Monitoring IIS Web Servers with Nodinite

Empower Your IT Operations with Proactive IIS Monitoring

Managing IIS environments efficiently is critical for maintaining web application performance and uptime. With Nodinite, you can monitor, analyze, and take action on IIS Web Servers, Web Sites, Application Pools, and IIS Log Files—all from a single interface. Avoid the hassle of RDP connections, administrative access requests, and VPN tunnels while ensuring continuous service availability.

Example list of monitored IIS Resources in a Role-based Nodinite Monitor View.

💲Why Choose Nodinite for IIS Monitoring?

✅ Proactive Issue Detection – Automatically discover and monitor IIS components with configurable state evaluations.
✅ Centralized Management – Control IIS services remotely without logging into servers.
✅ Auto-Healing Capabilities – Set up automated actions to clean logs and restart services before they impact users.
✅ Enhanced Security & Compliance – Reduce the need for direct server access, lowering the risk of misconfigurations and security breaches.

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❓What’s Monitored?

✅ IIS Services (W3wp.exe) – Ensure your web server is running optimally.
✅ Web Sites – Track availability and detect performance issues.
✅ Application Pools – Prevent downtime by monitoring and managing app pool states.
✅ IIS Log Files – Avoid excessive disk usage with automated log cleanup actions.

🛠️How It Works

Nodinite’s Windows Server Monitoring Agent leverages WMI for automatic discovery of IIS-related components. Each monitored item appears as a Resource in Nodinite Monitor Views and is evaluated based on predefined thresholds:

• OK – Service is running normally.
• Warning – A potential issue is detected (e.g., large log files).
• Error – Immediate attention required (e.g., stopped service, excessive log usage).
• Unavailable – The server cannot be reached.

The Application name of the Resource is based on the display name for the configuration name for monitored Windows Server:

Note

Depending on the user-defined synchronization interval set for the Windows Server Monitoring Agent, there might be a delay before Nodinite Web Client/Monitor Views reflects upon the change. Click the Sync All button (or on the dropdown for individual agent selection) to force Nodinite to request a resynchronization request.

To speed up the synchronization, click the Sync button.

Option to force Nodinite to request a resynchronization request

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⚡Take Action with Remote Management

Avoid unnecessary manual intervention and control IIS environments remotely with Nodinite’s Remote Actions.

• IIS Service (W3wp.exe) Actions
  • Clean IIS Logs^{New 6.2.2.0} – Remove logs older than 4 days, 1 week, or 1 month.
  • View Performance Counters – Get real-time insights into IIS performance metrics.
• Web Site Management
  • Start/Stop/Restart websites to resolve issues quickly.
  • List Applications running under each website.
• Application Pool Management
  • Start/Stop/Recycle application pools to maintain performance and uptime

There are different Remote Actions available depending on the type of Category:

List of IIS related categories as filter in a Monitor View.

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📝 Configuration & Customization

Tailor monitoring settings to fit your needs:

• Manage thresholds for IIS log file monitoring.
• Customize expected states for each monitored resource.
• Enable or disable monitoring at the server level.

Use the Nodinite Monitor Views feature to share selective access with different teams, ensuring visibility without compromising security.

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Enhance Operational Efficiency Today

Nodinite eliminates the need for RDP access, VPN tunnels, and complex credentials just to check IIS status. Empower your IT team with a streamlined, automated, and security-conscious approach to IIS monitoring and management.

