We have a silverlight ASP .NET web application which needs to be deployed on client's server along with Sql Server database. Once they deploy on their server, many workstation can access it and run silverlight client.
I was thinking to create a small deployment project, add necessary script files to the resources, and create an msi Once after installation is completed, we can execute the sql scripts to add database and its tables. I am not sure if this is feasible, is there a better way of doing it? Also, if there are any future updates to the app / db, how can it be done on the server (silent update/install)?
Any links / steps / procedure is highly appreciated.
Thanks!
You can create the scripts using the MSI, and then you should be able to run them as part of the installation using sqlcmd or osql command line utility, you'll obviously need to let the user capture server name, db name and credentials as part of the install.
With updates to the db schema, you can do it through code in your application, which means you'll need to maintain a database version somewhere for the app to know when to run the script, or just script the relevant alter statements, and run it on the server as part of deployment, once again using one of the command line utilities.
Thanks for the reply Baldy. This is exactly what I thought and did a small test. I have a simple ASP .NET web application with one label, one class library project which has an overrides method Install (creates a batch file and executes it), wand a WebSetup project which actually installs and during installation it will execute the Install method from class library project. Here's the code -
1) ClassLibrary Project - MyCustomAction
<RunInstaller(True)> _
Public Class SetupAction
Inherits Installer
Public Overrides Sub Install(ByVal stateSaver As System.Collections.IDictionary)
MyBase.Install(stateSaver)
Try
My.Computer.FileSystem.WriteAllText("E:\SetupTest.txt", Environment.NewLine + "File created from MyCustomAction project", True)
'Shell("SQLCMD -S Dev1 -d Prac -i ""E:\Copy of CreateTable1.sql""", AppWinStyle.MinimizedFocus, True, 5000)
File.WriteAllText("E:\Test.bat", "SQLCMD -S Dev1 -d Prac -i ""E:\CreateTable1.sql""")
Process.Start("E:\Test.bat")
Catch ex As Exception
My.Computer.FileSystem.WriteAllText("E:\ErrorLog.txt", Environment.NewLine + "Exception: " + ex.Message, True)
Finally
End Try
End Sub
End Class
2) ASP .NET Project - MyApplication
Partial Public Class _Default
Inherits System.Web.UI.Page
Protected Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
Label1.Text = "Current Time: " + Now.ToString
End Sub
End Class
3) WebSetup Project - MyApplicationSetup
I have added the project output from the above projects to it
I have added a new "Tnstall" CustomAction referencing it to the output of MyCustomAction class library project
When I build the msi installer and install the Web Setup application it intalls (copies the output files), and also creates SetupTest.txt, Test.bat files but it neither executes the Shell command line statement nor Process.Start() successfully.
Once the bat file is created, if I manually double click it does execute the sql Script file.
As a side note, if I run CustomAction code in a separate Windows App, it executes perfectly fine. So, looks like while installation, its not able to execute the command line commands (though I do see cmd.exe / SQLCMD.exe in the task manager). I am not sure if this would be a permission issue, but I am in the admin group and have necessary permissions.
It may not be appropriate to write these comments in "My Answer" section, but wanted to give a detailed explanation of the situation. I am really stuck with this and would be very helpful if anyone can throw pointers on improving / alternate methods. Thanks in advance and really appreciate the help.
Related
I need your opinion on this: Is it possible to use enterprise library logging dll in the setup project?
Here's what I did:
I created a setup project which will call a windows form to install the database. When I installed the project, it did call the windows form. However, when I click on the "Install" button, it seems that there's a problem and I don't know where it is. Then another popup message is displayed which said that it cannot locate the logging configuration.
But the config file for the windows form is there which includes the configuration for the logging dll. I don't have any idea where to look into.
Please help me with this?
Below is the error message:
UPDATE
I observed that when I run the exe file as is, the enterprise library logging config works. But with the setup project, it does not look for it. Any help on this?
