The article here :: http://www.microsoft.com/web/post/how-to-publish-a-web-application-using-webmatrix
states that to publish via FTP I must "enter the connection string for the destination database" and gives examples. It is not clear to me if I have to replace the current web.config string, or if I'm adding one. I also don't understand if I have to mark one as a destination database.
Here is what I have thus far. When I visit website it says "under construction". It would be helpful to know how to get it out of that state, and also turn log error on.
<!-- this is the local connection -->
<add name="SiteSqlServer" connectionString="Data Source=.\SQLExpress;Integrated Security=True;User Instance=True;AttachDBFilename=|DataDirectory|Database.mdf;" providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" />
<!-- this is the destination db -->
<add name="myConnectionStrings" connectionString="Server=205.xxx.xxx.xxx;Database=mydbname;uid=mydbusername;pwd=mydbpasswd;" providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" />
</connectionStrings>
<appSettings>
<!-- Connection String for SQL Server 2005/2008 Express - kept for backwards compatability - legacy modules -->
<add key="SiteSqlServer" value="Data Source=.\SQLExpress;Integrated Security=True;User Instance=True;AttachDBFilename=|DataDirectory|Database.mdf;" />
.
.
.
</appSettings>
I work on WebMatrix and found your post so I thought I'd provide some answers:
I'm guessing the reason you see "Under Construction" is some applications include some post-site creation configuration as part of their install. For DotNetNuke specifically it looks like you'll want to visit:
http://localhost:port/Install/InstallWizard.aspx
but you can always click the "Run" button from the ribbon after installing any app to start the configuration process if required.
As for setuping but your site publishing you shouldn't ever need to edit the web.config file. In Bakery application shown in the tutorial uses a file-based database so we're able to easily deploy the database through both Web Deploy and FTP using a simple file copy. DotNetNuke on the otherhand uses a full SQL database so we're not able to publish or download the database via FTP. There is no need to enter any additional connection strings to your app locally but you will be responsible for changing the database connection string in the web.config on the server once FTP publishing is done (as well as other settings that may have changed like the site url).
Since Web Deploy is more than just a file copying protocol if you choose Web Deploy as your publishing method we're able to actually sync your local and remote databases. You'll need to enter the connection string for the remote database server on the Publish Settings dialog along with your other connection information and you can use the Validate button to test those settings.
To view your error log you can go to the Site workspace in WebMatrix and then click on Requests in the left-hand navigation. Make sure the Capture Requests toggle in the ribbon is turned on. Additional options to tweak what is logged are also available in the ribbon.
Hope that helps, Andrew