NET Framework 3.5 SP1 through Server Manager->Select Server Roles.
Download the latest VMware-certified Microsoft SQL Server service pack (from Microsoft) for immediate installation afterwards.Ĥ. This might be a good time to use a database sizing calculator.ģ. On my hosts I have a system drive, C:, and an application/data drive, E:, which I use for installations like this. Decide where you are going to do the install. This user does not have any special membership (it’s just in the “Users” group).Ģ. Assign it a long, random password, set “Password never expires” and “User not allowed to change password.” I create this as a local user, regardless of the membership of host in a domain. Create an individual role account, ‘sqldb’ for SQL Server. I tend to create local accounts, even with Active Directory, because I’m just paranoid about network authentication. These instructions assume a familiarity with Windows, and a general ability to figure things out once you’ve seen it once (towards the end you’ll see why I say this, I start omitting a lot of repetitive maintenance plan stuff).
As with all things in IT your mileage may vary, so use your head. I am using Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 running on Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2. The ability to revert the snapshot and try again is priceless. Likewise, the first installations I did were on a non-Active Directory, standalone Windows Server VM that I’d taken a snapshot of. There are some decent installation resources on Microsoft’s TechNet site for preparing SQL Server installations. It should go without saying that you should talk to VMware or Microsoft Support if you are having issues. I consider my DBA skills to be somewhere between amateur and semi-pro, I’m self-taught mainly via Googling stuff, and may not have an answer for you if you are asking a support question.
While I don’t mean this page to become a general support site for vCenter SQL Server installations please leave a comment if something needs to be clarified or corrected, or if I’m doing something dumb here. They were probably obvious, and not taken from my work, but it’s content I don’t need anymore. I thank the VMware folks who have incorporated a lot of the tweaks from my original document into the defaults for vCenter 5.
My venerable post on installing MS SQL Server 2008 for vCenter 4 was getting old, so I thought I’d update it, if only because I have a new admin helping me and I’m going to stick him with doing a bunch of installs.