SQL Server BareMetal Workshop series - part 1: How to build an installation VHD file that includes all software needed to start with SQL Server 2012 Database and Business Intelligence
I truly wanted to write this type of blog long time ago, but given the fact that next week I am teaching our SQL Server 2012 Workshop, for which I did the primary design and development (and thus also delivery),
I think it is very time appropriate to start with these series now.
In these series, I will start writing about how to build your own demo / test environment for SQL Server 2012 and business intelligence on a Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Hyper-V based installation.
This blog is written using my own method of installation, (unattended installations), and is purely based on publicly available Microsoft evalation copies of Sharepoint 2010, Visual Studio, SQL Server 2012 RC0, SQL Server Data tools, sample databases, and anything else you need to build your own VHD file (or non-vhd install base) that has everything offline that you need to do anything you always wanted to do with SQL Server and/or business intelligence.
In this blog, I will work based on a publicly available download of Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, for which we will download the .ISO file to install the base operating system for my Virtual machine.
Bear in mind that this blog will be part of a series, in this part we only focus on getting you the right bits.
The BareMetal framework is a framework I use for the development of our hands-on-labs (www.microsoft.com/sqlserverlabs), and the outcome of these series is to have your own local copy of the Virtual machines used in the hands-on-labs on our lab portal.
Task 0: Assumptions and basic understanding
The scripting and file locations displayed below and I would suggest you follow the same folder structure,
you can however replace the drive letter X:\ wIth the driveletter where you actually extract and download your files to.
For some of the downloads you need to register with your Windows Live ID.
Some of the scripting could definetely be done in Powershell, VBscripting, WSH or any scripting language.
You'll see that I did stick to the basics - which frequently is just a simple .CMD file to perform some basic steps.
Task 1: Creating a folder that will hold all of your downloads:
Diskspace is mandatory if you want to create an install base, you will need approximately 40Gb of diskspace, since we will download files that need to be extracted.
Now what we want to accomplish with this, is to make sure that we have everything downloaded that we need, and of course we want to be able to use that in the most flexible way, by putting that into a VHD file so we can easily mount it into a VM,
or on any Windows 7 or Windows Server platform.
The folder structure will hold each of the downloads we perform in Task 2.
Now ofcourse I don't want you to manually create those, and when you extract the handy-dandy (what's in a name) BareMetalWorkshopSeries-part1.zip file, as per attachement to the root folder of the drive you want to place al of your VMs and install bases,
you are pretty much ready to go.
After extraction you are ready to go and pretty much will spend the next couple of hours downloading your all favorite software.
Task 2: Downloading everything you ever need to get started with SQL Server 2012 and Business Intelligence
(Now look at this list - you'll have fun downloading for a bit)
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Windows Server 2008 R2 64bit Edition, Installation .ISO file – with SP1 |
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Required for: |
VirtualMachine based installations |
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Download URL: |
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/trial-software.aspx |
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Destination Folder |
x:\BareMetal\ServerISO |
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Notes |
ONLY GET 64 BIT VERSION IN ISO FILE FORMAT |
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Alternate locations |
MSDN / TECHNET Subscription (MUST HAVE EXISTING ACCOUNT) |
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After Download |
Copy file to x:\BareMetal\Installs\ServerISO\WindowsServer2008R2.ISO NOTE: you might have to rename the downloaded file |
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SQL Server 2008 R2 installation bits |
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Required for: |
SQL Server 2008 R2 (nice if you want to do upgrade testing) |
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Download URL: |
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=186656&clcid=0x409 |
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Destination Folder |
x:\BareMetal\Installs\SQL2008R2 |
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Notes |
ONLY GET 64 BIT VERSION in .EXE |
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Alternate locations |
MSDN / TECHNET Subscription (MUST HAVE EXISTING ACCOUNT) |
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After Download |
Copy file to x:\BareMetal\Installs\SQL2008R2 if not downloaded to the correct destination folder.
