Project Description

DNN Azure Accelerator is a project based on the Azure Accelerators Project to publish the famous DotNetNuke Community CMS in the Windows Azure Platform.

Windows Azure deployments of DotNetNuke Community using virtual hard drive (cloud-drive) image that is created dynamically on the cloud. Enables the creation of new DotNetNuke host instances from on-premise to the cloud using a wizard that guides you on this process, creating the SQL Azure database, uploading the solution engine and associated service configurations.

A full working DotNetNuke Community 6.1.0 package is included (the installation scripts of the optional modules has been fixed in order to work on SQL Azure). To get started, unzip the package and start the DNNAzureWizard.exe. Review the Getting Started section.

There is also a package (DNNAzure Single and ExtraSmall) for simplified scenarios that should be ideal for the use of promotinal offers of free ExtraSmall instances. In this package, a DNNAzure webrole (the "Instance 0") assumes the work of the SMB server, mounting and sharing the cloud drive.

New features in this release

• Includes the OFFICIAL DNN 6.1 distribution package (note that the non-core modules are no longer included on the package and are installed via extensions catalog)
• Added a new step on the wizard for configuring RDP (Remote Desktop) access to all roles without the need of using Visual Studio 2010
• The RDP X509 certificates for RDP access can be created through the assistant
• Replaced the control validation UI with an error provider (no more popups)
• Added strong password validation on the wizard
• Added container name regular expression validations
• Added textboxes for VHD blob size and name settings
• Added pre-built packages for RDP enabled and not RDP enabled deployments
• Added a new Single and Small package (instances are "Small" sized)
• All included packages has been built using the Azure SDK 1.5
• Added a new step on the wizard for configuring Virtual Network (Azure Connect) to allow the creation of virtual networks between Azure and on-premise computers
• You will use the official DNN installation wizard to create and configure the DNN instance on first run from your browser
• Remember that you can build your own customized service packages and put them inside the /packages folder. The wizard will process them for you.

DotNetNuke and Windows Azure Video

Joe Brinkman has produced an excellent video tutorial about how to deploy DotNetNuke on Windows Azure using this accelerator. Check the link below:

Getting started

This accelerator is almost identical to the Umbraco Rapid Deployment Accelerator, so check the Diagram developed by Slalom Consulting. The SMB version has been inspired by a blog post of Dinesh Haridas that you may also read to understand the background.

The summary of steps for deploying DNN Community on Windows Azure is:

1. PROVISION STORAGE SERVICES
   1. Create a Windows Azure Storage Services instance
2. PROVISION SQL AZURE
   1. Enable SQL Azure providing an username and password for the Administrator account. Enable access for Windows Azure services in the firewall settings.
3. START DEPLOYMENT PROCESSES
   1. Start DNNAzureWizard.exe and follow the assistant instructions. Wait for the successful completion of the following automated processes -you should want to edit the "config\DeploymentTasks.xml" file in order to comment/uncomment steps to check that everything is going fine (review the log window!):
      1. DotnetNuke database creation
      2. User and security database configuration
      3. Upload of the selected Service Packages and configuration files (check "packages" folder)
      4. Upload of the modified DotNetNuke 6.1.0 distribution package (32Mb)
4. PROVISION HOSTED SERVICE
   1. Create a Windows Azure Hosted Service instance
   2. Add a new Production Deployment, selecting the package and configuration files from Windows Azure Storage (uploaded by the automation scripts in 3.1.3
   3. Start the service
5. VERIFY
   1. Home page: http://yoursite.cloudapp.net/default.aspx and start using the original installation wizard to configure your DNN instance

DNNAzure Single and ExtraSmall

There is also a package for simplified scenarios that should be ideal for the use of promotinal offers of free ExtraSmall instances. In this package, a DNNAzure webrole (the "Instance 0") assumes the work of the SMB server, mounting and sharing the cloud drive.

Known Issues

1. The DNN Azure Accelerator (SMB version) can only use one instance for the SMB worker role (you can add web roles as needed), so high availability is not covered yet. A warning message will appear when you deploy the service.