KB178232 - How to Set IIS 3.0 Authentication from the Registry

Article ID: 178232

Article Last Modified on 11/9/2005

Microsoft Internet Information Server 3.0

This article was previously published under Q178232

We strongly recommend that all users upgrade to Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) version 6.0 running on Microsoft Windows Server 2003. IIS 6.0 significantly increases Web infrastructure security. For more information about IIS security-related topics, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

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

IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry. Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if a problem occurs. For information on how to do this, view the "Restoring the Registry" online Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a Registry Key" online Help topic in Regedt32.exe.

SUMMARY

This article tells you how to set the Authentication mode in Internet Information Server (IIS) 3.0 by modifying the registry.

MORE INFORMATION

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall Windows. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys And Values" online Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" online Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it.

In order to programmatically (that is, not through Internet Service Manager) change the Authentication mode that IIS uses, you must update the registry setting to one of the given values below.

   Registry setting:
   HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\W3Svc\Parameters\Authorization

The values for Authorization are as follows:

   Value         Description
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
   0             sets authorization to None (no authorization is checked)
   1             sets authorization to Allow Anonymous
   2             sets authorization to Basic
   3             sets authorization to Allow Anonymous and Basic
   4             sets authorization to NT Challenge/Response
   5             sets authorization to Allow Anonymous and NT
                 Challenge/Response
   6             sets authorization to Basic & NT Challenge/Response
   7             sets authorization to Allow Anonymous and Basic and NT
                 Challenge/Response

NOTE: IIS must be stopped and restarted in order for changes to take effect.

Additional query words: IIS registry authentication security

Keywords: kbhowto KB178232