Lasso (8.5.*) Sites on Windows IIS

Creating Lasso (8.5.*) Sites to work correctly with WebSites hosted by Windows IIS

The situation:

• Multiple web sites hosted on a Windows IIS server.
• Each web site has its own IP address (SSL/Certificate based connections).

The requirement:

• Separate Lasso Sites (8.5.*) for each Web Site
• Ability to restart one Lasso Site without affecting all Web Sites
• More refined control to diagnose issues

The problem: 
If you just create the Lasso Sites without using the technique described below (or some other option I haven't yet found), you will find that you cannot gain access to Lasso Site Administration for any but the Default Lasso Site. 
Something about the way IIS does "Header Hosting" and Lasso's use of the DefaultWindows Web Site causes the Site Administration credentials set in Lasso to be rejected. 

The Solution:

• Choose a port that you will use exclusively to do Lasso Site Administration (e.g. 3000)
• Open the "Advanced" settings on the Default Windows Web Site
• Add to the "Multiple identities" for the Default Web Site each of the domains for the Web Sites that you wish to separate under Lasso Sites. Use the assigned IP Address but nominate your chosen Lasso Site Administration port (e.g. 3000)
• Create the new Lasso Sites in Lasso Server Administration

Note:
You may wish to actually change the port being used for the Lasso Server Administration to be consistent, but it's not essential. Just remember to use the correct port when accessing the Site Administration. e.g. http://www.yourtest.com:3000/SiteAdmin.LassoApp

Author: Rick Draper
Created: 2 Jul 2010
Last Modified: 16 Mar 2011