Prerequisites

Ensure you have

  1. A backup of the web site folder
  2. A backup of the DB
  3. A PC with IIS, SQL server etc.
  4. Make sure that you have DNS-names pointing to localhost, for DNN, the convention is usually *.dnndev.me

Specs

[[Name of the site on your pc value=site.dnndev.me]]

Setup the local system (on your PC)

  1. DB
    1. Unzip the DB (both the MDF and LDF) to where you have local DBs, for example in c:\db\site-name
    2. Restore Datebase if you have a .bak file
    3. In SQL Manager, open the table PortalAlias and add the name you will use for local access
  2. Website
    1. Unzip the web site backup to where you run your local sites, for example in c:\projects\site-name\website
    2. Configure IIS
      1. Run the folder with the web site, and configure it to use a local name, for example site-name.dnndev.me
      2. As application pool, select .NET v4.5 (or any newer version number)
  3. Add entry to hosts file
    1. In order to route requests to the domain to your local computer, you have to add a hosts-file entry.
    2. Navigate to C:\Windows\system32\drivers\etc and open the file "hosts" with Notepad++. Add the following line:
      127.0.0.1 [websitename].dev
    3. Save the file; you will be asked to open Notepad++ in Administrator mode; click yes and save again
  4. Adjust the web.config of the site to access the local DB
    1. Check the connectionString SiteSqlServer Data Source