How to set the Default Page in ASP.NET?

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Is there any section or code which allows us to set default page in web.config?

For example, when people first visit my website, I want them to see CreateThing.aspx rather than Default.aspx.

The solutions I already know:

Put this line of code => Response.Redirect("CreateThings.aspx") in Default.aspx Page_Loadevent but this method is really naive.
We can use IIS (default page configuration,) but I wanna do the same thing over on my ASP.NET application.

This could be another solution for now:

<defaultDocument>
    <files>
        <clear />
        <add value="Default.aspx" />
        <add value="Default.htm" />
        <add value="Default.asp" />
        <add value="index.htm" />
        <add value="index.html" />
        <add value="iisstart.htm" />
    </files>
</defaultDocument>

asp.net iis-7 web-config

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edited May 7 at 20:57

TylerH

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asked Dec 16 '09 at 8:04

Tarik

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8 Answers

active oldest votes

237

If using IIS 7 or IIS 7.5 you can use

<system.webServer>
  <defaultDocument>
    <files>
      <clear />
      <add value="CreateThing.aspx" />
    </files>
  </defaultDocument>
</system.webServer>

http://www.iis.net/ConfigReference/system.webServer/defaultDocument

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edited Oct 9 '12 at 10:52

Community♦

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answered Dec 16 '09 at 8:42

David Glenn

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5

I found I needed to add the enabled="true" attribute to the defaultDocument tag i.e.: <defaultDocument enabled="true"> – John Ferguson May 14 '13 at 9:14
@JohnFerguson Cheers for that. – Nicholas V. Aug 14 '13 at 20:46
1

For me it didn't work without <configuration> tags. – user1080381 Oct 15 '13 at 12:32
2

This is to be put in the <configuration> tag of the Web.config file. – Mikaël Mayer Jun 16 '14 at 9:19
Will this work if the Default.aspx is in another folder? For Example: <add value="/NewSite/default.aspx"/> – Apollo Jun 30 '14 at 16:47

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Tip #84: Did you know… How to set a Start page for your Web Site in Visual Web Developer?

Simply right click on the page you want to be the start page and say "set as start page".

As noted in the comment below by Adam Tuliper - MSFT, this only works for debugging, not deployment.

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edited Nov 9 '18 at 14:27

answered Nov 13 '13 at 15:13

DavidTheDev

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Hmm. Works locally, but not after I deploy to azure. – Vivek Maharajh Jun 24 '15 at 22:59
The accepted answer didn't work for me, but this did! Thanks! – jnel899 Jul 6 '15 at 16:26
6

@vivekmaharajh it wasn't the default because this is meant for testing/debugging - this technique doesn't configure your web server only your development environment. – Adam Tuliper - MSFT Jan 4 '16 at 8:47
does not help redirect when users access the directory itself. – Malcolm Salvador Feb 2 '17 at 3:37

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Map default.aspx as HttpHandler route and redirect to CreateThings.aspx from within the HttpHandler.

<add verb="GET" path="default.aspx" type="RedirectHandler"/>

Make sure Default.aspx does not exists physically at your application root. If it exists physically the HttpHandler will not be given any chance to execute. Physical file overrides HttpHandler mapping.

Moreover you can re-use this for pages other than default.aspx.

<add verb="GET" path="index.aspx" type="RedirectHandler"/>

//RedirectHandler.cs in your App_Code

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web;

/// <summary>
/// Summary description for RedirectHandler
/// </summary>
public class RedirectHandler : IHttpHandler
{
    public RedirectHandler()
    {
        //
        // TODO: Add constructor logic here
        //
    }

    #region IHttpHandler Members

    public bool IsReusable
    {
        get { return true; }
    }

    public void ProcessRequest(HttpContext context)
    {
        context.Response.Redirect("CreateThings.aspx");
        context.Response.End();
    }

    #endregion
}

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edited Dec 16 '09 at 8:15

answered Dec 16 '09 at 8:07

this. __curious_geek

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So, you say when ever a request happens to Default.aspx, the handler will redirect the request to CreateThing.aspx . It looks a generic solution. Thank you. – Tarik Dec 16 '09 at 8:13
But would it cause HttpHandler pollution ? – Tarik Dec 16 '09 at 8:17
After your edit, I need to say : Well it could be. I think the simple thing would be like Application.Run(new Form()1) :) – Tarik Dec 16 '09 at 8:20
@Arron: You can always create a custom configuration section that will configure your HttpHandler for various different requests. You can also catch all *.aspx requests and see if request matches any of your configured URLs. Otherwise just pass it through. – Robert Koritnik Dec 16 '09 at 8:24

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If you are using forms authentication you could try the code below:

<authentication mode="Forms">
<forms name=".FORM" loginUrl="Login.aspx" defaultUrl="CreateThings.aspx" protection="All" timeout="30" path="/"> 
</forms>
</authentication>

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answered Dec 16 '09 at 8:09

Zooking

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To use Form Authentication, should I use the providers MemberShip or stuff ? I mean when I simply select Authentication Mode as Form rather than Windows, this code will work charmingly right ? – Tarik Dec 16 '09 at 8:14
7

Everything works charmingly if you put charm in it. ;) – Robert Koritnik Dec 16 '09 at 8:24
I would say that this depends on the solution. If you need a more complex solution with different user profiles then you should go with MembershipProviders. But if it is a more simple setup you could just use <allow users=""/> and <deny users=""/>. – Zooking Dec 16 '09 at 10:11

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if you are using login page in your website go to web.config file

<authentication mode="Forms">
  <forms loginUrl="login.aspx" defaultUrl="index.aspx"  >
    </forms>
</authentication>

replace your authentication tag to above (where index.aspx will be your startup page)

and one more thing write this in your web.config file inside

<configuration>
   <system.webServer>
   <defaultDocument>
    <files>
     <clear />
     <add value="index.aspx" />
    </files>
  </defaultDocument>
  </system.webServer>

  <location path="index.aspx">
    <system.web>
      <authorization>
        <allow users="*" />
      </authorization>
   </system.web>
  </location>
</configuration>

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answered Sep 22 '14 at 7:34

JD-V

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You can override the IIS default document setting using the web.config

<system.webServer>
    <defaultDocument>
      <files>
        <clear />
        <add value="DefaultPageToBeSet.aspx" />
      </files>
    </defaultDocument>
  </system.webServer>

Or using the IIS, refer the link for reference http://www.iis.net/configreference/system.webserver/defaultdocument

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edited Dec 1 '14 at 4:58

answered Nov 11 '14 at 9:10

Mahesh Malpani

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I prefer using the following method:

system.webServer>
  <defaultDocument>
    <files>
      <clear />
      <add value="CreateThing.aspx" />
    </files>
  </defaultDocument>
</system.webServer>

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answered Aug 4 '16 at 16:26

encryptedwhisper

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I had done all the above solutions but it did not work.

My default page wasn't an aspx page, it was an html page.

This article solved the problem. https://weblog.west-wind.com/posts/2013/aug/15/iis-default-documents-vs-aspnet-mvc-routes

Basically, in my \App_Start\RouteConfig.cs file, I had to add a line:

public static void RegisterRoutes(RouteCollection routes)
{
    routes.IgnoreRoute("{resource}.axd/{*pathInfo}");
    routes.IgnoreRoute("");   // This was the line I had to add here!

    routes.MapRoute(
        name: "Default",
        url: "{controller}/{action}/{id}",
        defaults: new { controller = "Home", action = "Index", id = UrlParameter.Optional }
    );
}

Hope this helps someone, it took me a goodly while to find the answer.

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