Create virtual directories in IIS using VBScript

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

I created a cool little utility recently that creates or removes a virtual directory in IIS by passing in the folder and name. It has saved me a lot of time already, just in the last few days by allowing me to drag a folder onto it. When I drop a folder onto the script it will ask for the name of the virtual directory to create.

What I thought was kind of cool is the LaunchItInCScript() method. You see, when you run a script file from within WScript.exe (which is default for Windows XP) you don’t have access to the WScript.StdOut, WScript.StdIn, and WScript.StdErr objects. Since, this is a build utility and I don’t want any message boxes during a build I only want to output the status to the console.

The LaunchItInCScript() method will run the same script file via cscript.exe then close itself. This way I can double-click the script in Windows Explorer and it will automatically run it within cscript.exe, instead of WScript. (I know that I can change the Windows script host default from WScript.exe to cscript.exe, but for most utilities I prefer them to run in WScript.exe with a user-interface.)


Sub CreateVDir(folderPath, virtualDirName)
  On Error Resume Next
  Dim objIIS
  Set objIIS = GetObject("IIS://localhost/W3SVC/1/Root")

  If Err.Number <> 0 Then
     WScript.StdOut.WriteLine "Could not connect to IIS. Is IIS installed?"
     Exit Sub
  End If
  On Error Goto 0

  On Error Resume Next
  Set oVirDir = objIIS.Create("IIsWebVirtualDir", virtualDirName)
  If Err.Number <> 0 Then
     ' most likely the vdir already exists.
     WScript.StdOut.WriteLine "Could not create the '" & virtualDirName & "' virtual directory. Does it already exist?"
     Exit Sub
  End If
  On Error Goto 0

  oVirDir.Path = folderPath
  oVirDir.SetInfo
  oVirDir.AuthAnonymous = True
  oVirDir.AccessWrite = False
  oVirDir.AccessRead = True
  oVirDir.AccessExecute = True
  oVirDir.AccessScript = True
  oVirDir.AppCreate True
  oVirDir.SetInfo

  WScript.StdOut.WriteLine "The '" & virtualDirName & "' virtual directory was created at '" & folderPath & "'."

  Set oVirDir = Nothing
  Set objIIS = Nothing
End Sub

I actually had one script file, but decided to simplify the code by making two separate files; CreateVDir.vbs and DeleteVDir.vbs. This script creates a virtual directory from the folder and name passed into it.

Sub CreateVDir(folderPath, virtualDirName)
On Error Resume Next
Dim objIIS
Set objIIS = GetObject("IIS://localhost/W3SVC/1/Root")

If Err.Number <> 0 Then
WScript.StdOut.WriteLine "Could not connect to IIS. Is IIS installed?"
Exit Sub
End If
On Error Goto 0

On Error Resume Next
Set oVirDir = objIIS.Create("IIsWebVirtualDir", virtualDirName)
If Err.Number <> 0 Then
' most likely the vdir already exists.
WScript.StdOut.WriteLine "Could not create the '" & virtualDirName & "' virtual directory. Does it already exist?"
Exit Sub
End If
On Error Goto 0

oVirDir.Path = folderPath
oVirDir.SetInfo
oVirDir.AuthAnonymous = True
oVirDir.AccessWrite = False
oVirDir.AccessRead = True
oVirDir.AccessExecute = True
oVirDir.AccessScript = True
oVirDir.AppCreate True
oVirDir.SetInfo

WScript.StdOut.WriteLine "The '" & virtualDirName & "' virtual directory was created at '" & folderPath & "'."

Set oVirDir = Nothing
Set objIIS = Nothing
End Sub

The DeleteVDir.vbs calls either of the two following methods based on whether or not the argument passed in is recognized as a folder. If it is recognized as a folder it calls DeleteVDirPath(), otherwise it calls DeleteVDir().

Function DeleteVDirPath(parent, virtualDirPath)
Dim bRet : bRet = False
Dim ChildObject
Dim ChildObjectName
Dim subName
Dim obj

On Error Resume Next
Dim objIIS
Set objIIS = GetObject(parent) ' "IIS://localhost/W3SVC/1/Root"

If Err.Number <> 0 Then
WScript.StdOut.WriteLine parent & vbCrLf & "Could not connect to IIS. Is IIS installed?"
WScript.Quit
End If
On Error Goto 0

For Each ChildObject In objIIS
If Err.number <> 0 Then
Err.Clear
End If

If ChildObject.Class = "IIsWebVirtualDir" Then ' Or ChildObject.Class = "IIsWebDirectory"
ChildObjectName = Right(ChildObject.AdsPath, Len(ChildObject.AdsPath) - InStrRev(ChildObject.AdsPath, "Root") - 4)
subName = Right(ChildObjectName, Len(ChildObjectName) - InStrRev(ChildObjectName, "/"))

If CStr(ChildObject.Path) = virtualDirPath Then
On Error Resume Next
objIIS.Delete "IIsWebVirtualDir", subName
If Err.Number <> 0 Then
WScript.StdOut.WriteLine "Could not delete '" & virtualDirName & "'"
bRet = False
Exit For
Else
WScript.StdOut.WriteLine "The '" & virtualDirPath & "' virtual directory has been removed."
bRet = True
Exit For
End If
On Error Goto 0
End If

If DeleteVDirPath(parent & "/" & subName, virtualDirPath) Then
bRet = True
Exit For
End If
End If
Next

DeleteVDirPath = bRet

Set objIIS = Nothing
End Function