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IIS (W3WP.exe)

For the Web Server, IIS (W3WP.exe) category, the monitored state evaluates as described in the table below:

	State	Status	Description	Actions
	Unavailable	Service not available	If the server can't be reached and evaluated either due to network or security-related problems	Review prerequisites
	Error	Error state raised	The 'Site' is in the stopped state The total size of the IIS Log files exceed the Error limit	Clean IIS Logs > 4 days Clean IIS Logs > 1 week Clean IIS Logs > 1 month
	Warning	Warning state raised	The total size of the IIS Log files exceed the Warning limit	Clean IIS Logs > 4 days Clean IIS Logs > 1 week Clean IIS Logs > 1 month
	OK	Online	The 'IIS' accessible and is in the started state The total size of the IIS Log files are less than the Monitoring thresholds	IIS Performance Counters Details Edit

Actions for IIS

The following Remote Actions are available for the IIS Category:

• IIS Performance Counters
• Details^{New 6.2.2.0}
• Edit^{New 6.2.2.0}
• Clean IIS Logs > 4 days^{New 6.2.2.0}
• Clean IIS Logs > 1 week^{New 6.2.2.0}
• Clean IIS Logs > 1 month^{New 6.2.2.0}
  
  Here's an example of available Remote Actions for the IIS Category.

IIS Performance Counters

You can view some statistics about the selected IIS instance, simply click on the Action button and then click on the IIS Performance Counters menu item within the 'Control Center' section.

Show IIS statistics, using the 'IIS Performance Counters' action.

Next, click the option to present the modal.

Here's an example of ASP.NET performance counters.

This modal is designed for the purpose of being used as a Widget in the Dashboard.

IIS Details

^{New 6.2.2.0}
Click the 'Details' menu item in the 'Actions' button to open a screen with information about the selected IIS instance.

Next, click the option to present the modal.

Here's an example of the details page for the selected IIS instance.

On this page you can click on any of the buttons to clean the IIS Log files:

• Clean IIS Logs > 4 days^{New 6.2.2.0}
• Clean IIS Logs > 1 week^{New 6.2.2.0}
• Clean IIS Logs > 1 month^{New 6.2.2.0}

IIS Edit

^{New 6.2.2.0}
Click the 'Edit' menu item in the 'Actions' button to open a screen with information about the IIS Log Files Monitoring for the selected IIS instance.

• Enabled - When checked, IIS Log files monitoring is enabled, otherwise it is not. In the disabled state, related administrative features are also disabled
• Description - User-friendly description about the IIS Log Files Monitoring configuration
• Warning - Set the threshold for maximum total size before triggering a Warning alert
• Error - Set the threshold for maximum total size before triggering a Error alert

Here's an example of the Edit screen from where you can adjust the IIS Log Files Monitoring thresholds.

IIS Log Files Monitoring

When the total size exceed any of the Monitoring thresholds the IIS-Resources evaluate accordingly. Below is an example:

Here's an example of a Warning when IIS Log Files exceed the Warning limit.

IIS Clean 4 Days

^{New 6.2.2.0}
Click the 'IIS Clean 4 Days' menu item in the 'Actions' button to remove IIS Log Files older than 4 days.

IIS Clean 1 Week

^{New 6.2.2.0}
Click the 'IIS Clean 1 Week' menu item in the 'Actions' button to remove IIS Log Files older than one week.

IIS Clean 1 Month

^{New 6.2.2.0}
Click the 'IIS Clean 1 Month' menu item in the 'Actions' button to remove IIS Log Files older than 1 month (31 days).

Web Sites

For the Web Sites, (IIS - Web Sites) category, the monitored state evaluates as described in the table below:

	State	Status	Description	Actions
	Unavailable	Service not available	If the server can't be reached and evaluated either due to network or security-related problems	Review prerequisites
	Error	Error state raised	The 'Web Site' is in the stopped state	Start Restart List Applications
	Warning	Warning state raised	Not implemented	N/A
	OK	Online	The 'Web Site' is in the started state	Stop Restart List Applications

Actions for IIS Web Sites

For the IIS Web Sites Category, the Windows Server Monitoring Agent provides the following Remote Actions:

• List Applications
• Start
• Stop
• Restart

List of Actions for Web Sites.

List Applications

Select the List Applications option to get a list of current Applications and the status of the configured App Pool:

Next, the Windows Server Monitoring Agent contacts the IIS instance and fetches information about the Web Site as requested. The result appears on the screen.

Here's an example of IIS Applications for the selected Web Site.

