If you have ever found yourself searching for how to run ASP on Linux or trying to figure out how to containerize an old IIS-dependent application, you already know the struggle. For years, Microsoft Classic ASP and VBScript have been tightly locked into the Windows ecosystem.
Whether you are maintaining a legacy enterprise system or looking for a lightweight, server-side scripting engine for a new project, migrating away from Windows Server has historically meant a complete rewrite.
Enter AxonASP 2.2, an open-source, high-performance runtime written in GoLang that allows you to natively run ASP Classic on Linux, macOS, and Windows.
But AxonASP isn't just an emulator for legacy code—it is a modernized engine designed for the future of web development. Here is a technical look at how it works, what it supports, and why it might be the right tool for your next architectural shift.
A Modern Architecture for a Classic Stack
At its core, AxonASP is built for speed, low memory utilization, and modern infrastructure. It features a zero-allocation Virtual Machine architecture that processes requests incredibly fast.
When you want to run ASP Classic on Linux using AxonASP, you aren't running a heavy compatibility layer. The engine compiles VBScript via a single-pass compiler, emitting bytecode directly to a stack-based VM. This results in extreme processing speeds with a tiny memory footprint. A standard setup can handle 2000 requests per minute while consuming only around 100MB of RAM. A pure VBScript API running on AxonASP uses only 17MB in idle mode (compared to 30MB for Node.js).
Deployment Flexibility: From Docker to WASM
Modern DevOps demands flexibility. AxonASP was built to fit into modern CI/CD pipelines effortlessly. It provides multiple deployment strategies out of the box:
- Standalone Proxy Server: Run it directly with its built-in HTTP server.
-
FastCGI: Integrate seamlessly with Nginx or Apache (
axonasp-fastcgi). - Docker: Containerize your Classic ASP applications natively for Kubernetes or Docker Swarm.
- Command Line Interface (CLI): Execute ASP scripts directly from your terminal.
- WebAssembly (WASM): You can even compile and run performance-critical VBScript directly in the browser.
Beyond VBScript: First-Class JavaScript (ES6+) Support
One of the most powerful features of AxonASP is its JavaScript engine. Unlike traditional ASP environments that had limited JScript support, AxonASP supports fully compliant ECMAScript 6+.
Even better, you can mix VBScript and JavaScript in the exact same application. This is a game-changer for modernization. Instead of a costly, high-risk "rip and replace" rewrite, you can keep your core VBScript business logic running perfectly while writing new modules, API integrations, and utilities in modern JavaScript. You can easily organize your JS code using CommonJS/ES6 module syntax directly alongside your .asp files.
Because the JavaScript engine uses a direct AST-based execution model (rather than forcing a Promise-based paradigm for every single operation), it is highly memory efficient. A pure JS API running on AxonASP idles at around ~18MB of memory.
Built for the AI Era: The MCP Server
Developing in 2026 requires modern tooling. AxonASP ships with a built-in Model Context Protocol (MCP) server.
This allows AI coding agents and LLM-powered IDEs (like Cursor or Claude) to connect directly to your runtime. The AI can analyze your specific server environment, understand the available built-in G3 libraries (like G3JSON, G3DB, and G3CRYPTO), and autonomously author or debug ASP pages.
It also ships with a complete testsuite to ensure your codebase remains stable as you iterate.
Not Just for Legacy: Building the Future with AxonLive
While AxonASP is the perfect solution to run ASP Classic on Linux or Mac, it is also a framework for building new, modern applications.
The engine includes AxonLive, a high-performance Reactive Component Framework built directly into the VM. If you are familiar with tools like HTMX, Livewire, or Blazor, AxonLive offers a similar paradigm but natively in ASP.
With AxonLive, UI interactions (clicks, forms, timers) are sent to the server asynchronously. All business logic and validation happen securely on the backend, and the server responds with targeted JSON patches that seamlessly update the DOM—without requiring full page reloads. The client simply acts as a lightweight rendering terminal, giving you SPA-like interactivity with bare-metal server performance.
Getting Started
Because it is written in Go, getting started is straightforward. If you want to build from source (requires GoLang 1.26+), you can simply use the provided build scripts:
Linux / macOS:
./build.sh --platform "linux" --architecture "amd64"
Windows:
.\build.ps1
AxonASP also comes packed with over 60 native libraries (JSON handling, DB connectors for PostgreSQL/MySQL/Oracle, SMTP, image processing, and compression suites) meaning you can build robust enterprise apps with zero overhead and no third-party DLLs.
Join the Open Source Community
AxonASP is proudly open source. If you are a developer looking to break your legacy apps out of IIS, or if you want to explore a highly efficient server-side engine that blends the simplicity of ASP with modern web capabilities, check out the project.
- GitHub Repository: https://github.com/guimaraeslucas/axonasp
- Official Manual & Documentation: https://g3pix.com.br/axonasp/manual/
- Playground & Live Examples: Explore pages running natively on AxonASP 2.2 and try our WASM Playground at https://g3pix.com.br/axonasp/wasm/
Stop letting legacy infrastructure hold your code back. Containerize it, run it on Linux, mix in some modern JavaScript, and start building.
