IIS 6.0: IIS Admin Service Does Not Start After Upgrade (332103)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Internet Information Services version 6.0, when used with:
    • the operating system: Microsoft Windows Server 2003
This article was previously published under Q332103

SYMPTOMS

When you upgrade from Windows 2000 with Internet Information Services (IIS) to Windows Server 2003, the IIS Admin Service may not start. If you try to start the IIS services manually, you receive the following error message:
Could not start the IIS Admin Service service on Local Computer.Error 2: The System cannot find the file specified.
You receive the following message in the Manage Your Server Wizard, even if the server is not part of a cluster:
Cluster Nodes Cannot Be Managed with Manage Your Server. Because this server is a member of a server cluster (also called a cluster node), you cannot manage it with Manage Your Server.
The following errors are logged in the system event log:Event ID: 7023
Source: Service Control Manager
Description: The IIS Admin Service service terminated with the following error:
The system cannot find the file specified.
Event ID: 7001
Source: Service Control Manager
Description: The World Wide Web Publishing Service service depends on the IIS Admin Service service which failed to start because of the following error:
The system cannot find the file specified.

CAUSE

This may occur if permissions on the \Inetpub\Adminscripts directory deny full control to the System account.

Because Metabase.bin was not converted to Metabase.xml, there is currently no known way to preserve configuration settings in IIS.

Note Renaming or deleting the Adminscripts directory before upgrade does not cause this behavior.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, restore full control of the \Inetpub\Adminscripts folder to the local system account, and then remove and reinstall IIS:
  1. In Windows Explorer, right-click the \Inetpub\Adminscripts directory.
  2. Click Sharing and Security. On the Security tab, if the local system account is not listed, add it and grant the account full control.
  3. Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Add/Remove Programs.
  4. Click Add/Remove Windows Components.
  5. Double-click Application Server, click to clear the Internet Information Services (IIS) check box, click OK, and then click Next to remove IIS.
  6. If you are prompted, restart the server.
  7. In the Application Server section of Add/Remove Windows Components, click to select the Internet Information Services (IIS)check box to reinstall IIS.

MORE INFORMATION

This specific error may occur because the Inetpub\Adminscripts folder does not have sufficient permissions for the System account. However, other problems may occur if other folders do not allow full control for the System account.

By default, the System account has full control of all directories and files. Removing the System account from file and folder permissions may result in unexpected behavior and is not recommended.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:7/28/2003
Keywords:kbpending kbprb KB332103
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