Admittedly, this is somewhat remedial, especially if you’ve installed apps on GoDaddy before. However, I couldn’t find a current resource which contained all of this information so I thought it would be beneficial for anybody starting fresh.
First off – Why? GoDaddy already has BlogEngine.NET as an option in their list of Applications.
The answer is twofold:
- Their version is old. Currently they’re supporting version 2.9, while the most current version is 3.3.5.0 (I will try to keep this information current even though this article is a bit older). If you like running with the latest version, this is the only way.
- If you plan on doing any development locally, you’ll want to manage the code yourself. If you let GoDaddy control the app they may choose to upgrade at any time. Changes they make may conflict with your custom code. Trust no one!
If we can agree on 1 & 2, then read on.
The BlogEngine.NET installation instructions are pretty clear and sufficient but don’t translate perfectly to the GoDaddy universe. Most of the basic installation instructions came to me from Donn Felker’s blog, but were a bit outdated. So consider these the most current version:
- Download the latest version of BlogEngine.NET.
- Unzip and upload the files to the root of your GoDaddy file hosting account using the FTP client of your choice.
- Most of the instructions I saw online involved making a subdirectory, and assigning a virtual directory withing GoDaddy IIS control with the directory as its root. If you want your blog to run out a subdirectory (e.g. http://changedforever.net/blog/), this is fine. If you want it to run out of the root (e.g. just http://changedforever.net/) you’ll need to upload the files to the root. *There may be a downside to this involving automatically upgrading the software, as it seems to have trouble doing this on GoDaddy. I have not yet figured out if this is a function of installing it in the root or GoDaddy hosting in general. If you know, please comment below.
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Using the GoDaddy File manager, make the App_Data and Custom folders Web visible & writeable (and set all subfolders to inherit). You’ll need to select one folder at a time and click the ‘Privacy’ eye to get at the settings.
- Make sure that your are running IIS 7.0, with ASP.Net 4.0/4.5 (in integrated mode). If the Server Settings under Hosting Details show anything different, or if you are unsure if you are in pipleine/integrated mode, you will have to go into the IIS Management Section as shown below.Checking the ASP.Net version/Accessing the IIS Management section
Modify runtime/define pipeline from IIS Management
After clicking ‘(modify)’
After clicking the Pipeline button (make sure ‘Content Root’ was the only checked item)
- Make sure the trust level is properly configured in the web.config. If you search through the file, you should come across:
<!–<trust level=”Medium”/>–>
Uncomment and set to ‘Full’:
<trust level="Full"/>
That’s it! Load your site in a browser and you should be able to see the default blog post. Revert back to the installation instructions for the rest. Perhaps I’ll follow up with a few pointers on initial setup but everything is pretty well covered within the documentation.