Install and configure the Web Site clouds controller

[This topic is pre-release documentation and is subject to change in future releases. Blank topics are included as placeholders.]

The Web Site cloud controller provides the logic to monitor the state of and maintain the health of all the roles in a Web Site cloud. The Web Site cloud controller must be installed and configured before you install any other Web Site cloud roles.

After you complete these steps, the next step is to configure the rest of your Web Sites service. See Configure the Web Sites Service in Windows Azure Pack.

Install and configure the Web Site cloud controller

Use the following steps to install and then configure the cloud controller.

To install the Web Sites cloud controller

  1. Log on to the machine that you want to use as the Web Sites Controller (for example, SitesController) and launch the Web Platform Installer.

  2. On the Products tab, click Windows Azure. Click Add next to Windows Azure Pack: Web Sites - Preview, and then click Install.

    The Web Platform Installer for Windows Azure Pack

  3. Review the items to be installed, and then click I Accept to accept the license terms.

    The installation begins. You can view the progress in the setup wizard.

    If, for any reason, the installation is not successful, you are presented information about which components did not install, as well as a link to view the installation log file.

  4. After installation is complete, click Continue to open the Configuration site.

    Your browser might display a certificate security warning. Click Continue to the website (not recommended) and provide the necessary administrator credentials when prompted to continue to the Web Site Cloud Controller configuration page.

To configure the Web Site Cloud service

  1. On the Database Server Setup page, in the Server Name field, enter the SQL Server instance used by the controller to store web site hosting and resource usage information.

    Web Sites database set up

  2. Enter the database server administrator user name (sa) and password.

  3. Enter the DNS suffix as determined in Public DNS mappings, and then click the next arrow in the bottom right of the page.

  4. On the Web Sites Role Setup page, in the Management Server Name field, enter the name of the machine that will run the management server role, such as SitesRESTAPI.

    Web Sites - Roles (1)

  5. Under Machine Credentials to install Management roles, enter the admin user name and password.

    The admin user should be either:

    • A domain account that is a member of the local Administrators group on all web site cloud role machines, excluding the web workers; or,

    • A local account that is a member of the local Administrators group on all web site cloud role machines, excluding the web workers. If you use a local account, the account name and password must be identical on all machines, excluding the web workers.

  6. Under Machine Credentials to install Worker roles, enter the admin user name and password.

    The admin user should be either:

    • A domain account that is member of the local Administrators group on all web workers; or,

    • A local account that is a member of the local Administrators group on all web workers. If you use a local account the account name and password must be identical on all machines.

  7. Scroll down to provide Service endpoint credentials. Enter the user name and password to be used to connect to the REST endpoint. Confirm the password by entering it again.

    Web Sites - Roles (2)

    Important

    Make a note of these credentials as they are required to register your Web Sites REST endpoint in the management portal for administrators.

  8. Click the next arrow on the bottom right corner of the page.

  9. Indicate the type of file server you are using: standalone, pre-configured Windows file server, or a pre-configured non-Windows file server.

    Web Sites - File Server (1)

  10. If you are creating a standalone file server, provide the File Server Name.

  11. Enter the Site Store information. If you are using a pre-configured file server, enter the content share network path. Use the format \\<fileserver>\WebSites. If you are creating a standalone file server, the path is automatically populated with \\<new file server>\WebSites. For a standalone file server, you also need to enter the physical path to the content share (by default, C:\WebSites).

  12. Enter the File Share Owner user name and password. Confirm the password by entering it again.

    Note

    You may need to scroll to see these fields.

    Web Sites - File Server (2)

  13. Enter the File Share User user name and password. Confirm the password by entering it again.

  14. Enter the Certificate Store information. Enter the network path to the certificate share. If you are creating a standalone file server, you also need to enter the physical path to the content share.

    Web Sites - File Server (3)

  15. Enter the user name and password for the Certificate Store Account. Confirm the password by entering it again.

  16. Click the next arrow on the bottom right corner of the page.

  17. On the Web Sites Setup page, indicate whether you want to participate in the Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) and whether you want to use Microsoft Update to keep the Web Sites Cloud controller up to date.

    We recommend that you do use Microsoft Update. This ensures that any fixes we need to create for the controller are automatically installed.

    Also, if possible, please participate in the CEIP. We use the data collected by CEIP (data that contains no personal information) to understand how you are using the controller and to identify any issues that you run into.

    CEIP Screen for Windows Azure Pack

    Click the next arrow on the bottom right corner of the page.

  18. Review the features that are going to be configured and then click the checkmark.

Next step, configure the rest of your Web Sites service. See Configure the Web Sites Service in Windows Azure Pack.