Installing SharePoint Foundation 2010 on a Single Server - Part 1

Problem

Solution

With the availability of 64-bit hardware, SharePoint Foundation 2010 (including the full-blown SharePoint Server 2010) now requires the 64-bit version of Windows Server 2008. You just need to make sure that you have the following requirements before you even jump into the installation process:

• Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 for non-R2 systems
• Web Server Role (IIS 7)
• Windows PowerShell 2.0 for non-R2 systems (Windows PowerShell 2.0 ships with Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 so you no longer have to worry about that)
• .NET Framework 3.5 with Service Pack 1 (in R2 systems, this can be enabled via the Add Roles Wizard)
• Windows Server 2008 hotfix for token authentication (non-R2 and R2 systems). Although TechNet describes this hotfix as necessary, I have had one installation where I didn't bother installing it, yet the installation went fine. Still, it is better to have it installed

The list above is just for the operating system level. The reason I laid them down first is for those who are using virtualization technologies in setting up a test environment. Once you have these things installed, you can now create a snapshot of your virtual machine that you can use either to rollback should there be issues with the installation or as a base image for any future web server installations.

The next set of items on the installation list form part of the prerequisites for SharePoint Foundation 2010 as well as the full-blown SharePoint Server 2010. Remember that since we are now running on a 64-bit operating system, all of the prerequisites should be the corresponding 64-bit versions. I have linked the items directly to save you from sifting thru the Microsoft Download Center for the corresponding 64-bit versions (some of them do not have corresponding 64-bit versions)

• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Native Client (64-bit)
• Microsoft "Geneva" Framework Runtime
• Microsoft Sync Framework Runtime 1.0 (64-bit)
• Microsoft Filter Pack 2.0
• Microsoft Chart Controls for Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5
• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services ADOMD.NET (64-bit)
• Microsoft Silverlight 3
• ADO.NET Data Services v1.5 CTP2 (for non-R2 and R2 systems)

There are two ways to install all the prerequisites. The first (and easy) one is from the SharePoint Foundation 2010 splash page. But first, you would need to download the installation bits for SharePoint Foundation 2010. The bits are still in Beta so expect things to break in the process (although I managed to complete the installation successfully with no glitches, there are no guarantees that you'll have the same experience). The beta is publicly available from here but you can download it off your TechNet/MSDN subscription page if you have one.

Extract the EXE and run the splash page. Now, on to installing the prerequisites. On the Install section, click on the Install software prerequisites link.

This will fire up a utility similar to what the Microsoft Web Platform Installer 2.0 does - configures your operating system and install system prerequsites in preparation for installing SharePoint Foundation 2010. Installation of the prerequisites will depend on the operating system that you are using. In my particular environment, I am running Windows Server 2008 R2 so both Windows PowerShell 2.0 and the .NET Framework 3.5 with Service Pack 1 no longer show up in the list. Also, if you have non-R2 systems and you have not installed Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 at this point, the utility will download and install it for you automatically.

This, however, requires that your test environment has Internet access to download the prerequisites off the Microsoft Download Center. If your server does not have access to the Internet, you will get a results screen similar to the one below upon completion of the installation.

This is where the second option comes in (and the reason why I listed down all the prerequisites.) You have to manually install all of the prerequisites even before proceeding to install SharePoint Foundation 2010. There is no particular sequence in installing the prerequisites so that is totally up to you. I opted to do the installation based on what I saw from the list. Installing the prerequisites is pretty straight-forward, although, you should pay attention to what the installation dialog boxes to better understand why the prerequisites are needed in the first place.

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