How to change the DotNetNuke Install directory folder name for a Godaddy Economy Hosting website.

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How to change the DotNetNuke install directory folder name in a Godaddy Economy Hosting setup. This will also work for the Deluxe setup, if you have not set up a -false domain name as your primary domain.

This is going to be two parts. Let’s get started.

Before you go into Godaddy, log into your DotNetNuke website as the SuperUser and create new portal aliases. The path is “Host”/ “Portals”/ “Edit” (appropriate portal)/ “Advanced Settings”/ “Portal Aliases”/ “Add new Alias”. Another path is “Admin”/ “Site Settings”/ “Advanced Settings”/ “Portal Aliases”/ “Add new Alias”. Your new alias should include the new desired directory folder name (www.yourdomain.com/yournewdirectoryname). The old one should be there so you can model after it. I believe all this is stored in the database, so it may not matter to do it first, as long as you get it in there sometime before you expect to navigate to it. You can also just add it straight to the database as well, I am sure.

  1. Log in to your Godaddy account and then choose “My Account”.
  2. Scroll down to Web Hosting and click on the “+” symbol then choose “Launch”.
  3. a new window should pop-up to show all the options in the hosting account. They have a new hosting menu page look, but the tabs at the top of the page are still the same “as of now”. So we will go from there.
  4. Try to follow the steps below in between doing anything, as the website will eventually be “inactive” for a while.
  5. The first step is to back up everything. The best thing to do is have a fresh backup of the DotNetNuke install folder and the database file. Start with the install folder. At the top hover over the “Tools” tab and choose “FTP File Manager”.
  6. I have found that copying an entire DotNetNuke/DNN installation folder does not ever finish. So I make a new folder, then copy 3 folders at a time into the new folder, then all the “spare” files that are left. My install has 49 directories and files. So the new folder should have the same. Now we have a fresh copy of the DotNetNuke/DNN install folder.
  7. Next is to backup the database – hover over the top tab named “Databases” and choose correctly. If you don’t see your database choose a different option. There should be a database listing with status as “Setup”.
  8. On the right hand side under “Action” choose the pencil or “edit”. There should now be an information page with all the information on the database file. Up at the top find the button “Backup” and click it.
  9. Press “OK” – you will have an opportunity to rename later.
  10. I always have to use internet explorer ftp in order to find the “_db_backups” file. This is where Godaddy sends the database backup files.  Then you can change the name of the database.
  11. Now hover over the “Tools” tab again and choose “IIS Management”.
  12. You should be seeing your original DotNetNuke install folder with a green dot on it. This is a virtual directory set as an application root. This is what is needed in Godaddy to install an application.
  13. Make sure only the Content Root is checked and click “Create” at the top. Now you need to name your new directory here. Then check the box at “Set Application Root”, and “OK”.
  14. Now make sure that your new directory is the only box that is checked and start creating any folders that are in your original install directory. Mine has app_code, app_data, bin, config, desktopmodules, images, install, portals, portals/_default, and web.config. (I duplicated the web.config on mine, but it still remains in “Pending Setup” status to this day, so maybe it is not needed.) It may take up to 24 hours for the virtual directory to resolve, so keep this in mind.
  15. After a few minutes go back to the FTP File Manager and see if the new folder you created in the IIS Manager is there. When it is there, go ahead and copy the current DotNetNuke install files into it. Change the permissions to Web Writable for the new folder in the FTP.

OK so now we are fully backed up with the DotNetNuke install folder and a fresh copy of the database. Now we are ready to take the next steps. It is my opinion that the install folder and the database work independently of each other, and the folder name is not as important as thought. The web.config file has not been changed, only copied. So any of the keys, or database names all remain the same. The only things that have been changed so far are:

  1. New portal alias created in the DotNetNuke portal.
  2. a fresh backup of the install folder in the FTP File Manager, (separate and untouched)
  3. a fresh backup of the database in the _db_backups folder,
  4. a new folder in the IIS Management or Godaddy Virtual Directory of your desired new folder name,
  5. and a new folder in FTP File Manager with the exact same name as the new one created in IIS, with fresh copies of all files in the original DotNetNuke installation.

Items 2 and 3 above can all be brought back and everything the way it was if something messes up. With this method everything can be turned back.

 

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