[Updated on April 7th, along with the availability of SQL Server 2008 SP1]

Starting in SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 1, you can update the product using our "Slipstream" infrastructure.  Below, I have the basic steps for slipstreaming the original SQL Server 2008 with Service Pack 1. These steps are better for a single installation as the steps are simpler since you don't need to copy the original media locally, all SP architecture types do not need to be download and there is less of a chance to make a mistake. Here are the steps to create a slipstream drop that you can use for installing the original media and Service Pack 1 at the same time.

  1. Install the required pre-requirements for SQL Server 2008.
    • .NET Frameworks from here
    • MSI 4.5 from here
  2. Download the Service Pack package that matches you system architecture. For these steps you only need to download the one package that matches your system architecture. You can download from here. For example download the x64 package if your system is an x64 system.
  3. Extract the Service Pack that you downloaded as follows:
    • SQLServer2008SP1-KB968369-x64-ENU.exe /x:C:\SP1
  4. Run the Service Pack to install Setup files onto the machine. You will see the following dialogs if the Setup files have not been installed yet.

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5. Run Setup.exe from the SQL Server 2008 source media, but specify the /PCUSource parameter

 

Setup.exe /PCUSource=C:\SP1