Below is the code for this:
[RunInstaller(true)]
public partial class IPWInstaller : Installer
{
public IPWInstaller()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
public override void Install(IDictionary stateSaver)
{
base.Install(stateSaver);
string targetPath = Context.Parameters["TargetDir"];
InstallDatabase db = new InstallDatabase(targetPath);
DialogResult dbResult = db.ShowDialog();
if (dbResult != DialogResult.OK)
{
throw new InstallException("Database is not installed.");
}
ConfigureFiles config = new ConfigureFiles(targetPath);
DialogResult configResult = config.ShowDialog();
if (configResult != DialogResult.OK)
{
throw new InstallException("Config files are not saved correctly.");
}
}
}
LATEST UPDATE:
I tried to set the value of a certain configuration to my messagebox. This is the result of it when I run the install project.
Is there a way to call my app.config in the setup project
There are at least a couple of things that can go wrong.
The app is not running as it would if you ran it as an interactive user. It is being called from an msiexec.exe process that knows nothing about your intended environment, such as working directory. None of the automatic things that happen because you run from an explorer shell will happen. Any paths you use need to be full and explicit. I think you may need to explicitly load your settings file.
Something else that can happen in a per machine install is that custom actions run with the system account so any code which assumes you have access to databases, user profile items like folders can fail.
Another problem is that Windows Forms often don't work well when called from a VS custom action. It's not something that works very well because that environment is not the STA threading model that is required for window messages etc.
In general it's better to run these config programs after the install the first time the app starts because then you are in a normal environment, debugging and testing is straightforward, and if the db gets lost the user could run the program again to recreate it instead of uninstalling and reinstalling the setup.
Spent several hours today trying to write some unit tests against an ASP.NET project. It's Visual Studio 2010.
Using Windows 7 Enterprise with IIS7.
Steps I took were:
Added a new test project to the solution
Opened a class file as part of the web site (Member.vb)
Right clicked within the class file and "Generate unit tests"
Select the methods I wish to generate stubs for, choose to add to my test project, click OK
Open up the generated MemberTest.vb file in the test project, click within one of the generated tests, click "Run tests in curent context"
When following these precise steps on my Windows XP Professional with IIS6 machine it works fine.
However on the Windows 7 Enterprise machine on IIS7 I get:
The URL specified ('http://localhost/MyProject') does not
correspond to a valid directory. Tests configured to run in ASP.NET in
IIS require a valid directory to exist for the URL. The URL may be
invalid or may not point to a valid Web application.
So what's going on, I can confirm I can browse to http://localhost/MyProject and it displays perfectly.
I feel sure I'm missing some sort of config in Windows/IIS but I'm really at a loss.
Generated test method:
<TestMethod(), _
HostType("ASP.NET"), _
UrlToTest("http://localhost/MyProject")> _
Public Sub MyMethodTest()
Dim target As Member_Accessor = New Member_Accessor() ' TODO: Initialize to an appropriate value
Dim CurrentVal As Short = 0 ' TODO: Initialize to an appropriate value
Dim expected As Short = 0 ' TODO: Initialize to an appropriate value
Dim actual As Short
actual = target.MyMethod(CurrentVal)
Assert.AreEqual(expected, actual)
Assert.Inconclusive("Verify the correctness of this test method.")
End Sub
(Cross-posted at ASP.NET Forums)
This could be a permissions issue.
If you're using the default directory (C:\users\\Documents\Visual Studio 2010\Projects), the app identity pool does not have permissions there. You'd have to create a project in something like C:\webs and make sure app pool identity has permission to the folder.
Refer to Rick Anderson's blog post at http://blogs.msdn.com/b/rickandy/archive/2011/04/22/test-you-asp-net-mvc-or-webforms-application-on-iis-7-in-30-seconds.aspx and see if that helps.
If you have not done unit testing before, I would really recommend that you start by just testing the functionality of your classes as cleanly as possible. Try to break you you functionality into small pieces that can be tested individually without and dependencies to the web context.
Have a look at this question for an idea about What is unit testing
Here is an MSDN Magazine article about testing
You can also have a look at this Blog. The examples are using NUnit but the principal is the same if you are using MSTest.
