You can choose where to run a new MDriven Turnkey site—on MDriven-hosted infrastructure, in your own Microsoft Azure account, or on your own IIS server—before you start deploying your application.

A Turnkey site is the web application that runs your model-driven user interface. It works with MDrivenServer, which stores and serves the model that you create in MDriven Designer. For an overview of these roles, see Documentation:Introducing MDriven Turnkey.

Choose a hosting route

Choose the route that matches who will operate the infrastructure and where the application must run.

Route	Choose it when	Your next step
MDriven-hosted site	You want MDriven to deploy the initial Turnkey application for you.	Create a site request from MDriven Designer. See Documentation:MDriven Turnkey site creation.
Your own Microsoft Azure account	You have an Azure account and want the Turnkey application and MDrivenServer to run in your Azure environment.	Install and configure both applications in Azure. See HowTos:Install MDriven Server and Turnkey on Microsoft Azure.
Your own IIS server or on-premises environment	Your application must run in your own network or on infrastructure that you administer.	Follow Documentation:Set up MDriven Turnkey on premise or Documentation:Deploying MDriven Server & Turnkey Core on IIS.
Local prototyping site	You want a fast local development loop while you model, rather than a deployed shared site.	Set up the Local TurnkeyPrototyper. See Documentation:Faster prototyping with Turnkey.

Request an MDriven-hosted site

Use this route when you do not want to set up Azure or an on-premises server before you begin.

1. Install and open the latest MDriven Designer.
2. Open the CloudForm window.
3. Sign in, or register if you do not yet have an account.
4. Select Back to home or login, then select New site Request.
5. On the existing creation requests page, select Add Creation Request.
6. Enter an application name and select Save.
7. Wait for the site to be created. The creation state progresses from AvailableForCreationNode to CreationNodeWorking and then CreationSuccess. The site state progresses from Deploying to Deployed.
8. When the site is deployed, select Back to home or login and select the new site as your work site.

Creation can take up to five minutes. From the selected work site, you can open the site in an external browser, check server status, and upload or download the model. The new application initially contains authorization services but no application-specific user interface.

For the complete procedure, see Documentation:MDriven Turnkey site creation.

Set up a site in your own Azure account

Use this route when you administer the Azure environment. You need both the MDriven Turnkey application and MDrivenServer application. You can run them as separate Azure apps, or place MDrivenServer under the /__MDrivenServer virtual application in the same Azure app.

The Azure setup includes:

• Creating the Azure web app or apps.
• Publishing the MDriven Turnkey and MDrivenServer application files.
• Configuring the required override files in App_Data.
• Connecting Turnkey to MDrivenServer.
• Enabling WebSockets so Turnkey and MDrivenServer can communicate.
• Registering the site in the MDriven Portal, requesting deployment, then using Send Settings and Restart.

After the first deployment, ensure that your model contains an Index ViewModel. Each Turnkey application requires one.

Follow the full, ordered instructions in HowTos:Install MDriven Server and Turnkey on Microsoft Azure. Do not use this page as a replacement for that deployment guide.

Set up a site on your own server

Use an on-premises deployment when you need to operate Turnkey and MDrivenServer in your own environment. The on-premises configuration requires Turnkey to know the MDrivenServer address and credentials. In the on-premises guide, this is configured through the Turnkey settings file and requires an application restart after the file is changed.

For a Windows IIS deployment, use Documentation:Deploying MDriven Server & Turnkey Core on IIS. The guide covers separate application pools, folder permissions, site bindings, the required App_Data/CommandLineOverride.xml file, and the App_Data/MDrivenServerOverride.xml connection configuration.

For the full local or internal-server setup flow, including the security settings that control registration and identification, see Documentation:Set up MDriven Turnkey on premise.

Start modeling after the site is ready

Once your site is available:

1. Select the site as your work site in MDriven Designer, or enter the MDrivenServer address manually for an on-premises setup.
2. Create or open your model in MDriven Designer.
3. Create an Index ViewModel as the entry view for the Turnkey application. For example, an Index ViewModel can present the first menu or dashboard a signed-in user sees.
4. Upload and deploy the model to MDrivenServer.
5. Open the Turnkey site in a browser and verify that the Index ViewModel opens.

For a local development loop that does not rely on MDrivenServer, use the Local TurnkeyPrototyper described in Documentation:Faster prototyping with Turnkey. It uses XML persistence and refreshes the local Turnkey model when the .modlr file changes.

See also

• Documentation:Turnkey
• Documentation:Introducing MDriven Turnkey
• Documentation:MDriven Turnkey site creation
• HowTos:Install MDriven Server and Turnkey on Microsoft Azure
• Documentation:Set up MDriven Turnkey on premise
• Documentation:Faster prototyping with Turnkey