I have two servers with two seperate DNN installs. One is a production server and the other is a live test server.  The test server is running sql express and the production server is running Enterprise Edition. Is it possible to individually/selectively backup portals from one install and import them into another? I have a problem in that both databases are named the same and contain quite different data (conflicting portal ids etc.)and I do not require datbases to completely sync. 

I want to be able to test sites on a  live server before I put them on my production server. Once I have a site completed I want to be able to export it from my test portal and import it into my production server.

Can I do this manually in sql by creating a new table row in the portals table and by copying the portal files to the new server?

 I'm quite new to all this so all help is welcomed.
 
Thanks


  

Most of the solutions that I've seen or heard of would result in both databases being identical, or nearly identical. I also have test installations that don't resemble my live site. They are used mostly for testing out new modules. I also have a "beta" site that is kept close to the live site. I move things from the test sites to the beta site and then to the live site. Mostly I do this at the module level, so I'm not moving much data.

The next major release of DotNetNuke is advertised to have features that simplify the task of keeping a live site and a test site in sync.

I have since got my portals transfered to my production server, however, none of the user names and passwords work. Browsing the sites is no problem.

Is there any way I can check the users for the portal in sql? If so can I retrieve the old passwords. I copied the whole DNN install over to the new server so the authentication module should be intact. All the database entries are present and correct. I am not sure how to rectify the authentication issues.

Thanks in advance.

If your passwords don't work, the usual reason is that you didn't transfer the machineKey settings to the production server. This is in web.config. The machineKey in web.config for your production site must match the machineKey used when the database was created.

You'll only be able to retrieve passwords if the portal was set up to permit password retrieval.

The right way to fix this is to use the right machineKey.

Got it sorted. It was the machinekey in web.config.

Thanks.

I have DotNetNuke web site and separate database I want to link dnn web site to this database ho can I authinticate users login using the new database?

This is a somewhat "advanced" topic. And, with recent versions of DotNetNuke there may be a couple of options.

The first option is to replace DotNetNuke's "Membership Provider" with a custom provider. You may also find it necessary or desirable to also replace the Roles provider and the Profile provider. Doing this is a major piece of work. You would want to do this if your interest is in keeping all membership and information about users in a single place.

DotNetNuke now also supports the concept of an Authentication provider. This is what you see with LiveID and OpenID authentication. I haven't worked with any of this but my understanding is that you can authenticate username and passwords. User registration and information would be kept with DotNetNuke. Creating an Authentication provider would also require decent programming abilities ...

we are just beginning to work with dnn here at our company, and i was wondering what steps to take to copy specific portals between servers, we have several different test portals setup currently under one DNN install.

we want to hammer out this process before we go into full production, and there doesn't seem to be any good documentation anywhere on how to do this


thanks in advance

Take a look at the tutorial  How to synchronize local and live DotNetNuke installations (Deployment using Red Gate Data Compare software).  This doesn't specifically address synchronizing a single portal, but some of the techniques might work for you.

If you need to synchronize portals, it might be better to have one portal per installation, and then have multiple installations.

Also, this issue is supposed to be address in DotNetNuke "Cambrian" in 2008.