Installing DotNetNuke 4.5.5 Locally
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
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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
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Right Click on the "Databases" node and select "Create New Database"
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Specify a name for your database, I will use DotNetNuke455 for this example,
then click create
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Now expand the "Security" node, then right click on "Logins" and select add
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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.
-
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
-
Right click on your newly created file and select "Sharing and Security"
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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.
-
Click "Add.."
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In the textbox type ASPNET if on Windows 2000/XP or NETWORKSERVICE if on
Windows 2K3/Vista, then press ok
-
Under permissions for this account check the box for full control, then press
"Ok" to save the changes
-
Open the DotNetNuke 4.5.5 Install Zip package
-
Select "Extract All Files/Folders"
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For the extraction location select the folder you created in step 1
-
Once all files have been extracted you need to edit the "Web.config" file
located in the root of the DotNetNuke folder
-
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
-
Also inside the web.config look for a setting called <add name="AutoUpgrade"
value="True" />, change the value on this to "False"
-
Lastly inside the web.config look for a setting called <add name="UseWizard"
value="True" />, change the value on this to "False"
-
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.
-
Open the IIS Snap-In tool, this can be found via "Start" -> "Settings" ->
"Control Panel" -> "Administrative Tools" -> "Internet Information
Services"
-
Expand the root notes until you can expand the "Default Web Site" node
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You should see your application folder listed under the "Default Web Site",
right click on the folder and select "Properties"
-
On the first tab, click the "Create" button next to the application name, you
should then see DotNetNuke455 listed
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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.
-
Now, switch to the "Dierectory Security" tab
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Click "Edit" in the "Anonymous access and authentication control"
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Ensure that a checkmark is included in the "Anonymous Access" box at the top of
the screen then click "Ok" to exit
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Now switch to the "ASP.NET" tab and ensure that "2.0.50727" is selected for the
ASP.NET version
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Click "Ok" to save your changes and complete the IIS setup
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Now open Internet Explorer and navigate to
"http://localhost/DotNetNuke455/Install/install.aspx
-
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!
Posted by Mitchel on Thursday, July 26, 2007
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