I'm trying to get to understand Umbraco. Everywhere I look, people say that once you get over the learning curve, Umbraco is the best CMS. Ok, I'm willing to give it a go. But I'm burning out now after long slow tedious hours trying to get this up and running. Help would be greatly appreciated:
Here's the order I did things in:
1) I started off downloading and installing 7.04 manually. The installation went pretty smooth using a local IIS (following the documentation to create a virtual directory and then converting it to an application) and a remote SQL Server database. Final stage, installed the starter kit "Txt". Went to the admin page, published the already created Home page based on the HomePage template, and then tried to view it. Got the "missing umbHomepageBanner" error that other people had. Seems the starter kit failed to install any of the partial views.
2) After much putzing around trying things such as the other starter kit "Overflow" and scaling back to 7.03 and so forth, I came to the conclusion it must be a permissioning thing; that files weren't being copied into the correct folders because the Asp.Net 4.0 account didn't have rights. So, I bombarded the permissioning problem with everything I could think, finally giving Everyone full control of the whole site. Still no luck.
3) So then I tried 6.1.6. Maybe the 7 branch is still in Beta and I just didn't realize it and there were still bugs to be worked out. No dice. Everything I did for 7 I did for 6 and still the same sorts of problems.
4) But in the process, I tried other Starter Kits such as uBootstrap. When I did uBootstrap, the documentation for that starter kit said to install some other packages as a prerequisite (such as the FamFam icons and ImageGen). It was during the installation of ImageGen that I realized it wasn't a problem isolated to Starter Kits, but to any kind of package installation. They were being read, they just weren't being copied.
5) But then, just now, I found that they *were* being copied to the App_Data folder as a separate folder with a random GUID for a name. I guess that's an intermediate step of the installation process. But from there, nothing right seemed to be happening and then the GUID folder would be deleted by the installer.
I can't load this into VS since I only have VS 2008, but even if I had a newer version, I suspect tracking this down quickly is out of the question.
I'm sorry to hear you've had less than a good experience trying to install Umbraco. The process of installing Umbraco is going to be a lot easier once v7.1 is released in final since the installer has been rewritten and is much much simpler now. 7.1 is coming in release candidate very soon btw.
But I can asure you that v7.0.4 is a final and stable release - unfortunately the possible themes to install as a foundation may not be compatible with Umbraco 7. I think that it's legacy in the installer and I see how that can be confusing for newcommers. But as mentioned this is about to change.
However...I can see from your post that you have in fact followed the installation documentation. But I'm not sure why you want to create the virtual directory stuff?
Anyway...could I get you to download and install webmatrix and have you install Umbraco using it? I think that's currently the easiest way to get up and running with Umbraco since it makes sure all pre-requisites are installed before it tries to install Umbraco. During installation just choose the default database, which is the embedded CE SQL database - It can always be migrated to MSSQL later once you have played around with Umbraco and gotten your feet wet and ready for something that should go online. You can see the documentation on installing with WebMatrix here http://our.umbraco.org/documentation/Installation/install-umbraco-with-microsoft-webmatrix
I hope that you're willing to give this a try - and please post in here if you face any kind of problem.
And thanks for writing this post as I think it's spot on in regards to the issues newcommers to Umbraco are facing. This is something to learn from and I hope you'll give 7.1 beta a try and see how you like that installation experience - If you have issues with it you can report them at the issue tracker at http://issues.umbraco.org/issues
Hope this helps and that you're still up for giving it a try!
I really was trying to avoid installing more software on my system, than need be (WebMatrix being the one I was trying to avoid the most). But since you asked me to try, I went ahead and installed WebMatrix (having no hard idea what it was). When I launched it, however, I found that I needed to have an account and to answer questions about myself and such. I eventually decided against it. I suppose I will instead look forward to the 7.1 release when it becomes available for trial.
Ehm? Signup? That should not be neccesary - It's a free editor from Microsoft, which you can download here http://www.microsoft.com/web/webmatrix/ by clicking the big green button.
I don't recall signing up for anything when I have downloaded it on my machines.
That was weird. On your advice, I reinstalled WebMatrix to try again and this time it didn't ask me to log in like it did originally. The first time it asked me to log in with either a Microsoft account or an "organizational account". I have no idea what the latter is. So, that was odd.
Anyway, I got through that, found Umbraco, downloaded and installed it (it went into the My Documents\My Websites folder).
