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Now that MVC 3 Tools Update has been released, that's all I see on the Web Platform Installer -- I no longer see MVC 3? Is this because the Tools Update is essentially MVC 3 PLUS enhancements to the development environment? Presumably, none of these additions are needed on a server so I thought that MVC 3 would still be offered for server installs.

So can/should I install the MVC 3 "Tools Update" from the Web Platform installer on a server?

Howard Pinsley
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4 Answers4

25

I know this doesn't help you Decker, but it may help others:

The easiest way to get MVC on the server is by using the "Add Deployable Dependancies..." menu:

Menu

Window

Also useful for deploying SQL CE.

Darren
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17

You can use the installer from WebPI on the server just fine. It will detect if you don't have Visual Studio installed and will only install the runtime.

You could also try unzipping the installer file and only copying the runtime MSIs but I think that's overkill.

marcind
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  • Which of these installers are we supposed to use on the server? I don't understand what a "Tools update" is. There are no development tools on the server. I think you can appreciate that some IT dep. would insist on a testable installer, not a magical WebPI bootstrapper/downloader. I was unfortunate enough to have followed a link to a AspNetMVC3Setup.exe file that seemed to be exactly what I needed, but after making the IT gauntlet through test and getting into production, appears to have been a pre-release RC1 version and is taking precedence over my bin deployed DLLs. – AaronLS Mar 06 '12 at 23:23
  • The Add/Remove dialog on the server should tell you if the installed version is prerelease. – marcind Mar 06 '12 at 23:30
  • The Tools Update release was an update to MVC 3 that introduced tooling (i.e. Visual Studio) changes only, mainly new project tempalte content. It contains the same MVC runtime. – marcind Mar 06 '12 at 23:31
  • I used MvcDiagnostics to confirm that the DLL being loaded is the RC1 version number from the GAC(ignoring my bin deployed DLL of a newer RTM version). You have stated "The Tools Update release was an update to MVC 3 that introduced tooling (i.e. Visual Studio) changes only," which I am interpretting as you telling me that this is not the installer that should be used on a server. However, the link you posted in the answer takes me to a download page that only has installers for the "ToolsUpdate". My question is: Where do I get the RTM installer for MVC framework for our server platform? – AaronLS Mar 06 '12 at 23:43
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    @AaronLS If you use the "Tools Update" installer you will get the RTM runtime and if Visual Studio is also installed on the machine, the updated project templates etc. So just use the Tools Update installer. It will do the right thing on the server – marcind Mar 06 '12 at 23:51
  • let us [continue this discussion in chat](http://chat.stackoverflow.com/rooms/8609/discussion-between-aaronls-and-marcind) – AaronLS Mar 07 '12 at 00:42
  • FYI for others who have my issue with a pre-release MVC, no matter what I tried, I never got the side-by-side deployed DLL to take precedence. I had to uninstall the pre-release fromt he server and install the new. You may find that if you've already deployed your site and attempted to access it, that even upgrading to the correct MVC version, it may not work because it will have the old DLL loaded in memory(google MvcDiagnostics.aspx). Overnight the worker processes cycled and mine started using the newer installed version, but restarting IIS will likely pick up the new version as well. – AaronLS Mar 07 '12 at 17:11
14

You could also use Web Platform Installer from the command line:

webpicmd /install /Products:MVC3Runtime /log:webpi.log /accepteula /SuppressReboot

If your servers don't have internet access, you can use the offline flag from a machine which does have access to download a copy of the required install files.

So your flow would be as follows:

Prepare Cached Version of Installers

webpicmd /Offline /Products:MVC3Runtime /log:webpi.log /Path:"%~dp0wbpiCache"

Install from cache (copy folder structure to target machine)

webpicmd /install /Products:MVC3Runtime /log:webpi.log /accepteula /SuppressReboot /XML:"%~dp0wbpiCache"
David Martin
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7

You don't need to install MVC3 on a server.

Just copy the MVC DLLs along with your projects.

SLaks
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    I did read that this was one option. However, installing it on the server -- which puts it in the GAC and makes it more patchable -- is supported. – Howard Pinsley Apr 24 '11 at 02:20