Create a public Enterprise Portal site [AX 2012]

                       

This topic describes how to create a public Enterprise Portal website. By using a public site, potential customers and vendors can register with the business or organization.

Create a new Web application in SharePoint Central Administration

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By default, when you install the Enterprise Portal framework by using Setup, the system creates a Web application and a web site that use Integrated Windows authentication. You cannot use the default Web application and web site for an Enterprise Portal public site, because a public site requires anonymous authentication. The following procedure describes how to use SharePoint Central Administration to create a new Web application.

1. Open SharePoint Central Administration (Start > Programs > Microsoft SharePoint Products > SharePoint Central Administration).
   
2. Create a new Web application (Application Management > Manage Web applications > New).
   
3. In the Authentication section, verify that Classic Mode Authentication is selected.
   
4. In the IIS Web Site section, click Create a new IIS Web site. You can adjust the Port, Host Header, and Path settings, as necessary, or you can leave the default settings.
   
5. In the Security Configuration section, leave the default settings. You will configure authentication later in this topic.
   
6. In the Public URL section, enter the information that you want.
   
7. In the Application Pool section, click Create a new application pool, and then click Configurable. In the drop-down menu, select the name of the Business Connector proxy account. You can view the name of the Business Connector proxy account in the Microsoft Dynamics AX client on the Administration module, under Setup > Security > System Service accounts.
   
8. Enter information in the remaining sections, and then click OK. SharePoint creates the new Web application.
   

Deploy Enterprise Portal on the new Web application

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Use Microsoft Dynamics AX Setup to deploy Enterprise Portal binaries to the new Web application. If you previously installed Enterprise Portal on the server, you still need to run Setup to deploy binaries and files to the new web application. For more information, see Install Enterprise Portal on a single server. You must clear the Create Web site option in Setup. You will create the site later in this topic.

Create a site collection that uses the public template

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Enterprise Portal includes separate templates for internal sites and public sites. Use this procedure to create a new site collection that uses the public template.

1. In SharePoint Central Administration under Application Management, click Create site collections.
   
2. In the Web Application section, select the Web applications that you created earlier in this document.
   
3. Enter a title and description.
   
   

   Important
   You must enter a unique title and description for each Enterprise Portal site. If you create a new web site by using SharePoint Services or IIS Manager, and a title or site description matches an existing site, Enterprise Portal will not deploy on the new site.

4. Specify a URL.
   
5. In the Template Selection section, click Custom, and then click Microsoft Dynamics Public.
   
6. Specify collection administrators and quota details.
   
7. Click OK.
   
8. After the new SharePoint site collection is created, open a command prompt, type iisreset /noforce, and then press ENTER.
   

Configure anonymous authentication in IIS

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You must configure the web site to use anonymous authentication in IIS.

1. Open IIS manager (Start > Administrative Tools > Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager).
   
2. Expand the local computer, expand the Sites directory, and then click the Web application that you created earlier in this topic.
   
3. In the center pane under IIS, double-click Authentication.
   
4. Click Anonymous Authentication, and then click Enable. Disable all other types of authentication.
   

Configure anonymous authentication in SharePoint

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You must configure the web site to use anonymous authentication in SharePoint.

1. In SharePoint Central Administration under Application Management, click Manage Web applications.
   
2. In the Web Application section, select the Web applications that you created earlier.
   
3. Click Authentication Providers.
   
4. Under Zone, click Default.
   
5. Under Anonymous Authentication, click Enable anonymous access.
   
6. Click OK.
   

Prevent company navigation from displaying in the public site

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By default, any new Enterprise Portal site includes a drop-down list that enables users to navigate among different companies if they have the appropriate permissions. Although guest users have no permissions to navigate companies, and the public site displays no company-specific information, we recommend that you disable the company navigation. This way, guest users cannot see the naming that is associated with your different companies.

1. Click System administration > Setup > Enterprise Portal > Web sites.
   
2. Select the site that you created earlier, and then click the General tab.
   
3. Clear the Company independent option.
   
4. Click Close.
   
5. Open a command prompt, type iisreset /noforce, and then press ENTER.
   

Next steps

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After you create the site, complete the steps in the following table to finish deploying the site.

Task	For more information…
Configure Enterprise Portal to use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption. Microsoft recommends that you encrypt data by using SSL for all external-facing Enterprise Portal sites. SSL is optional for internal-use-only employee portals.	Configure Enterprise Portal to use Secure Sockets Layer
Configure the Microsoft Dynamics AX guest-user account and corresponding security roles.	Enable users to access Enterprise Portal
Register the site IP address and a URL with a domain name service, so that users can find the site on the Internet.	Contact a domain provider

View the site as an anonymous user

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After you have enabled the guest-user account in Microsoft Dynamics AX and assigned the account to the appropriate roles, as described in Enable users to access Enterprise Portal, you can view the site as an anonymous user. To do this, enable anonymous-logon user authentication in a Web browser. The following procedure describes how to enable anonymous-logon user authentication for Internet Explorer. If you are using a Web browser other than Internet Explorer, see that product's documentation for information about how to enable anonymous-logon user authentication.

1. Open Internet Explorer.
   
2. Click Tools > Internet Options > Security > Internet or Local intranet > Custom level.
   
3. Under User Authentication, select Anonymous logon, and then click OK.
   
4. Open the site in a Web browser.