Publishing a website

[Will]

People,

I'm trying to publish my first website and am having a few problems.

I've got Visual Web Developer 2005 Express and am trying to use the Personal Website Starter Kit. (my SQL server is SQL Server Express Edition 2005 - which is also running on my local machine)

It seems to work fine when I run it on my localhost, as soon as I ftp it up to my web hosting company, I get an error message (see below) :-

An error has occurred while establishing a connection to the server. When connecting to SQL Server 2005, this failure may be caused by the fact that under the default settings SQL Server does not allow remote connections. (provider: SQL Network Interfaces, error: 26 - Error Locating Server/Instance Specified)

My hypothesis is :-


It would appear to me that when running locally, the starter kit website uses my installation of SQL 2005 Express Edition, but when I upload all the files, I'm guessing the application is still trying to point at a local instance of SQL on my local PC which it now cannot see. I'm guessing I need to somehow upload the SQL database onto my web host (I've purchased 100M of SQL Server 2005 space), and point the application at that SQL instance instead. But I don't know if I'm right about all this, or indeed how to do it if I am.

Can anyone help?

Much thanks in advance,

Will

[under par]

Not getting too much help there Will?

Have you asked the ultimate question that the geeks can't answer?

Take my hat off to you.

Also bring the thread back to the top of the pile for you !
My good deed for the day completed.

[plankton]

Originally Posted by Will

My hypothesis is :-


It would appear to me that when running locally, the starter kit website uses my installation of SQL 2005 Express Edition, but when I upload all the files, I'm guessing the application is still trying to point at a local instance of SQL on my local PC which it now cannot see. I'm guessing I need to somehow upload the SQL database onto my web host (I've purchased 100M of SQL Server 2005 space), and point the application at that SQL instance instead. But I don't know if I'm right about all this, or indeed how to do it if I am.

Can anyone help?

Much thanks in advance,

Will

Looks like your hypothesis is probably correct,

does M$ provide a wizard to migrate all the info including the database ? When you say you upload all the files by ftp does this include the database files ?

what tools has your host got for managing SQL server ?, if you have access via Enterprise Manager then you could take the existing database off line , back it up , ftp it to the host and reload it from the backup that would get the data in the right place.

(They must have something that allows you to do that kind of functionality) You would then have to ensure that the username/pw that the web app is using to talk to the server had access to that instance of sql server.

Given its m$ there is probably a wizzard to do just that. or has your host got a help/suport page

hope that helps point you in a useful direction

[Toby wan Kenobe]

People,

I'm trying to publish my second website and am having some FTP problems.

The site has been developed in DreamWeaver MX.
I have set up the local and remote server as per the DW manual and as per the web hosting company's documentation (It's 1and1.co.uk).

The DW software has a feature where you can test your FTP connection, which when used says my connection is working fine. But then when I try and FTP the site up to the Remote server I get a DW error message:
"Cannot determine the Remote Server Time"
"FTP Error - cannot put files, access denied. The file may not exist or there maybe a permission problem"

My Hypothesis is:-

B*gg*red if I know, but it's something to do with file permissions.
I have very similar DW FTP settings which I use for my other site and they work fine...

Can anyone help?
Much thanks in advance,

TwK

[Robin]

Originally Posted by Toby wan Kenobe

People,

I'm trying to publish my second website and am having some FTP problems.

The site has been developed in DreamWeaver MX.
I have set up the local and remote server as per the DW manual and as per the web hosting company's documentation (It's 1and1.co.uk).

The DW software has a feature where you can test your FTP connection, which when used says my connection is working fine. But then when I try and FTP the site up to the Remote server I get a DW error message:
"Cannot determine the Remote Server Time"
"FTP Error - cannot put files, access denied. The file may not exist or there maybe a permission problem"

My Hypothesis is:-

B*gg*red if I know, but it's something to do with file permissions.
I have very similar DW FTP settings which I use for my other site and they work fine...

Can anyone help?
Much thanks in advance,

TwK

HAve you tried to do a straightforward ftp with your username and password?

Also you might need to check permissions in the directory you are trying to "put" into - so put up a file and see if it lets you. That will help you determnie if its a persmissions issue or a DW issue

[Will]

Originally Posted by plankton

Looks like your hypothesis is probably correct,

does M$ provide a wizard to migrate all the info including the database ? When you say you upload all the files by ftp does this include the database files ?

what tools has your host got for managing SQL server ?, if you have access via Enterprise Manager then you could take the existing database off line , back it up , ftp it to the host and reload it from the backup that would get the data in the right place.

(They must have something that allows you to do that kind of functionality) You would then have to ensure that the username/pw that the web app is using to talk to the server had access to that instance of sql server.

Given its m$ there is probably a wizzard to do just that. or has your host got a help/suport page

hope that helps point you in a useful direction

Thanks Plankton.

I'm still stuck with this problem, but your musings do go along with what I've been turning up in my investigations.

I think the basic problem comes down to the fact that I'm running MS SQL Server Express on my PC, but am trying to publish my website on a web host that has provided me with a MS SQL Server 2005 Database.