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SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 |
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Required for: |
SQL Server 2008 R2 (scripting will show how to slipstream) |
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Download URL: |
http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=26727
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Destination Folder |
x:\BareMetal\Installs\SQL2008R2SP1 |
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Notes |
Download all the files as part of the SP1 update |
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After Download |
Copy file to x:\BareMetal\Installs\SQL2008R2SP1 if not downloaded to the correct destination folder.
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SQL Server 2012 installation files |
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Required for: |
SQL Server 2012 Database & Business Intelligence |
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Download URL: |
http://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/en/us/future-editions.aspx
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Destination Folder |
x:\BareMetal\Installs\SQL2012 |
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Notes |
Download the ISO file version only |
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Alternate locations |
MSDN / TECHNET Subscription (MUST HAVE EXISTING ACCOUNT) |
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After Download |
Copy file to x:\BareMetal\Installs\SQL2012 if not downloaded to the correct destination folder
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SharePoint 2010 |
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Required for: |
SQL Server 2012 Business Intelligence |
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Download URL: |
http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?DisplayLang=EN&id=13768
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Destination Folder |
x:\BareMetal\Installs\SharePoint2010 |
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Notes |
ONLY GET 64 BIT VERSION in .EXE |
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Alternate locations |
MSDN / TECHNET Subscription (MUST HAVE EXISTING ACCOUNT) |
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After Download |
Copy file to x:\BareMetal\Installs\SharePoint2010 if not downloaded to the right folder location.
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SharePoint 2010 SP1 |
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Required for: |
SQL Server 2012 Business Intelligence |
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Download URL: |
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Destination Folder |
x:\BareMetal\Installs\SharePoint2010SP1 |
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Alternate locations |
MSDN / TECHNET Subscription (MUST HAVE EXISTING ACCOUNT) |
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After Download |
Copy file to x:\BareMetal\Installs\SharePoint2010SP1 if not downloaded to the right folder location. |
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SharePoint 2010 Prerequisites |
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Required for: |
SQL Server 2012 Business Intelligence |
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Download URL: |
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc262485.aspx Download all the required components |
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Destination Folder |
x:\BareMetal\Installs\SharePointPrerequisites |
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After Download |
Copy file to x:\BareMetal\Installs\SharePoinPrerequisites if not downloaded to the right folder location. |
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Office 2010 Professional Plus |
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Required for: |
SQL Server 2012 Business Intelligence |
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Download URL: |
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Destination Folder |
x:\BareMetal\Office2010 |
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Notes |
ONLY GET 32 BIT VERSION |
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Alternate locations |
MSDN / TECHNET Subscription (MUST HAVE EXISTING ACCOUNT) |
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After Download |
Copy file to x:\BareMetal\Office2010 if not downloaded to the right folder location. NOTE: SAVE the product key displayed as part of the download
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Office 2010 SP1 |
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Required for: |
SQL Server 2012 Business Intelligence |
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Download URL: |
Download Office 2010 SP1 (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=220084)
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Destination Folder |
x:\BareMetal\Office2010SP1 |
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Notes |
ONLY GET 32 BIT VERSION |
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Alternate locations |
MSDN / TECHNET Subscription (MUST HAVE EXISTING ACCOUNT) |
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After Download |
Copy file to x:\BareMetal\Office2010SP1 If you didn’t download to the right destination folder. |
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Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate ISO |
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Required for: |
SQL Server 2012 Database & Business Intelligence |
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Download URL: |
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=06a32b1c-80e9-41df-ba0c-79d56cb823f7 |
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Destination Folder |
X:\BareMetal\Installs\VS2010Ultimate |
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Notes |
Download All Files (4 files) |
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Alternate locations |
MSDN / TECHNET Subscription (MUST HAVE EXISTING ACCOUNT) |
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After Download |
Copy file to X:\BareMetal\Installs\VisualStudio2010 if not downloaded to this folder |
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SharePoint 2010 SP1 |
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Required for: |
SQL Server 2012 Business Intelligence |
