This topic contains conceptual information about Administration Scripts, including IIS Admin Objects, the Cscript.exe command-line scripting utility, and the default installation location of Administration Scripts.
Administration Scripts automate some of the most common administrative tasks and demonstrate the functionality of the IIS Admin Objects. You can use them to create and control Web sites, applications, directories, and more.
You can run Administration Scripts through the use of VBScript files that are installed by default to the directory \InetPub\adminscripts on your system drive.
The VBScript Administration Scripts are meant to be used with the Cscript.exe command-line scripting utility and work best if Cscript is registered for running .vbs files.
To register Cscript, run the adsutil.vbs sample. It will register Cscript.exe for you.
You can also register Cscript.exe as the default scripting host by running the following command in a command prompt:
cscript //H:cscript
Once Cscript is registered, you can call scripts by themselves without specifying the scripting engine. For example, you can type the following in a command prompt:
pauseweb.vbs /?
instead of:
cscript pauseweb.vbs /?
However, some scripts will send output to popup windows instead of to the command window, which can be troublesome if there is a lot of output. To avoid popup windows, always use cscript before the script name.