Cannot seem to get this...here are my steps that I have taken (as to how I understood the previously mentioned blog post) starting from the very beginning. This will be a bit long winded, so I apologize.
Here is how I installed DNN with SQL Express successfully (initially without the need to view in SSMS)
1- Create folder for DNN in C:\DNNWebsites\aiinside
2- Copy contents from extracted download of DNN to "aiinside" folder
3- In IIS, right-click on Sites and Add New Website...
4- Site name is "aiinside" and app pool is "aiinside", physical path is "C:\DNNWebsites\aiinside", left everything else as is (did not enter host name)
5- Under app pool, selected "aiinside", then Advanced Settings, and set Load User Profile to true (I added this in my install step because this was the only thing I could find to get the Auto install to work).
6- In explorer navigate to "aiinside" folder, right-click and select Properties. Select the security tab and added the app pool "aiinside" to have modify permissions for this folder. Click apply and then OK.
7- Open browser, access the website and finish install with the Auto option. This installed DNN successfully. I could add modules, pages, etc.
But then, I realized I needed/would like access to the tables in SSMS. Now I cannot get any of it to work in trying to attach the database.
In my attempts, I completed above steps 1-6. Then I opened SSMS, right-click Databases and select Attach... . Click the Add button and navigate to C:\DNNWebsites\aiinside\App_Data|Database.mdf. In lower screen, I remove the .ldf file and in upper screen I rename Attach As to "DNN_Database". Double check file locations, etc. Click OK.
Now if I already fully installed DNN, then I get an error that the file is in use. If I don't fully install DNN yet, then my DNN_Database is now appearing under Databases. I am using my Windows login (which is set to sysadmin). It is showing under Security Logins. I then go to DNN_Database / Security / Users and add my windows login with db_owner role membership. I open the web.config file and enter in the text from the blog post for both
and . I add "User Instance=False;Database=DNN_Database;". No userid, password. Maybe I need that - I didn't see it in the blog post.
Now if I attempt to finish the DNN install, my only options are Typical install or Custom install. I no longer have the Auto install (which is usually used for SQL Express). And currently it is now not installing completely. :(