How To: Find the Worker Process (w3wp.exe) and PID of an IIS Application Pool – SecureAuth Support

Version Affected: All

Overview

This article explains how to find which Internet Information Services (IIS) Worker Process (w3wp.exe) -- and its Process ID (PID) -- is running a given Application Pool. This is useful when analyzing server resource usage, or when deciding whether an Application Pool needs to be split out on its own for better efficiency. This is a general IIS administration technique, not specific to any particular SecureAuth Identity Platform version, and it applies to any IIS Application Pool, including the ones SecureAuth realms run in.

In Windows Task Manager's Details tab, every Application Pool's Worker Process shows up generically as w3wp.exe, with no indication of which Application Pool each one belongs to:

Task Manager Details tab showing two w3wp.exe processes with different PIDs, with no indication of which Application Pool each one is running

Finding the Worker Process and PID

In IIS Manager, click the server name, then open Worker Processes under the IIS section:

IIS Manager server home page with the Worker Processes icon highlighted under the IIS section

This lists every currently-running Application Pool by name, alongside its Process Id (PID). Note the PID for the Application Pool in question. If an Application Pool is idle or sleeping rather than actively running, it will not appear in this list:

Worker Processes page listing Application Pool names alongside their Process Id, with the Process Id column highlighted

In Task Manager's Details tab, find the w3wp.exe entry with that same PID -- that is the Worker Process hosting the Application Pool:

Task Manager Details tab with the PID column highlighted, matching a w3wp.exe entry to the Process Id noted from IIS Manager

Special Considerations

There are other ways to gather this same information, including writing a .vbs or .ps1 script to query it directly from Windows. Writing and maintaining a script like that is outside the scope of this article and of standard Support Policies.

SecureAuth Knowledge Base Articles provide information based on specific use cases and may not apply to all appliances or configurations. Be advised that these instructions could cause harm to the environment if not followed correctly or if they do not apply to the current use case.

Customers are responsible for their own due diligence prior to utilizing this information and agree that SecureAuth is not liable for any issues caused by misconfiguration directly or indirectly related to SecureAuth products.