Installing Kooboo CMS is a simple and user-friendly process. It is a standard Asp.Net MVC web application. There is a .sln Visual Studio solution file included, and the .mdf database file is under App_Data folder.

If you use the .mdf file, you must change the database collation manually to match your tempdb collation otherwise the asp.net membership will fail with a collation conflict.

Download the kooboo.zip and also the "*_SQL_clean_install.zip" from codeplex. http://kooboo.codeplex.com

Unzip files to a folder, for example: D:\Kooboo\KoobooCms.

System requirement
- Windows XP/Vista/2003/2008
- IIS5.0, 6.0, 7.0
- NET framework 3.5 with service pack 1 or higher version
- MS SQL Express 2005 or higher version

Additional requirement
- Kooboo must be installed on the root of an IIS web site
- Under IIS 5.0 & 6.0, wildcard file extension must be setup to be executed ASP.NET engine in order for ASP.NET MVC framework to work correctly.
- It is now possible to run Kooboo CMS under partial trust level.

For PagePlugin and Module development, Visual Studio.NET 2008 or Visual Web Developer are required. You can get a free copy of Visual Web Developer from http://www.asp.net/vwd/

1. Setup the Database

It is recommended that you use the SQL scripts in the "*_SQL_clean_install.zip" to create a new database and change the 3 connection strings in the web.config.

You may also use the .mdf file included in the package. In the new release, we have changed web.config connection string to use the value of "Data Source=.\SQLEXPRESS;AttachDbFilename=|DataDirectory|KooBoo.mdf;Integrated Security=True" This connection string setting can work directly in some environments with SQL Express when installed. If it does not work, please follow the steps below to setup the database.

In the \App_data folder you will find the database files. It is MS SQL 2005 database. Copy the database file to the Sql Server data localtion (For example: C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\Data), then attach it to your database server.

2. Update the Database Connection String in your web.config

Go back to the unzipped folder("D:\Kooboo\KoobooCms" for this example) and find Web.config file.

There are 3 connection strings in the web.config <connectionStrings> </connectionStrings> segment. Set the right value for "data source", "initial catalog", "user id" and "password". For example: "connectionString="Data Source=yourServerName; Initial Catalog=KoobooCms; User ID=userId; Password=password; MultipleActiveResultSets=True". For security reasons, you may use a different user ID for different connection strings. There are other properties in the connection string such as "providerName="System.Data.EntityClient." You do not need to modify those properties.

3. Setup your IIS Website

In the IIS management console, create a new site and set the Root directory to the Kooboo Cms folder.

Right click "Web sites" and choose "New->Web Site"

Enter a description and click "Next" button.

Input correct values or leave it blank and click the"Next" button

Select your unzipped folder path and click "Next" button.

Check the "Run scripts" checkbox, then click"Next" to finish the website creation.

1). Set wildcard extension execution
In IIS 6.0, this is another step for Kooboo Cms (Kooboo Cms based on MVC) to work correctly. In the website configuration, set the * file extension to be executed by
"C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\aspnet_isapi.dll":

Right click "KoobooCms" site which we just created, then click "Properties"

Switch to "Home Directory" tab, then click "Configuration" button

Click "Insert" button, select "aspnet_isapi.dll" as wildcard application map. Be sure to uncheck "verify the file exist" checkbox, otherwise you will meet 404 error later.

Remember to start your web site in case it's stopped.

2). Assign Asp.net account Permission
Assign Asp.net account ("Network Service" in windows 2003 service) read and write permission to "Template" and "Module" folder:

Go back to the folder you unzipped, Right click "Template" folder and choose "Properties"

Switch to "Security" tab and then add "NETWORK SERVICE" account. Make sure "Modify" and "Write" checkbox is selected. Then click "OK" button to finish.

Do the same thing to "Module" folder. So far you have completed all the setting required.

There is an easy alternative, you can just assign "everyone" to have "full control" over Kooboo cms folder. This may cause security issues, however.

3). Browse the site
After you completed above steps, you can begin to use Kooboo Web Cms; to access the CMS backend site.

URL: http://[yoursite]/form

Default user/password is:
- user: admin
- password: admin

To access the front site, refer to the Kooboo Quick Start document or right click on any page you created, select "preview" to preview that page.