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HomeHomeGetting StartedGetting StartedInstalling DNN ...Installing DNN ...Is this acceptable for upgrading to a major version?Is this acceptable for upgrading to a major version?
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8/1/2011 1:25 AM
 
Mark Williams


Joined: 10/5/2010
Posts: 170
I guess I will probably be in a minority here since presumably a bunch of folks have upgraded just fine. But, I'm really struggling to see how the instructions and docs for upgrading DNN (in this case) are acceptable for a mature, professional software package. Some examples.

Take a look at this: http://www.dotnetnuke.com/Resources/W...

Can't some effort be put into automating some of this? That's a lot of manual steps - and, of course, scope for human error. For example, there's the question of WHAT file permissions should be set. I'm sure I can hunt this down but why not link to it here?

"Modify the web.config of the new website to point to the new database". I guess I can recall how I did that way back (when I installed) too - but why not just tell me here?

Another example: http://www.dotnetnuke.com/Resources/D...

Great, I can get to the download package but why not include some instructions? Maybe there are there somewhere - but I'll be darned if I can find them.

So, yeah - I am sure I'm the slow one here but surely this can be made a LITTLE easier.

For software that has been available for so long it's disappointing that there isn't a server-side app to install (yes, I know some will want to run through a web interface too but a server side app could really abstract all this gunk and present a simple upgrade option).

Mark
 
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8/1/2011 3:17 AM
 
Sebastian Leupold


Sebastian Leupold's Avatar

Sebastian Leupold's Avatar

Sebastian Leupold's Avatar

Sebastian Leupold's Avatar

www.dnnwerk.de
Joined: 3/8/2004
Posts: 46212
Mark,
in fact, upgrading is not really difficult, the WIKI article adds some extra security steps helping with it, but are not really required. Essentially, you backup your site (all files and database), unzip upgrade package hierarchically into your DNN folder, overwriting existing files and browse your site to trigger the ugrade. To prevent other users triggering the upgrade, either stop external access to the site via IIS or hosting panel or edit your web.config file, setting the value for AutoUpgrade to "False" and back to True after all files have properly been replaced. A best practice for critical sites is creating a copy and applying the upgrade to it.
Cheers from Germany,
Sebastian Leupold

dnnWerk - The DotNetNuke Experts   German Spoken DotNetNuke User Group

Speed up your DNN Websites with TurboDNN
 
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8/1/2011 10:53 AM
 
Wes Tatters


Wes Tatters's Avatar

Joined: 4/30/2004
Posts: 2155
There is a fully automated server side installer available for dnn - http://www.microsoft.com/web/gallery/install.aspx?appid=dotnetnuke_iis
And if you are doing a new install of dnn - and you have full access to the server side then this system will do a complete install including download and install of ms sql.

But when it comes to UPGRADES - all that is really needed is to unzip the upgrade.zip over the top of your currently dnn install  and browse to your website - its all over in a matter of minutes.
Now what this does NOT do however - is make backups of the site folders or database - which it goes without saying MUST be done before any upgrade.

Westa
 
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8/1/2011 12:23 PM
 
Mark Williams


Joined: 10/5/2010
Posts: 170

Thank you both for your responses. I think maybe some of my frustration is that I keep reading references to "just copy over the new files" - and this almost never works for me, so I figure I'm screwing up somehow. This again happened this morning. Here are the EXACT steps I took - would welcome any input.

Initial State

  • Fully functional 5.6.3 install of Professional
  • Web files are in (say) c:\DNN
  • Copied files to c:\DNN.bu
  • SQL Server database is already backed up.

At this stage the site is fully accessible, both through http:/localhost and remotely

Steps taken
Downloaded and exxtracted DNN 6.0 upgrade files
Copied filesover C:\DNN

Result
Browsed to http://localhost - get (what seems like DNS) errors. The ONLY change I have made is to copy the files to the c:\DNN directory

By the way, if I go into IIS Manager and switch the web site to point at C:\DNN.bu all is well again (with 5.6.3).

To be honest, I tried this more simple approach (upgrade "in-place") this morning after trying to follow the instructions for upgrading to a different web site on the same server. With that approach I got to the point where I browsed to the site, saw the upgrade start through the browser (was excited at this point!) then it failed with permissions errors. Yes, I'd forgot to add NETWORK SERVICE for the new directory I created (see - human error :)). I then added those permissions but then when I browse again with the upgrade querystring I get nothing at in the browser. I've given up on that approach in favor of the in-place upgrade.

Anyway, I'd love to actually SEE the simplicity of upgrade in-place work - but haven't yet.

BTW, while it might seem obvious to just copy files over the target directory to those who do this a lot - would it not make sense to just document that when one downloads the upgrade package? Those of us who are "occasional" upgraders need to be reminded of the right steps.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

Mark
 
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8/1/2011 7:19 PM
 
Wes Tatters


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Joined: 4/30/2004
Posts: 2155
OK all the steps in the wiki posts are just one persons workflow - BUT they very much over complicate the actually processes needed.
What they are designed to do is provide a mechanism to create a backup site that the upgrade can be tested on ... before rolling it back live.

But lets look at the most raw steps that are really needed.

1. start with a running 5.6.3 site hosted on http://localhost/ and installed in folder c:\dnnsite\

2. download the UPGRADE.zip package from dotnetnuke

3. UNBLOCK the downloaded UPGRADE.zip package
  -  right click on the downloaded file - open properties - and hit the UNBLOCK button if one is shown.

4. UNZIP the UPGRADE.zip package to a new folder - call it c:\dnnupgrade\

5.  BACKUP your DATABASE 

6.  MAKE A BACKUP COPY OF c:\dnnsite\ by copying the contents of the folder to: c:\dnnsitebackup\ 

7.  Copy ALL the files from INSIDE c:\dnnupgrade\ OVER the top of all the files INSIDE c:\dnnsite\
 - dont just copy the FOLDER - you wont get an upgrade if you do - its the CONTENTS of the folder you need.

8.  reset the FILE permissions on the c:\dnnsite\ folder - making sure you force all the subfolders to be updated as well
- Network Service needs full permission if you are using IIS 6
- AppPoolIdentity or whatever user you have assigned to your application pool needs full permission if you are using IIS 7.x

9. Browse to http://localhost/ and let the UPGRADE run - should take no more than a minute or two.

Westa
 
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