Installing DotNetNuke can be somewhat difficult at times, therefore I am writing this article to give you a full step by step guide to installing DotNetNuke on a Windows XP Pro system. The instructions are similar for Windows 2000 and XP Home but might vary slightly, I have tried to note as many differences as possible. Windows Vista installation is similar but requires a few different steps relating to IIS.  This article is a re-visit to my first article of this type geared towards DotNetNuke 4.4.1..

Prior to following this instruction guide please ensure that you have downloaded the "install" version of DotNetNuke 4.5.5 from http://www.dotnetnuke.com.  You can save the zip file to your desktop for the time being.  You will also need to have SQL Server Express 2005 installed, (Other versions work, but these instructions might not match 100% on other versions).  Lastly you must be logged in to your machine with administrative permissions.

The setup will be broken into the following 3 sections; creating the needed SQL Serveer database and user account, unzipping DNN and configuring the web.config file, and finally setup of the virtual directory and starting DotNetNuke.

Creating SQL Server Database

• Start SQL Server Management Studio Express (SSMSE), (if you don't have this please install it from here.)
• Once SSMSE has opened, please note the "Server Name" of the server that you are connecting to, this is the full text of the information in that field. (Circled in below picture) 
• Once you have connected and opened the utility you will want to expand the node for your server name as located in step 2
• Right Click on the "Databases" node and select "Create New Database"
• Specify a name for your database, I will use DotNetNuke455 for this example, then click create 
• Now expand the "Security" node, then right click on "Logins" and select add
• Provide the information for the dnn account, be sure to select "SQL Server Authentication" and remember the password. (If SQL Server Authentication is not available see this to enable mixed mode on your server) 
• Now select "User Mappings" and check the box next to your newly created database at the top, then select the "dbowner" role from the listing at the bottom, this maps the account to have full access to your database. 
• Click "Create" to have your user account created. Once this is completed you are now done with the databse setup. Please remember the database server name from step two and the username and password used to create the SQL Server account as we will be using this in the next section

Unzipping and Configuring DotNetNuke

All files from the DotNetNuke install zip must be extracted to a common folder, typically this folder is created as a sub directory of C:\inetpub\wwwroot. The instructions below will be based on installation to this location, if you desire to install DotNetNuke at a different location simply substitute your folder path anytime it is referenced in the below instructions.

1. Using windows explorer navigate to c:\inetpub\wwwroot, then right click and select "New" -> "Folder" and create a folder called "DotNetNuke455". This folder will become the install directory for DotNetNuke
2. Right click on your newly created file and select "Sharing and Security"
3. Switch to the security tab, if you do not see the "Security" tab, you will need to disable the "Use Simple File Sharing" option in your Folder View Options.
4. Click "Add.."
5. In the textbox type ASPNET if on Windows 2000/XP or NETWORKSERVICE if on Windows 2K3/Vista, then press ok
6. Under permissions for this account check the box for full control, then press "Ok" to save the changes
7. Open the DotNetNuke 4.5.5 Install Zip package
8. Select "Extract All Files/Folders" 
9. For the extraction location select the folder you created in step 1
10. Once all files have been extracted you need to edit the "Web.config" file located in the root of the DotNetNuke folder
11. Modify the circled sections of the web config, you will need to set this up to connect to your database, so substitute your values for "Server", "Database", "uid", and "pwd".  This format of connection string will work for both SQL 2000 and SQL Express.  You may use other valid connection string settings, you may visit http://www.connectionstrings.com for assistance with other formats
    
12. Also inside the web.config look for a setting called <add name="AutoUpgrade" value="True" />, change the value on this to "False"
13. Lastly inside the web.config look for a setting called <add name="UseWizard" value="True" />, change the value on this to "False"
14. Save the modified document

The above finishes the actual configuration of the DotNetNuke file system first we created the needed directory, then we assigned the proper file permissions, then we configured the web.config file to not only connect to the database but to also do some preventative settings changes to secure the site.

Setup Virtual Directory and Start DotNetNuke

Now that we have the database and file system setup we will proceed to the final step of setup, configuring IIS to host your website.

1. Open the IIS Snap-In tool, this can be found via "Start" -> "Settings" -> "Control Panel" -> "Administrative Tools" -> "Internet Information Services"
2. Expand the root notes until you can expand the "Default Web Site" node
   
3. You should see your application folder listed under the "Default Web Site", right click on the folder and select "Properties"
4. On the first tab, click the "Create" button next to the application name, you should then see DotNetNuke455 listed
   
5. Now, switch to the "Documents" tab. Remove all current entries and add "Default.aspx" to the listing. Your window should look like the following when complete.
   
6. Now, switch to the "Dierectory Security" tab
7. Click "Edit" in the "Anonymous access and authentication control"
8. Ensure that a checkmark is included in the "Anonymous Access" box at the top of the screen then click "Ok" to exit
9. Now switch to the "ASP.NET" tab and ensure that "2.0.50727" is selected for the ASP.NET version
10. Click "Ok" to save your changes and complete the IIS setup
11. Now open Internet Explorer and navigate to "http://localhost/DotNetNuke455/Install/install.aspx
12. You should see some test indicating the DNN installation progress then a link that says "Click here to access your portal"

This walks you through the entire setup process to get a local copy of DotNetNuke working with SQL Server 2005 Express. This installation guide can help you get up and going on a hosting provider as well, simply noting that the first portion of the setup is typically completed by your web hosting provider.

If you have any comments please leave them below, if you have any trouble and need assistance please utilize my forum to request assistance!