This article describes the installation process for the release version of the .NET Framework. Although the beta instructions as given in CodeNotes for VB.NET and CodeNotes for .NET are essentially identical, they are repeated here for clarification.
There are two installation aspects of .NET.
- The .NET Framework, which consists of the Common Language Runtime, the Base Class Libraries, and command-line programs such as ILDASM. This portion of the framework can be installed as part of the Windows Component Update (which will be explained momentarily). This aspect of .NET is required for a machine to run .NET applications.
- Visual Studio.NET, Microsoft's new development tool for the .NET Framework. Although you can develop .NET application without VS.NET (using the command-line compilers that ship with the above framework), you will probably want to use the IDE as it includes features such as syntax coloring and powerful debugging capabilities such as breakpoints, variable inspection and code stepping that you enjoyed in previous versions of Visual Studio and Visual Basic.
OS requirements
Even though both the .NET Framework and VS.NET are designed to work on all modern Microsoft Operating Systems (with the exception of Windows 95), if you intend on developing ASP.NET applications or web services you will need Windows 2000 or Windows XP (or the yet-to-be-released .NET Server OS).
This constraint exists because ASP.NET will work only with Internet Information Server (IIS) 5.0 or later. Although early beta documentation claimed that ASP.NET would work with IIS 4.0 (found on Windows NT 4.0), support for NT was eventually dropped in beta 2 of the product. In addition, ASP.NET will not function with Personal Web Server, which is included with Windows 98 and Windows Millennium.
Installation Requirements
In order to install the .NET Framework on your machine, Microsoft recommends the following system configuration:
- Processor: Minimum Pentium 133Mhz
- Operating System: Windows 2000 (Professional, Server or Advance Server), Windows XP Professional.
- Memory: 128 MB (256 MB recommended)
- Hard drive: 500MB free on the drive where the OS is installed (usually C:/), and approximately 2.5 Gigs free on the installation drive (where VS.NET will be installed)
Both VS.NET and the .NET Framework are distributed on four CDs (alternatively, they can be downloaded from the MSDN as one 1.6-gigabyte installation file). The first three CDs contain the VS.NET development tools, and the fourth contains the Windows Component Update. For information on obtaining the CDs either by mail or by download, please see www.microsoft.com/net/.
Installing the .NET Framework
To install the .NET Framework run SETUP.EXE found on the first CD. After a couple of minutes, you will be greeted with the screen in Figure 1.1.
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As Figure 1.1 indicates, you must run the Windows Component Update before installing VS.NET. After you click Windows Component Update, the setup program will analyze your machine for a few minutes to determine which system files need to be updated. Depending upon the operating system and the applications that you have already installed, the setup program may have to reboot the system several times during the installation process. Because of this requirement, the installer offers the Automatic Log On feature depicted in Figure 1.2.
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By supplying your password on the screen depicted in Figure 1.2, the system can automatically log in and continue the installation process every time it has to reboot the machine. Because the setup program may have to reboot the machine many times during the installation routine, this option can be a real time saver.
After either enabling or disabling Automatic Log On, the setup program will begin the Windows Component Update. Depending upon the files it must update, this procedure could take several minutes. During this time the setup program will detail its progress, as illustrated in Figure 1.3. Note that in addition to installing the .NET Framework, the setup program also installs various software components required by .NET, such as the latest OS service packs and FrontPage server extensions.
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After the Windows Component Update has completed, the installation program will proceed to the VS.NET install. Remember, you need only install VS.NET to develop .NET applications. If you are configuring a computer to run .NET applications, you can stop at this point. If you continue, the installation program will ask you to choose which portions of VS.NET you want installed (Language tools, MSDN documentation etc). The VS.NET options screen in shown in Figure 1.4.
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After selecting those aspects of VS.NET that you wish to install, click "Install Now" (we recommend that you accept the default install options.) Note that if the setup program detects that your system does not contain IIS 5.0 or greater, it will not allow you to select ASP.NET from the option menu.
Depending on the options you have selected, installation could take anywhere from 20 to 60 minutes. After the installation has completed, your computer will contain all of the tools necessary to build and deploy .NET applications.
Program Locations
The .NET setup program will append two new items to your Start menu's Program folder. The first item is called Microsoft .NET Framework SDK, and contains MSDN documentation and Code samples. The second item is called Microsoft Visual Studio.NET 7.0, and contains links to the VS.NET IDE and to another folder called Visual Studio.NET Tools. In this Book we will occasionally use utilities from the VS.NET command line, which you can access by clicking the Visual Studio.NET Command Prompt icon shown in Figure 1.5.
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Many of these utilities are found in the /%Program Files%/Microsoft.NET/FrameworkSDK/Bin directory. If you use the VS.NET Command Prompt in Figure 1.5 this directory will automatically be included in your Path variable, so that you can access the .NET Framework utilities from within any directory.