Hosting ASP.NET Core in IIS without Kestrel

Hosting ASP.NET Core in IIS without Kestrel

Yes, you could use WebListener web server instead of Kestrel. WebListener only works on the Windows platform but since that is where you are running, it's an option for you.

WebListener however does not rely on IIS as a reverse proxy, in fact WebListener can't be used with IIS or IIS Express since it's not compatible with ASP.NET Core Module. But it does give you a non Kestrel option for hosting ASP.NET Core on windows.

You can learn more about it here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/fundamentals/servers/weblistener

Prior to ASP.Net Core 2.2
If you must host in IIS and you don't want to use Kestrel and you are running on windows, then there are no options. On Windows, you either host with WebListener without IIS or you host with Kestrel using IIS as a reverse proxy. Those are your only two options currently on Windows.

Update: ASP.Net Core 2.2 or later Starting in ASP.Net Core 2.2 there is now support for running ASP.Net Core In Process in IIS. Under such a configuration Kestrel is not used. To learn more see In Process Hosting Model on the Microsoft Docs site or this blog post https://weblog.west-wind.com/posts/2019/Mar/16/ASPNET-Core-Hosting-on-IIS-with-ASPNET-Core-22