Knowledgebase

Hosting a custom domain on IIS (Internet Information Services) involves domain pointing, IIS website setup, and SSL binding. Below is a complete corporate-grade checklist to host a domain like www.yourcompany.com on IIS.

✅ 1. DNS Setup at Domain Registrar

At your domain provider (e.g., GoDaddy, Namecheap, etc.):

• Create an A Record:

  • Host: @ or www

  • Points to: Your public IP address (e.g., 123.45.67.89)

  • TTL: Default or 3600 seconds

✅ Optional: Add CNAME for www

makefile

CopyEdit

Name: www Type: CNAME Value: yourdomain.com

Ensure your IIS server has a static public IP (or use Dynamic DNS if not).

️ 2. Add Website in IIS

Step-by-step:

1. Open IIS Manager (inetmgr)

2. Right-click Sites → Add Website

3. Fill details:

   • Site name: YourDomain.com

   • Physical path: Point to folder (e.g., C:\inetpub\yourdomain)

   • Binding type: http

   • IP address: All Unassigned or specific internal IP

   • Port: 80

   • Hostname: yourdomain.com or www.yourdomain.com

4. Click OK

✅ Your domain is now hosted on port 80 (HTTP). Test with http://yourdomain.com.

3. Bind SSL (HTTPS) (Highly Recommended)

1. Import the SSL certificate into MMC > Certificates > Personal

2. Go back to IIS > Your site > Bindings

3. Click Add

   • Type: https

   • Port: 443

   • Hostname: yourdomain.com

   • SSL certificate: Choose your valid certificate

4. Click OK

You can also use Let’s Encrypt via win-acme or Certify The Web to automate free SSL setup.

4. Firewall & Port Forwarding

• On the IIS machine: allow inbound ports 80 and 443 in Windows Firewall.

• If behind a router or firewall:

  • Forward public port 80/443 to internal IP of IIS server.

5. Optional: Redirect www to non-www (or vice-versa)

Use URL Rewrite module in IIS:

• Create rewrite rule to redirect all www to non-www, or the reverse.

• Add canonical domain for SEO.

6. Final Test & Validation

Summary Table