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Download URL: |
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Destination Folder |
x:\BareMetal\Installs\SharePoint2010SP1 |
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Alternate locations |
MSDN / TECHNET Subscription (MUST HAVE EXISTING ACCOUNT) |
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After Download |
Copy file to x:\BareMetal\Installs\SharePoint2010SP1 if not downloaded to this folder |
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PowerPivot Client Software |
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Required for: |
SQL Server 2012 Business Intelligence |
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Download URL: |
http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=28150
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Destination Folder |
X:\BareMetal\Installs\PowerPivot |
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Notes |
Download All Files |
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After Download |
Copy file to X:\BareMetal\Installs\PowerPivot if not downloaded to this folder
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SQL Server Data Tools CTP4 |
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Required for: |
SQL Server 2012 Database & Business Intelligence |
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Download URL: |
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/data/hh297027 Read the notes on how to Create an Administrative Install Point and perform those tasks after download in the folder where you downloaded the SSDT executable to. |
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Destination Folder |
X:\BareMetal\Installs\SSDTCTP4 |
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After Download |
See steps described on the download page |
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Silverlight 5 |
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Required for: |
SQL Server Business Intelligence |
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Download URL: |
http://www.silverlight.net/downloads Download Silverlight Developer Runtime (32 bit) and (64 bit) |
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Destination Folder |
X:\BareMetal\Installs\Silverlight |
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After Download |
Copy file to X:\BareMetal\Installs\Silverlight if not downloaded to this folder
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SQL Server Sample Databases |
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Required for: |
SQL Server 2012 Database & Business Intelligence |
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Download URL: |
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Destination Folder |
X:\BareMetal\Installs\Samples\SQL2008R2 X:\Baremetal\Installs\Sampes\SQL2012 |
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Notes |
Download All Files |
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After Download |
Copy file to X:\BareMetal\Installs\Samples\SQL2008R2 Copy file to X:\BareMetal\Installs\Samples\SQL2012 |
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Winrar (3rd party software – evaluation copy) |
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Required for: |
Automated extraction during installation of several components |
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Download URL: |
http://www.rarlab.com/download.htm |
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Destination Folder |
X:\BareMetal\Installs\Winrar |
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Notes |
Download All Files, extract to the x:\BareMEtal\Installs\Winrar |
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PowerShell Management Library for Hyper-V |
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Required for: |
Automation of the creation of Virtual Machines |
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Download URL: |
http://pshyperv.codeplex.com/ |
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Destination Folder |
X:\BareMetal\Installs\PSHyperV |
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Notes |
Download All Files |
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BGINFO |
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Required for: |
Automate the setting of desktop backgrounds |
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Download URL: |
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897557.aspx |
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Destination Folder |
X:\BareMetal\Installs\Tools\BGINFO |
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Notes |
Download All Files |
Task 3: How to extract all these downloads with the least administrative effort?
Extracting of downloaded files (.ISO, .ZIP, .EXE) etc can be a tough one, depending on what your purpose of the extraction is,
Some of the downloads would automatically start the installation process, which we want to prevent of course, we rather extract and have a solid installation base that we put into a VHD file, so that it is easy
to mount in both Windows, as a Windows Server 2008 R2 based Hyper-V image.
If any graphical UI interface pops up (including a request to format your newly mapped VHD file, please ignore)
Step 1: Creating a VHD file using diskpart
Open and administrative command prompt to x:\BareMetal\Hostscripts
type the following command:
BuildInstallVHD.VHD
This script will create a VHD file in x:\BareMetal\InstallVHD using DiskPart
Step 2: Extract all of the downloaded files into the VHD file
In the same administrative command prompt type LoadInstallsVHD.CMD
This script will run for a bit and 'voila' - after that you will have a drive letter (mapped as M: drive) with all your installation bits
Step 3: Dismount the VHD if you want to attach it to a Virtual Machine
In the same administrative command prompt [x:\Baremetal\Hostscripts], type the following command
UnmountInstallVHD.CMD
Task 4: What's next?
In the next part of these series will write about the automated creation of a Virtual Machine using the Hyper-V Powershell Management Library.
in the series post after that we will then look into the installation process and correct installation steps to get you going with:
- SQL Server installations on Windows Server Core
- SQL Server installations and configuration of AlwaysOn
- SQL Server and Sharepoint 2010 integrated (PowerPivot, Power View)