Install SharePoint with What You Probably Already Have (or can get for free) ~ 1 ~

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1 You Probably Already Have (or can get for free) You want to get started with SharePoint, but you don t want to set up complex server environments, buy licenses, or go through any of that sort of headache. You don t have to! Microsoft has made it easy to install SharePoint Foundation, available for free, on a single server (or a farm if you are really brave). (The install does require Windows Server 2008 and a 64 bit server, but you can download a trial and use a virtual machine, more on that later. ) This article outlines how to set up SharePoint Foundation 2010 test environments, using mostly free resources. Once you follow the instructions, you will have a basic SharePoint site that you can use for learning, testing, and trying SharePoint A Quick Word from the Author There are many ways to install Windows servers and SharePoint sites. This article is an overview of how I install SharePoint foundation for testing and development. Since it is written from my point of view, I would like to introduce myself. I am a Product Manager at ComponentOne responsible for documentation and SharePoint technologies. These instructions are written from my non developer, non IT guru point of view. There is no need for advanced knowledge of Web servers, websites, or databases. If you have a basic understanding of Windows and how websites work, you will be able to get through these instructions. Step 1: Gather Everything You Need to Get Started SharePoint can be installed in many ways. Generally speaking, you can install its various components across many servers to optimize performance or you can choose to install everything on a single standalone server. We are keeping things simple, so we will set up a standalone server scenario. There are three major components to this scenario: A. Server hardware B. Server operating system C. SharePoint software. A. Server Hardware Microsoft s published hardware requirements can be found on their TechNet site ( us/library/cc aspx), but, in most cases, you can get away with even less power than they list. Here is the minimum I recommend: ~ 1 ~

2 64 bit, dual core processor. Microsoft recommends four cores, but you won t need it. Note that a 64 bit processor is required. 2GB RAM. Microsoft recommends 4GB RAM and if you have it, use it. 80GB on hard disk. This requirement is quite variable. It depends on what you intend to do with SharePoint. I usually use 100GB or more. When learning and testing these kinds of scenarios, I recommend that you use a virtual machine 1. It is easy to throw them away and start over if you run into problems. For an explanation of virtual machines, see machine. You can download free versions and trials of VMWare at B. Download the Server Operating System SharePoint 2010 requires Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2. Any of its various versions will do. If you don t have Windows Server 2008 R2, follow the instructions below. If you do, make sure you have a clean install and move to the next section ( Download SharePoint Foundation 2010 ). Download the Windows Server 2008 R2 evaluation here: msn.com/ajlchy. The download will be an ISO file. You will need to boot from this disk to install Windows Server. You can mount the ISO to your server virtually or burn it to a DVD and boot from the DVD ROM. C. Download SharePoint Foundation 2010 SharePoint Foundation 2010 is free. Download it here: msn.com/d31xdk. The download will be a typical.exe install that you can run from the desktop. Step 2: Install Windows Server 2008 R2 Perform this step if you do not have Windows Server 2008 R2 installed on your server or virtual machine. If you do have Windows Server 2008 R2 installed, you can skip to step 3 as long as it is a clean install. Using the Windows ISO as the boot disk, start your machine to begin the install. Follow the Windows install wizard. A few helpful hints: o You will be asked which version you would like to install. Choose one of the full versions. I use Windows Server 2008 Enterprise. o You will be asked which type of install you want. Choose Custom. It is the only option that will work. o This step will take some time and your machine may restart several times. o You may be asked to create you administrator password. Windows Server will reject passwords that are too simple, but there is a help topic that will explain the requirements. 1 For an explanation of virtual machines, see machine. You can download free versions and trials of VMWare at ~ 2 ~

3 Configure Windows Server 2008: When the installation is complete, the Initial Configuration Tasks screen will open. (This will take a minute or two to appear.) I typically perform the following tasks (in the order that they appear in the screen shot above). Note that restarts are required after some steps, but the Initial Configuration Tasks screen will open automatically after your system starts. 1. Activate Windows: Even if you are using the evaluation version, you still should activate Windows. To do so, click on Activate Windows. You will be prompted to enter a key. Either enter your key, or leave that field blank if you are using the evaluation version, and click Next. 2. Set the time zone: Click Set time zone and set the clock. ~ 3 ~

