Hey,

You will find below the different steps to install SQL Server 2008 R2 November CTP. As you will see, it is quite the same procedure as the August CTP and also SQL Server 2008 RTM.

The main difference is the ability to deploy the gemini service to a Sharepoint 14 farm as a setup role. It’s is one of the main new feature with R2.

Comparing to the August CTP, you have another setup role. Actually, you can install all SQL Server features with default values for the service accounts. Quite interesting for development platforms or to test the products.

The below installation show all steps to install SQL Server 2008 R2 with all features and defining service accounts information.

R2 great features R2

• MDS : Master Datamanagement offer
• Geo maps, mashup report creation with Reporting Services, we will also appreciate a ReportBuilder 3.0 still more closed by your needs everyday!
• StreamInsight : complex event processing offer

Enjoy!

Installation on the same machine with August CTP?

The first step is obviously to uninstall the old version and to restart the machine.

The second step will be to remove manually the ReportServer data files to avoid any error during the CTP November installation. Go to C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL10_50.YourInstanceName\MSSQL\DATA (folder by default) and remove the 4 ReportServer files:

Installation Steps Novembre CTP

Welcome screen As you can see you do not see big changes comparing to the welcome screen of SQL Server 2008 RTM.
Installation screen After clicking on “Installation” on the left panel, you see all installation options. From this screen, you can install a new instance, add features to an existing instance, create a cluster, add a node to an existing cluster…
Setup support rules
Product Key By default, the CTP from MSDN/TechNet is pre pinned.
License terms Click accept but also to send information to Microsoft, why? It’s important for a CTP stage to have all possible feedbacks from you to improve the product until the RTM version!
Setup support files
Setup support rules By clicking on the show details button you can see whether your configuration respects SQL Server 2008 R2 requirements.
Setup role As mentioned in the beginning of this post, you have 3 setup roles with this CTP. I will write another post for the AS deployment with MOSS 14 farm. Select the SQL Server feature installation
Feature selection If you want to have an exhaustive view about this CTP, feel free to install all features. If you are familiar with the SQL Server 2008 RTM you will find the same items.
Installation Rules
Instance configuration From this screen, you can choose to install a default instance (MSSQLSERVER) or a named instance, it depends on your needs.
Disk space requirements Checks the size of the installation drive.
Server configuration – Service accounts tab Here you will define your service accounts. Just for a reminder, a best practice is to define a dedicated windows service account for each SQL Server service. You can also define the startup type of each service. If you install the product to use it periodically, feel free to select a manual startup.
Server configuration – Collation tab You can select the collation for the SQL Server databases as well as the Analysis Services DBs.
Database engine configuration – Account provisioning An important step to define the kind of security access you need for your instance. A best practice is to use the windows authentication type. However, to test and so on I advise to use a mix authentication type.
Database engine configuration – Data directories tab This screen is also very important to define the location of the different SQL Server files. For example, a good practice is to have data files on another drive than the instance files. It depends on your needs and the kind of environment you are installing to.
Database engine configuration – FILESTREAM tab If you want to activate the FILESTREAM feature. This feature appeared with SQL Server 2008 RTM.
Analysis services configuration – Account provisioning As the database engine configuration, you have to define the administrator for your AS instance.
Analysis services configuration – Data directories Once again, as the DB engine config, you have to specify the files location.
Reporting Services configuration You have 3 possibilities. If you know you will use RS independently, choose the native mode. If you know you will deploy your RS reports on SharePoint websites, use the SharePoint integrated mode. If you do not know yet how you will consume your RS reports, choose the last option. It can be defined later with the “Reporting Services Configuration Manager” tool.
Error Reporting Once again, please choose to send error information to Microsoft as it will help us to improve the product until the RTM version.
Installation Configuration rules
Ready to install Check whether all features you wish are planned to be installed.
Installation Progress
Complete installation step You are set!
Check files installation C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server by default You can note your instance folders are named with the following pattern: %Product%10_50.%InstanceName% With SQL Server 2008 RTM it was: %Product%10.%InstanceName%
Check SQL Server services One way to check is everything works fine is to check SQL Server services. Start the “SQL Server Configuration Manager” tool. You will see the installed SQL Server services as well as their running status.