On the plus side, I was able to install packages, but on the minus side, this is 6.1.6, not 7.0.4.
So, two questions:
1) Is there any way to get Umbraco 7.0.4 via WebMatrix? 2) It would please me to get this out of WebMatrix. Can the site simply be copied out of the My Websites folder into another folder and administered via IIS?
Ok, so I guess the feed webmatrix is using is for some reason not updated to include / use v7 as default when you're installing.
BUT there is another way to do it...also using webmatrix.
If you go to the download section of our and choose the version of 7 you want to install (The v7.1.0 RC was out yesterday) and download the .zip file.
Once downloaded unzip the contents of the folder to your prefered destination (Make sure you right click and unblock the file if you use the built in zipper in windows).
On the unzipped folder you can now right click and choose "Open using Webmatrix". When doing so you can see the files of the folder in webmatrix. In the lower left corner you can go to the "Site" tab and on the site tab you can click the "url" to the site, which will fire up in IIS express using a url like http://localhost:8928 or some random port number.
I did get it working and am currently learning my way through a starter package and configuring the site to suit.
FWIW, I did download and install the 7.1.0 RC and installed it using WebMatrix. I have to say, that of the three installation processes (6.1.6, 7.0.4, 7.1), I liked 7.0.4 the most. It was the cleanest and clearest installation process that made me feel like I had complete control.
That said, I've got 7.0.4 working now in the desired location and am just trying to update the projects there using WebMatrix. I'm curious, though, about the permissioning issue. What is it that WebMatrix is doing that I can't seem to do through IIS and Windows Security permissions?
I'm very happy to hear you got it up and running after all.
What is it you dislike in the v7.1 installer? You have the same amount of control i the new installer as you have in 7.0.4 installer. But the new installer aims at getting newcommers up and running much quicker without the need to decide on everything. However there is an option to the right of the green "Install" button that says "Customize"...it's not that visible...but clicking that allows you to choose the database and the next step you can choose a skin er not.
But I would like to hear what it is in particular you don't like about it if you don't mind sharing.
It's hard for me to say why the manual installation failed - You did follow along the manual documentation, right? I know that virtual directories can be buggy and I newer use them myself. But it should be possible to use.
Furthermore it's important to have rights setup properly on the root folder containing Umbraco and that it's inherited all the way down to the last folder/file level. Network service and iusr should have full access.
And then it's important the IIS site is running an app pool that is set to ASP.NET 4 / Integrated mode running the netork service.
7.1: I did do the customize process. Having gone through the installers with 6.1.6 and 7.0.4, I found the beginning to be less clear. And as for control, I simply mean it *feels* like I don't have as much control--I'm sure the functionality is all still there. I suspect it's because of that first stage (#1 below)
1) What username and password am I entering? (A new admin password or am I using my our.umbraco login information to register with our?) 2) No password confirmation? 3) No feedback on password strength? 4) It's a slower install while you wait for the splash screen and splash text to flash and fade slowly away. 5) And speaking of that, I don't care for that splash screen. Maybe it's because I'm a developer and not HR or business management personnel, or maybe it's because I'm weird, I don't know, but generally I prefer to see simple, branded graphics over full color photos for software.
I have just been through this same situation, "umbHomepageBanner" errors and don't want WebMatrix. I've been using IIS for years and am not worried about setting up an application or website in it (I don't use virtuals - probably for legacy reasons I guess).
I used the Web Platform Installer and also Nuget (with everything updated) and tried both starter websites that come with Umbraco 7.1.1 - no good as applications or virtuals-turned-into-applications as I saw in some docs somewhere.
However when I set up as a website (http://site.local and a hosts file entry) it did work.
Trying to make an application after the fact, and pointing it at the location that works results in a path error which isn't that surprising, but was worth a shot.
If you choose "no starter website" it works fine as an application (http://localhost/sitename).
So the problem is with the example starter websites. Choosing one of them does not copy the assets into the right place (or set the paths up properly) or something. I don't know enough about the starter websites yet, but this seems like if this is how people first see Umbraco, it needs to be fixed.
