How To Setup A SharePoint 2010 Development Environment On Windows 7

Written by Chris Tao, Premier Field Engineer.

Windows 7 is an excellent desktop OS, but what if you’re a Microsoft SharePoint developer and want to set up a SharePoint development environment on a Windows 7 client machine? Luckily, it’s doable. Compared to setting up SharePoint in server environment, it may require a few extra steps to make it work. Normally, if you’re on a cleanly installed Windows 7 SP1 PC you can follow the steps below to complete the SharePoint installation.

Setup Sequence

1. Install SQL Server 2008 R2
2. Install Visual Studio 2010, but uncheck the SQL Server 2008 Express option.
3. Install Visual Studio 2010 SP1.
4. Install IIS and check all of the possible IIS components.
5. Add <Setting Id="AllowWindowsClientInstall" Value="True" /> into the /Files/Setup.config.xml file which resides in the SharePoint 2010 Installation File folder. This allows SharePoint 2010 to be installed on a client windows OS.
6. Install the following prerequisites:
   • Windows Identity Foundation
   • MSChart Control
7. Install SharePoint 2010 by clicking and clicking... and then run the configuration wizard.
8. If you're using domain account to connect to DB and other services, try installing SharePoint 2010 in your domain network environment or you will be prompted by the error "Specified value is not supported for the {0} parameter". If you want to use a local account to install, you will only be able to install SharePoint in the standalone model.

That’s it.  You’re done!

Please note: The approach outlined herein is not meant as an official guide for SharePoint deployment, and it may not work on all Windows 7 machines. For more details, please refer to this article.