Installing DNN (DotNetNuke) on a shared account
DotNetNuke is an open-source Web Application Framework ideal for creating and deploying projects such as commercial websites, corporate intranets and extranets, online publishing portals, and custom vertical applications.
DotNetNuke is provided as open-source software, licensed under a BSD agreement. In general, this license grants the general public permission to obtain the software free-of-charge. It also allows individuals to do whatever they wish with the application framework, both commercially and non-commercially, with the simple requirement of giving credit back to the DotNetNuke project community.
The very first thing you will need to do is download the DNN files from their site. You will need to register with DNN in order to download and install their software. You can begin the registration process with the link below. There is no charge for DNN.
http://www.dotnetnuke.com/Project/About/Downloads/tabid/125/ctl/Register/Default.aspx
Step One
After filling out your information and registering with DNN you will be taken to a new page that gives you an overview of DNN. At the bottom of the page you will find many different download links to the various versions of DNN as well as several different types of downloads within in each version.
The “Install” Package is all you will need to install DNN on a GearHost shared account. Click on the download link to the lift of the filename to download the file to your home computer. The “Docs” package can also be helpful if you wish to have the installation guide for DNN as well as many other DNN related information.
Step Two
Once the DNN installation package is downloaded you can extract the files and upload them to your GearHost account. This can be done through FTP, once again using your GearPanel username and password. You will want to create a directory below the WWW directory in your GearHost account to upload the DNN files into. This directory can be named anything you wish, so long as it is, or is below directory of the domain you wish to use.
Step Three
Once all of the DNN installation files are uploaded to your GearHost account, you will need to login to your Gearpanel control panel to create the database and make some changes to file permissions before the installation can continue. You can login to GearPanel at
http://www.gearpanel.com
Once logged in, click on “Security” in the top menu and choose “Anonymous Access” from the dropdown list that appears. Navigate through the directory tree to find the folder that you have uploaded all of the DNN installation files to. Click on the directory once to select it and click the “Create” button in the lower left. The page will refresh and the path to your DNN directory will be listed under the “Assigned Directories” section at the top of the page. This will give anonymous write access to that folder and allow the DNN installation to work correctly.
Step Four
Next, you will need to set the directory that all of the DNN installation files have been uploaded to as an application directory. This can be done through GearPanel under the “Webserver” menu. From the dropdown list select “Directory Settings” and click on the small globe icon next to the domain under which you have placed the directory with your DNN installation files. Navigate through the directory tree to find the folder that you have uploaded all of the DNN installation files to. Click on the directory once to make it your selected path, check the box next to “Application Directory” and then click the “Save” button in the lower left.
Step Five
Lastly, you will need to create a MSSQL database for the DNN installation. From the top menu click on “DataTools” and then “DataBases” in the dropdown menu that appears.
Under the “Create a Database” Section, choose “MSSQL 2005” as the database type and type a name for your database in the textbox. Make sure to name the database something unique and specific to your installation. Click the “Create” button to finish creating the database.
Once the database has been created, click on the small icon to the left of the database name to look at its properties. You will need to note the database name and the database server for future reference. You will also want to create a database user at this time under the “Create New User” section. Once again make sure to make this user something unique to you. Common names and terms are most likely already taken on the server and will result in you getting an error when attempting to create your database user.
Step Six
With all of the prep work out of the way you can begin the DNN installation. Open a web browser and in the address bar type the following. Make sure to replace example.com with the domain name that you put the DNN installation folder under.
http://www.example.com/yourfoldername/install/installwizard.aspx
Assuming everything was set correctly in the previous steps; this page should take up to a minute to load and should come up with a DNN installation wizard. If it does not and instead comes up with an error message, check all of the previous steps to make sure that the proper permissions and application settings are set on the DNN installation folder.
Step Seven
Choose “Typical” installation from the Installation Methods menu and click the “Next” button in the lower right hand corner.
Step Eight
Click the “Test Permissions” button on the next page to have DNN check that all necessary directories have the permissions needed to continue the installation process. If it passes the permissions check, click the “Next” button in the lower right. If not make sure that you have chosen the correct folder in step 3 above.
Step Nine
Select Database: Choose the “SQL Server 2000/2005 Database” option
Server: Full server name from step 5. Example: mssql1.gearhost.com
Database: Your database name
Integrated Security: Unchecked. Put in your database user and password that was created in step 5.
Run as db Owner: Checked
Object Qualifier: Leave this blank
Once the information above is filled in, click the “Test Database Connection” button to test that the database and user are correct and that DNN is able to connect to them. Click “Next” if the test comes back successful.
Step Ten
The next page in the setup will simply make various changes to the database. Click “Next” when it is finished.
Step Eleven
The next step in the installation process is the creation of your host user. All of this information is up to the individual and can be set as anything you wish. MAKE SURE TO WRITE DOWN WHAT YOU CHOOSE. You will need this login information later.
Step Twelve
The last step has you set up an administrator for your site as well as name the installation. All of this information should be written down as well as you will need it to administer the DNN portal.
Installation Complete
That’s it! The installation is complete. You can login as the administrator using the link in the upper right hand corner of the site and begin making changes to the site. If you run into any issues that you cannot seem to figure out, please open a support ticket under the "Support" section of your control panel outlining the issue you are running into.