BJ's TechnoBlog

An error occurred while creating the IIS virtual directory during Exchange 2007 setup

Trying to setup Exchange 2007, you get an error that basically states:
An error occurred while creating the IIS virtual directory 'IIS://mailserver.yourserver.com/W3SVC/
1/ROOT/owa' on 'mailserver'.

You try to uninstall the Client Access Role (CAS) but alas! you can only do maintenance once you install Exchange 2007...and you get the same error (over and over and over...)

I suspect that the base problem is that IIS is running in 32-bit compatibility mode; Exchange 2007 only runs on 64-bit processors; but you can't fix it and you can't find it.

Is there help!

Yes!




However, once you start the install, how do you wipe out the CAS and start over?

That old fallback - command line tools!


Check out this link:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb124273.aspx
It tells you how to do cool stuff!



For example, to remove the Client Access server role from an existing server, type the following:

%LocalExchangeInstallationDir%\bin\Setup.com /role:ClientAccess /Mode:Uninstall



(My %blahblahblah% didn't work, so I did a CD to the Exchange program directory and type it in manually)

It killed the role! I could reinstall! So, I ran setup again (note, this process will wipe out the setup files cached on your drive, and you will need the installation media *or* the downloaded programs to continue).

After wiping out CAS, during the reinstall the IIS error popped up, and I had to follow the recommended action, which was:

***--***

Microsoft® Exchange Server 2007 setup cannot continue because the Microsoft Internet Information Service (IIS) is running in 32-bit mode on this 64-bit computer.

Exchange 2007 requires that IIS be in full 64-bit mode when it runs on a 64-bit computer.

To resolve this issue, switch IIS to 64-bit mode, and then rerun Microsoft Exchange setup.

To switch IIS to 64-bit mode

Open a command prompt.

Type the following:

cscript c:\inetpub\adminscripts\adsutil.vbs SET /w3svc/AppPools/Enable32BitAppOnWin64 False

Press enter

*** Then it worked!!!!! ***



Hope that helps.



-Brian

posted by The LoneStranger rides again! @ 11:40 PM