Thanks for the link.
DNN usually has very good documentation. The 3.x to 4.5.3 documentation seems pretty spotty. I read through the whole thing, and the 3.x to 4.5.3 section seems to be missing a fair number of critical steps. No discussion of how/why to modify the web.config file to support .NET 2, no mention that you need to be running .NET 2, etc. I think I understand the procedure after reading through everything, but the upgrade section was thin.
The steps as I understand them:
- Backup database, files, and of course web.config.
- Grab the release.config out of the 4.5.3 install zip file and modify it with a. the machine keys etc documented in the full install section of the guide, and b. any changes that were made to your old 3.x web.config to support skin objects, editors, providers, etc.
- Rename the existing web.config web.old or something. This will bring the website offline too.
- Unzip the 4.5.3 zip file over the old install.
- Copy the contents of your newly modified release.config into the release.config that was just unzipped. Why copy the content and not the file? It's the easiest way to insure that the permissions are set correctly.
- Rename the release.confg web.config and hit the homepage.
- Deal with the fallout (Many modules are likely to have failed).
Craig