Net Data Design, LLC Blog

An alternative method of installing DotNetNuke on IIS 7.5 9or IIS 7) is using the free helper application by Mike van der Meulen. MakeDNNSite is a nice little package that will give you a new DNN install without a lot of hassle. There is no manual web.config editing, Application Pool creating or setting of permissions (see note below). It will even download the latest build for you or use a package that you already have downloaded.

I have used this method several time in testing and found it to be flawless (2008 R2, 64-bit). It does come with a few restriction, such as you can’t install using a sub-domain. It said to work on IIS 7 and 7.5 both 32-bit and 64-bit and SQL Server 2005 and 2008 both full and Express editions.

Because MakeDNNSite works on both IIS 7 and 7.5, the Application Pool created uses the NetworkService account. While this is fine for IIS 7, however it is not the preferred account for IIS 7.5, rather the IIS AppPool Idently account should be used. This can be simply changed by right-clicking the newly created AppPool and selecting ‘Advanced Setting’. There, under Process Model, change the identity to ‘ApplicationPoolIdentity’.

If you opt to use the ApplicationPoolIdentity you will need to update you permissions on the website directory as well. I have blogged about this in detail (IIS 7.5 AppPool Identities).

In short, it’s a really nice tool at a great price (Free.) I highly recommend it for all DNN users, regardless of your environment or skill level.

There have been many questions on how to install and configure DotNetNuke on IIS 7.5 which ships in Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2. I will outline the procedure I use to do so. For this example I will be using Windows 2008 R2 64-bit.

When you first login to 2008 R2 you will be greeted with the Server Manager.

Server Manager

After you expand the Roles node and the Web Server node in the left pane you will be in the main IIS Manager.

IIS Manager 7.5

Right Click on the “Sites” folder and select “Add Web Site.”

Add Web Site

In the next screen we enter the web sites specifics. Fill in the highlighted areas with your information. Note that as you enter your site name an new Application Pool is created.

Web Site Details

During the above process you will create a new directory to which you will deploy your DNN code.

Create Website Directory

After this is complete, select Application Pools from the IIS Manager node. The detailed view should indicate that the AppPool is in Integrated Pipeline mode.

AppPool View

If you have not already done so, copy your DNN files to your website directory. In IIS Manager right click your new website and:

1. Select “Edit Permissions.”
2. Select the “Security” tab.
3. Click the “Edit” and then “Add” button
4. Click the “Locations” button and make sure you select your machine.
5. Enter “IIS AppPool\<YourAppPoolName>” in the “Enter the object names to select:” text box.
6. Click the “Check Names” button and click “OK”.
7. Grant <YourAppPoolName> modify permissions on the directory.

Securing Resources for your Process Identity

At this point you are ready to edit your web.config for your database connection., and get started.

If you have any questions on the Application pool details, I have covered this in an earlier Blog, you can read that here.

Not all that long ago I used SmarterTrack by SmarterTools for our Help Desk and it fit the bill fairly well. It is full feature offering multi-channel communications portal with features like a Ticket system, Live Chat, WhosOn, branding and language support, cost analysis, data mining, reporting, surveys, and a Knowledge Base. The problem was it didn’t offer an type of billing capability or a Web Service capable to accommodate billing.

This is still a short coming and was the reason I moved to vTiger. I have blogged in the past about vTiger and sung its praises. It does a lot of things fairly well, but the support system was a little lacking as far as functionality. Some of the items that I really missed in the vTiger support were things like branding, ticket distribution, Live Chat, reporting and cost analysis.

Branding plays an important role for us as we can deliver Knowledge Base (KB) articles and news items to a targeted audience. The keeps the web interface to a minimum for clients and the content they have access to is relevant. Branding also provides the flexibility to share resources and agents for outstanding efficiency and offer opportunities to increase sales.

I’ll get into the more technical aspect of SmarterTrack in my next blog, but in the mean time, if you’re looking for a powerful, full featured Help Desk, SmarterTools has the answer for you, in three different editions starting for a little as FREE. They also offer a hosted version too. Have a look at the detailed Pricing and Editions.

Here are some sample UI’s:

Agents View

User View

So, what do I mean by new look? Well, the powers-that-be have moved DotNetNuke (DNN) to an open repository. Since it’s inception from the iBuySpy days the repository has been closed.  I should note that the project has always released a “source” version of the application to the public, and for the first few years this system worked for a majority of the DNN community.

Times change however, and DotNetNuke Corporation is adapting to these changes. For instance the Issue Tracking has been reworked, and the new “Just like Clockwork” release dates. The later replacing the “When it’s Ready” policy. I was never a big fan of this policy but I do understand that a project that relied on a largely volunteer staff, this was a best fit model for DNN. Again, times change.

A few personal observations from someone (me) who has used, developed to and profited from DNN since version 1.5, the iBuySpy fork:

1. I have noticed that the quality of releases since DNN incorporated has risen greatly. There seems to be more attention paid to details and the QA/Testing group appears to have things well in hand.
2. The security of a DNN build has always been handled well, but the newer releases have been outstanding with no critical issues in well over a year. Kudos go to Cathal Connolly for an outstanding effort.

If you haven’t installed and tested this rich development platform, or perhaps you have in the past and lost favor; you need to check-it out. You’ll find a robust community and user-groups world-wide. Give it a shot.