No wonder, I would like you to learn installation before anything else. There is a simple reason behind this, most of the concepts can be very well understood if you really have seen them. Before we jump to installation it will be good to go through with the list of concepts that you will encounter during installation process. Check the inerview questions for the list of concepts.

Once you are through with the questions, you are ready for installation. As I mentioned, Installation is one of the primary responsibilities of a DBA.

Now, I am assuming that you have VM Machine up and running fine. Lets go to settings of VM Machine, click on CD/DVD setting, click on use ISO image file radio button and browse the file on your local computer. Once you find the file, click on Ok and go to VM Machine.

VM Ware automatically detects and run the ISO files. You should see a popup asking for progressing with SQL server installation. However if you don’t see it, just go to My Computer with in your VM Machine and click on CD/DVD Drive.

Moving on to the installation, you may be required to install .net framework 3.5. In order to do so, go to Server Manager on your VM Machine and click on Roles. Click on Add role and follow on the screen instructions on wizard. Once you reach at role selection screen, select Application Server role and follow on the screen instructions. You may be asked to restart your VM Machine. Generally, it doesn’t ask.

Go to back SQL server installation now and restart the setup. It must not ask for .net framework now. Once you see the main setup window of installation wizard, click on the installation link on the left hand side. And then click on SQL Server new standalone installation or add feature to existing installation link on the right side.

This takes to you another screen which runs some pre-checks and you don’t need to do anything here. Wait for it to finish without any issue. Most of the checks must be passed to proceed with installation. If you notice any warning, you may ignore but if you see any error here. Don’t proceed. I will encourage you to click on the links against each test. You must read what were those pre check was. Additionally, you can click on view report which is saved to your local directory for further references. This report gives vital information about these pre-checks. Pay attention because you will see some questions on this report. Click on OK to proceed further.

If you have product key then enter it to the next wizard window or proceed with evaluation edition installation. Accept the Terms and condition and click on next to product update window. Uncheck the option to find product updates. Click on Next button to move next screen. This screen may take up some time depending on how much Memory that you have allocated to your OS while creating VM Machine. For some reasons, if this fails, it’s advisable to look for Installation log files for more details. Remember the rule, all installer now a days right good amount of logs. You just need to figure out where are the logs stored on your local machine. Your setup file copy must have been done by now.

You should now see the screen for some other test that was done by SQL Server installer. If you see any warning here – you may try to fix it or ignore it. Remember, installation logs and reports are the best place to see what went wrong if you notice issues. Even if tests are successful, read the report and try to understand it.

Click on next to setup the installation roles. On the Roles selection screen, click on SQL Server feature installation and click on next. Move to feature selection screen. At this point, you must select the below features only. Once you are done with Feature selection, you should click on next. SQL server installer does a small test again and results are updated to the same Report.

Move on to the Instance configuration screen and enter information as required. Click on next once done. On the next screen, you are popped up with the Disk Requirement information. This is just an informative screen. You may still change your directories if server is running on low disk space.

On the next screen you have option to select the correct service accounts. Be careful if you are doing installation for production servers. You need to follow your Organizations standards. Don’t worry, if you don’t have standards as of now, I will discuss this in detail in following chapters. For now, you can proceed with Standards options which are available there. Click on the next tab for setting up the collations. Again, follow the requirements. If you are doing installation for testing only, you may proceed with default collation. In production, you must check the standards or requirement document for collation settings.

Once you hit the next button, you are presented with the Database Configuration options. On the very first tab, you can choose the authentication mode for SQL server. This option can be set later as well. However, it’s always advisable to select it right now. Also, choose a strong password for SA and take a note of it. On the same window, you must add current user or any other user or group for Admin access.

On the data directory tab, set your directories as per your organizations standards. As I said, don’t worry if you don’t have something right now. Click on the next tab to setup the Filestream option. Enable if you are planning to store large amount of data. Click next once done.

Moving on to Distributed Replay controller, add current user or any admin account or admin group. Click next, on the next screen, leave them by default. And you can mention your server name in Controller Name text box. Click on Next, next to proceed with installation.

It will be good to take a note of Installation configuration (.ini) file for future or silent installations.

Now you are all set to start actual installation. This process takes some time so wait for it and let it complete. Once its completed, its always advisable to reboot the server.

For some reasons, if installation fails, read the logs carefully. Fix the errors and try reinstalling again. For troubleshooting installation issues, skip to the Lesson 16.