4 3. Name your server: This step is important. Once you install SharePoint, changing the computer name is difficult. Click Provide computer name and domain. When thee System properties dialog opens, click the Change button. Name your server by typing in the name. Think carefully. This will be your site s name. It is changeable, but its easiest to name it here. You can add your server to your companies domain iff you want, but it is not necessary. There are implications concerning users of the SharePoint site. Once the SharePoint site is installed, each visitor will need to log in. These users need to first be set up as users of the server and then users of the SharePoint site. If you add the server your companiess domain, all network users will automatically be users of your new server, but you need the appropriate permissions to do so. If you do not addd it to your domain, you will need to create users for the SharePoint site on the server before they are available for SharePoint. When you click OK, you will be prompted to restart the server. Restart before continuing. ~ 4 ~

5 4. Update your server: It is important to keep your Windows install up to date. In the Update This Server you can enable automatic updates and install any updates that are currently available. To get started, click Enable automatic updating and feedback. The dialog below will appear. Select Enable Windows automatic updating and feedback and close the window. Next, click Download and install updates. The Windows Update dialog will appear and will look similar to the image below. ~ 5 ~

6 Click the Install updates button (if the Check for Updates button is displayed, click that), accept the license agreement and let the updates downloadd and install. It is likely the server will need to restart after this step. Click the Restart Now button. 5. Finally, the last step! The tasks in the Customize thiss Server section are optional. I would recommend enabling Remote Desktop by clicking on the Enable Remote Desktop link. The remote interface is usually more convenient than using the serverr or virtual machine directly. Click the Close button at the bottom of the screen. When you close the Initial Configuration Tasks dialog, the Server Managerr dialog will automatically open. The only thing I recommend that you do here is turn Internett Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration (IE ESC) off. With this option on, using Internet Explorer on your server will be difficult. This step is not necessary, but it is very convenient. ~ 6 ~

7 To turn IE ESC off, scroll down to the Security information section and find the Configure IE ESC link. When the IE ESC dialog opens, toggle it off as pictured below. Once you click OK, Windows is now installed and ready for SharePoint ~ 7 ~

8 Step 3: Install SharePoint Foundation When you run the SharePoint installer, it will configure your server and install any missing prerequisites for you. So, the next step is to simply run the install. 6. Copy the SharePoint Foundation 2010 install program (SharePointFoundation.exe) to your server and double click on it to begin the install. Note that there are two install options, one for prerequisites and another for SharePoint Foundation itself. ~ 8 ~

9 7. We are going to start by installing the prerequisites. Click Install software prerequisites. Notice all the items that this tool checks, installs, andd configures for you. This is what makes it possible for your average computer user to install SharePoint. Imaging having to do all this yourself! 8. Click Next, accept the license agreement and click Next again. Sit back and let the tool work its magic. Among many other things, this tool will configure IIS and install SQL Server Express. When it is finished, you willl need to restart the server and log in. ~ 9 ~

10 9. After the restart, the Installation Complete screen will appear. Click Finish. The window will close and you will be ready to install SharePoint Foundation. 10. Open the install program again. 11. Click Install SharePoint Foundation. ~ 10 ~

11 12. Accept the license agreement and click Continue. Thee next screen asks you to choose whichh type of installation you want. Click Standalone and the installation will begin. ~ 11 ~

12 13. When the installation is complete, you will be asked to run the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard. This is the last step and it is necessary. Leave check box checked and click Close. ~ 12 ~

13 14. The SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard will open. SharePoint is installed, but the configuration database needs to be created. This tool will do that for you. Click Next to get started. If you get a warning about service restarts, click Yes to continue. The wizard will configure the SharePoint database and Web services. 15. When the configuration is complete, you are finished! Click Finish to close the wizard and a browser will open and load the home page of your new SharePoint site. You will probably be prompted to log in. Use the credentials you use to logg into the server. ~ 13 ~

14 Tips on Accessing Your New Site You now have a Web server with SharePoint 2010 Foundation installed. This works the same as any website, so your server needs to be available on the network in order to log in to your SharePoint site with your desktop browser. The address for your site will be NAME]. When logging in, you may have to use the entire domain path as the username (e.g. [SERVER NAME]\administrator). This site will only be available on your network, so you need to browse to it from a computer on your network (VPN works). About the Author Dan Beall is the product manager at ComponentOne responsible for Doc To Help and Studio for SharePoint. him at danb@componentone.com ~ 14 ~