FIX: Incoming client may not be processed when the worker process for an application pool is recycled in IIS 6.0

Incoming client requests may not be processed as expected when the worker process for an application pool is recycled in Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0.

This problem occurs because the client request is received after the recycle operation for the process has started but before the process handle is closed.

Service pack information

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows Server 2003. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Hotfix information

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites to apply this hotfix.

Restart requirement

You must restart the computer after you apply this hotfix.

Hotfix replacement information

This hotfix does not replace any other hotfixes.

File information

The English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later file attributes) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.

Windows Server 2003. Itanium Architecture

Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1, Itanium Architecture

Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1, x64

Windows Server 2003, x86

Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1, x86

To work around this problem, disable HTTP Keep-Alives. To do this, follow these steps:

Note Disabling HTTP Keep-Alives may adversely affect server performance.

1. Start IIS Manager.
2. Expand ServerName.
   
   Note ServerName represents the name of the Web server.
3. Right-click the Web site that you want to modify, and then click Properties.
4. On the Web Site tab, click to clear the Enable HTTP Keep-Alives check box, and then click OK.
5. Quit IIS Manager.

For more information about how to use HTTP Keep-Alives, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: To limit the occurrence of this problem, disable application pool recycling or extend the period between occurrences of application pool recycling. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Start IIS Manager.
2. Expand ServerName.
   
   Note ServerName represents the name of the Web server.
3. Right-click the Application Pool that you want to modify, and then click Properties.
4. On the Recycling tab, click to clear all check boxes to disable recycling for the Application Pool or to increase the limits specified for any selected criteria to decrease the frequency of application pool recycling.
5. Quit IIS Manager.

When a client connects to an IIS Web server, the connection is bound to a process. The client uses this connection to the process for all subsequent requests as long as the process is still in the application pool.

However, the process does not accept subsequent connections after the shutdown process is initiated. Therefore, a connection may be lost if a request is received after the shutdown procedure for the process starts but before the process is removed from the application pool list.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section. This problem was first corrected in Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2.