Environment Setup

1. Download and install the latest .NET LTS SDK.
2. Download and install Visual Studio 2022. During installation, select the "ASP.NET and web development" and ".NET desktop development" workloads.

1. Download and install SQL Server Express or Developer Edition.
2. During installation, ensure Mixed Mode Authentication is selected, and set a strong password for the sa (System Administrator) account.
3. Install SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) for database management.
4. Verify SQL Server is running and accessible.

Execute the commands from the "Prerequisites (General)" section in your command prompt or PowerShell:

dotnet new -i EPiServer.Templates
dotnet tool install EPiServer.Net.Cli --global --add-source https://nuget.optimizely.com/feed/packages.svc/

Navigate to your desired development directory and create a new empty Optimizely CMS project using the CLI:

mkdir C:\Projects\MyOptimizelySite
cd C:\Projects\MyOptimizelySite
dotnet new epicmsempty --name MyOptimizelyCmsProject
cd MyOptimizelyCmsProject

This command creates a new solution and project structure for an empty CMS 12 site.

For local development with a custom domain (e.g., mylocalcms.local), you need to modify your hosts file. This is crucial if you plan to use IIS for local hosting.

1. Open Notepad (or your preferred text editor) as an Administrator.
2. Navigate to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\.
3. Open the hosts file.
4. Add the following line at the end of the file:

127.0.0.1       mylocalcms.local

Save and close the file.

While dotnet run uses Kestrel, hosting in IIS provides a more production-like environment.

1. Enable IIS Features: Go to "Turn Windows features on or off" and enable "Internet Information Services" along with "ASP.NET 4.8" and "ASP.NET Core" components.
2. Install .NET Core Hosting Bundle: Download and install the latest .NET Core Hosting Bundle for your .NET SDK version from the official .NET website. This installs the ASP.NET Core Module for IIS.
3. Create IIS Website:
   • Open IIS Manager.
   • Right-click on "Sites" -> "Add Website...".
   • Site name: MyOptimizelyCmsProject
   • Physical path: Point to the publish directory after dotnet publish. For now, your project root is fine.
   • Host name: mylocalcms.local (or your chosen hostname).
   • Click "OK".
4. Configure Application Pool:
   • Go to "Application Pools".
   • Find the pool named after your website.
   • Right-click -> "Advanced Settings...".
   • Set ".NET CLR Version" to "No Managed Code".
   • Ensure "Identity" is "ApplicationPoolIdentity" or a custom user with permissions.
5. Set Folder Permissions: Grant read/write permissions to the IIS AppPool identity on your project folder, especially App_Data and wwwroot.

Use the Optimizely CLI tool to create and initialize the CMS database. Replace -S, -U, and -P with your SQL Server instance name, username, and password.

dotnet-episerver create-cms-database MyOptimizelyCmsProject.csproj -S .\SQLEXPRESS -U sa -P "YourStrongPassword"

This command creates the database, sets up the necessary tables, and populates initial data.

By default, a newly created empty CMS 12 site does not have an administrator user. The recommended way is to use an IFirstRequestInitializer implementation.

1. Add a class (e.g., UsersInstaller.cs) that implements IFirstRequestInitializer and creates a default admin user. Optimizely provides examples in their sample projects.
2. Register this initializer in your Program.cs (or Startup.cs if using an older template) in the ConfigureServices method.
3. After the first run, this user will be created. You can then remove or comment out the initializer for security.
   • Default Credentials: Typically, admin@example.com with password Episerver123!.

1. Via Kestrel (default): Open a terminal in your project's root and run dotnet run. The application will start on http://localhost:5000 (or a similar port).
2. Via IIS: If you configured IIS, browse to http://mylocalcms.local.
3. Access the CMS editorial interface at /episerver/cms (e.g., http://localhost:5000/episerver/cms or http://mylocalcms.local/episerver/cms). Log in with your created admin credentials.

1. Download and install the latest .NET LTS SDK.
2. Download and install Visual Studio Code.
3. Install the C# extension for Visual Studio Code from the Extensions marketplace.

Since SQL Server does not run natively on macOS, Docker is the recommended approach.

1. Install Docker Desktop: Download and install Docker Desktop for Mac.
2. Pull SQL Server Image:

   docker pull mcr.microsoft.com/mssql/server:2019-latest
   

   (You can use a newer version if available, e.g., 2022-latest).

3. Run SQL Server Container: Start a new container. Use a strong password for SA_PASSWORD.

   docker run -e "ACCEPT_EULA=Y" -e "SA_PASSWORD=YourStrongPasswordHere" -p 1433:1433 --name sqlserver -d mcr.microsoft.com/mssql/server:2019-latest
   

   This maps port 1433 on your host to the container's SQL Server port.

4. Install SQL Client: Install Azure Data Studio (or a similar SQL client). Connect to localhost,1433 using the sa account and your chosen password.

Execute the commands from the prerequisites section in your terminal:

dotnet new -i EPiServer.Templates
dotnet tool install EPiServer.Net.Cli --global --add-source https://nuget.optimizely.com/feed/packages.svc/

Navigate to your development directory and create a new empty Optimizely CMS project using the CLI:

mkdir ~/Projects/MyOptimizelySite
cd ~/Projects/MyOptimizelySite
dotnet new epicmsempty --name MyOptimizelyCmsProject
cd MyOptimizelyCmsProject

Use the Optimizely CLI tool to create and initialize the CMS database. Replace parameters with your Docker SQL settings. The server is typically localhost.

dotnet-episerver create-cms-database MyOptimizelyCmsProject.csproj -S localhost -U sa -P "YourStrongPasswordHere"

Similar to Windows, implement an IFirstRequestInitializer to create a default admin user and register it in Program.cs. After the first run, remove/comment out the initializer.

Run dotnet run in your project root. The application typically starts on http://localhost:5000. Access the editorial UI at /episerver/cms (e.g., http://localhost:5000/episerver/cms).