I'm trying to set up a second portal on my local machine. I followed the directions in the online help somewhere around here:  (http://www.dotnetnuke.com/Resources/Documentation/DotNetNukeOnlineHelp/tabid/787/TID/1394/cid/112/Default.aspx)

It looks like it's creating the new portal just fine. But after the creation page, it takes me to the new alias default (localhost/portal2) and simply says "The page cannot be found."

If I go to localhost/portal2/default.aspx it says:  Server Error in '/' Application. The resource cannot be found.

When I look at the two portals after logging in with the Host account, the new one has a red X next to it. The legend below says that indicates it is an expired portal and I can delete it.

Any clue? The localhost/dotnetnuke version is working just fine.

I may have read the documentation incorrectly, but it didn't look like I'm supposed to do anything with IIS to set up this new portal. I thought DNN was supposed to take care of all that for me...

You most definitely have to set up localhost/portal2 virtual directory in IIS. Without it, IIS woulodn't know what to do with that request. When you create that VD, point it to the same physical folder as dotnetnuke is pointing to (your installation root folder) and you'll be fine. Note, you might have to restart the application to kill all the cache (simplest way is to open Web.config file, make a white space, and save it - it will then recycle the app.

[edit]

As far as big red X over there  ... it's all about super powers - if you can create'em, you can delete'em - it has nothing to do with portal being expired, even though the link cleary suggests so.

May I suggest powerdnn.com or 3essentials.com - both are very inexpensive and awesome on service. Believe me, I tried several hosts in my carrier... but when at 1 am i submit a problem and 5 minutes later it's answered... it tells you something!