HOW TO: Enable Client Pull for Web Servers, Sites, and Folders

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This article was previously published under Q240774

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http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/prodtech/IIS.mspx (http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/prodtech/IIS.mspx)

For more information about IIS 7.0, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.iis.net/default.aspx?tabid=1 (http://www.iis.net/default.aspx?tabid=1)

SUMMARY

This step-by-step article describes how to enable default client pull settings through the IIS user interface for a whole Web site, for a specific Web server, or for a Web folder. You can set client pull settings for a specific page by using HTML code, or you can enable client pull by using the IIS configuration settings. This article includes steps for Microsoft Windows NT 4.0, Microsoft Windows 2000, and Microsoft Windows XP.

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Uses for Client Pull

You can use client pull to do the following:

Enable a page for a Web site that a browser redirects to when an Active Server Pages (ASP) session has expired.
Force a browser to redirect to the default Web page in a folder after a few minutes.
Periodically force an Internet browser to reload a page automatically. Typically, this occurs on a page-by-page basis for a Web site using HTML.
Prevent browsers from viewing data that may be out of date, especially on sites where information is updated frequently. Client pull is implemented through the HTTP header REFRESH and can be used to redirect to another page.

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Use HTML Code to Enable Client Pull

To use HTML to enable client pull for a specific page, add a line similar to the following in the HEAD section (where CONTENT is the number of seconds before the page will auto-refresh):

To auto-load the same page:

<META HTTP-EQUIV="REFRESH" CONTENT="30">

To auto-load a different page, add a line similar to the following in the HEAD section (where CONTENT is the number of seconds before the page will auto-refresh and URL specifies the page that will be loaded when the refresh interval has been reached):
<META HTTP-EQUIV="REFRESH" CONTENT="30; URL=http://server/page.htm">

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Use the IIS Configuration to Enable Client Pull

Because the client pull functionality can be enabled through the IIS configuration, you can implement client pull without adding HTML code. When you enable client pull through the IIS configuration, the client pull values are returned as part of the HTTP headers, as in the following example:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Server: Microsoft-IIS/5.0
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 1999 21:00:00 GMT
REFRESH: 5
Connection: Keep-Alive
Content-Length: 1270
Content-Type: text/html
Cache-control: private

......

Use the following examples to enable the default client pull settings in the Internet Service Manager (ISM) snap-in for the Microsoft Management Console (MMC).

Open the ISM

On Windows NT 4.0:

Click Start, point to Programs, point to Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack, and then click Microsoft Internet Information Server.
Click Internet Service Manager to open the ISM console on your Web server.

On Windows 2000 or Windows XP:

Click Start, point to Programs, and then point to Administrative Tools.
Click Internet Services Manager to open the ISM console on your Web server.

Enable Client Pull for a Whole Web Server

On NT 4.0 or Windows 2000:

In the ISM, right-click the appropriate computer name, and then click Properties.
Click Edit to edit the master WWW properties.
Click the HTTP Headers tab.
Click Add in the Custom HTTP Headers section.
Type REFRESH in the Custom Header Name section.
Type the number of seconds in the Custom Header Value section.
Click OK until you return to the MMC.

On Windows XP:

In the ISM, right-click the Web Sites folder, and then click Properties.
Click the HTTP Headers tab.
Click Add in the Custom HTTP Headers section.
Type REFRESH in the Custom Header Name section.
Type the number of seconds in the Custom Header Value section.
Click OK until you return to the MMC.

Enable Client Pull for a Specific Web Site

In the ISM, expand the tree to view all Web sites.
Right-click the Web site that you want, and then click Properties.
Click the HTTP Headers tab.
Click Add in the Custom HTTP Headers section.
Type REFRESH in the Custom Header Name section.
Type the number of seconds in the Custom Header Value section.
Click OK until you return to the MMC.

Enable Client Pull for a Single Folder

In the ISM, expand the tree to view all Web sites.
Select the Web site that you want, and then locate the folder that you want to change.
Right-click the folder and select Properties.
Click the HTTP Headers tab.
Click Add in the Custom HTTP Headers section.
Type REFRESH in the Custom Header Name section.
Type the number of seconds in the Custom Header Value section.
Click OK until you return to the MMC.

In each of these examples, you can use the syntax for the Custom Header Value section of "seconds;URL=path" to specify a different page to redirect to.

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