How can I host a WCF service without an SVC file in IIS

Question

I\'d like to deploy a dual interface (SOAP/REST/XML/JSON) WCF service in IIS with just a config file and the binaries and no svc file in the URL

We use VS2012 and .N

Answer 1

If you're using WCF 4.0 or later, you can use "file-less" activation. Add something like the following to config your file:

<serviceHostingEnvironment multipleSiteBindingsEnabled="true">
  <serviceActivations>
    <add factory="System.ServiceModel.Activation.ServiceHostFactory" 
         relativeAddress="Soap.svc" 
         service="Cmp.MySoft.BL.NeOthe.NeOtheWrapper" />
  </serviceActivations>
</serviceHostingEnvironment>

This allows you to host a WCF service without a physical .svc file. The relativeAddress is relative to the base address of the site, and you'll need to create the IIS application as usual.

See the "File-Less activation" section in A Developer's Introduction to Windows Communication Foundation 4 for more information.