I can also recommend Roy Osheroves Book Art of unit testing
In you case if the Member class does not have dependencies to web context you don't need the IIS and could instead just do something like this:
<TestMethod()> _
Public Sub MyMethodTest()
Dim target = New Member()
Dim CurrentVal As Short = 0 ' TODO: Initialize to an appropriate value
Dim expected As Short = 0 ' TODO: Initialize to an appropriate value
Dim actual As Short
actual = member.MyMethod(CurrentVal)
Assert.AreEqual(expected, actual)
End Sub
I ran into the same problem today. After some research, I found this thread which suggested I check my event log. Upon doing that, I discovered numerous errors similar to the following:
(QTAgent32.exe, PID 12348, Thread 61) WebSites.GetWebServer: failed to
create AspNetHelper:
Microsoft.VisualStudio.Enterprise.Common.AspNetHelperException: The
website metabase contains unexpected information or you do not have
permission to access the metabase. You must be a member of the
Administrators group on the local computer to access the IIS metabase.
Therefore, you cannot create or open a local IIS Web site. If you
have Read, Write, and Modify Permissions for the folder where the
files are located, you can create a file system web site that points
to the folder in order to proceed. --->
System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException: Unknown error
(0x80005000)
That lead me to this blog post which seems to have resolved the issue.
I just needed to go to "Turn Windows features on or off" and add IIS 6 Management Compatibility and all four subcomponents. I'm running Windows 7 Home Premium which doesn't have the Windows Authentication option, but that didn't seem to be an issue. Give it a shot and see if that resolves the issue for you.
You may need to enable "Use IIS" in the project properties, then click "Create Virtual Directory". Do you have IIS Express installed?
I'm trying to figure out how to use the Microsoft Online Services Migration Toolkit PowerShell Commands from within an ASP.NET website (using vb.NET).
I've started off using a guide on how to use PowerShell in ASP.NET - from here: http://devinfra-us.blogspot.com/2011/02/using-powershell-20-from-aspnet-part-1.html
I'm trying to work out how to implement the Online Services Migration Toolkit PowerShell cmdlets.
Here is a snippet from my code-behind:
Sub GetUsers()
Dim iss As InitialSessionState = InitialSessionState.CreateDefault()
iss.ImportPSModule(New String() {"MSOnline"})
Using myRunSpace As Runspace = RunspaceFactory.CreateRunspace(iss)
myRunSpace.Open()
' Execute the Get-CsTrustedApplication cmdlet.
Using powershell As System.Management.Automation.PowerShell = System.Management.Automation.PowerShell.Create()
powershell.Runspace = myRunSpace
Dim connect As New Command("Get-MSOnlineUser -Enabled")
Dim secureString As New System.Security.SecureString()
Dim myPassword As String = "ThePassword"
For Each c As Char In myPassword
secureString.AppendChar(c)
Next
connect.Parameters.Add("Credential", New PSCredential("admin#thedomain.apac.microsoftonline.com", secureString))
powershell.Commands.AddCommand(connect)
Dim results As Collection(Of PSObject) = Nothing
Dim errors As Collection(Of ErrorRecord) = Nothing
results = powershell.Invoke()
errors = powershell.Streams.[Error].ReadAll()
For Each obj As PSObject In results
Response.Write(obj.Properties("Identity").Value.ToString())
Next
End Using
End Using
End Sub
When I try to run the code via the page, I'm getting the following error
The term 'Get-MSOnlineUser -Enabled' is not recognized as the name of
a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program. Check the
spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path
is correct and try again.
So I'm guessing I haven't worked out how to import the Online Services Migration Toolkit PowerShell CmdLets. I'm also not exactly sure if the line:
iss.ImportPSModule(New String() {"MSOnline"})
Is exactly correct. Is there a way I can verify the Module name?
I'm also unsure of where and how to reference the .dll files. At the moment I have copied them to my bin folder but I can't add them as references, so how does the ImportPSModule statement know where to find them? Especially when the website is published to the final production server.
One other question, should I be using the x86 or x64 cmdlets? I'm developing on Win7 x64, but not sure if the website builds as x86 or x64? Do I need to find out what architecture the server is?
"Get-MSOnlineUser -Enabled" is not a command; "Get-MSOnlineUser" is. I'm a bit confused how you got it correct further down the script with connect.Parameters.Add("Credential", ...) but didn't do the same thing for -Enabled.
Use connect.AddArgument("Enabled") or connect.Parameters.Add("Enabled", true) and you should be good to go.
