It’s that time again, when a major new version of DotNetNuke is about to drop onto us, and that means lots of testing to make sure that things are going to work with the new version. I’ve been doing testing and fixing and testing and checking with the Url Master module, and it’s ready for DNN 7. But there’s a few things you need to know before you go and upgrade to DotNetNuke 7.
The first is that DotNetNuke 7 has a great new upgrade wizard. It’s an order of magnitude better than the old one.
Unfortunately, the existing version of the Url Master module can break this wizard in certain configurations
So you will need an upgrade of the Url Master module before you upgrade your DotNetNuke installation. This is necessary to be certain that the new upgrade wizard will work perfectly. You also have the option of disabling the Url Master module prior to running the DotNetNuke upgrade.
The version of Url Master that is compatible with DotNetNuke 7 is Url Master 2.7. This is now available from the Url Master Downloads Page.
DotNetNuke 7 Upgrade Process for Url Master Users
Step 1 : Complete your full site and database backups
Step 2 : Go to the Host->Extensions page on your site, and install the new Url Master version 2.7. Follow the install wizard all the way through, and check to make sure that the install process finished successfully.
Step 3 : Follow the regular Upgrade process for DotNetNuke by unzipping the files, running the upgrade wizard
Step 4 : Check to make sure the upgrade finished OK, and relax and check out your new DNN 7 site.
Frequently Asked Url Master / DotNetNuke Upgrade Questions
Q: What version of Url Master do I need before I upgrade to DotNetNuke 7?
A: You need Url Master version 2.7. If you already have a 2.x version of Url Master, this is a free upgrade, and you can just download and install the new version.
Q: Do I need to disable the Url Master module prior to upgrading?
A: No, you don’t need to, but if you can if you want to. Disabling the module by going to the Host->Friendly Url Settings page, and clicking the ‘Revert to Standard Provider’ button disables the Url Master module and restores the standard DotNetNuke Friendly Url Provider/Rewriter. By doing this you ensure that the Url Master module is excluded from the upgrade process.
Q: Should I uninstall the Url Master module prior to upgrading?
A: No. If you uninstall the module you will lose all of the settings you have entered for the module.
Q: I have already upgraded to DotNetNuke 7, and I have the Url Master module installed. Do I still need to ugprade?
A: Yes, you do. There are many compatibility changes and fixes in the Url Master 2.7 version that make the module run properly with DNN 7.
Q: I did my upgrade before reading this post. Now my ‘upgrade’ screen is broken and I can’t continue with my upgrade. Help!
A: If you run a DotNetNuke upgrade prior to upgrading or disabling the Url Master module, you will see a broken DotNetNuke upgrade screen. It will show broken links for the DotNetNuke logo, and the layout will not look correct because the css and js files will not load correctly.
If you have this situation, you must manually disable the Url Master module in the web.config.
To start the process off, take a backup of your web.config file.
Then, go to the section in your web.config, and find this entry:
(click to enlarge)
Replace it with this entry:
(click to enlarge)
The type name is ‘DotNetNuke.HttpModules.UrlRewriteModule, DotNetNuke.HttpModules’ – please note that this is case sensitive.
Once this is done, find the section, which is further down in the web.config file, and looks like this:
and replace the ‘iFinity.UrlMaster’ value with ‘DNNFriendlyUrl’ so that it looks like this:
Note that you will not have to remove the
Once you have made these two changes, save the web.config file, and do a refresh of the DotNetNuke Upgrade Wizard. The page should now be fixed, and you should be able to proceed through the upgrade process as normal.
Once you have completed the ugprade for the site, you can go back into the Host->Friendly Url Settings page, and click on ‘Apply Changes’ to re-activate the Url Master module with your existing settings.
When your Upgrade is Complete
Don’t forget to do a full check on your site after you have completed your DNN 7 upgrade. The DNN 7 upgrade contains a lot of new changes to the site, and some older modules and skins may be affected by the new layout changes. Best to find them all now if you do have any issues like this. Most module vendors and open source contributors will have updated the versions to allow for DNN 7 capabilities, so find the new versions and upgrade.
Enjoy your new DNN 7 site!