Help, Please: Installation Failure with both 6 and 7, via manual or Platform Installer
I'm trying to get to understand Umbraco. Everywhere I look, people say that once you get over the learning curve, Umbraco is the best CMS. Ok, I'm willing to give it a go. But I'm burning out now after long slow tedious hours trying to get this up and running. Help would be greatly appreciated:
Here's the order I did things in:
1) I started off downloading and installing 7.04 manually. The installation went pretty smooth using a local IIS (following the documentation to create a virtual directory and then converting it to an application) and a remote SQL Server database. Final stage, installed the starter kit "Txt". Went to the admin page, published the already created Home page based on the HomePage template, and then tried to view it. Got the "missing umbHomepageBanner" error that other people had. Seems the starter kit failed to install any of the partial views.
2) After much putzing around trying things such as the other starter kit "Overflow" and scaling back to 7.03 and so forth, I came to the conclusion it must be a permissioning thing; that files weren't being copied into the correct folders because the Asp.Net 4.0 account didn't have rights. So, I bombarded the permissioning problem with everything I could think, finally giving Everyone full control of the whole site. Still no luck.
3) So then I tried 6.1.6. Maybe the 7 branch is still in Beta and I just didn't realize it and there were still bugs to be worked out. No dice. Everything I did for 7 I did for 6 and still the same sorts of problems.
4) But in the process, I tried other Starter Kits such as uBootstrap. When I did uBootstrap, the documentation for that starter kit said to install some other packages as a prerequisite (such as the FamFam icons and ImageGen). It was during the installation of ImageGen that I realized it wasn't a problem isolated to Starter Kits, but to any kind of package installation. They were being read, they just weren't being copied.
5) But then, just now, I found that they *were* being copied to the App_Data folder as a separate folder with a random GUID for a name. I guess that's an intermediate step of the installation process. But from there, nothing right seemed to be happening and then the GUID folder would be deleted by the installer.
I can't load this into VS since I only have VS 2008, but even if I had a newer version, I suspect tracking this down quickly is out of the question.
I'm out of ideas.
Help, please.
Hi Duke and welcome to our :)
I'm sorry to hear you've had less than a good experience trying to install Umbraco. The process of installing Umbraco is going to be a lot easier once v7.1 is released in final since the installer has been rewritten and is much much simpler now. 7.1 is coming in release candidate very soon btw.
But I can asure you that v7.0.4 is a final and stable release - unfortunately the possible themes to install as a foundation may not be compatible with Umbraco 7. I think that it's legacy in the installer and I see how that can be confusing for newcommers. But as mentioned this is about to change.
However...I can see from your post that you have in fact followed the installation documentation. But I'm not sure why you want to create the virtual directory stuff?
Anyway...could I get you to download and install webmatrix and have you install Umbraco using it? I think that's currently the easiest way to get up and running with Umbraco since it makes sure all pre-requisites are installed before it tries to install Umbraco. During installation just choose the default database, which is the embedded CE SQL database - It can always be migrated to MSSQL later once you have played around with Umbraco and gotten your feet wet and ready for something that should go online. You can see the documentation on installing with WebMatrix here http://our.umbraco.org/documentation/Installation/install-umbraco-with-microsoft-webmatrix
I hope that you're willing to give this a try - and please post in here if you face any kind of problem.
And thanks for writing this post as I think it's spot on in regards to the issues newcommers to Umbraco are facing. This is something to learn from and I hope you'll give 7.1 beta a try and see how you like that installation experience - If you have issues with it you can report them at the issue tracker at http://issues.umbraco.org/issues
Hope this helps and that you're still up for giving it a try!
Cheers,
Jan
Thanks for your response, Jan.
I really was trying to avoid installing more software on my system, than need be (WebMatrix being the one I was trying to avoid the most). But since you asked me to try, I went ahead and installed WebMatrix (having no hard idea what it was). When I launched it, however, I found that I needed to have an account and to answer questions about myself and such. I eventually decided against it. I suppose I will instead look forward to the 7.1 release when it becomes available for trial.
Hi Duke
Ehm? Signup? That should not be neccesary - It's a free editor from Microsoft, which you can download here http://www.microsoft.com/web/webmatrix/ by clicking the big green button.
I don't recall signing up for anything when I have downloaded it on my machines.
Hope this helps.
/Jan
That was weird. On your advice, I reinstalled WebMatrix to try again and this time it didn't ask me to log in like it did originally. The first time it asked me to log in with either a Microsoft account or an "organizational account". I have no idea what the latter is. So, that was odd.
Anyway, I got through that, found Umbraco, downloaded and installed it (it went into the My Documents\My Websites folder).
