Apache mod_rewrite for IIS

March 24, 2005

mod_rewrite is easily my favorite module for Apache. You can use it to create very clean urls, and you can even use it for security validation.

So what to do if your on a Microsoft IIS server? There are a few commercial ISAPI modules that I found:

ISAPI ReWrite - this one seams to be the most popular, they also have a free lite edition.
IIS Rewrite
Mod Rewrite for IIS

Are there any other ISAPI url rewriting filters that I am missing?

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Comments

On 03/24/2005 at 4:47:37 PM EST CXL wrote:

ISAPI ReWrite rocks!

On 03/25/2005 at 10:00:38 AM EST Emanuel Costa wrote:

We use ISAPI ReWrite as well and we like it a lot. I wonder why Micro$oft don't add this by default on IIS.

On 03/25/2005 at 12:01:08 PM EST Walt Sparrow-Hood wrote:

http://tuckey.org/urlrewrite/

On 06/20/2005 at 7:46:05 AM EDT Patrick McElhaney wrote:

Steer clear of Mod_Rewrite for IIS. It's garbage. I couldn't get it to work and they never reply to emails.

On 08/15/2005 at 8:37:33 AM EDT smart wrote:

Try URL Rewrite (ISAPI Filter for IIS) http://www.smalig.com/url_rewrite/

On 10/12/2005 at 4:55:43 AM EDT cheeso wrote:

Ionic's ISAPI Rewrite Filter (IIRF). http://www.download.com/Ionic-s-ISAPI-Rewriting-Filter/3000-2648_4-10417963.html

Free. Source available. No MFC. Regular Expressions.

On 11/26/2005 at 9:36:03 AM EST Seth wrote:

If you're using ASP.NET, you may want to try http://urlrewriter.net/

On 12/05/2005 at 4:07:00 PM EST Gary Williams wrote:

What's wrong with Mod_Rewrite? I got it to work and it seems to work just fine. Personally, I think this is the way to go as for the free options.

On 01/23/2006 at 9:26:31 AM EST Daniel wrote:

I tried using the free mod_rewrite (http://www.iismods.com/url-rewrite/) with IIS6 on a server that has cold fusion installed and the w3wp.exe process that executes the mod_rewrite.dll kept crashing. There's that problem, and I couldn't figure out how to get the RewriteCond condition rules to work properly, but that might have been me. Just a warning...

On 01/29/2006 at 7:37:12 AM EST Dave wrote:

Will any of these options work with cold fusion mx on an ISS server?

On 01/29/2006 at 1:15:10 PM EST Pete Freitag wrote:

Yes they should work fine with ColdFusion, I have used isapi rewrite with CF on IIS and it worked great. I haven't tested the other options but I would suspect they would also work just fine.

On 02/02/2006 at 6:38:10 AM EST Peter wrote:

"I tried using the free mod_rewrite (http://www.iismods.com/url-rewrite/) with IIS6 on a server that has cold fusion installed and the w3wp.exe process that executes the mod_rewrite.dll kept crashing."

The exact same thing is happening to me at the moment. Good to hear that it's not just me. I was looking for a new mod_rewrite version for my server and I think I will go with ISAPI rewrite as they seem a bit more transparent.

On 02/26/2006 at 4:18:46 AM EST Albert Arul PRakash wrote:

For me also w3wsc.dll keep on crashing. I think there is some problem in mod rewrite. It is working fine but w3wp crashing.

My site http://www.bepenfriends.com is not running properly because of this. I don't kow how to solve.

On 06/05/2006 at 10:49:33 AM EDT dino wrote:

try the free IIRF http://cheeso.members.winisp.net/IIRF.aspx

it works with CFMX on IIS5 or 6.

It does Regular Expressions. Auto-reload of ini file, too. checkitout.

On 06/13/2006 at 9:21:45 AM EDT Ryan Smith wrote:

I'm having trouble with mod_rewrite too. I'm not sure what's causing it because I have been using mod_rewrite on several other sites with no problems.

Now with my new site that just launched, every time it tries to reload the .ini file, the system crashes out. Only seems to do it on the live server though - not on our dev server. I guess I'll check out ISAPI

On 10/31/2006 at 9:06:33 AM EST George Kaz wrote:

mod_rewrite.dll crashes w3wp.exe for me too, and on my dev machine with XP, inetinfo started regularly using 100% CPU. Probably related. Looking for a better alternative now.

On 05/17/2007 at 5:38:20 AM EDT Stan wrote:

Found this and as far as I've tested it, it's by far the best I've ever seen :-)

http://www.micronovae.com/ModRewrite/ModRewrite.html

Their "pro" version also supports .htaccess. WOW!! Unfortunatelly, they don't give away a free version.

On 09/13/2007 at 4:43:28 PM EDT resim wrote:

What's wrong with Mod_Rewrite? I got it to work and it seems to work just fine. Personally, I think this is the way to go as for the free options.

http://www.resimsakla.com

On 09/13/2007 at 6:37:40 PM EDT Patrick McElhaney wrote:

"Mod_Rewrite for IIS" from IIS Mods was garbage. I haven't seen "IIS Mod_Rewrite" before. I don't think it was around when this blog was written.

The .htaccess compatibility sounds very cool! I'm currently developing in Apache and deploying to IIS, so I may have to check that out.

On 09/27/2007 at 7:02:18 PM EDT yrm wrote:

For rewrite url, there is Guideman. http://na-s.jp/Guideman/index.en.html

On 11/12/2007 at 9:30:56 AM EST Slov wrote:

ISAPI_Rewrite 3 now support Apache mod_rewrite syntax and include plenty of interesting features. New product homepage here: http://www.helicontech.com/isapi_rewrite/

On 12/11/2007 at 4:39:44 AM EST danny wrote:

After trying all the solutions listed in this blog, I can tell that the way to go is "IIS Mod-Rewrite pro"

http://www.micronovae.com/ModRewrite/ModRewrite.html

It works exactly, and I mean EXACTLY, like apache mod_rewrite. That's fantastic! The UI is very nice and has a whole bunch of nice tools. I must also tell that this is the most professional add-on for IIS I have ever experienced in general (I liked very much the diagnostics tool!!!).

Stan thanks for the post!

Also, this blog is pretty old, so I guess many things have changed since the very first post. Indeed, some of the listed software does not exist anymore.

On 04/08/2008 at 5:37:58 PM EDT Dexter Filmore wrote:

Micronovae's product is definitely the best; it actually works. That said, it isn't anything special.

IIRF will be decent once the glaring flaws are fixed - hex encoded (%xx) urls being mangled as %SERVER_VARIABLEs et cetera.

The other products simply weren't able to process Apache mod_rewrite rules off the bat.

http://www.micronovae.com/ModRewrite/ModRewrite.html

On 04/12/2008 at 6:15:53 PM EDT stero wrote: