Thread: Cassini Web Server Stand-alone

If you have been doing web development using Visual Studio, then you are familiar with the Cassini Web Server that ships with the product. It's the application that runs the ASP.NET application on the developer's desktop when you click 'run' in the VS IDE. However, did you know that you can run the Cassini Server without starting VS -- which can be very handy for quickly trying some sample ASP.NET (or even classic ASP) code without the overhead of the VS development environment.

To start a web application in the Cassini Server, enter the following on the command line (The VS Command Prompt works well):

Code:

WebDev.WebServer.exe /port:xxxx /path:physical_path mypage.aspx
where:
   xxxx is an unused port number, such as 1234
   physical_path is the actual path to your web application 
   mypage.aspx is the start page of your application
for example:
WebDev.WebServer.exe /port:1234 /path:C:\dev\MyApp index.aspx

This is exactly what Visual Studio does 'under the covers' when you run a Web application.