Starting IIS Manager has Web Platform Prompt

Every time I open Internet Information Services manager in 2012 Datacenter I am prompted to install Microsoft Web Platform to "stay connected with latest Web Platform Components.

Ive sniffed around the web but I can t understand what that platform might do for me nor why Im being prompted to install it. It seems to me I already have everything installed that the Web Platform installer would install i.e. IIS?

Why am i being prompted to install something/junk i don't understand on a server machine?

To get rid of the dialog, just tick the checkbox:

"Do not show this message."

and then 'No' and you will not be bothered again.

This is a user-settings, so each new user gets the dialog at least once.

This setting is stored in a binary file:

%APPDATA%\Microsoft\WebManagement\7.0.0.0\InetMgr.preferences

so it can not be easily set by your server-setup script, which is unfortunate.

Also you can not remove the link to the "Web Platform Installer" in the actions pane. If you decide to download on the server you have to click through tons of IE popups telling you that is not a good idea to download anything on a server.

If you don't want 'junk' on your server, why did you install IIS Manager in the first place. It is not really needed on a server. But that really depends on your whole setup. Without IIS manager there is also no WPI popup.

Having said all that, if you are using many of the components that WPI allows you to download and install, it can make your life much easier.

I sometimes use WPI on a workstation but never on a server where everything is scripted.

In the end it takes two clicks to get rid of it on every server, but I would rather not have it popping up. The link is enough.

Web platform is very simillar to "add roles and features" functionality of windows server 2012. In particular, it allows to install/add support of php, mysql, etc to your IIS with a few clicks

BTW, have you considered setting up a lab environment for testing purposes? It's rather strange to hear from a system administrator that he doesn't understand some of the basic functions of his server