Server Monitoring2 min read

    How to Monitor IIS Web Server

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    Overview

    Internet Information Services (IIS) is Microsoft's extensible web server built into Windows Server. Xitoring's IIS integration monitors connections, request throughput, bandwidth, and per-method request rates — giving you full visibility into your Windows web server performance.

    What Can It Monitor?

    • Current Connections — Number of active client connections
    • Bytes Received per Second — Incoming data throughput
    • Bytes Sent per Second — Outgoing data throughput
    • Bytes Total per Second — Combined bandwidth
    • GET Requests per Second — Rate of GET requests
    • POST Requests per Second — Rate of POST requests
    • PUT Requests per Second — Rate of PUT requests
    • DELETE Requests per Second — Rate of DELETE requests
    • HEAD Requests per Second — Rate of HEAD requests
    • OPTIONS Requests per Second — Rate of OPTIONS requests
    • Total Method Requests per Second — Combined rate across all HTTP methods

    Prerequisites

    You need to ensure the Web Service performance counter class is available on your Windows Server.

    Step 1: Check if the Performance Counter is Installed

    Open PowerShell and run:

    Get-WmiObject Win32_PerfFormattedData_W3SVC_WebService -filter "Name='_Total'" -property __SERVER, CurrentConnections
    

    If installed, you'll see Win32_PerfFormattedData_W3SVC_WebService in the output.

    Step 2: Install if Missing

    If the class is not found, install it:

    Install-WindowsFeature web-common-http
    

    Step 3: Verify Access

    Confirm metrics are accessible:

    Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_PerfFormattedData_W3SVC_WebService
    

    How to Activate the Integration

    In PowerShell or CLI, run:

    xitogent integrate
    

    Select IIS from the list. Xitogent tests the connection and sets up the rest automatically. Within a minute, graphs and data appear on your server page.

    Setting Up Triggers

    Available trigger parameters:

    • Current Connections
    • Bytes Received / Sent / Total per Second
    • GET / POST / PUT / DELETE / HEAD / OPTIONS Requests per Second
    • Total Method Requests per Second

    Navigate to Triggers on your server page, select IIS, choose a metric, set your threshold, and configure notification channels.

    Tips

    • IIS integration is Windows-only — ensure Xitogent is installed via PowerShell or MSI
    • Monitor Current Connections to detect traffic surges
    • Track Bytes Total per Second for bandwidth capacity planning
    • Use per-method request breakdowns to understand your API traffic patterns
    • Set alerts on POST Requests per Second to detect form spam or abuse