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When a StoreFront 2000 web is first published to a live web host, you should reset and check that the database connections for both the main web and SSL folder/web are correct. Open the live web in FP2K and select Tools>Web Settings>Database and ensure that the entry for the System DSN is correct and will verify. Click on the DSN name and then the Verify button and you should see a green check mark if all is OK. This will write the correct database connection info into the global.asa of the web.
On a live web host, however, the "short" global.asa in the SSL folder must be edited and the name of the DSN inserted in the line which looks like this:
'******* your DSN here *******
DSN_Name = "yourDSN"
'*****************************
If you fail to do this, you will get the dreaded DSN 80004005 errors when trying to check out. Look here for some further info on this.
The permissions for the fpdb folder containing the StoreFront database must allow the IUSR_ComputerName user read, write and delete permissions, otherwise they will not be able to create and delete the Access database's lock file for record locking. If you don't, you get a cryptic error about needing to use an "updatable query" with no clue that this is a permissions problem.
For NT 4, grant this user Change permissions for the fpdb folder. For Windows 2000, grant them Modify permissions.
The permissions for the SSL/admin folder must be changed to require authentication, i.e. username and password, to enter, to prevent unauthorized access to the SF reports and admin functions. The details are listed in the help files and web host information, mentioned earlier. Here is a bit more info on this.
To use UPS shipping, you will need to download the UPS server component, as noted above, and register it on your server. If you use UPS shipping, make sure you set up a backup method in case the UPS servers are down. To use UPS shipping, you will need to enter a shipping weight for every product in your database. The weight is in pounds and can have up to two decimal places, i.e. 12.25 or 0.75, etc.
The MSADC virtual web that you create for security and remote access to the SF database should not be visible when you open the web in FrontPage. You can test if the msadc is working by browsing to it with the following URL in your browser: http://yourdomain.com/msadc/msadcs.dll which should first request your username and password (authentication), then display a single line similar to the following:
Content-Type: application/x-varg Content-Length: 6 W€
Yes, there should be some "garbage" characters on the end of the line - haven't a clue why, that's just how what you get.
You will need to setup an ASP e-mail component on the server to handle SF's e-mail to customers and clients, and add the information for the mail server, etc. in the SF store setup. Both I and my own host use ASPMail which can also be installed on your local development computer's PWS for testing. There is a modest fee for a licensed copy of ASPMail. You can also download a free version of the JMail component, which is also supported by SF2K.
Finally, to secure the SSL section of the web, you will need to install an SSL certificate. Exactly how this is done depends on the certificate and whether it is shared or not and is beyond the scope of this discussion. One note, if the SSL certificate is shared, there will usually be a totally different path used in the SSL_Path in the store setup. It will use the registered domain/alias for the certificate and perhaps a subfolder for your specific web.
A final note, when a SF web is first published from a local development computer to the server, the SF store setup will have to be modified on the server's copy, to change the paths to point to the correct new locations on the server. Use the SF Admin tool in the SF2K toolbar or the optional HTML Admin Tool to do this, or you can open the live web's copy of the Access database directly and modify the relevant fields in the Admin table.