title: How can I install asp.net mvc 2 on IIS7?
body: <p>I have developed an ASP.NET MVC 2 website, and now need to deploy it to my web server. I've overcome some hurdles already, since ASP.NET was not installed etc. but I've now got to the point where I can serve up plain content files, and if I try to hit one of my MVC URLs I get this:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>Could not load file or assembly 'System.Web.Mvc, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>Not surprising, that, as I've not installed MVC2. Problem is, I can't find any good information about how to install it! </p>
  
  <p>The <a href="http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=157074" rel="noreferrer">Microsoft Download Center</a> lists 3 files, none of which look promising:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>ASP.NET-MVC-2-RTM-Release-Notes.doc</p>
    
    <p>AspNetMVC2_VS2008.exe</p>
    
    <p>mvc2-ms-pl.zip</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>The site doesn't bother to explain what the files actually are, but I assume that the last file is the source code. That's what it looks like, anyway. The release notes are no help whatsoever, since they're all about installing on your development machine, and indeed the name of the EXE makes it clear that that's all about Visual Studio integration too.</p>
  
  <p>So how do I actually <em>deploy</em> the darn thing?</p>
  
  <p>The other option linked to from <a href="http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2010/03/11/asp-net-mvc-2-released.aspx" rel="noreferrer">Scott Gu's blog</a> is the <a href="http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=185037" rel="noreferrer">Microsoft Web Platform Installer</a>. Now, I don't want to install more than just MVC2, and I already have IIS etc. set up, so this seems a bit heavy. But it's all academic, as it refuses to run on my server, saying "your system is not supported" or words to that effect. (The server is Windows Server 2008 Standard SP2, so I really don't know what it's problem is).</p>
  
  <p><strong>Help!</strong></p>
  
  <p>[It's ridiculous that this should be so hard - or perhaps not hard at all, but certainly a well-kept secret!]</p>