Find Process Identifier (PID) for Application Pool

Developers and system administrators must know to find out the correct PID associated with application pool if multiple web sites are running different app pools on the same server. PID is more important when Administrator troubleshoots an issue/worker process or developers debug the code by attaching the correct W3WP process with visual studio.

There are four common methods available to find out the Process Identifier for application pool.
1. Using IIS user interface
2. Using Command prompt
3. Using Task manager
4. Using Process Viewer

Method 1: Using IIS User Interface

1. Open IIS
2. Select Server from Connection Tree
3. Select Features Tab
4. Double click on Worker Process available under IIS section

5. Find the application pool name and Process identifiers in tabular view

Method 2: Using Command Prompt

iisapp.vbs script needs to be used to retrieve the correct PID from IIS6 and Windows 2003 server. Find the details in below snapshot.

C:\Windows\System32>script iisapp.vbs

Command “appcmd” need to be used on IIS7 or above and Windows 2008 server or above to retrieve the correct PID details from server. The “appcmd” command had to be executed by passing additional parameters “list” and “wps”. Find the details in below snapshot.

Go to c:\Windows\system32\inetsrv>appcmd list wps

Method 3: Using Command Prompt

1. Open Task Manager

2. Go to Process Tab

3. Go to View menu and client on Select columns

4. Add PID(Process Identifier) and Command line

5. Click OK

6. Find the PID and application pool details in the updated view

Method 4: Using Process Viewer

Refer: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx