Troubleshooting DotNetNuke 2.1.2 Installation

I had a lot of trouble installing DotNetNuke. This popular portal application kept me busy for an entire afternoon and night.

First I got ASP.NET errors about columns missing in tables, then about stored procedures. When those were gone, the application itself managed to hang IE.

So, for everyone else who might be suffering from this, or will give it a try and encounter the same, here’s my installation guide for 2.1.2:

The SQL errors occurred when using SQL Server as the data provider; the IE errors always occur.

This step is for everyone using SQL Server:

1. Download DotNetNuke_2.0.4.zip.
2. Extract this, follow the normal installation procedure, this version doesn’t give any problems.
3. Open the site so that it creates the tables and stored procedures.
4. Download DotNetNuke_2.1.2.zip.
5. Delete all files from 2.0.4 but keep your SQL Server tables.
6. Extract 2.1.2 in the same location.
7. Open the site; you’re now past the missing column errors!

This step is for everyone:

1. Download DotNetNuke_2.1.1.zip.
2. Extract this to a temporary location and get the file spmenu.js from controls\SolpartMenu.
3. Copy this file to 2.1.2, overwriting the existing one.
4. You’ve now fixed the IE errors!

And at this point you have a working DotNetNuke 2.1.2, which you can begin skinning etc.

Let’s hope future versions don’t require so much hassle.