IIS7 urlrewrite module - Rules in external xml file

Question

I'm using IIS7 UrlRewrite module. I set up my rules in the web.config <system.webServer><rewrite> section. I want to know if there's a way to define the rules in one external xml file instead of in web.config file. Thanks.

Solution 1

Yes, you can use the configSource attribute to point to an external file like you can with other web.config sections. In the web.config:

<rewrite>
    <rules configSource="Rewrite.config" />
</rewrite>

And in the rules config file:

<rules>
    <rule name="some rule">
        <!-- rule details here --->
    </rule>
</rules>

You can still even use the IIS manager to edit rules and it'll just work. One minor caveat with this approach: when you make a change and save an external file like this, it will not recycle the application like making a change to the web.config will. So if you're editing a rule and want to see it take effect, you need to manually poke the web.config by making an edit and saving it.

Another reference: Moving IIS7 url rewrite section out of the web.config file

Solution 2

You can use the sample URL Rewrite providers that include one for storing those in a separate file, see: http://www.iis.net/learn/extensions/url-rewrite-module/using-custom-rewrite-providers-with-url-rewrite-module

Comments

[Remy]

Not that I know of. Why would you need that?

[magnattic]

@Remy: Late response, but it increases readability of the web.config when you have a lot of rewrite rules. That's the reason for me anyway.

[Riccardo Bassilichi]

in IIS >= 7.5 remember to install URL Rewrite component from here iis.net/downloads/microsoft/url-rewrite

[magnattic]

Are you sure about the application not being recycled on external changes? There is another property on config sections called RestartOnExternalChanges and it defaults to true.

[Kurt Schindler]

@atticae I believe RestartOnExternalChanges applies only to custom defined <section> elements, which rewrite rules are not. forums.iis.net/t/1155629.aspx I'm not sure if anything has changed since then, this thread is from 2009...

[Valerio Gentile]

Unfortunately the IntelliSense in Rewrite.config does not work. Is there any way to solve this issue?

[Blue Clouds]

but that is for mappings. Config is used for another purpose, to set custom rules. sometimes we need to use a reg expression to all the url mappings we need then the only way is to include it in config.