How to store my .NET project on a server?

[Mark]

I am developing a Web site and can't figure out how to store the project
files on the Web server instead of my local hard drive. There must be a
way, otherwise people wouldn't be able to collaborate on projects... but
everything I can find talks about developing the site locally and then
deploying it remotely -- but if other developers don't have access to my
machine, how do we work together on projects?


Long version:

I am new to Visual Studio. .net and Windows Server 2003. I have a
brand-new workstation and brand-new Win2003 server. My Windows network
consists of only these two machines (i.e. no Domains, Active Directory,
etc. -- all the other machines on the LAN are either Macs or standalone
PC test stations). I am the sysadmin, so there's nobody else here to
ask...

I have the two machines up and running. The server has IIS working and I
have some virtual hosts set up and these sites are running just fine. I
have set up a user account on the server that allows FTP access to the
wwwroot. This works great -- I can FTP in from wherever and make site
updates. SQL Server is running fine too.

Note that the server is only for Web development. I'd prefer to keep it
as simple and locked-down as possible. If I don't need AD, I'd prefer to
not run it. Similarly, if I can avoid File and Printer Sharing for
Microsoft networks, I'd love to leave that networking option turned off
completely, and stick with TCP/IP only.

Now I need to create a new site using VS.NET 2003. I have the virtual
host set up on the server and I can use SmartFTP to upload files. How do
I tell VS.NET to use the remote directory as the home directory for the
project? I've tried putting the domain name into the location field for
the new project, but the program complains that the location must be a
locally-mounted share, or that I'd have to use FrontPage Extensions to
connect. Neither works. In fact, if I put ftp:// at the beginning of the
location field, I can't even OK through to the next sscreen.

Is there something I have to do to configure the FP extensions so that I
can connect remotely?

I have tried (for about 8 hours so far) to get the server to give me a
mountable share but nothing has worked. This included a detour into
Active Directory setup, which I have since de-promoted. And -- I'm not
necessarily going to be developing while on the LAN anyway.

Note that I can't develop the site locally because I need to use
root-relative paths and need to be able to work on more than one site at
a time (this is why we got the new server in the first place).

I've searched all over the place but all the instructions I've found
refer to developing a new site in a local subfolder.

Thanks,

 

[Scott M.]

When you create the project in the first place and VS.NET asks you for a
location, just enter the url to the development server, rather than
http://localhost.

 

[Mark]

When you create the project in the first place and VS.NET asks you for a
location, just enter the url to the development server, rather than
http://localhost.

Thanks, but that doesn't work. If I put http://myserver.mycompany.com,
the OK button stays grayed out.

 

[Scott M.]

Because you need to follow that up with the name of the project you wish to
create:

http://myserver.mycompany.com/myProject

 

[Mark]

That's the problem... the project I want to create is the web site
itself.

Finally found the answer:
Creating a Project in the Root Web
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/303845/EN-US/

Also, I had to configure the "FrontPage Extensions" using the
"SharePoint Administrator" -- that took several hours to discover.