Smarter Geek

Friend of mine recently had issues with installing SQL Server 2008 so I have decided to do a walk though install of SQL Server 2008 on a standard vanilla install of Windows Server 2008 R2.

Before starting remember that Windows Server 2008 R2 is 64bit only so you will need to install the SQL Server 2008 x64 bit version of the database.

Step 1. Go to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/968382 and download the latest service pack for SQL 2008. Also remember to download the 64bit version of the service pack.

Note: This is required as SQL 2008 was released a full 2 years before Windows Server 2008 R2. As such it was not originally written to work for the newer operating system. The support for the newer server OS was later added in Service Pack 1.

Step 2. Run Setup.exe from the SQL Server 2008 install CD and click Run Program on the Program Compatibility Assistant

Info: Windows Server 2008 is giving you a clear warning that the version of SQL is not compatible with Server 2008 R2 and give you a link to the service pack for downloading.

Step 3. Click on Installation on the left hand column

Step 4. Click on New SQL Server stand-alone or add features to an existing installation

Step 5. Again you are warned about compatibility issues. Click Run Program

Step 6. Click on Show Details and make sure that all the setup support rules have passed and then click OK

Step 7. Type your key in the field and click Next

Step 8. Tick I accept the license terms and click Next

Step 9. Click Install

Step 10. Click Next

Step 11. Select the components you want to install and click Next

Step 12. Configure the Instance name and details and click Next

Step 13. Review the disk space requirements and click Next

Step 14. Configured the Service accounts that you want to use and click Next

Step 15. Add a SQL Server Administrator and Click Next

Step 16. Click Next

Step 17. Click on Show Details and review the install rules and then click Next

Step 18. Do a final review of the install and click Install

Wait…

Step 19. Click Next

Click 20. Click Close

Now you MUST MUST MUST install Service Pack 1….

Step 20. Now run the Service Pack you just downloaded…

Step 21. Click Next

Step 22. Tick I accept the license terms and then click Next

Step 23. Review the features that are going to be upgraded and click Next

Step 24. Click Next

Step 25. Click Update

Step 26. Click Next

Step 27. Click Close

Your done…

Microsoft have now released Windows 7 Service Pack 1 Beta to the public. This comes about 11 months after the release of Windows 7 RTM and is a good indication that we will see FTM of SP1 before the end of the year.

In my experience the installation takes about 4 times longer if you are only running 512mb of ram. While not many physical computers will have this much ram some virtual computers may be configured to this so I recommend that you reboot and temporarily bump you ram up to at least 1gb ram.

 

 

Reboot

Microsoft have just release the beta of Windows Home Server “Vail” to the public which you can download now from https://connect.microsoft.com/WindowsHomeServer . Below is a step by step instruction on how to install Windows Home Server “Vail” the below instructions showing how to install both the server and connected of Windows Home Server “Vail”. If you want to know more information about “Vail” take a look my other blog post here.

How to install Windows Home Server “Vail” server OS

As previously mentioned the install process is much simple than the previous version as now you are only asked two question during initial process. After you boot from the DVD you are presented with the New Installation or Repair option… To start the install process your obviously click on “New installation”.

 

Unlike a standard version of Windows Server 2008 R2 you are give no options to select the drive you want to load the OS onto. The install wizard simply assumes that you want to remove all data on the computer and as such you need to confirm that you want to format the drive before proceeding. After ticking the check box simple click the “Install” button.

No messing around… You are now straight into the install process.

You can clearly see how the install process is the same as Windows 7/Server 2008 R2.

and about 30 minutes later the OS is installed however you still need to run through the Home Server install wizard…

Accept the terms…

 

In this beta version you do not need to enter a product key.

Enter your server name and the password you want to secure the server…

As always it is best to use the recommended security settings.

After the install is complete you will be given a URL that you need to use to install the connector on the client computer you want to use with the home server. Best to write this URL down as you are going to need to use it every time you want to connect a new computer.

As the warning says you should not have to use the console for anything except for advanced administrative tasks… So just log off and setup your first computer.

Windows Home Server “Vail” connector install

Now that you have installed the server you need to install a connector on all the computers you want to have managed by the home server. To do this simple open the URL http://SERVERNAME/connect (the one you wrote down above) and then click on “Connect this computer to the server” button.

The setup wizard will look for the home server on the network…

Follow the wizard..

The wizard will check to make sure you have .Net Framework 3.5 installed…

You now need to enter the password you specified during the server install…

Enter a description of the computer which will help you identify which computer in the dashboard.

The connector will now put the Dashboard, Launchpad and a short cut to the shared file share on your desktop.

Now you have install Home Server you can start to explore what you server can do by launching the Dashboard. You can see my other post on the new features of Home Server “Vail” at Windows Home Server “Vail” Overview.

Well all the different versions (started,home basic,home premium,professional,ultimate,enterprise) of Windows 7 has now been released on MSDN and TechNet. But having to download every single version just so you can pick what version you want to install will take forever not to mention its a real pain to keep all these different versions on hand. However, you can easily make a USB memory stick that is slightly modified so it to ask you what version of the OS you want to install just like Windows Vista days. Below are the instruction:

• Go over to Jeff Alexanders blog entry Windows 7: Setting up a USB bootable device for installs and make yourself a Bootable USB memory stick for installing Windows 7.
• Now delete the “\sources\ei.cfg” file from the USB memory stick
• Done!

Now you can install Windows 7 using the Windows 7 USB memory stick you just made and you will now see the following screen (figure 1) during the install of Windows 7 that lets you choose what version you want to install. This however only works for the retail version of Windows 7 and you will still need to download the Enterprise version separately if you want to install that version.

Figure 1. Windows 7 OS version install chooser