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I've got a box running Win2k3 and some directions from Microsoft KB about SSL certificates, for IIS 5.0 and 6.0. How can I tell which version of IIS is currently installed?

13 Answers 13

83

As a more general answer, not specifically aimed at your question, Microsoft has a support article which lists all old versions and the operating systems that provide each one.

IIS version   Built-in  
5.0           Windows 2000
5.1           Windows XP Pro
6.0           Windows Server 2003
7.0           Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008
7.5           Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2
8.0           Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012

Current versions are on Wikipedia

8.5           Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2
10.0 v1607    Windows Server 2016 and Windows 10.*
10.0 v1709    Windows Server 2016 v1709 and Windows 10.*
10.0 v1809    Windows Server 2019  and Windows 10.* October
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  • 18
    Unfortunately Microsoft haven't yet updated that page to include IIS 7.5. Here's an alternative reference which does include it: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Information_Services
    – JV01
    Feb 7, 2011 at 13:45
  • @JV01, (Due to this page getting 100k+ of views....) It has already been updated to version 8.0.
    – Pacerier
    Aug 14, 2015 at 4:56
  • 9
    Well yes, but now the MS article doesn't include IIS 8.5 or IIS 10 (the latter is included in Windows Server 2016 and Windows 10). Always a step or two behind...
    – JV01
    Aug 19, 2015 at 10:33
83

When you have IIS Manager open, you can click Help -> About to see the version.

IIS version in IIS Manager about box

1
  • 18
    Great answer. However, it's easy to miss the real IIS version and instead see only the version number for the actual IIS Manager. E.g., on my Windows 8.1, when I bring up that Help > About box, it would be easy to mistakenly read the version of IIS as 6.2. So I've added a screenshot to clarify where the real version number is. Mar 24, 2015 at 22:49
55

You can look at %SYSTEMROOT%\system32\inetsrv\inetinfo.exe (or inetmgr.exe or w3wp.exe). Right-click and get properties, click the Version tab.

You can also look at an HTTP response header

  1. telnet mywebserver 80
  2. type in HEAD / HTTP/1.0 [enter][enter]
  3. Look at the line that starts with Server:
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  • 1
    Interesting; it claims version 6.0.
    – jldugger
    May 20, 2009 at 20:06
  • 2
    On XP Pro?? Never seen that... Mines says 5.1.
    – squillman
    May 20, 2009 at 20:12
  • 1
    @jldugger: I doubt it. I tried to telnet 80 a XP machine. It's 5.1. You must have been connected to a Windows 2003 server. (typo in server name?)
    – splattne
    May 20, 2009 at 20:16
  • 1
    We're all kinds of crazy around here. A few comments about your edit: 1. I think there's an unallowed space between / and HTTP 2. It just returns the normal HTML webpage; were you expecting something different?
    – jldugger
    May 20, 2009 at 20:18
  • 6
    On Windows 2012 R2, there is no inetinfo.exe in %SYSTEMROOT%\system32\inetsrv. But the telnet method works.
    – Joe White
    Feb 9, 2015 at 18:34
18

Windows XP has IIS 5.1 installed, so use the IIS 5.0 procedure. See this article for an overview of IIS 5.1:

A look at IIS 5.1 in XP Pro - What's different from IIS 5?

IIS 5.1 is a feature only to be found on Microsoft's XP Pro operating system. It is not installable (reliably) on XP Home. Additionally, there are no plans to update IIS 5.0 on Windows 2000 to IIS 5.1.

IIS 5.1 is basically the same engine as IIS 5.0 but since XP is a client operating system, it has the built in limits that are customary for Microsoft’s client operating systems—such as connection limits and only one Web site. Even though based on IIS 5, there are significant differences from IIS 5.0 that you should know about.

You could also open a page in the browser which runs this simple asp Script:

<% 
    response.write(Request.ServerVariables("SERVER_SOFTWARE")) 
%>

As a side note: it is interesting that IIS (beginning with Windows Server 2000/version 5.0) can't be upgraded without upgrading the operating system. Every Windows version has it's own IIS version:

Windows NT 3.51          1.0
Windows NT 4             2.0-4.0
Windows Server 2000      5.0
Windows XP Professional  5.1
Windows Server 2003      6.0
Windows Vista            7.0
Windows Server 2008      7.0
Windows Server 2008 R2   7.5
Windows 7                7.5
Windows Server 2012      8.0
Windows 8                8.0
Windows Server 2012 R2   8.5
Windows 8.1              8.5
Windows Server 2019     10.0
4
  • "only one Web site". Does that include Microsoft SharePoint Administration? Because if not, then there's clearly two websites running.
    – jldugger
    May 20, 2009 at 20:07
  • Try to add more that to web site (not virtual directory or web apps under the default web in IIS 5.1 on Windows XP). You can't do that.
    – splattne
    May 20, 2009 at 20:12
  • Server 2008 R2 7.5
    – Saariko
    Aug 16, 2012 at 6:41
  • IIS 7.5 Express can run on Windows XP and above while IIS 8.5 Express can run on Windows Vista SP1 and above - microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=1038 & microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=34679
    – mvark
    Jun 13, 2014 at 10:16
7

