Episerver Foundation Installation Guide

Detailed instructions for installing Episerver Foundation. 

*last updated 02/03/2020*

Substitute all fields enclosed in <> with your own data.

Pre-Setup Requirements:

The following is advised before attempting to download and run the Episerver Foundation
setup installer.

Open a new Powershell window as an administrator. 

First install the package manager Chocolatey if you don't have it by going here.
(https://chocolatey.org/)

*note this is already installed on VSserver2016 image for Episerver Employees only*

Steps:

1. Install Node.js

Install latest version of Node.js

cinst nodejs install

Say yes to all

ignore failure to install message

Close and reopen Powershell window as administrator

check version

npm -v

If node.js installed proceed.

Otherwise try downloading node.js from the website here

2. Install Gulp

Open a new Powershell window as an administrator. 

Run the two following commands

npm install -g gulp-cli
npm install gulp -gdownl

3. Install Visual Studio 2017 build tools

Install visualstudio2017 build tools

Run the following command in a powershell window as an administrator. 

choco install visualstudio2017buildtools

4. Add Web development build tools

Open Visual Studio Installer. In windows 10 you can find it by searching for Visual Studio Installer in the start menu. 

Click Modify.

Under Web & Cloud check Web development build tools and click modify at the bottom right. 

5. Install SQL CMD Utility

Microsoft® ODBC Driver 13.1 for SQL Server

Install SQL CMD Utility from here

*Note*  You do not need to install this Utility if you already have SQL Server Management Studio and/or SQL Server installed on the same device as the foundation installation. 

Open a new powershell window and test with the following command.

sqlcmd -S <Server> -U <SQLserver username> -P <SQLserver password>

If you see the following below then it worked. 

6. Install Windows build tools

Run the following in an elevated powershell window as an administrator. 

npm install --global --production windows-build-tools

Episerver Foundation Setup 

Download Episerver Foundation

Download Episerver Foundation as a zip file and save it.

Use fork or git clone if you are interested in using it with a repository. 

*Note*  You will need a github account to download Episerver Foundation. If you don't have one
you can create one for free using any email address.

Setup Recommendations:  
Download and install the master branch for best results. Only download the develop branch if you are actively contributing to the github repo. Installing from the non-master branch may produce undesired results and errors. 

Unzip downloaded folder. 

If you haven't already move the unzipped folder to your desired directory.

The recommended location is the root of your local disk drive such as 'C:\Foundation'

Navigate to the root of your install folder and run the following.

npm install node-sass

Open foundation project folder, right click setup and choose run as Administrator. 

Fill out the below to install webapp cms and commerce sites.

Note that if this is not the first time running the installer you will need to make sure the database name it creates is unique or the installer will fail. The database name is based on the application name. 

*Note* The suggestions below are for Episerver Employee Application Support Team.
See Github info for installing externally.

Your application name is: <Your application name>
Your foundation domain name is: <Your domain name>
Your commerce manager domain name is: <Your commerce domain name>
Your LICENSE path is: ""
Your SQL server name is: <SQL Server name>
Your SQLCMD command is:-U <SQLserver username> -P <SQLserver password>

Example setup 

Fix Hosts file to include correct names. 

Hosts file is located in C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts 

<Your domain name> Ex: FoundationTest.com
<Your commerce domain name> Ex: commerce.FoundationTest.com

Navigate to domain/setup

example

http://FoundationTest.com/setup

Select the options you would like and click submit query.

*Note* The domain used for the example above was foundationrz.com

If you receive 500 errors when trying to load the webpage check your bindings in IIS and restart your sites in the application pool. If the site spins and never loads make sure the serviceUrl and defaultIndex settings are populated with new index details. 

After 5-10 minutes you should now see your foundation site built and running. 

You will able to open the project in VS studio to make any desired changes and run from local host.