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Starting .Net

Posted on 20 Dec 2005 at 11:53

In a new Real World column, Thomas Lee will be covering Microsoft's .NET platform as it affects IT professionals

Getting .NET onto your computer

Assuming you already have the base OS in place with the relevant service packs installed, what else do you need? The answer will depend on who you are and what you want to do. To simply run .NET applications, you'll need to load the .NET Framework Redistributable package and the latest framework service pack. The .NET Framework Redistributable includes the CLR, Base Class Libraries and everything you need to be able to run (and partly develop) .NET applications.

There are three basic versions of the .NET Framework (1, 1,1 and 2). Version 1, released in 2003, was updated to version 1.1 a year later and version 2 is still in beta, to be formally released later in 2005 as part of Visual Studio 2005 (VS 2005). You *can * load all three versions of the framework simultaneously, but most organisations are probably only using version 1.1. In addition to the .NET framework itself, you'll want the latest SP (SP 3 for 1 and SP 1 for 1.1). You can get all necessary downloadable software components from msdn.microsoft.com (or tinyurl.com). You can also obtain the .NET Framework by visiting Microsoft's Windows Update Site (windowsupdate.microsoft.com). The .NET Framework 1.1 redistributable, DOTNETFX.EXE, is a 23.1MB download, and SP 1 for .NET 1.1, snappily named NDP1.1SP1-KB867460-X86.EXE, adds another 10.4MB.

You have a number of options as to how to deploy these files. You can extract the components of dotnetfx.exe, using the /T and /C, switches to a folder if you wish, and then deploy the framework using a Group Policy. To silently install the .NET Framework, for example from a batch file or a logon script, you can run the command line:

dotnetfx.exe /q:a /c:"install /l /q"

These downloadable components won't, however, enable you to deploy your application along with a fully slipstreamed version of the framework. If you're going to be deploying a new .NET application, you may need to supply the .NET Framework in addition to your application's executable. To assist you in doing this, Microsoft has created a sample tool that deploys both the .NET Framework and an application, and you can modify the sample to deploy your own application. See www.microsoft.com or tinyurl.com. In the future, when you install Vista or Windows Server 2003 R2, the .NET Framework will be automatically installed, which should make deployment a little less challenging on those platforms.

If you're a developer, you're also going to want to get the .NET SDK onto your system. The SDK contains invaluable tools for development and troubleshooting, along with utilities like ILDASM, documentation and a set of sample .NET Framework applications. While not aimed primarily at administrators, the tools in the SDK will still be useful. As with the .NET Framework itself, you can download the .NET Framework SDK from Microsoft at www.microsoft.com or tinyurl.com. To install the SDK silently, use the same switches you used to install DOTNETFX.EXE.