A common question that comes up in the newsgroups is how to setup your local machine
to relay email. Windows 2000 / XP / 2003, 2008 comes with the built-in SMTP service,
Vista does not provide this option.
By default the Roles provider is defined in machine.config but it isn't enabled.
Attempting to use the Roles feature before it is enabled will throw the following
error:
"The Role Manager feature has not been enabled." It's easy to enable
though.
ASP.NET v2.0 has a couple new ways to reference connection strings stored in the
web.config or machine.config file.
I was asked today about ASP.NET web.config inheritance. Understanding which ASP.NET
files and folders are inherited through folders and applications makes development
and troubleshooting so much easier.
Like any good technology, ASP.NET continues to evolve as new versions are released.
But, like anything else, this brings with it a number of considerations.
ASP.NET starts and runs within a sandbox called an AppDomain. Each Application on a server will run its own AppDomain which allows separation between different parts of the site for better security isolation and availability. If a folder is marked as an application, it will live within a different AppDomain than the root of the site.
Starting in the first version of ASP.NET, Microsoft has provided a tool to control which version of the framework is registered in IIS. This tool, aspnet_regiis.exe, is quite flexible and with the right understanding of how IIS and ASP.NET work, can be used for almost any situation.
Run the following tool to create a valid random machine key to place in your web.config
or machine.config file.
This code-tip shows how to format the FROM address to display with a 'friendly name'
instead of an email address.
This article shows how to send an email that includes a Plain Text and HTML version.
The appropriate version will be displayed by the email client.
One frequent question I see in the newsgroups is "How do I create a process to run
a webpage on a scheduled basis?” This article discusses one technique using
a VBS Script and Windows Task Scheduler.
Microsoft provides a tool called IISCnfg for management of the IIS Settings. One
of the features that this includes is the ability to replicate the IIS settings
from one server to another. This is useful in a webfarm environment where you require
all web servers to be in sync.
Windows Distributed File System (DFS) has been around for a long time and it has
always had a lot to offer. With the latest update in Windows Server 2003 R2, DFS
has become quite an impressive product.
Some basic steps and commands to encrypt your connection string and other items
in a configuration file using ASP.NET 2.0.
How to change the 'schema' name on an object from 'username' to 'dbo' in SQL Server
2005.
This article shows a code-tip I discovered when developing a webservice to 'screen
scrape' a webpage.
How to retrieve Physical and Virtual memory usage on a specific process using WMI
(Windows Management Instrumentation).
This article discusses my experience when trying to retrieve the number of files
on a remote server using the WMI CIM_DataFile class.
How to retrieve a list of computers from Active Directory
and use a For/Next to loop through the collection. I've used this code sample on
several scripts and using Active Directory as the authoritative source for a list
of machines is handy.
This technique I have found useful when needing to loop through a list of machines
or other items. This uses the System.IO.StreamReader namespace in .NET 2.0.
How to start multiple threads to enhance performance. I was
looking for a way to increase performance of a console application that records
information to a database. This code sample has a couple of techniques.
How to update an application config file and have the new settings
take affect without stopping and starting a Windows .NET service.
Visual Web Developer 2005 has a very cool feature that will allow you to dynamically
create a SQL Server Express database for use when developing web applications, which
is great for developers. But, after the web application is developed, how is the
database schema and data uploaded to your production database on a remote SQL Server?
SQL Server Integration Services (formerly Data Transformation Services) provides
a comprehensive solution for transferring and transforming data between diverse
data sources.
Once Virtual Server is installed, it is time to start adding Virtual Machines. You
first need to open up the Virtual Server Administration Website...
Many web hosts now have their servers "locked down" and require a username and password
to send email from their servers. If you have code that uses "localhost" (the SMTP
service running on the local machine) then this shouldn't be an issue...
This article covers how to setup and use the Custom Errors options offered in IIS
(Internet Information Server) as well as using ASP.NET to track 404 and 500 errors
specifically.
Email is used daily by everyone from the top executives to the 5 year olds sending
messages to their friends. But are there any good tools available to test and resolve
issues? Email tends to be weaker when it comes to troubleshooting tools.
Something that is very useful in writing web pages that perform data inserts or
updates is to restrict the options for certain fields to specific values. One way
for this to be done is to have the update options be items listed in a drop-down
box.
One of the first things many people try with ASP.NET v2.0 (currently in Beta 2)
and with the starter kits is to create a new user. Whether it is the CreateUserWizard,
a starter kit form or using the membership namespace from code, creating a new profile
is going to happen. Immediately following that is often a sigh of frustration when
a fairly non-descriptive error occurs: "Please enter a different password." What
is that supposed to mean?
Sending email from ASP.Net 1.0 and 1.1 was very easy. It is still easy with ASP.Net
2.0 - assuming you know the new class names. I'm not sure why Microsoft changed
these classes - certainly there is a reason, I just don't know it yet.