On the plus side, I was able to install packages, but on the minus side, this is 6.1.6, not 7.0.4.
So, two questions:
1) Is there any way to get Umbraco 7.0.4 via WebMatrix?
2) It would please me to get this out of WebMatrix. Can the site simply be copied out of the My Websites folder into another folder and administered via IIS?
Thanks!
Hi Duke
Happy to hear it worked out this time :)
Ok, so I guess the feed webmatrix is using is for some reason not updated to include / use v7 as default when you're installing.
BUT there is another way to do it...also using webmatrix.
If you go to the download section of our and choose the version of 7 you want to install (The v7.1.0 RC was out yesterday) and download the .zip file.
Once downloaded unzip the contents of the folder to your prefered destination (Make sure you right click and unblock the file if you use the built in zipper in windows).
On the unzipped folder you can now right click and choose "Open using Webmatrix". When doing so you can see the files of the folder in webmatrix. In the lower left corner you can go to the "Site" tab and on the site tab you can click the "url" to the site, which will fire up in IIS express using a url like http://localhost:8928 or some random port number.
Now you should see the installation guide.
Hope this helps and that it makes sense :)
/Jan
Thanks, Jan,
I did get it working and am currently learning my way through a starter package and configuring the site to suit.
FWIW, I did download and install the 7.1.0 RC and installed it using WebMatrix. I have to say, that of the three installation processes (6.1.6, 7.0.4, 7.1), I liked 7.0.4 the most. It was the cleanest and clearest installation process that made me feel like I had complete control.
That said, I've got 7.0.4 working now in the desired location and am just trying to update the projects there using WebMatrix. I'm curious, though, about the permissioning issue. What is it that WebMatrix is doing that I can't seem to do through IIS and Windows Security permissions?
Hi Duke
I'm very happy to hear you got it up and running after all.
What is it you dislike in the v7.1 installer? You have the same amount of control i the new installer as you have in 7.0.4 installer. But the new installer aims at getting newcommers up and running much quicker without the need to decide on everything. However there is an option to the right of the green "Install" button that says "Customize"...it's not that visible...but clicking that allows you to choose the database and the next step you can choose a skin er not.
But I would like to hear what it is in particular you don't like about it if you don't mind sharing.
It's hard for me to say why the manual installation failed - You did follow along the manual documentation, right? I know that virtual directories can be buggy and I newer use them myself. But it should be possible to use.
Furthermore it's important to have rights setup properly on the root folder containing Umbraco and that it's inherited all the way down to the last folder/file level. Network service and iusr should have full access.
And then it's important the IIS site is running an app pool that is set to ASP.NET 4 / Integrated mode running the netork service.
/Jan
Sure, be glad to give you my subjective feedback.
7.1: I did do the customize process. Having gone through the installers with 6.1.6 and 7.0.4, I found the beginning to be less clear. And as for control, I simply mean it *feels* like I don't have as much control--I'm sure the functionality is all still there. I suspect it's because of that first stage (#1 below)
1) What username and password am I entering? (A new admin password or am I using my our.umbraco login information to register with our?)
2) No password confirmation?
3) No feedback on password strength?
4) It's a slower install while you wait for the splash screen and splash text to flash and fade slowly away.
5) And speaking of that, I don't care for that splash screen. Maybe it's because I'm a developer and not HR or business management personnel, or maybe it's because I'm weird, I don't know, but generally I prefer to see simple, branded graphics over full color photos for software.
I have just been through this same situation, "umbHomepageBanner" errors and don't want WebMatrix. I've been using IIS for years and am not worried about setting up an application or website in it (I don't use virtuals - probably for legacy reasons I guess).
I used the Web Platform Installer and also Nuget (with everything updated) and tried both starter websites that come with Umbraco 7.1.1 - no good as applications or virtuals-turned-into-applications as I saw in some docs somewhere.
However when I set up as a website (http://site.local and a hosts file entry) it did work.
Trying to make an application after the fact, and pointing it at the location that works results in a path error which isn't that surprising, but was worth a shot.
Just a quick further note:
If you choose "no starter website" it works fine as an application (http://localhost/sitename).
So the problem is with the example starter websites. Choosing one of them does not copy the assets into the right place (or set the paths up properly) or something. I don't know enough about the starter websites yet, but this seems like if this is how people first see Umbraco, it needs to be fixed.
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