Update a web application URL and IIS bindings for SharePoint Server

APPLIES TO: 2013 2016 2019 Subscription Edition SharePoint in Microsoft 365

After you have extended a web application into a zone with a set of Internet Information Services (IIS) bindings and alternate access mapping URLs, you might decide that you want to use a different URL to reach the web application. For example, you might have originally created a web application to use HTTP and later decide to use SSL instead. Or, you might create a web application to use the www.contoso1.com host header and then decide to use the www.contoso2.com host header instead. This article provides detailed guidance for changing the URL and IIS bindings of a web application.

About updating a web application URL and IIS bindings

Unlike typical IIS applications, you can't use IIS Manager or other IIS metabase tools to modify the bindings of IIS web applications that have been extended with SharePoint Server.

If you modify the IIS bindings of a web application by adding a host header binding or SSL port or by changing a port number, SharePoint Server won't be aware of these changes and won't update the web application's alternate access mapping URLs. If you update the web application's alternate access mappings to change a host header, switch to an SSL URL, or change a port number, SharePoint Server won't automatically update your IIS bindings to match.

To update the URL or IIS bindings of a web application, unextend and reextend the web application and reconfigure the alternate access mapping URLs or IIS website bindings.

We don't recommend reusing the same IIS website for your HTTP and SSL hosting. Instead, extend a dedicated HTTP and a dedicated SSL website, with each assigned to its own alternate access mapping zone and URLs.

For more information about alternate access mappings, see Plan alternate access mappings for SharePoint 2013.

Alternate access mapping collections correspond to the following authentication zones:

• Default

• Intranet

• Internet

• Custom

• Extranet

Unextending and reextending a web application

If you need to change your IIS bindings, unextend the web application from the zone that the web application has been extended into (without deleting the web application), and then reextend the web application into the same zone. Consider trying these migration procedures in a test environment before deploying them in a production environment.

Unextend the web application from the zone by using the Remove SharePoint from IIS Web site link on the Central Administration Application Management page, as described in the following procedure.

To unextend a web application

1. On the SharePoint Central Administration website, on the Application Management page, in the Web Applications section, click Manage web applications.

2. On the Web Applications menu, click the web application you want to unextend, click Delete, and then click Remove SharePoint from IIS Web Site.

3. On the Remove SharePoint From Web Site page, click the web application you want to unextend.

4. In the Select IIS Web site and zone to remove list, click the IIS website and zone you want to remove. Because a web application can be extended in up to five zones, make sure you select the correct IIS website and zone.

5. In the Delete IIS Web sites section, click Yes if the IIS website is hosting only SharePoint Products and Technologies content. If the IIS web site is hosting other content, you might not want to delete the web site. In that case, click No.

6. Click OK. This action does not delete the web application, nor does it delete the content databases of the web application.

After you have unextended the web application, you can reextend the web application to the same zone by using your updated bindings.

To reextend a web application

1. On the SharePoint Central Administration website, on the Application Management page, in the Web Applications section, click Manage web applications.

2. Click the web application you want to extend. On the ribbon, click Extend.

3. In the IIS Web Site section, if you have already created an IIS website with the appropriate bindings for SharePoint Server to use, click the Use an existing IIS Web site option and select the IIS website from the list. Otherwise, click the Create a new IIS Web site option.

4. In the Port, Host Header, and Use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) fields, type the IIS bindings you want to use.

5. In the Load Balanced URL section, in the URL field, type the URL that users will use to locate this web application. If you're using a load balancer or reverse proxy, this is the URL of the load balancer or reverse proxy.

6. In the Load Balanced URL section, in the Zone list, click the zone that you previously selected.

7. Click OK.

Additional steps for updating a web application URL and IIS bindings

To complete the process of updating a web application URL or IIS bindings, perform the additional steps listed in this section after you have reextended the web application into the same zone.

Update the alternate access mapping URLs for the zone

If you're using a load balancer or a reverse proxy, make sure that your internal URLs are updated in the alternate access mappings to reflect the new IIS bindings. In addition, update your load balancer rules or your reverse proxy rules to align with the new IIS bindings.

Apply an SSL certificate

If the new IIS bindings use SSL, apply an SSL certificate to the new IIS website assigned to your zone. See How to Set Up SSL on IIS 7) for more on configuring SSL.

Apply an authentication method

When you reextend your web application, the default SharePoint Server authentication method for the zone is Integrated Windows authentication. If you want to use an authentication method other than Integrated Windows, explicitly apply the authentication method you want to use. For more information about authentication methods, see Plan for user authentication methods in SharePoint Server.

For more information about how to configure authentication for SharePoint Server 2016, see Configure authentication infrastructure in SharePoint Server.

Verify the Search start addresses and My Site settings

Verify that the SharePoint Server Search start addresses are correct for your content sources. If the SharePoint Server Search start addresses are incorrect, update them. Also, verify that your My Site settings, including Personal Search Center, Personal Site Provider, and default RSS feed, are correct. If your My Site settings are incorrect, update them. For more information about how to configure My Site settings, see Configure My Sites in SharePoint Server.

For more information about Search start addresses, see Plan crawling and federation in SharePoint Server.

Verify the trusted file locations

If Excel Services in SharePoint Server 2013 is part of your deployment, verify that your trusted file locations are configured correctly. If your trusted file locations are configured incorrectly, update them. For more information about trusted file locations, see Configure Excel Services in SharePoint Server 2013.

Redeploy solutions

When you remove SharePoint Server from an IIS website, if you're removing the last (or only) website that is associated with the web application, any web application solutions you have deployed will also be removed. If you need these solutions, redeploy them. For more information about how to manage solutions, see Install and manage solutions for SharePoint Server