Installed TeamPulse on a Windows 2008R2 server for the purpose of trying it out. Was first of all concerned about installation process via an .msi. I know you want to make it easy for non-system admins but I would (as I think would most system admins) like to know what is being installed where on a server. This should perhaps be added to the installation documentation.
Secondly, I was concerned that the install didn't tell me or let me specify the website in IIS under which it would (logically) install. I almost abandoned the whole thing there and then. Would it install over the default website? What bindings would it create so as not to interfere with other websites on IIS? These should be explicit in the installer or at very least in the documentation. What if I want to run it on a virtual host, other than the server name? I know I can edit the bindings later, but that's not the point.
Thirdly, installing something that is a WEBSITE under "C:\Program Files (x86)" is just plain wrong. I would assume the default location for websites would be the server webroot, but the installer should give me the option of selecting the path on disk, don't assume my server is configured the same way as anyone else's - I may have a small C: drive and keep my data on another drive (for example.) Also, the logs folder under that location - is it going to grow? If so, I want to move that somewhere else.
Next, let me choose to use a SQL Server user as an alternative to a Windows user for connecting to the database. If your installer was very good, it would let me specify a privileged SQL user for the install, and allow me to specify a SQL user just for this application and create it for me with the right permissions over this database (and only this database.)
Not that I don't trust Telerik, but I don't want to use a user that has administrative rights to the database server (which is needed to create the database) as the user for ongoing use of the database. Don't assume there aren't other databases on that SQL Server instance. It us unclear how to change this post-installation.
And finally, as for the "TeamPulseIntegrationService", if this is just used for TFS integration, make it optional based on whether I say I have TFS or not (I don't.) I don't want to run services on a production server that I don't need to.
Out if this, can someone tell me where and what to change to change the database user to a less privileged one and how to move the website out of "C:\Program Files (x86)". Also, I want to change the URL/virtual host from <servername> to say teampulse.mydomain.com - I see the URL is in an appsetting in one of the web.configs, is that the only place I need to update (other than the IIS binding itself.)
Kind regards
Damian
3 Answers, 1 is accepted
Thanks very much for the feedback. We have tried hard to make the installation as simple as possible but could certainly provide more detail as to exact configuration changes that the installer will make on a server. I have logged this for action in a future release and have awarded you some Telerik points for bringing this to our attention.
Regarding the installation location, you can indeed specify this. If you don't want the default location you can select the custom install option and you'll be given an opportunity to specify a folder location that you prefer. If you wish to change this, you can uninstall TeamPulse and reinstall using the custom option. The database and its data will stay as is and you won't lose your data nor your activation information as long as you point to the same sql server as in your original installation.
We are aware that we need to improve the database user specification and provide more options in that area. This is in our backlog for a future release.
The integration that gets installed encompasses TFS synchronization however also includes database history snapshotting, report/chart generation, and best practice analysis among other features. As a result, the service is necessary for the proper operation of TeamPulse.
As you have found you will need to change the setting in the web config file in order to change to a different url. And to change the database user to a less privileged one you need to change both the credentials on the application pool under which the site is running TeamPulse_AppPool as well as the credentials that the integration service (TeamPulse Integration Service) is running with.
Robert Régnier
the Telerik team
Rank 1
"And to change the database user to a less privileged one you need to change both the credentials on the application pool under which the site is running TeamPulse_AppPool as well as the credentials that the integration service (TeamPulse Integration Service) is running with."
Does this mean I can't use a SQL user (as opposed to a Windows user) to access the database?
Kind regards
Damian
Although the installer doesn't support specifying a SQL user, you can customize your environment for this if you wish. There are 3 connection strings that you can customize, the first is in the Web.config file found in the wwwroot directory of the TeamPulse install. The second is in the Web.config file in the UserManagement directory. The third is in the TeamPulse.Integration.Service.exe.config file found in the IntegrationService directory.
I was able to change the connection string settings to the following without any negative impact to TeamPulse:
connectionString="Data Source=(local)\SQLEXPRESS;Initial Catalog=TeamPulse;Persist Security Info=True;User ID=sqltp;Password=****"
Robert Régnier
the Telerik team