I think I need to work out how get the data from my local MS SQL Express database into the remote MS SQL Server 2005, and then alter my web.config file / application provider settings to point at that 2005 server instance.

I'll keep working on this, but if you or anyone else has already done this then I'd love to hear from you.

Cheers,

Will

[spindr]

Originally Posted by Will

I think I need to work out how get the data from my local MS SQL Express database into the remote MS SQL Server 2005, and then alter my web.config file / application provider settings to point at that 2005 server instance.

One thought -- if you want to keep some sort of backup (other than that done by your provider), then you'll need to be able to get the data back from the SQL server on the website, back in to your own local SQL server.

Also much safer to play about with a local copy, than with the live version when you're developing

SpinDr

[ChrisA]

Originally Posted by Will

I think the basic problem comes down to the fact that I'm running MS SQL Server Express on my PC, but am trying to publish my website on a web host that has provided me with a MS SQL Server 2005 Database.

SQL Server Express is a cut down version of SQL Server 2005 - it's the same database engine with a few limitations and fewer of the tools. The issue is how to get a copy of your local database on to the server, and ensuring that the web app that you say you've uploaded has appropriate permissions to access it.

When they say they provide you with MS SQL Server 2005, what they mean is that they're running it (the full version) on their server, and give you space there to set up your own databases.

Have they actually given you any tools to create and manage your databases, or do they expect you to have them yourself?

[ChrisA]

Originally Posted by Will

I think I need to work out how get the data from my local MS SQL Express database into the remote MS SQL Server 2005, and then alter my web.config file / application provider settings to point at that 2005 server instance.

I'll keep working on this, but if you or anyone else has already done this then I'd love to hear from you.

Normally you'd backup the local database, FTP the backup file to the server, and then use the appropriate management tool on the server to restore the backup.

Since presumably you don't have remote access to the server's desktop (which is how I do exactly this process with my company's server), you'll need to connect to the remote database with the management app running locally, and use it to restore the local backup file.

If this doesn't make sense, or if you don't have the tools, drop me a PM. I might still be able to help..

[Will]

Thanks Chris.

Getting the data / database from SQL Server Express to SQL Server 2005 does seem to be the rub.

I have downloaded a tool called "SQL Server Management Studio Express CTP" which may enable me to backup the data from the express and restore it to 2005. In reality I don't really need to transfer data as I am happy to start from scratch. I just need to know how to get the app working with SQL 2005 in the first place rather than just defaulting to Express.

Various forums and blogs seem to indicate that I need to run aspnet_regsql.exe aspnet_regsql.exe to prepare my SQL 2005 Database.
(this blog generally seems to detail the whole process I need to follow, but I'm not quite understanding it yet)

I understand what you say about me having a login to part of a shared SQL Server 2005 database, but I'm wondering how I can have more than one database / app running on my bit of it. Do I need to generate different instances?

Cheers,

Will

[ChrisA]

Originally Posted by Will

I understand what you say about me having a login to part of a shared SQL Server 2005 database, but I'm wondering how I can have more than one database / app running on my bit of it. Do I need to generate different instances?

You need to find out exactly what your hosting company has supplied. It might be a SQL instance, in which you can create as many databases as you like. That instance may or may not already exist - I guess you'll need to contact them to find out.

[Will]

Originally Posted by ChrisA

You need to find out exactly what your hosting company has supplied. It might be a SQL instance, in which you can create as many databases as you like. That instance may or may not already exist - I guess you'll need to contact them to find out.

I'm not sure but I think they might have supplied me with part (100MB) of a database rather than an instance. If I'm correct, how do I go about creating an instance? From the examples I've seen on the web, an instance name is needed in setting up the connection string within the web.config file.

Will

[ChrisA]

Originally Posted by Will

I'm not sure but I think they might have supplied me with part (100MB) of a database rather than an instance.

I really think you should contact them and find out exactly what you've bought!!

[plankton]

Originally Posted by ChrisA

I really think you should contact them and find out exactly what you've bought!!

from other sites it is probably an instance (1 database) but with a maximum storage of 100MB split into as many tables as you need but as ChrisA says findout.... they may even tell you what to do

[ChrisA]

Originally Posted by plankton

from other sites it is probably an instance (1 database) but with a maximum storage of 100MB split into as many tables as you need

A SQL Server instance has a very specific meaning, which does not refer to a database.

You can have lots of databases in a SQL Server Instance, which has a completely separate set of operating system services associated with it, which can all be stopped and started independently of the other server instances' services.

Just ask them what you've got, and what management tools they either supply, or expect you to be using.

[plankton]

Originally Posted by ChrisA

A SQL Server instance has a very specific meaning, which does not refer to a database.

You can have lots of databases in a SQL Server Instance, which has a completely separate set of operating system services associated with it, which can all be stopped and started independently of the other server instances' services.

Just ask them what you've got, and what management tools they either supply, or expect you to be using.

arrghhh! Thanks for correcting me on that

*brain failure mode off*

[Dreadful Scathe]

actually the instance = database thing is true for some databases and not for others - so its an easy mistake to make.