I’ve encountered a few errors over the course of installing and using DotNetNuke (DNN) sites. Most had quick fixes but some took a bit of digging before finding the solution. For now I will include them all in a single blog post.

1. Connection to the Database Failed

DNN Error Connection to the Database Failed

Failed database connections can occur if the connection string is invalid or if the service for SQL Server is not running. Open up Services and scroll down to the SQL Server service. If it’s not marked as Running, double click to open the service and click the Start button.

SQL Server Service

If you continue to get the error on your site even after starting the SQL Server service, you may need to open Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager and  recycle the site’s application pool.

2. Parse Error

DNN Installer Parse Error

This error is typical when using the DNN web installer rather than the manual install approach (see this post for manual installation instructions). In this case, the installer has not been updated to reflect the correct path of the final install page – from my understanding, this error has been around for several versions of DNN. Change the URL from yoursite/Install/InstallWizard.aspx to yoursite/Install/Install.aspx (remove Wizard) and you should be good to go!

3. Internet Information Services Splash Screen

DNN Site IIS Screen

By default, the DNN web installer will create a binding for your site at dnndev.me but not www.dnndev.me. Double check the host name in the URL you are trying to access and the bindings you have setup for your site in IIS Manager. In the image above, we are getting the error when trying to access www.dnndev.me. Open IIS Manager, right click your site and select Edit Bindings. Click Add, then enter the missing hostname (in our case, www.dnndev.me).

Add new site binding