History

At one time you could install and run DNN using a SQL User that only had limited permissions (db_datareader, db_datawriter, db_ddladmin and db_securityadmin).  This worked  fine until SQL Server SP2 (or one of the following security patches), and then it stopped working and you would get an error when installing the database.  The installation was able to create all the objects (tables, SPROCS, etc) but when the code ran to grant Execute permission to all the stored procedures (SPROCS) / user...

 On my flight back from DevConnections / OpenForce 2008, I decided to write up a blog about my thoughts about the conference and post them for the community (which I could do offline with WLW).

Information on what the breaking out of the admin core modules means to site administrators in DNN 5.0.

DNN has many ways to configure the SQL database based on the security that is needed.  To make it easier to evaluate which security model to use, I have listed the possible scenerios and how to setup each scenerio. 

Scenerio #1 (dbowner access, dbo) You can keep the databaseOwner in the web.config file set to dbo and set the permissions for the user you are going to access the site with to only have db_owner permissions. This assumes that the default schema for the user that is used in the connectionString...

When it comes to security of DNN, the whole community is involved.  As the users who use DNN everyday it is our responsibility to report any security holes to the DNN secuirity department according to the security policy (http://www.dotnetnuke.com/Community/SecurityPolicy/tabid/940/Default.aspx).   

Gemini (support.dotnetnuke.com) is not the right place to submit security...

The following changes have been made to Gemini (our issue tracking application).1) Anonymous users can no longer post issues to the public project (You must be registered and logged in). This will make the Gemini support and core teams job easier when they need to get more information from the user who posted the issue. This will also make community members accountable for the issues / new features / enhancements that they post.2) All versions before 3.3.7 have been archived and will not longer show up in...

I did an earlier post about Vista RC1 not being read prime time for developers.  Well, I can honestly say that this is not the case anymore now that the VS.Net for Vista SP1 has been release and also the SQL 2005 SP2 has been released.  I had been running Vista for the past 2 months and without these 2 patches there were just enough errors / weird things happen in SQL Express / VS.Net to sometime get annoying.  Now that both service packs have been released I can honestly say those annoyances have gone away and both have been extremely stable....

I been meaning to post the following blog for a couple of weeks and just kept putting it off, so it is way over due.  The main reason for this blog is to recognize the the efforts Alex Shirley (aka: NukeAlex) has put into helping get the Gemini public project cleaned up and making sure all new issues are processed in a timely manner.  When he joined the team there were 1,100+ outstanding issues and this number is now down to  260.  Alex has personally validated 500+ issues and  for the past 3-4 weeks has been concentrating on making sure all new issues are validated quickly.  For the past 2 years I have been the only one validating Gemini issues and it is a very thankless job, so I just want Alex to know all his work is appreciated and make sure the rest of the community knows about his efforts.  I look forward to working a lot with Alex in 2007 to not only cleanup the Gemini public project, but also to improve the process for submitting issues, enhancements and new features....

If you install .Net 2.0 you should get another tab on the IIS management console called ASP.Net but sometime that is not the case and you do not have this tab added to the IIS Managements Console.  The tab allows you to edit application settings through IIS (instead of updating the web.config directly) and if you have multiple versions of .Net installed it also allow you to change the version of .Net that the site is running under.  So it is a definate problem if this tab does not show up.  In some instances...

Working on the module I tried to run the code with the appSetting connection string commented out.  Of course if failed.  I then decided to see what it would take to make my module not rely on the connectionString in the appSetting section, and it was a real easy change to the modules SQL Data provider. Comments in red are my notes and do not need to be copied. Original Code -- This code only checks the appSetting section and if not there then must be set in data provider section and it uses that. If...

For the past year have served as the QA Team leader, and DNN is so big that this really was more than 1 person could handle.  I will be the first to admit, that by trying to do it all, I was able to finish very little because there was just to much to do. Therefore in 2007 I will be leading the"Issue Tracking & Testing Support" Team.  This will allow me to be more focused on these two specific areas.  As part of my focus in 2007, I will be concentrating on the following areas: Improve the process for how issue are handled in the public project....

You need to read this blog if.... 1) You are having problems running DNN / SQL Express after attaching to the database in SQL Server Management Studio. 2) You want to be able to attach to you DNN database using SQL Server Management Studio.

I finally gave up trying to get all the application I use to work in the 64-bit version and decided that migrating to the 64-bit would have to wait for the application vendors to catch up with the OS.  I then installed the 32-bit version of Vista, expecting a better experience and it was not any better.  I have read reviews from others saying Vista RC1 is ready for prime time but I do not agree.  Below are my reasons why.1) I actually had 2 "blue screens of death" using the 32-bit version in the week I used...

I recenty repartioned my drive and setup my machine to dual-boot XP and Vista Business RC (64-bit).  Below is some insight into my experiences so far.1) Most developer machine will be able to handle Vista just fine and completely new users will not be needed.  My laptop is AMD (Athlon64), 1GB Ram, with an ATI video card (128MG Video RAM) and it handles Vista just fine, inlcuding Aero.  I am gong to look into upgrading the memory to 2GB, but that is the only thing it looks like I will have to update.2) The new...

The one limitation I hate with XP Pro is that you can only have 1 web sites. For DNN what this means is that all you DNN sites have to run under a Virtual Directory and there was no easy way to configure DNN to run as a Site instead of a virtual directory. In the early days this could be overcome by using some of the IIS Admin scripts to create additional web sites, but it was not for the faint-hearted.  Another way to overcome this was just to update the default web site to the DNN site you wanted to work on....

IMHO there is a security feature in DNN that is not used enough, and it is really easy to implement.  The feature I am talking about is the use of the upgradeConnectionString.  This was added way back in version 2.?? (2.0.12 I think) and it is still not used by most users.  What this feature allows you to do is run DNN under a less privelege account, and the upgradeConnection user is for all installation DB functions.  Below is instructions on how to implement this feature.------------------1) Create 2 users...

I am the QA team leader and have been on the core team for the past 2 year.  Being a  part of an open-source project as big as DNN has really taught me a lot, and I expect will teach me even more in the future.  For one I never thought I'd want to "volunteer" so much time to a development project that there was no monetary compenstatin.  But money is not everything, and I would not trade being on the core team for anything.  One of my first duties on the core was to keep the issues database clean. Keeping the...