Setting up my blog environment

This will be my first blog entry on my new stuff-for-geeks.com site.

I decided to talk more about my daily life as a consultant and developer in the .net scene.

So here is my little HowTo:

1. Get a decend machine for your site

2. Choose a domain name

3. Choose a blog engine

4. Install and configure the site

5. Install the blog engine

Step one:

My choice was a root server with Windows 2008 Web as os.  You can get one with great support at strato.com. The machine was up and running in a few hours.

Step two:

To start my blog, I needed a pretty domain name. I dug around my parked domains and found stuff-for-geeks.com! I bought this domain back in 2004. The idea was to sell geeky items like the good old IBM Clicky Keyboard. (Well that business was not running very well, but the silver lining was that I'm now proud owner of some rare vintage keyboards...)

Step three:

The Blogengine.

Some days ago the Visual Studio start page pointed me to the MIX 09 Keynote Video. Scott Guthrie introduced the Web Platform. You can get the Web Platform Installer (WPI) here. This little tool makes it really easy to install apps and developer tools on you server or work station. Included are different Blogenginges. After some googling for the different pieces my decision was to use blogEngine.net.

Step four:

Site Installation

Installation of a site is very easy with the IIS 7 Manager. So I added a new blank site, and told IIS to listen for Host-Headers like stuff-for-geeks.com.

Step five:

Last not least by installing the blogengine was very easy. Just click install in the WPI and choose which site you want your app to be in. That's it. WPI is not just copying the contents to your directory, it configures security settings (BlogEnginge.net needs write access to the AppData Folder) for you, so that after the installation you have a ready to go app on your machine!