The following actions exist:

• Start
• Stop
• Restart

Remote Actions for an IIS Application.

Start Application Pool

Stop Application Pool

Recycle Application Pool

Start Web Site

Start the selected Web Site.

You will then be prompted to continue with the operation.

Next, the Windows Server Monitoring Agent contacts the IIS instance and starts the Web Site as requested. The result appears on the screen.

Here's an example of successful start Web Site operation

Stop Web Site

Stop the selected Web Site.

You will then be prompted to continue with operation.

The Windows Server Monitoring Agent contacts the IIS instance and stops the Web Site. The result appears on the screen.

Restart Web Site

Restarts the selected Web Site.

You will then be prompted to continue with operation.

The Windows Server Monitoring Agent contacts the IIS instance and stops the Web Site. The result appears on the screen.

Here's an example of successful Restart Web Site operation.

Warning

Restarting a Web Site is much more resource intensive and may affect many other applications. If possible, opt to recycle individual application pools instead

App Pools

For IIS Application Pools, (IIS - Application Pool) category, the monitored state evaluates as described in the table below:

	State	Status	Description	Actions
	Unavailable	Service not available	If the server can't be reached and evaluated either due to network or security-related problems	Review prerequisites
	Error	Error state raised	The 'App Pool' is in the stopped state	Start
	Warning	Warning state raised	Not implemented	N/A
	OK	Online	The 'App Pool' is in the started state	Stop Recycle

Tip

The evaluated state may be reconfigured using the Expected State functionality on every Resource within Nodinite.

Actions for IIS App Pools

For the IIS App Pools Category, the Windows Server Monitoring Agent provides the following Remote Actions:

• Start
• Stop
• Recycle

Here's an example of Remote Actions available from the Actions button in the Monitor Views.

Start App Pool

Start the selected App Pool.

You will then be prompted to continue with the operation.

Next, the Windows Server Monitoring Agent contacts the IIS instance and starts the App Pool as requested. The result appears on the screen.

Here's an example of a successful start app pool operation

Stop App Pool

Stop the selected App Pool.

You will then be prompted to continue with operation.

The Windows Server Monitoring Agent contacts the IIS instance and stops the App Pool. The result appears on the screen.

Recycle App Pool

Recycles the selected App Pool.

You will then be prompted to continue with the operation.

The Windows Server Monitoring Agent contacts the IIS instance and stops the App Pool. The result appears on the screen.

Here's an example of a successful recycle app pool operation

Here's an example of a failed recycle app pool operation

The root cause for failing to recycle, can be either that the App Pool is currently stopped or configured with a user name / password combination that is incorrect. Review the IIS logs and the Windows Server event log for further troubleshooting.

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Configuration

Use the Remote Configuration to manage the IIS configuration.

IIS Tab

Click the IIS tab to manage IIS related Monitoring options.

Here's an example of the 'IIS' tab

Within the IIS tab you have the following sub-tabs:

• Basic
• IIS Log Files

IIS Basic tab

From within the IIS basic tab, you can manage essential settings for IIS Monitoring.

• Enable Monitoring of IIS on this server - When checked, the state of the IIS, Web Sites and Application Pools is evaluated. If not checked, the IIS Monitoring is not enabled.
• Description - User-friendly short description for this configuration.

IIS Log Files tab

^{New 6.2.2.0}
From within the 'IIS Log Files' tab, you can manage essential settings for IIS Log Files Monitoring.

Here's an example of the 'Log Files' Monitoring Tab.

• Enable IIS Log Files Monitoring - When checked, Monitor the total size of the IIS log files.
• Description - User-friendly short description for this configuration.
• Total size (MB) - Warning - When the total size exceed this threshold, a Warning is triggered.
• Total size (MB) - Error - When the total size exceed this threshold, an Error is triggered.

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Next Step

Add or manage Monitor View

Related Topics

Windows Server Monitoring Agent
Resources
Monitoring
Monitor Views