Preparing the development environment
Greetings from Visual Studio 2005 extensions for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 development team.
In this issue, we will introduce the necessary steps to prepare the SharePoint development environment with VSeWSS.
VSeWSS runs on Windows Server 2003 with Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 (WSS) and Visual Studio 2005 (VS) pre-installed. It is not necessary for you to set up a new machine specifically for this purpose. However, it is strongly recommended that you separate your development environment from your actual operational environment. It is also good practice to prepare a machine that is dedicated solely for SharePoint development with VSeWSS, or prepare virtual environment utilizing the Virtual PC or Virtual Server.
Now, let's go on to the actual installation steps.
The following section consists of 4 brief installation steps. Please be aware that some steps could take you only a few minutes, while the other could take you a few hours.
1. Installing Windows Server 2003
Have the 32-bit version of Windows Server 2003 Standard or Enterprise Edition ready. Both Japanese and English versions are supported. Keep in mind that the 64-bit version is not supported.
You are highly recommended to use a machine with higher spec than the minimum hardware requirements for WSS since you'll be required to run VS in conjunction with WSS. Meeting the recommended hardware requirements of WSS can assure you more comfortable operation, while meeting the minimum requirements will only be enough to run WSS as a standalone environment without VS.
Please refer to the following page for further detail about the system requirements.
Determine hardware and software requirements
http://technet2.microsoft.com/Office/en-us/library/dcdb7f80-5d48-4b7c-9cb5-affa5f2936531033.mspx
2. Installing Windows SharePoint Services 3.0
After enabling IIS and ASP.NET and installing .NET Framework 3.0, install WSS.
Please refer to the following link for further instructions.
Tech Net: Install Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 on a stand-alone computer
http://technet2.microsoft.com/Office/en-us/library/6181fe5b-90ca-40cf-aade-abd59cf3c9071033.mspx
3. Installing Visual Studio 2005
Have Visual Studio 2005 Standard or higher ready. Express Edition is not supported. Also, Visual C# development environment is required as only Visual C# project templates are available. Please refer to the installation guide that came with the product.
4. Installing Visual Studio 2005 extensions for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0
Download the latest version, the November CTP, and run the installer. VSeWSS can be used on both Japanese and English environment, but only English UI is provided.
You might encounter an error during installation if you have Internet Explorer 7 pre-installed on your PC. This error can be ignored.
Visual Studio 2005 extensions for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 November CTP can be downloaded from here.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=19f21e5e-b715-4f0c-b959-8c6dcbdc1057&displaylang=en
Tips: Enabling autostart for the VSeWSS debugger
As also indicated on the download site, enabling this option will allow the VS debugger to start whenever VSeWSS deploys a project to your SharePoint site. This can be very useful when developing features that contain your own code, such as Web Parts, and it is recommended to have it enabled.
1) Open the web.config file with text editor
The web.config file is located in the IIS virtual directory. By default, this directory name is the port number specified for WSS. For example, if the port number for WSS is 80, then the web.config file is stored in the following location:
c:\Inetpub\wwwroot\wss\VirtualDirectories\80
2) Set the debugging option
Change the debug attribute for the <configuration><system.web><compilation> element to be "true"
3) Save the web.config file
Save the changes in web.config file within your text editor.
Now you are all set to start SharePoint development with VSeWSS.
In the next issue, we will finally be creating simple Web Parts with VSeWSS - please don't miss it!
Read the Japanese version of this article | 日本語版はこちら
Any opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and not official positions of Microsoft Corporation.
Related Links
Microsoft Virtual PC 2004
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtualpc/default.mspx (English)
http://www.microsoft.com/japan/windows/virtualpc/default.mspx (Japanese)
Microsoft Virtual Server
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/virtualserver/default.mspx (English)
http://www.microsoft.com/japan/windowsserversystem/virtualserver/default.mspx (Japanese)
Windows SharePoint Services 3.0
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=D51730B5-48FC-4CA2-B454-8DC2CAF93951 (English)
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=ja&FamilyID=D51730B5-48FC-4CA2-B454-8DC2CAF93951 (Japanese)
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 Redistributable Package
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=10CC340B-F857-4A14-83F5-25634C3BF043 (English)
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=ja&FamilyID=10CC340B-F857-4A14-83F5-25634C3BF043 (Japanese)
