Lately, I had the task to create a generic WCF netTcp endpoint within BizTalk. The purpose was to create a single BizTalk ESB endpoint for each front-end application. BizTalk has the task to route and transform the SOAP requests to the corresponding back-end services.

I already had experience with hosting such an endpoint in-process (with the Custom adapter), but now it was required to host the endpoint in IIS (with the Custom-Isolated adapter). The reason for this decision is the fact that IIS, in combination with Windows Server AppFabric, adds extra tooling and manageability.

Enable Windows Activation Services

• Add WAS as a Windows feature:

• Turn on WCF Non-HTTP Activation

• Start all WAS Windows Services. Change their startup type to Automatic. You can do this via Properties.

Create IIS endpoint

• Create a web service directory: C:\inetpub\wwwroot\BlogService

• Open IIS Manager and convert the folder to an application

• Choose an application pool which is configured with the BizTalk isolated host user for .NET Framework 4.0

• Enable netTcp for the Default Web Site, via the Advanced Settings:

• Enable netTcp for the BlogService application, via the Advanced Settings:

• Add GenericEsbEndpoint.svc to the web service directory

• GenericEsbEndpoint.svc tells IIS to use the ServiceHostFactory of the BizTalk WCF adapter:

           <%@ ServiceHost Language="c#" Factory="Microsoft.BizTalk.Adapter.Wcf.Runtime.CustomWebServiceHostFactory, Microsoft.BizTalk.Adapter.Wcf.Runtime, Version=3.0.1.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35" %>

• A web.config can be added, but all service behaviors (e.g. serviceDebug) can be configured on your BizTalk receive location too.

Create BizTalk receive location

• Create a two-way receive port

• Create a two-way receive location and configure with the Custom-Isolated Adapter

• Configure the adapter URI with the format /<IIS Application Name>/<Service.svc>. Don’t use the scheme “net.tcp://” here!

• Configure the netTcp binding. Disable transport security (for performance reasons).

• Enable the BizTalk receive location

• Now you can additionally set up send ports and filters, to route the submitted SOAP request to the correct back-end services. Routing can be based on multiple properties, but the SOAP Action (WCF.Action) seems most suitable. Also transformations must be added in some cases.

Update the client binding

• The client needs to be updated to send to the generic BizTalk endpoint, instead of directly to the back-end service. Update the client with the following address format: net.tcp://<machinename>:<tcpPortNumber>//<IIS Application Name>/<Service.svc>

<client>

<endpoint address="net.tcp://machineName:8888/BlogService/GenericEsbEndpoint.svc"

binding="netTcpBinding" bindingConfiguration="NetTcpBinding_ICoditService"

contract="PersonSvc.ICoditService" name="NetTcpBinding_ICoditService" />

</client>

• The tcpPortNumber can be configured in the Site Bindings of the Default Web Site