How to Use a CMD or BAT File as a CGI Script

ID: Q164674

The information in this article applies to:
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.

SYMPTOMS

Internet Information Server 1.0 (IIS) can use .cmd or .bat files as CGI scripts. In IIS 2.0 and 3.0, this capability has been removed by default.


WORKAROUND

You can enable the use of .cmd and .bat files with IIS by adding a script mapping to the registry.

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.

  1. Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe) and locate the following registry subkey in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE subtree:
    
      \SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W3SVC\Parameters\Script Map


  2. On the Edit menu, click Add Value.


  3. Enter the following for .cmd files:
    
      Value Name: .CMD
      Data Type: REG_SZ
      String:
     "\Winnt\system32\cmd.exe /c %s %s" (Leave off the quotation marks)
    For .BAT files, repeat this process and substitute .BAT for .CMD in the value name.


Sample Script

Use any text editor to create the following script and save it as myscript.cmd. 

   @echo off
   echo Content-Type: text/plain
   echo.
   echo Hello World!!
   echo.
   echo.

The above test script can be placed in the IIS server \scripts directory. You can run this script from the following URL:
http://servername/scripts/myscript.cmd


Keywords          : iishowto iisscript 
Version           : WinNT:2.0,3.0
Platform          : winnt 
Issue type        :

Last Reviewed: April 29, 1999