Professional DotNetNuke® Module Programming

Chapter 9. Packaging, Installing, and Debugging the Module

In Chapter 8, you completed the first round of development for the Guestbook modules. Now it is time to test them and prepare them for deployment and distribution.

This chapter introduces the concepts of packaging, installation, and debugging of custom modules, using the Guestbook module as the demonstration tool. The chapter begins with a quick overview of how a DotNetNuke module is actually installed and viewed. You will then learn about the processes behind actually packaging a module for deployment, as well as the packaging debugging processes for those times when things are just not working. The chapter concludes with an examination of additional testing and best practices to help you prepare for deployment. By the end of this chapter, you should be familiar with all the aspects of installation, packaging, and debugging.

Module Installation

You should already be familiar with the standard DotNetNuke module installation process involving the use of a packaged module ZIP file. If you are not, you can visit the author's website at www.mitchelsellers.com for a detailed overview.

By now, you have developed and compiled the Guestbook modules, and they should be sitting inside the local test DotNetNuke environment. However, they are not ready to actually be tested. When installing a module that has been created locally and not using the standard installation procedures, you must first import the module manifest, which defines ...