Deploying
Web Application
In
many scenarios copy the web site to proper server location is enough.
In
case when we also depend on other 3rd party tools, we want to make
registry changes, we want to place some license files on server and
certificates etc. Or we are providing a downloadable version of our web
application in which case user might have not even framework installed.
Creating
Web Application Setup:
Within
current Application, Add a Web Setup Project.
File
System Editor will open by default.
Right
Click Web Application Folder | Add | Select Project Output.
Select
“Content Files” and click OK.
Configuring
Deployment Properties:
Configuring
Launch Conditions:
SELECT
View the Select Launch Conditions. Launch Condition editor will open.
Search
Target Machine:
Search for IIS version, File Registry,
and windows installer components.
Launch
Conditions:
Based on search condition Launch
condition specifies weather to procedd installation or not.
File
Search Conditions Properties:
|
Property
|
Description
|
|
FileName
|
FileName with extension
|
|
Folder
|
The folder to search for.
|
|
Depth
|
The number of nested of folder to search
for.
|
|
MinData,MaxDate
|
Min, max modified date
|
|
MinSize, MaxSize
|
|
|
MinVersion, MaxVersion
|
Min, max version file
|
|
Property
|
Variable name to store search result,
that can be used in Launch Condition.
|
Launch
Condition Properties:
|
Property
|
Description
|
|
Condition
|
Condition that must be true to continue
installation.
|
|
InstallUrl
|
If condition is false, URL from where
required component can be downloaded.
|
|
Message
|
Error message when condition is false.
|
Adding
Custom Setup Wizard Pages:
You
can add custom wizard pages to gather extra information and Pass them to Custom
Actions as a parameter. It allows us to:
*
Add a license Agreement
*
Modify settings in Web.config
*
Perform Custom Configuration (Configuration that are not part of web.config)
*
Activate or Register your application
Adding
Custom Actions:
Such
as, submitting registration information to a web service, validating a product
key, or any other work.
There
are four stages where a custom action can be added:
Install, Commit, Rollback,
Uninstall.
Adding
Registry Items:
View
| Editor | Regitry.
A
condition can be specified for installation of registry key.
String
Value, Environment String Value, Binary Value and DWORD Values are supported.
On
uninstall Registry key is not removed, to automatically remove it from there
set DeleteAtUninstall = true in property window.
Configuring
Deployment Conditions:
One
can configure the OS version, Service Pack, IISVERSION, Physical Memory.
|
Windows
Installer Property
|
Description
|
|
Version9X
|
Version number for the Windows operating
system. 95, 98, ME
|
|
VersionNT
|
Version number for the Windows NT/Windows
2000, XP, 2003.
|
|
ServicePackLevel
|
The version number of the operating
system service pack.
|
|
WindowsBuild
|
Build number of the operating system.
|
|
SystemLanguageID
|
Default language identifier for the
system.
|
|
MsiNetAssemblySupport
|
On systems that support common language
runtime assemblies, the installer sets the value of this property to the file
version of fusion.dll.
|
|
ComputerName
|
Computer name of the current system.
|
|
LogonUser
|
User name for the user currently logged
on.
|
|
AdminUser
|
Set on Windows NT/Windows 2000 if the
user has administrator privileges.
|
|
PhysicalMemory
|
Size of the installed RAM in megabytes.
|
|
Intel
|
Numeric processor level if running on an
Intel processor.
|
|
COMPANYNAME
|
Organization of user performing the
installation. Corresponds to the Organization entered in the Customer
Information installation dialog box.
|
|
USERNAME
|
User performing the installation.
Corresponds to the Name entered in the Customer Information installation
dialog box.
|
To
check Environment variables use the following conditions:
%HOMEDRIVE
= “C:”
Specifying
the installer conditions:
IISVERSION
= “#6”
VersionNT
= 500
IISVERSION
>= “#4”
Version9x
<= 450 (ME or earlier)
Not,
And, Or Xor, Eqv, and Imp (True if left term is False or Right term is True)
are supported.
WindowsBuild
= 2600 AND ServicePackLevel = 1
Deploying
a Web Application using a Web Setup Project:
Setup.exe: Installs files
and settings you added to your Web Setup Project.
WebSetup.msi: Windows Installer
file containing any file you added to your Web Setup Project. Behaves exactly
the same as Setup.exe. It can be distributed using Active Directory Software
Distribution or Microsoft Systems Management Server.
Disadvantage
.msi:
Target Machine must have Windows Installer installed.
What is
Windows Installer?
Windows
Installer packages (.msi) are not executables they are opened by Msiexec.exe
(Microsoft Installer).
Windows
Installer provides the following features to simplify installation.
- Transform ( ? )
- Properties can be defined on command-line: Some properties that installers use can be overridden by providing their values on command-line.
- Standardized Command-Line Options: Specify the variables, switches, files, and paths.
Important
Command-Line options:
/I install
/a Administrative install
/f repair
/x uninstall
/L Specify path to Log file.
/p Applies a patch to the specified file
/q User interface Level (qn: no interface, qb:
basic interface)
/?
/h
Displays Windows Installer version and
help info.
Deploying
Web Application using the Copy Web Tool:
Instead
of self-coping a site from local to live or making changes directly in live
site can be dangerous. One can build and then publish changes to the live
server using Copy Web Tool or transfer from Staging server to live
server.
This
coping can be synchronized to publish only those file which have been modified.
To
Copy a web site follow the steps:
Web
Site
| Copy Web Site.
Click
Connect and Select destination from the following:
File
System,
Local IIS, FTP Site, Remote Site (to avoid transfer in
clear text, check Connect Using SSL).
To
synchronize file(s):
Select required file(s) and R.Click and select Synchronize.
To
synchronize entire site: Deselect any selected file(s) and R.Click in any Pane
and select Synchronize.
Precompiling
Web Application:
Allow
this precompiled site to be updatable
Specifies
that the content of .aspx pages are not compiled into an assembly; instead, the
markup is left as-is, allowing you to change HTML and client-side functionality
after precompiling the Web site. Selecting this check box is equivalent to
adding the -u option to the aspnet_compiler.exe command.
Use
fixed naming and single page assemblies
Specifies
that batch builds are turned off during precompilation in order to generate
assemblies with fixed names. Themes and skin files will continue to be compiled
to a single assembly. This option is not available for in-place compilation.
Enable
strong naming on precompiled assemblies
Specifies
that the generated assemblies are strongly named by using a key file or key
container to encode the assemblies and ensure that they have not been tampered
with. After you select this check box, you can do the following:
Specify
the location of a key file to use to sign the assemblies. If you use a key
file, you can select Delay signing, which signs the assembly in two stages:
first with the public key file, and then with a private key file that is
specified later during a call to the aspnet_compiler.exe command.
Specify
the location of a key container from the system's cryptographic service
provider (CSP) to use to name the assemblies.
