Embedded Automation's mControl for WHS currently installs an unsecured application under the Default Website in WHS. My recommendation is to immediately make sure that you've turned on requiring authentication for the mControl virtual folder. However, turning on authentication makes it harder to access the web version of mControl from within your local network, such as from an iPhone or UMPC. The solution is to create a second web site under IIS on the Windows Home Server.

1. Log in locally on WHS.
   • If you have a monitor and keyboard hooked up to the WHS machine, sign in as Administrator, or
   • Open Remote Desktop Connection to sign in as Administrator on the WHS machine.
2. Open Internet Information Services
   • Click the Start button, then select Control Panel, Administrative Tasks, and then click Internet Information Services.
3. Start to create a new web site
   • In the left pane, make sure the Web Sites folder is visible.
   • Right-click on Web Sites, select New, and then click Web Site.
     

      

4. Fill out the new web site wizard
   • On the welcome screen, click Next.
   • Give the new site a name in the Description field, and then click Next.
   • (Optional) Choose an available IP-address. In most cases you can leave this at the default setting of All unassigned.
   • Type in a port other than 80, such as 81, in the TCP port field.
   • (Optional) Instead of a different port, you could type in a different hostname that this web site will respond to, but you'll need to make sure this name resolves to the correct IP-address.
   • Click Next.
   • Enter, or browse to, C:\Inetpub\wwwroot in the Path field. Make sure Allow anonymous is checked, and then click Next.
   • Make sure Read and Run scripts (such as ASP) are checked, and then click Next.
   • Click Finish.
     

      

5. Make the mControl folder an application.
   • Expand the web site you created, right-click on it, and then click Properties.
   • Under Application settings, click the Create button.
   • Click OK.
      

      

6. Verify that the new site is using .NET 2.0.
1. Click the ASP.NET tab.
2. Verify that ASP.NET version is set to 2.0.50727 (or similar).

1. Restrict access to local subnet.
   • To be on the safe side, you should limit access to the new web site to the local subnet. This can be done on the Directory Security tab by clicking on the Edit... button under IP address and domain name restrictions section.

Finally, to access the new site, use the port number (and/or new hostname if you set that) in your browser. For example, http://192.168.0.1:81/mControl.

Configure Windows Firewall

You'll need to add an exception to Windows Firewall to allow traffic to the new port.

1. Open Windows Firewall.
2. Click on the Exceptions tab.
3. Click Add Port....
4. Type in a name such as "HTTP 81 - Local mControl".
5. Enter the port number of the new site, such as 81.
6. For increased security, click Change scope....
7. Select "My network (subnet) only", and then click OK.
8. Click OK.
9. Click OK.

In the next post, I'll provide instructions to create a custom image and button for iPhone and iPod Touch users on the home screen.