Hi,

I cannot see the 'DotNetNuke' database in SQL Server Management Studio Express 2008 R2. Installation worked, and I can add a new page as a child of 'Home', without any error message.

Hints:

- I've installed SQL Server Management Studio Express 2008 R2 before DNN, from the MS 'Web Platform Installer'.  I was just prompted for creating a password for 'sa'.

- DNN Install Package, since the default is SQL Server Express, I didn't have to do anything.

- I'm logged in as 'sa' and I'm not aware of any other credentials since the DNN installation was transparent regarding SQL Server Express.

As 'sa' shouldn't I see 'DotNetNuke' when expanding 'databases' ? 

Thanks!

Thanks much for your answer, right on target !

With an Oracle/Unix background, all these DNN  / IIS / SQL Server Express installation steps, drilling down to countless sub-menus, tabs, buttons, checking the right check-box without reading entire books AND forums first can be harrowing...  

I have successfully:
- attached C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\DotNetNukePro\App_Data\Database.mdf to SSMS. However when I first tried to just view the 'Tables', I had plenty Windows error message that another process etc...  So I inetmgr to IIS (5.1), and:
1) stopped 'Default Web Site'..  but it was not enough, so I:
2) 'removed' Application Name 'DotNetNukePro'.  Now I could see the DotNetNukePro tables from within SSMS ! 

Subsequently I restarted IIS and added a new Web page to DDN default portal with no problems.

Completing the other steps of your recommended http://www.dotnetnuke.com/Community/Blogs/tabid/825/EntryId/1202/DNN-SQLExpress-SQL-Server-Management-Studio.aspx, two SSMS questions:
1) in SSMS => Security => Logins => New (added ASPNET), should I leave the 'Default database' as 'master', or select DotNetNukePro?
2) for some reason, I don't see anymore 'Security' and the other sub-menus I was seeing minutes ago under 'Databases'. So I can't complete the Add User step..  I closed SSMS, re-opened. All I see now is 'System Database' and my attached 'DotNetNukePro' database. 

Danke Sebastian! 

Good now for 2) and it was my bad, I thought I had seen 'Security' right underneath 'Databases' before, while it was 1 further level down!

At this point, 1 thing at a time. After a clean reboot with IIS not started, no DNN portal started, nothing, from within SSMS my attached DotNetNukePRO is still Read-Only... When I try to change the settings to Read-only => false, here's the SSMS  error-message I've got:

TITLE: Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio
------------------------------
.......
Unable to open the physical file "C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\DotNetNukePro\App_Data\Database.mdf". Operating system error 5: "5(Access is denied.)".
Unable to open the physical file "c:\inetpub\wwwroot\DotNetNukePro\App_Data\Database_log.ldf". Operating system error 5: "5(Access is denied.)".
Database 'DotNetNukePRO' cannot be opened due to inaccessible files or insufficient memory or disk space.  See the SQL Server errorlog for details.

Well it's a brand new machine with 4G memory and plenty disk space with a small foot-print SQL Server Express 2008 R2, so can't be that..

And since IIS and DotNetNuke the only process that know of this Database.mdf are down, the 'Access is denied' cannot come a process locking the file I'd suppose.. And in the Blog recipe there was no mention of having to change the C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\DotNetNukePro\App_Data\Database.mdf file's permissions... Unless this would be so obvious to everyone that it doesn't have to be mentioned?