Install DNN7 on Windows Server 2008

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Notes for installing DNN7 on a Windows server with FTP access and FTP user isolation on IIS6. 

Software

Software used in this article:

  1. Windows Server 2008 Datacenter SP2 x64 (two separate servers, one for IIS, one for SQL)
  2. Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2
  3. IIS
  4. DotNetNuke 7

SQL Server Configuration

--allow advanced options to be changed
EXEC sp_configure 'show advanced options', 1
RECONFIGURE
--enable the xp_cmdshell feature
EXEC sp_configure 'xp_cmdshell', 1
GO

--create a directory to store the database
EXEC xp_cmdshell 'mkDir "D:\dnn7_site"'

--disable the xp_cmdshell feature
EXEC sp_configure 'xp_cmdshell', 0
GO
--prevent advanced options to be changed
EXEC sp_configure 'show advanced options', 0
RECONFIGURE

--create a new database for DNN7
USE master
CREATE DATABASE dnn7_site
ON (NAME = dnn7_site_DATA, FILENAME = 'D:\dnn7_site\dnn7_site.mdf')
LOG ON (NAME = 'dnn7_site_LOG', FILENAME = 'D:\dnn7_site\dnn7_site.ldf')
GO

--set recovery to simple mode, no t-log backups
ALTER DATABASE dnn7_site SET RECOVERY SIMPLE;

--create a new SQL user for DNN7
sp_addlogin 'sandy', 'passwd'

--change database owner to the new user
USE dnn7_site
EXEC sp_changedbowner 'sandy'

Web Server Configuration

Setup Users and Directories

Create a new directory for a DNN7 website:

D:\ftproot\LocalUser\dnn7_user

Create a new user for FTP with the home directory as D:\ftproot\LocalUser\dnn7_user:

Properties --> Profile --> Home Folder --> Local path: D:\ftproot\LocalUser\dnn7_user

Setup an FTP site on the IIS6.0 manager and with the FTP site directory path as D:\ftproot". Disable anonymous login.

Download DNN7

Download DNN Platform 07.03.00 install archive from here: https://dotnetnuke.codeplex.com/downloads/get/859796.

Extract all files to D:\ftproot\LocalUser\dnn7_user.

Setup Permissions

Create a new user called dnn7_user.

Give full control permissions for IIS_IUSRS user and read permissions for IUSR user on D:\ftproot\LocalUser\dnn7_user. The dnn7_user must have read/write permissions to be able to upload files via FTP.

IIS_IUSRS should have permission to read/write to D:\ftproot\LocalUser.

Open D:\ftproot\LocalUser\dnn7_user\web.config and modify the line for database connection string appropriately:

<connectionStrings>
 <add name="SiteSqlServer" connectionString="Data Source=10.1.2.3;Initial Catalog=dnn7_site;User ID=sandy;Password=passwd" providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" />
<appSettings>
 <add key="SiteSqlServer" value="Data Source=10.1.2.3;Initial Catalog=dnn7_site;User ID=sandy;Password=passwd" />

Save changes.

Add DNN7 Site to IIS

Add a new site to IIS7 with the physical path of D:\ftproot\LocalUser\dnn7_user. Start the site. Navigate to http://localhost/ to finish the installation.