You should be able to determine the IIS version number from the following registry value: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\InetStp\VersionString

This shows "Version 6.0" on my local machine.

reg.exe query HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\InetStp /v VersionString
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  • 1
    Works, but do you have an official source for it? Otherwise, such reverse engineering will seriously break in the future.
    – Pacerier
    Aug 14, 2015 at 5:15
  • I'm not sure how this could "seriously break". We're trying to find out which version of IIS is being used - not control a nuclear power station! 😉 Aug 14, 2015 at 14:30
  • 1
    Still good on Windows Server 2012 and IIS 8.5
    – joehanna
    Dec 6, 2018 at 8:18
5

Here, the updated version table to Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016:

IIS 1.0    Windows NT 3.51
IIS 2.0    Windows NT 4.0
IIS 3.0    Windows NT 4.0 SP3
IIS 4.0    Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack
IIS 5.0    Windows 2000
IIS 5.1    Windows XP Professional x32
IIS 6.0    Windows Server 2003
IIS 6.0    Windows Server 2003 R2
IIS 6.0    Windows XP Professional x64
IIS 7.0    Windows Server 2008 / Windows Vista
IIS 7.5    Windows Server 2008 R2 / Windows 7
IIS 8.0    Windows Server 2012 / Windows 8
IIS 8.5    Windows Server 2012 R2 / Windows 8.1
IIS 10.0   Windows Server 2016 / 2019 / Windows 10

And other methods would be:

Properties on the file: InetMgr.exe via GUI, or via PowerShell:

[System.Diagnostics.FileVersionInfo]::GetVersionInfo("$env:SystemRoot\system32\inetsrv\InetMgr.exe").ProductVersion

Extracted from: http://www.sysadmit.com/2017/05/windows-iis-como-saber-la-version-instalada.html

4

If you have curl and grep installed, e.g. through Cygwin, or from another machine running OS X or Linux, you can use the power of command line tools and avoid knowing where exactly to click in which situation:

 $ curl --silent -I http://microsoft.com/ |grep Server
 Server: Microsoft-IIS/8.5

Note there is no requirement to be on the server itself.

Also note: this only works if the application and/or server configuration does not set an alternate header. Often application developers or system administrators will turn off this header or set it to some other value in order to prevent attackers from seeing it - a form of security by obscurity.

3
  • Right, so instead of knowing where to click, you have to know the command, and remember to install the supporting software. I do share your preference for command line tools, but your argument seems weak.
    – pabrams
    Aug 29, 2016 at 20:48
  • Need an argument? You can do this from anywhere, no need for administrative access to the box itself.
    – the
    Aug 30, 2016 at 8:31
  • Some may have this info hidden for security so it may not show up. Jan 24, 2018 at 17:43
2

Just as a fun data point:

From 32-bit land:

Windows XP ships with IIS 5.1.

Windows Server 2003 with IIS 6.0.

But the x64 edition of Windows XP is based on the Windows Server 2003 SP1 codebase, and the version of IIS included in Windows XP Professional X64 Edition is IIS 6.0.

Crazy stuff, I know.

2

Use PowerShell from the command line, like this

powershell "get-itemproperty HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\InetStp\  | select setupstring,versionstring"
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  • 1
    As our servers don't run the windows UI, this was the only solution that worked for me :)
    – Jon Rea
    Mar 1, 2017 at 16:08
  • this one has worked for me in windows 10 home edition May 18, 2017 at 13:33
1

If you have no access what so ever to the back end of a machine you can try using NetCraft such as http://toolbar.netcraft.com/site_report?url=http://www.starbucks.com

There are enough little finger prints on the headers the machine gives off, that they can usually identify the signature of the machine, unless someone alters them on purpose.

1

You can also run this PowerShell script:

$w3wpPath = $Env:WinDir + "\System32\inetsrv\w3wp.exe"
$productProperty = Get-ItemProperty -Path $w3wpPath
Write-Host $productProperty.VersionInfo.ProductVersion

Source: https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/how-to-obtain-versions-of-7875ac84

0

On the Uninstall Programs window in Windows 10:

enter image description here

1
  • does only work for custom installed progs - not for "Roles and Features"
    – Bernhard
    Dec 9, 2019 at 8:32
-1

Very simple to know the IIS Version installed on your system.

Simple type localhost on your browser and enter you are able to see the IIS version.

1
  • normally the shown standard Page you mean only works if none has been configured
    – djdomi
    Dec 9, 2019 at 21:50

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