This article describes an alternate way of installing MonoX, in addition to the one described in the article How to perform MonoX installation.

The latest version of Web Platform Installer can be obtained here. It is a simple and free tool which automates the installation process of various Web applications. We will cover two approaches: MonoX installation directly from Microsoft's Web Application Gallery and, alternatively, our own MonoX Web Plaform Feed.

MonoX Web Platform Feed

Step 1
First you will need to setup Web Platform Installer to load our feed, as described in MonoX Web Plaform Feed article.
 
Please note that Microsoft's Web Application Gallery feature only the latest version of MonoX CMS for .NET 4.0. There is also a considerable delay between our official release date and the publication date in the Application Gallery, so in this may be the preferable approach in most scenarios.

Step 2
Once you have added the MonoX Feed you will see a new tab in the Web Platform Installer called MonoX, as seen in the screenshot below.


Step 3
When you click on the MonoX tab you will see several versions of MonoX which are also categorized by the target NET Framework version.


Step 4
The latest MonoX releases will always be listed on the top. To select a MonoX version to install click on the Add button. Please note that Platform Installer supports installation of only one application at a time.


Step 5
After you've selected the target MonoX version click on the Install button.


Step 6
Next screen allows you to review the prerequisites to be installed with the package. Click the I accept button.


Step 7
Platform installer will now download the prerequisites and install them along with the main MonoX package. Once that is done, a screen will appear allowing you to configure the site information. For the demonstration purposes I will install MonoX on the Default Web Site.


Step 8
On the next screen you will need to specify the installation parameters such as the database server name, database administrator username and password. These are used by the Web Platform Installer to create the MonoX database automatically for you. You will also need to specify the MonoX database username and password which will be used by the application itself to connect to the database.


After you completed this step click Continue and allow Web Platform Installer to complete the installation.

Step 9
On your first visit to the newly created site, you will be greeted with the screen displayed below.


This screen allows you to specify the installation scenario, whether you wish to Use an empty database which should be used for fresh MonoX installations or Use an existing database which is used in various upgrade scenarios. Please note that manual installation requires you to setup proper permissions for web.config and ApplicationData directories, but with Web Platform Installer this is done automatically. Once you have selected the correct option (which in this case is Use an empty database), click on the Finish button.

Step 10
Once MonoX completes the installation you should see a screen similar to this.


Congratulations! MonoX installation is now complete and you can start using the site.

Web Application Gallery

Installing MonoX from the Microsoft Application Gallery is rather similar to the process we described in the MonoX Web Platform Feed installation method. There is a single difference: you are not required to add an additional feed in the Web Platform Installer.

Step 1
Find MonoX in the Web Platform Installer by typing MonoX in the search textbox and press Enter on your keyboard.

Step 2
After you have found MonoX you can proceed by clicking on the Add button and repeat the same process we have described earlier in the article, starting from Step 5.