DotNetNuke Modules – Install DNN into VS 2008
Today, we will install DotNetNuke into Visual Studio so that we can create our first module. So fire up Visual Studio, and let’s get going.
I’ll be using Visual Studio 2008 to walk you through this, but the instructions are very similar if you are still using Visual Studio 2005.
To install DotNetNuke, you can run the DotNetNuke Web Application framework project that you can find by selecting “File” > “New” > “Web Site…” from the menu. If you normally work in CSharp, you’ll need to switch the language to VB.NET before you see the project. Don’t worry, you’ll still be able to develop your modules in CSharp, but DotNetNuke is a VB project so you’ll need to install it as a VB project.
When you develop web sites in Visual Studio, you always want to develop using IIS to run the web site. This will allow you to see any security errors that may develop while writing your code prior to putting the application into development. If you are not already in the practice of using IIS for your web development, now is a good time to start. Make sure the “Location” dropdown is set to HTTP.
Click the “OK” button to continue. After waiting a while, you will see a message asking if you want to run under ASP.NET 3.5 or 2.0. I personally prefer using 3.5, but this means that I have to upgrade my web.config file on the production server so that it will run 3.5. Most of the time, that just means copying the web.config from my development server over to the production server and making a few minor modifications.
Once the install has completed, you will see an HTML page with further instructions. Here are a few additional notes:
- Setup your server for mixed mode authentication:
If you installed SQL server express as part of your Visual Studio installation, Microsoft installed it to use Windows Authentication. The best way to fix this is to uninstall anything that says something about SQL 2005 and reinstall it manually. When you get to the dialog that ask if you want Windows authentication, or Mixed Mode authentication, select Mixed Mode and give a password you can remember.You can find the SQL Server Express on your Visual Studio CD at:
[drive]:\WCU\SSE\SqlExpr.exe - Create/Configure database:
I’ve found it is best to configure the database as a named database off the server rather than attaching to a database that you might place in App_Data. I use SQL Server Enterprise Manager Express to manage my SQL Express databases. While you can run DotNetNuke from a database in app_data, you’ll want to be able to create tables and store procedures using SQL Server Enterprise Manager Express, which will be easier, but not impossible, if you are using a named database instead of a file attached database.
Finally, go ahead and run the project to install DNN on your server.
Other post in DotNetNuke - Module Development
- Creating DotNetNuke Modules - May 20th, 2008
- Creating DNN Modules - The Tools - May 22nd, 2008
- DotNetNuke Modules - Foundational Concepts - May 26th, 2008
- DotNetNuke Modules - Install DNN into VS 2008 - May 27th, 2008
- DotNetNuke Modules - Creating Base Modules - May 28th, 2008
- DotNetNuke Modules - Registering Your Module - May 29th, 2008
- DotNetNuke Modules - Where Stuff Shows Up - June 3rd, 2008
- DotNetNuke Modules - Benefits of Architecture - June 4th, 2008
- DotNetNuke Modules - Anatomy of the View - June 9th, 2008
- DotNetNuke Modules - Adding Actions - June 11th, 2008
- DotNetNuke Modules - DNN Controls - Label - June 18th, 2008
- DotNetNuke - Internationalization - June 25th, 2008
- DotNetNuke Modules - Internationalization (part 2) - June 30th, 2008
- DotNetNuke Modules - Labels w/ no Help - July 9th, 2008
- DotNetNuke Modules - LinkButtons - July 14th, 2008
- DotNetNuke Modules - Collapsible Panels - July 16th, 2008
- DotNetNuke - The Data Layer - Installing CodeSmith - July 22nd, 2008
- DotNetNuke - Modules - Creating The Tables - July 24th, 2008
- DotNetNuke - Modules - Creating Stored Procs - July 29th, 2008
- DotNetNuke - Modules - Portal Specific Modules - July 31st, 2008
- DotNetNuke Modules - Data Access Layer - August 5th, 2008
- DotNetNuke Modules - Data Access Layer - August 7th, 2008
- DotNetNuke - Data Access Layer Alternative - August 12th, 2008
- DotNetNuke - Modules - Linking within the module - August 14th, 2008
- DotNetNuke - Make Your Module Searchable - August 19th, 2008
- DotNetNuke Modules - Making Content Portable - August 25th, 2008
- DotNetNuke Modules - Exceptions the DNN Way - September 2nd, 2008
- DotNetNuke Modules - PortalModuleBase - September 4th, 2008
- DotNetNuke Modules - Inter Module Communication - September 9th, 2008
- DotNetNuke Modules - Finding The Page a Module is On - September 15th, 2008
- DotNetNuke Modules - Caching - September 17th, 2008
- DotNetNuke Modules - Module Settings - September 22nd, 2008
- DotNetNuke Modules - Retrieving Settings - September 24th, 2008
- DotNetNuke Modules - Advanced Architecture - October 20th, 2008
- DotNetNuke Modules - Creating the PA - October 30th, 2008
- DotNetNuke Modules - Automating the PA - November 5th, 2008
- DotNetNuke - FileUploadControl Danger! - February 26th, 2009
- DotNetNuke SecurityException AspnetHostingPermission - October 14th, 2009
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[...] .NET AnswersASP.NET, HTML, CSS, Visual Studio, CSharp, VB.NET and other programming items of interest. DotNetNuke Modules – Install DNN into VS 2008 [...]
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[...] Installing DotNetNuke into Visual Studio [...]
[...] Installing DotNetNuke into Visual Studio [...]
[...] .NET AnswersASP.NET, HTML, CSS, Visual Studio, CSharp, VB.NET and other programming items of interest. Modify a DNN Module without touching the ASCX DotNetNuke Modules – Install DNN into VS 2008 [...]
[...] Installing DotNetNuke into Visual Studio [...]
[...] Once you have Visual Studio or Web Developer Express installed, you’ll need to download and install the DotNetNuke starter kit from the DotNetNuke site (www.dotnetnuke.com) and then install DotNetNuke as we describe in our article, “Installing DNN into Visual Studio.” [...]
thanks man
Thanks you so much. I wasted 2 hours before reading this article to realize you have to use the ‘auto’ option. I was using custom and the install was hanging on the sql part.
I just want to add, if you want to manage the database with MSSQL Management studio express, then you have to modify web.config before compiling, otherwise the install will create the database as a .mdf file.