There are three main ACEN configuration files:

web.config

Main configuration file is WEB.CONFIG which is located in root directory. This is standard configuration file for an ASP.NET web application. This XML document contains configuration information for web application. WEB.CONFIG file contains security configuration, session state configuration and application language and compilation settings. You may want to change default culture information in this file. In most cases, this file does not require any modifications.

acen.config

This file is located in /conf subdirectory and contains database connection string.

version.config

This file contains activation center version information. It is located in /conf subdirectory. Do not change or edit this file.

Set database connection string

Configuration file: conf/acen.config

There are a number of ways to set SQL Server access for ACEN. The strategy you choose depends on how your computers are configured and whether you are on an intranet.

1. Windows integrated security. Because of delegation issues, this frequently only works by default if SQL Server is on the same computer as IIS.

MSDN: How to: Access SQL Server Using Windows Integrated Security

2. Access the SQL Server as the local identity of ASP.NET application (for example, the local ASPNET account on a Windows 2000 server or the local NETWORK SERVICE account on a Windows Server 2003). This option works well for anonymous access.

MSDN: How to: Access SQL Server as a Local User

3. Explicit user name and password are passed in connection string. This option can be less secure than other options so you should always use protected configuration to secure the connection strings.

MSDN: How to: Access SQL Server Using Predetermined Credentials

Example connection strings

<add key="sql_connectionstring" value="Network Library=DBMSSOCN;Data Source=xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx,1433; Initial Catalog=acdb;User ID=acdbuser; Password=******" />

Data Source IP address of your SQL server (1433 is default port number, you can change it if required)
Initial Catalog Name of acen database (acdb - default name)
User ID database username (acdbuser - default name)
Password database user password


In case local server instance is used the following connection strings may be used:

for MS SQL Server:

<add key="sql_connectionstring" value="Server='(local)';database=acdb; UID=acdbclient;password=*****;Trusted_Connection=False"/>

for MS SQL Server Express:

predetermined sql credentials:

<add key="sql_connectionstring" value="Server=.\SQLExpress; database=acdb; UID=acdbuser;password=******;Trusted_Connection=False"/>

integrated security (ASPNET user should be added to database users):

<add key="sql_connectionstring" value="Data Source=.\SQLExpress;Initial Catalog=acdb;Integrated Security=True;Connect Timeout=30;User Instance=False;Context Connection=False"/> 

Please see http://www.connectionstrings.com for more connection strings examples.

Set culture information

Configuration file: web.config

Default culture is "en-GB" and it's defined in web.config file as:

<globalization culture="en-GB" uiCulture="en-GB"/>

Default short date format is: DD/MM/YYYY

If required, change culture information. For example, default culture information can be changed to "en-US" with:

<globalization culture="en-US" uiCulture="en-US"/>

Date format will be "MM/DD/YYYY" in this case.