Running Node.js on Microsoft IIS

Install Node on IIS

• Download IIS URL Rewrite (rewrite_amd64_de-DE.msi)
• Download nodeiis (iisnode-full-v0.2.21-x64.msi)

Configure web.config

So fare we have installed all required modules. Next we have to configure the web.config to process all requests by the iisnode handler.

<configuration>
  <system.webServer>

    <iisnode
      logDirectory="c:\inetpub\wwwroot\my-website\_data\iisnode"
      devErrorsEnabled="false"
      flushResponse="true"
      enableXFF="true" />

    <httpErrors existingResponse="PassThrough" />

    <handlers>
      <add name="iisnode" path="main.js" verb="*" modules="iisnode" />
    </handlers>

    <rewrite>
      <rules>
        <rule name="NodeApp">
          <match url=".*" />
          <action type="Rewrite" url="main.js" />
        </rule>
      </rules>
    </rewrite>

  </system.webServer>
</configuration>

Important settings

I highly recommend you to configure the following settings.

• httpErrors existingResponse="PassThrough"
  This will prevent, that IIS intercepts any response you send from your Node app.
  By default IIS will replace any response with 4XX and 5XX status codes.
• devErrorsEnabled="false"
  This will prevent from show sensitive data to the end user which is very important! Only practical in development environment.
• logDirectory
  While devErrorsEnabled should strictly be disabled/false in production. logDirectory will log all warnings and errors.
• flushResponse="true"
  This will send your response in chunks (not buffered) which means your page will render faster.
• enableXFF="true"
  This setting is required if you need the client/remote IP address. (req.headers['x-forwarded-for'])

web.config iisnode default values

<iisnode
  node_env="%node_env%"
  nodeProcessCountPerApplication="1"
  maxConcurrentRequestsPerProcess="1024"
  maxNamedPipeConnectionRetry="100"
  namedPipeConnectionRetryDelay="250"
  maxNamedPipeConnectionPoolSize="512"
  maxNamedPipePooledConnectionAge="30000"
  asyncCompletionThreadCount="0"
  initialRequestBufferSize="4096"
  maxRequestBufferSize="65536"
  watchedFiles="*.js;iisnode.yml"
  uncFileChangesPollingInterval="5000"
  gracefulShutdownTimeout="60000"
  loggingEnabled="true"
  logDirectory="iisnode"
  debuggingEnabled="true"
  debugHeaderEnabled="false"
  debuggerPortRange="5058-6058"
  debuggerPathSegment="debug"
  maxLogFileSizeInKB="128"
  maxTotalLogFileSizeInKB="1024"
  maxLogFiles="20"
  devErrorsEnabled="true"
  flushResponse="false"
  enableXFF="false"
  promoteServerVars=""
  configOverrides="iisnode.yml" />