File download with IIS6.0

Hi there,

I'm having trouble with my first IIS6.0 on Windows Server 2003.

The web site works fine: all ASP pages are processed and displayed normally.
The problem is we are not able to download any files from the site (pdf,
zip, doc, ...) When you click on a link pointing to one of these files (or
if you write the file's absolute URL in the address bar of IE) you get the
normal Open or Save as dialog. Whichever option you choose, the next window
is an error message stating that the file cannot be downloaded. The strange
part is that everything else is working fine, it is file download what
fails, exclusively.

Is this something that needs to be enabled in IIS6.0? Do you know anything
about this issue? All help will be very welcome.

Thanks a lot,

Manuel Delgado

Jonathan
Wed Jan 21 11:00:50 CST 2004

What is the exact error message?

What shows up in the IIS logs?

--
--Jonathan Maltz [Microsoft MVP - Windows Server]
http://www.visualwin.com - A Windows Server 2003 visual, step-by-step
tutorial site :-)
http://vpc.visualwin.com - Does <insert OS name> work on VPC 2004? Find out
here
Only reply by newsgroup. Any emails I have not authorized are deleted
before I see them.


"Manuel Delgado" <mdelgado@tekkkk.es> wrote in message
news:eAFlPeB4DHA.1936@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
>
> Hi there,
>
> I'm having trouble with my first IIS6.0 on Windows Server 2003.
>
> The web site works fine: all ASP pages are processed and displayed
normally.
> The problem is we are not able to download any files from the site (pdf,
> zip, doc, ...) When you click on a link pointing to one of these files (or
> if you write the file's absolute URL in the address bar of IE) you get the
> normal Open or Save as dialog. Whichever option you choose, the next
window
> is an error message stating that the file cannot be downloaded. The
strange
> part is that everything else is working fine, it is file download what
> fails, exclusively.
>
> Is this something that needs to be enabled in IIS6.0? Do you know anything
> about this issue? All help will be very welcome.
>
> Thanks a lot,
>
> Manuel Delgado
>
>

Aschwin
Thu Jan 22 01:16:32 CST 2004


>-----Original Message-----
>
>Hi there,
>
>I'm having trouble with my first IIS6.0 on Windows Server
2003.
>
>The web site works fine: all ASP pages are processed and
displayed normally.
>The problem is we are not able to download any files from
the site (pdf,
>zip, doc, ...) When you click on a link pointing to one
of these files (or
>if you write the file's absolute URL in the address bar
of IE) you get the
>normal Open or Save as dialog. Whichever option you
choose, the next window
>is an error message stating that the file cannot be
downloaded. The strange
>part is that everything else is working fine, it is file
download what
>fails, exclusively.
>
>Is this something that needs to be enabled in IIS6.0? Do
you know anything
>about this issue? All help will be very welcome.
>
>Thanks a lot,
>
>Manuel Delgado
>
>
>.
>

Hi Manuel.

Try adding the file-extensions you want to allow to be
downloaded to the MIME Type list of the website. In IIS
manager select your website, choose properties, select tab
HTTP Headers and click on MIME Types. Add the file-
extensions you want to allow for download. Example :

Extension MIME Type
.pdf application/octet-stream
.zip application/octet-stream

To add all extensions at once, use the following entry :

Extension MIME Type
.* application/octet-stream

But remember, if you select all extensions, your security
might be at risk, so you don't really want to do this.

Hope this helps.
Regards,
Aschwin Geisler