With ASP.Net 2.0 available now, I wanted to create an ASP.Net page that would pass
parameters to a SQL Server stored procedure to insert data into a database. I've
read that this can be done now with controls and almost no understanding of coding,
but I wanted to do it manually. It surprised me that I couldn't find a decent online
sample from Google, which motivated me to put together this short article.
Improvements in technology and increased competition continue to force hardware
prices to drop. However with the recent trend in downsizing and a focus on the bottom
line many Information Technology budgets have also dropped.
This article describes how you can easily set up a community-related site using
CommunityServer.org at www.orcsweb.com. This article covers the necessary steps
to using Community Server's web-based installer.
A database move can be done a couple different ways, but when the database is updated
frequently and the move needs to be completed with minimal downtime and no data
loss, it is best to move it by detaching and then reattaching....
One of the items I like to do from time to time is have a fresh copy of a production
database on a local SQL Server. The local copy usually would be used for performance
testing, application development etc. Microsoft SQL Server 2000 uses DTS (Data Transformation
Services) to help...
If you are looking for a component to enhance your calendar or date/time selection
web page, RicherComponents.com has released a new component called RichDatePicker.
Many people know the importance of creating indexes on SQL Server database tables.
Indexes greatly improve the performance of a database. However, while many people
create indexes on their SQL Server tables...
If you have ever tried loading a large number of records into a drop down box you
know that this can significantly slow down the page. A great solution is DbCombo
(www.dbcombo.com).
Most security experts' recommendations include changing passwords frequently to
enhance security. It is easy to change the password on a SQL Server Username via
Query Analyzer.
Along with Windows Server 2003 and Internet Information Services 6.0 came a large
number of benefits. For us IIS admins, it was a great welcome set of changes. But,
one apparent difficultly is matching up the w3wp.exe processes displayed in Task
Manager to the Application Pools in IIS.
Have you ever wanted to manage multiple domain names under a single account in IIS
(Internet Information Services)?
I have always found this inconvenient so I set out to create a stable, free, easy
to configure means of accomplishing the same thing without installing anything special
on the server. I've included steps below to complete this task successfully.
In the previous two parts we learned how to leverage virtual directories and physical
folders to offer a lot of control from IIS FTP. Now, what about when we want to
have one site administrator have access to more than one, but not all, of the directories
in a site? How is this accomplished from within IIS FTP?
Hexillion offers a component that will help you design an application with network
validation features. The HexGadget product consist of 5 separate network components:
HexVildEmail, HexDns, HexTCPQuery, HexICMP, and HexLookup.
Because Microsoft has this unique way to utilizing virtual directories to offer
more control, it also means that simply using virtual directories for their original
purpose isn't as obvious as it should be.
"I'm going to attempt to reveal some of the hidden but powerful features that exist
with Microsoft's FTP program."
"Webfarm Hosting II: Balancing The Load."
"With the release of Internet Information Services on Windows Server 2003, Microsoft
has made available a tool that automates this migration process for system administrators."
"Webfarms: The Only Way To Host!"
"Hold on to your hats folks. If you’re running IIS6.0, pay for bandwidth, and don’t
have compression installed..."
BrowserHawk, a component offered by cyScape, is a tool that ASP developers use...
I regularly administer Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server 2003 machine using
Terminal Services.
Whidbey, although not even in it's beta stage is already causing quite a stir..
ASP.Net supports multiple versions of the Framework running side-by-side on the
same machine...
In this article, I will demonstrate email validation, one of the features IP*Works
.NET offers to ASP.NET developers.
Create your own web based email system or manage emails directly from code. Description
and code samples on aspNetPOP3 here . . .
ASPnetEmail is a SMTP email component designed specifically for performance, features
and .NET.
Sometimes you cannot log in locally to a SQL server, so you need to make a remote
connection.
The AspNetMenu has changed considerably since 2002 and this article is no longer
available.
Before starting, I should mention that if you have never used CDONTS or CDOSYS and
just want to find out how to create a feedback form, read on, this is also written
for you.
I've seen a number of posts to the peer support lists and have also had some people
email me direct asking for a code sample that performed Forms Authentication against
a database.
This article is a VB.Net translation of Mart Slim's "Using Symmetric Cryptography
in an ASP.NET Web Page"
The code below demonstrates how to populate an ASP.Net DropDownList control with
the results of a query against SQL Server.
The code below demonstrates how to populate an ASP.Net DataGrid control with the
contents of an XML file.
The code below demonstrates how to populate an ASP.Net DataGrid control with the
contents of an XML file.
The code below demonstrates how to connect to and query a Microsoft Access database
then bind those results....
In a previous article I provided some samples to allow password protection of a
folder in ASP.Net based on some settings in the root config.web file....
One of the most commonly performed operations that I see in web applications - aside
from database actions - is sending email from code....
ASP.Net has some new features that allow a developer to easily secure certain areas
of a web site....