Application Catalog Install

The application catalog is a new feature to ConfigMgr. Personally, I'm excited for this feature a lot, because it will help make my job easier, as well really glorifying the user-centric model that ConfigMgr 2012 is known for adopting.

The application catalog requires two roles on the site server to and requires some pre-reqs before they can be added. My first attempt to install the catalog, resulted in errors that stated ASP.NET was not installed. Well, I know for fact that ASP.NET was installed. I did it during my original go-round of installing the various roles and features on the server, during the IIS configuration, and it even said so when I went back to verify. After some quick Googling I realized I did not register ASP.NET. Had no idea I had to. So, back to Google, I learned the command to do so. I opened an elevated command prompt and entered:

"%windir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\aspnet_regiis.exe" -i

When I attempted this I received the following message:

Ah. Doesn't' work that way with Server 2012. Great. Back to Google. Eventually I stumbled upon the PowerShell command to install ASP.NET. Figured I'd give it a try, knowing that if it is already installed, the command will do nothing and state it is already installed. 

Install-WindowsFeature web-asp-net

Install-WindowsFeature web-asp-net45

Low and behold the first asp net command did install missing asp as it was not installed, and additionally registered it! So, I attempted to reinstall web service point and website roles and to my surprise.....still no luck. New error. WCF is not activated. What is WCF? It stands for Windows Communication Foundation. I had to do some research and found it was definitely necessary. Check out the following article for more information, here. 

Going back into the Roles and Services of Server Manager, I went to .NET Framework and found that the HTTP Activation and Non-HTTP Activation check boxes were not checked - so I checked them.

I removed and reinstalled the roles one last time....and voila! Victory was mine. Simple fixes with pre-reqs on your server to makes sure everything will work fine once roles are installed may be a time saver and definitely more efficient, but sometimes, figuring it out on your own helps you learn. Today I learned many things about ASP.NET, .NET Framework, IIS, and ConfigMgr (and how they integrate and work together) as I spent the afternoon troubleshooting. Hope you find the above information helpful and can benefit from it!

As a side note: I'll be attending System Center Universe 2013 later this week in Dallas, TX! Getting excited for the event! If you haven't registered yet...what are you waiting for? Go register here!