Control the host name/port ID when VS.Net or DevEnv load a web app

Stable build and integration build cannot host by a single machine. It is all due to when IIS and VS.NET creates a web app it always creates it in default location - local host.

The background:
W2k3, IIS6, .NET, SQL Server

Prove it 1. using vs.net

Using vs.net to open a web app which is configured to run at port 8080, notice it complains cannot find the web app at localhost(80) and tries to create one. I am sure you are familiar with the ‘smart way’ IIS and VS.net tries to recreate XXXXX_1 web app for you. Same thing here.

Prove it: 2 using DevEnv.exe
Here comes the long story:
On the CI build server, two web apps (part of the solution; both set to vdir in IIS) is hosted by the default web app (localhost:80). This config works fine with CC.net and Nant. Web apps can be built and tested properly.

Now on the same build server, I would like to have an independent nightly build process using CC.net.

From file system, the entire nightly build solution is a sibling to the CI build solution.
I create a new (IIS) Application pool – just to have a clean cut from the default application pool;
I create a NightlyBuild web App in this App pool, and I config the two web apps to map to their directories in nightly build solution. So they are symmetrical to the CI build settings. And I assign port 8081 to NightlyBuild web app.

Launch the Nant build process. Everything seemed worked fine. The build report actually says it. But when looking into the web apps. Source codes are fresh from source safe (check timestamp). However, there are no bin folders there. It looked like they are not built at all.

Turn to the CI build solution, there are bin folders. Then look up binaries. I was expecting the timestamp being older – when they are lastly built. Hi Presto, it is the timestamp of NightlyBuild’s.

See what I mean?

When start VS.net IDE or use DevEnv. It will always try to register the web app in http://localhost(:80) without any exception.

I wonder if there is a way I can intervene into this by Nant. So I can control the web app to be mapped to, say localhost:8080?