goes well beyond the IIS 5.0 Process Recycling Tool's capabilities.
FASTFACT
68% of 1192 respondents to an Instant Poll at www.windowswebsolutions.com have upgraded to IIS 5.0.