Stop IIS express process based on site name

Question

The site im working on got 3 individual sites running on the IIS. When I make changes to on particular library I need to restart the site using it. The way I do that now is by manually rightclicking the IIS Express icon in the system tray, and then clicking 'Stop site', and after that I execute the debugging..

I would like to make that part automatic, so when ever i start debugging it will stop that particular site. If I don't stop it, then it will just reuse the current running site, but if I stop it, then it will restart it..

Is it event posible? I know how to find the PID, but I don't get the name of the site behind the PID..

Use a tool like Process Explorer to check the `iisexpress` process. Its argument should contain the site name which you can use. — Lex Li, Aug 10 '18 at 12:29
You can do [this from C# code](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3345363/kill-some-processes-by-exe-file-name) given the process name — jmbmage, Aug 10 '18 at 13:43
@jmb.mage the problem with that is all three processes got the same name when im looking them up. But thank you. — Martin M, Aug 10 '18 at 14:00
@jmb.mage I know that the PID will be unique, but I didn't have any way to identify which PID i should terminate. But maybe the answer below will solve my problem. :) — Martin M, Aug 13 '18 at 06:42

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 11 '18 at 17:22

I put together this script in PowerShell:

$site = 'Webapplication' # replace this by your site name (not case sensitive)
$process = Get-CimInstance Win32_Process -Filter "Name = 'iisexpress.exe'" | ? {$_.CommandLine -like "*/site:`"$site`"*" }
if($process -ne $null)
{
    Write-Host "Trying to stop $($process.CommandLine)"
    Stop-Process -Id $process.ProcessId
    Start-Sleep -Seconds 1 # Wait 1 second for good measure
    Write-Host "Process was stopped"
} else
{
   Write-Host "Website was not running"
}

Modify the first line to replace the site name with yours. Save this file as stopiis.ps1 on your project folder (not the solution folder).
Now, on Solution Explorer, right-click and choose properties
On the left side, choose Build Events
Put this on 'Pre-Build event command line' so it will run before compiling:

echo powershell -File "$(ProjectDir)stopiis.ps1"

powershell -File "$(ProjectDir)stopiis.ps1"

Note: you do not need to run Visual Studio in Administrative mode because IISExpress.exe run under your account

You sir are a legend! Thats just what I was looking for, thank you! I already run VS in Administrative mode because of other factors, so this would not be a problem. — Martin M, Aug 13 '18 at 06:44

Stop IIS express process based on site name

1 Answers1