How to deploy my WCF service on IIS 6.0?

Question

I am completely new to WCF and deploying of services. I am having trouble setting up my service on IIS 6.0.

I need the exact steps to deploy my WCF service on IIS 6.0.

Note: I created a WCF service application...

So, what is the exact steps i need to follow to deploy my wcf service on IIS 6.0?

Answer 1

You have basically two options, I believe:

Option 1 - "bin" deploy (preferred option)

1. compile your WCF service into a DLL (class library)
2. create a website in IIS6
3. copy the WCF DLL's into the website's .\bin folder
4. create a *.svc file in that website
5. add an appropriate web.config in the website folder to define your endpoints and service configuration etc.

Your WCF service will now be reachable at the website's base address, plus the name of the *.svc file, e.g.

http://myserver/someweb/Myservice.svc

Your *.svc would look something like this:

<%@ ServiceHost Language="C#" Debug="true" 
    Service="WCF_Simple_Service.HelloIndigoService"  %>

The Service= attributes denotes the class implementing the service - fully qualified with its namespace.

Option 2 - put stuff into App_Code

1. create a website in IIS6
2. put all your WCF related *.cs files directly into the .\App_Code folder
3. create a *.svc file in that website
4. add an appropriate web.config in the website folder to define your endpoints and service configuration etc.

Your WCF service will now be reachable at the website's base address, plus the name of the *.svc file, e.g.

http://myserver/someweb/Myservice.svc

Your *.svc would look something like this:

<%@ ServiceHost Language="C#" Debug="true" 
    Service="Service" 
    CodeBehind="~/App_Code/Service.cs" %>

A simple, sample web.config might look something like this:

<system.serviceModel>
    <behaviors>
        <serviceBehaviors>
            <behavior name="WithDebug">
                <serviceMetadata httpGetEnabled="true" />
                <serviceDebug includeExceptionDetailInFaults="true" />
            </behavior>
        </serviceBehaviors>
    </behaviors>
    <serviceHostingEnvironment multipleSiteBindingsEnabled="true" />
  <services>
    <service name="SimpleWCF.HelloIndigoService" behaviorConfiguration="true">
      <endpoint
          address=""
          binding="basicHttpBinding"
          contract="SimpleWCF.IHelloIndigoService" />
      <endpoint
          address="mex"
          binding="mexHttpBinding"
          contract="IMetadataExchange" />
    </service>
  </services>
</system.serviceModel>

You basically define your <service> tag - and again: the name= denotes the class implementing the service - fully qualified with its namespace. It must contain at least one endpoint - since IIS6 only support HTTP, you can use basicHttpBinding or wsHttpBinding and that's about all there is. A "mex" endpoint is optional - but very useful, especially for development and testing. It allows client to "discover" the service and get its service description so it can interface with it.

Once your service is deployed in IIS, you can see it in action using a tool like the WCF Test Client that ships for free with WCF, or SoapUI which is a general-purpose SOAP testing utility (with a free edition for you to use).