I'm debugging an ASP.NET application deployed on IIS 7.5 (VS 2010/Windows 7 x64) . After I make changes, I have to deploy it to the IIS folder and then do the following things (anyone of you should already know, I just list to demonstrate how boring and time-consuming they are):
Click on the Debug menu, choose Attach to Process
From the list, choose Show processes in all sessions
Choose the right w3wp.exe process
Click attach
Click attach again
well, it's load of unnecessary works. Due to our system architect, this is the only way, we can debug straightforward by F5 button, but I wonder that if there's a workaround about this, so I can do all these things in on-click or short-cut key.
Thank you very much.
http://blog.lavablast.com/post/2008/01/11/Attach-to-Process-with-one-shortcut.aspx
Create a macro in visual studio with the following:
Option Strict Off
Option Explicit Off
Imports System
Imports EnvDTE
Imports EnvDTE80
Imports EnvDTE90
Imports System.Diagnostics
Imports System.Security.Principal
Public Module RecordingModule
Sub AttachToAspNET()
Try
Dim dbg2 As EnvDTE80.Debugger2 = DTE.Debugger
Dim trans As EnvDTE80.Transport = dbg2.Transports.Item("Default")
Dim compName As String = WindowsIdentity.GetCurrent().Name
compName = compName.Substring(0, compName.IndexOf("\"))
Dim proc2 As EnvDTE80.Process2 = dbg2.GetProcesses(trans, compName).Item("w3wp.exe")
proc2.Attach2(dbgeng)
Catch ex As System.Exception
MsgBox(ex.Message)
End Try
End Sub
End Module
change w3wp.exe to aspnet if thats what you want. Then go into the key shortcuts and just bind a shortcut to run that macro.
Why don't you just go to project properties and select Use Local IIS Web Server.
If this is remote server you can do this too: Using Visual Studio 2008 with IIS 7
Although the article is about VS2008, the concept is the same in 2010.
I am building a web application using the entity framework and the code first approach and I really like it so far except one thing. The initialization process and seeding data is crap.
I have set it up as recommended with ASP.NET MVC with the setinitialiser being called in app start and a custom initialization class to add data but it always seems to fail silently and never work. (The database creation works just the data init fails)
Can anyone provide recommended paractice for this or a way to run an sql script from a file.
The given method for adding data, especially for a demo site seems cumbersome and I would prefer the ability to just run a database script directly from a file that is run once as part of an install process rather than depending on a process that fails without any indication that something has gone wrong.
EDIT
I have noticed it throwing exceptions ( idiotic datetime -> datetime2 conversion errors that should be handled by the entity framework.)
But part of the problem may be that my version of express 2010 is not breaking on errors it seems to be very buggy when debugging.
But the issue still stands. I find it a cumbersome and buggy way of essentially running sql scripts on the database. And don't want to end up with a huge set of methods and classes just to setup a demo site when someone installs my web application in IIS.
If you want to run SQL scripts from your initializer I would recommend adding
using Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo;
using Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Common;
string scriptDirectory = HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath("~/SqlScripts");
string sqlConnectionString = context.Database.Connection.ConnectionString;
DirectoryInfo di = new DirectoryInfo(scriptDirectory);
FileInfo[] rgFiles = di.GetFiles("*.sql");
foreach (FileInfo fi in rgFiles)
{
FileInfo fileInfo = new FileInfo(fi.FullName);
using (TextReader reader = new StreamReader(fi.FullName))
{
using (SqlConnection connection = new SqlConnection(context.Database.Connection.ConnectionString))
{
Server server = new Server(new ServerConnection(connection));
server.ConnectionContext.ExecuteNonQuery(reader.ReadToEnd());
}
reader.Close();
reader.Dispose();
}
}
The reason for using the SqlServer Management Objects is that you can use "GO" in your scripts. it then becomes incredibly easy to script from SSMS and paste the scripts into your SqlScripts directory.
You can find the SMO Libraries at:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\SDK\Assemblies\Microsoft.SqlServer.ConnectionInfo.dll
C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\SDK\Assemblies\Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Sdk.Sfc.dll
C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\SDK\Assemblies\Microsoft.SqlServer.Smo.dll
and if you need help scripting your data
SP_Generate_Inserts
Until you will show reproducible code snippet where initialization fails without throwing an exception I hardly believe that this happens.
You can always execute any SQL script by falling back to classic ADO.NET with SqlConnection and SqlCommand. Just open the file, load commands into string and execute them with SqlCommand or Database.ExecuteSqlCommand.