FolderRisk: Do not touch

inetsrv C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv

inetsrv: IIS programs and configuration (w3wp.exe, appcmd.exe, inetmgr.exe, config folder); present when IIS is installed, on client or server.

Updated on 12 November 2026 By AltF4 Formation

What it’s for

inetsrv appears when IIS is installed: the Web Server role (Web-Server) on Windows Server, or the “Internet Information Services” feature on Windows 10 and 11. It is therefore not specific to server editions. It holds IIS’s executables and, above all, its configuration in config, while the sites themselves live elsewhere, by default under C:\inetpub.

What it contains

appcmd.exe: the IIS command-line administration tool (sites, pools, configuration backups).
inetmgr.exe: Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.
w3wp.exe: the worker process that runs each application pool.
config: applicationHost.config and the other configuration files (see its page).
backup: configuration backups created with appcmd add backup.
The request-processing modules (DLLs).

Risks and best practices

Back up the configuration with appcmd add backup before a structural change, and back up the config folder.
Do not copy this folder between servers to clone IIS: use shared configuration or appcmd configuration export/import.
The DLLs and executables are updated by Windows Update; do not replace them by hand.

Useful commands

:: Declared sites and pools
%windir%\system32\inetsrv\appcmd.exe list sites
%windir%\system32\inetsrv\appcmd.exe list apppools

:: As administrator: named configuration backup
%windir%\system32\inetsrv\appcmd.exe add backup "before-change"
%windir%\system32\inetsrv\appcmd.exe list backups

# Is IIS installed? (server)
Get-WindowsFeature Web-Server
# Is IIS installed? (client)
Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName IIS-WebServerRole

Folder contents

Files 1

config\applicationHost.configapplicationHost.config: the root XML configuration file of IIS (sites, bindings…

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