Net Data Design, LLC Blog

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.

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.

There are times when a product that you use, like, program for and have become very familiar with begins to lose it’s luster. I’m speaking of a very well known CMS, who will at this point remain nameless. We’ll just refer to it as BrandX for now. That time comes when you have this “feeling” and its confirmed by a long-time good client. It’s at that point you know that ignoring it won’t make it go away.

Over the past year or so I have become more familiar with and almost comfortable with the LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP.) I have been a die-hard Microsoft developer and admit that my strength is in the IIS, MSSQL, and .NET stack. All developer have they’re comfort zone, but I digress. Lets talk Joomla!.

Lets start with the test server. It’s VM running Ubuntu 9.10 with the LAMP stack installed. A freshly downloaded copy of Joomla! 1.5 in place and the installation begins. Here is where some other CMS’s can take a lesson (including BrandX)! The installation was very straight forward and took literally a minute to complete! A few minor configuration settings,a database name, user and presto, your in business.

That was the easy part. Now what to do in this new interface? A new world compared to BrandX! As with any “new” product a learning curve is a certainty, but Joomla! is truly a whole new world. I’ll write back with my finding and I look forward tou your comments.

While there are some that say that a MySQL/InnoDB “monopoly” isn’t healthy in the long run. What is a bit puzzling is the Oracle acquisition of Innobase Oy (the makers of InnoDB) a few years ago. The question in regards to this acquisition is whether Oracle is serious about seeing MySQL grow and prosper, or was that a means to get a strangle-hold on a vital piece of MySQL?

To Oracle’s credit, they have published  a press release stating their commitments regarding their acquisition of MySQL by way of acquiring Sun. Personally, I’m not buying it.

For years Oracle worked, behind the scenes to discredit MySQL and tried hard to understand how their customers could ever consider using such an “immature” product instead of their lead product. In fact, it was so important to Oracle that they offered some very substantial discounts to customers who were using MySQL and Oracle. The good news is that this strategy didn’t work. MySQL had and has a staunch following that has always been a little leery of Oracle.

I’ve been a CTO at two locations that used Oracle and have found their practices to be cut-throat, sometimes bordering on ruthless. Is Oracle a serious threat to the open-source community? In my estimation, it certainly is, more than most of my colleagues, although a huge percentage of them would agree that this acquisition is not good for MySQL. Does Oracle participate in the open-source community? Sure, in a manner that supports themselves through commercial offerings. This is not the true spirit of open-source and leads to a slippery slope.

I’ve posted a poll on the right of this post, feel free to participate.