Are there any recommended methods for automating configuring DotnetNuke settings? We will have several instances of our DNN application (prod, beta, qa, dev, local, etc) and need to be able to configure them all the same and be able to make updates to them all with our future releases. The settings currently needed to be configured include Host Settings, Portal Settings and User Profile Definitions.

Here are some approaches I have come up with so far:

1) Create a Configuration module and use SQL scripts for all the settings? Is it generally safe to manipulate the DNN tables directly? Often it is recommended to use APIs with many frameworks.

2) Create a Configuration module and implement IUpgradeable.UpgradeModule and programatically set the settings?

3) Create a PortalTemplate from a portal with the settings all set. I believe this will only work for creating new portals. I will not be able to update existing portals.