Install SQL Server 2000 for optimal usability Jan 8, 2002 Steven Warren MCSE, MCDBA, Net+ E-Mail 2002 TechRepublic, Inc. Archive SQL Server 2000 features a number of enhancements, such as multiple installations and distributed partitions, which will make your admin chores easier. However, to take advantage of the new capabilities, you first need to consider several installation issues. This article will explain how to properly install or upgrade to SQL Server 2000. New in SQL Server 2000 SQL Server 2000 allows you to have multiple installations, called instances, on one machine. Each instance has its own name, services, registry entries, etc. You can install two types of instances: Default instance Named instance A default instance is the name of your computer or the default. You can have only one default instance per computer. A named instance is any instance on a SQL Server other than the default instance. You can identify a named instance with the following format: computer_name\instance_name. All instance names can include a maximum of 16 characters and can contain any combination of letters and numbers, in addition to an underscore or an ampersand. SQL 2000 allows as many as 16 instances on a machine. Prerequisites Before rushing into your installation, it is important to become familiar with the system requirements. These requirements are fairly complex and depend on a number of factors, so I recommend that you take a good look at Microsoft's Web page on SQL Server 2000 System Requirements. Some requirements are especially important if you already have an installation of SQL Server on your system. Once you've met these requirements, you can move on to the actual installation. If your previous installation is SQL Server 6.5 and you want to run SQL Server 2000, you must apply Service Pack 5 (SP5) or higher to your SQL Server 6.5 installation. You must do this prior to installing SQL 2000. You can't run SQL 6.5 concurrently with SQL 2000. You must use the MSSQL VSwitch utility provided by Microsoft. You can run SQL Server 7.0 concurrently with SQL 2000 as long as you specify SQL 7.0 as the default instance. You should back up all databases prior to installation if you're upgrading.
Installing SQL Server 2000 The process of installing SQL Server 2000 is not going to boggle your mind. It's a simple wizard that usually allows you to finish the install in less than 30 minutes. To demonstrate, let's walk through an installation. Author's note Because I already have the default instance of SQL Server 2000 installed, this example will install a named instance. Also, I am installing SQL Server 2000 Personal Edition for the purposes of this article, but the procedure is the same for the Standard Edition, the Enterprise Edition, and other versions of SQL 2000. Splash screen When you insert the SQL Server 2000 CD into your computer, it should automatically load the splash screen welcoming you (Figure A). Figure A If you don t see this splash screen, simply explore the CD and double-click the Autorun.exe file. The splash screen contains the following five options: SQL Server 2000 Components This option allows you to install SQL Server, Analysis Services (Online Analytical Processing [OLAP] Applications), and English Query (Query tool that allows you to use prose as opposed to SQL Syntax).
SQL Server 2000 Prerequisites If you are installing SQL Server on Windows 95 (which, of course, is not recommended), you are required to install the Common Controls Library Update. Browse Setup/Upgrade Help This option contains all of the help articles related to installing/upgrading SQL Server 2000. Read The Release Notes This option provides the latest SQL Server 2000 notes and features. Visit Our Web Site This option allows you to access the Microsoft Web site to obtain SQL Server information. Installing the server After clicking SQL Server 2000 Components and then selecting Install Database Server, an installation welcome screen appears. Click Next and you are prompted with the Computer Name screen (Figure B). Figure B You have the following options: Local Computer This is the default installation. If you are installing SQL 2000 on the local machine, choose this option (the most common choice). Remote Computer Use this option when you are installing SQL 2000 on another computer located on your network. Virtual Server Use this option if you are intending to install SQL 2000 on a virtual server.
After choosing where to install SQL 2000 (we ll select Local Computer for this example), click Next in the Computer Name window to bring up the Installation Selection window, as shown in Figure C. Figure C This window has the following options: Create A New Instance Of SQL Server, Or Install Client Tools Upgrade, Remove, Or Add Components To An Existing Instance Of SQL Server Advanced Options This option allows you to modify an installation and create an unattended installation file. Choose Create A New Instance Of SQL Server, Or Install Client Tools and click Next. Enter your name and your company name, click Next, and proceed to the software license agreement window. After reviewing the agreement, choose Yes. The Installation Definition window will then appear (Figure D).
Figure D You have the following options: Client Tools Only Choose this option if you are connecting to another SQL Server and do not want to install SQL Server locally. Server And Client Tools Choose this option if you want to install SQL Server 2000 on the local machine. Connectivity Only Choose this option if you want to install only Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) and Network Libraries. Instance Name After you select Server And Client Tools and click Next, the Instance Name window will appear (Figure E). If this were the first installation on this machine, you could select the Default check box to make this installation the default instance. But since I already have a default instance installed on this machine, that option is dimmed. For this article, I'll create a named instance called Virmac (Figure E).
Figure E Setup Type After creating the instance, click Next to advance to the Setup Type window (Figure F). Figure F
On this screen, you can choose a Typical setup, which is what most people will choose. Minimum is for those who have limited disk space and want to install only the minimum required files to run SQL 2000. The Custom installation enables you to change the default options. This screen also allows you to change the installation location. Simply click the Browse button and choose the drive letter and directory of your choice. It is often recommended that you choose one location for program files and another for data files. Services Accounts The next window allows you to create your service account (Figure G). Figure G
You can run SQL Server on a Local System account or a Domain User account. Keep in mind that a Local System account will not be able to run the many complexities of SQL Server. For example, if you wanted to configure SQL mail, you would need a Domain User account. Two self-explanatory options appear at the top of the window: Use The Same Account For Each Service. Auto Start SQL Server Service. Customize The Settings For Each Service.
Authentication Mode Once you create your service account, you can choose between Windows Authentication Mode and Mixed Mode, which is a combination of Windows authentication and SQL Server authentication (Figure H). Figure H Choose Next, and the installation is ready to begin copying files. Click Finish when the install is complete. You can now access your new server from the SQL Server Enterprise Manager console (Figure I).
Figure I Upgrading database files from SQL Server 7.0 If you are running a SQL Server 7.0 installation on your machine, you have two options for upgrading database files to SQL 2000: Using the sp_detach and sp_attach database commands These commands allow you to easily upgrade a 7.0 database to 2000. Detach the database in SQL Server 7.0 and attach the database in SQL 2000. It's that simple. In SQL Server 7.0, the syntax is provided in SQL Books Online. In SQL 2000, you can highlight the database and use the Attach Database command, as shown in Figure I. Using the Database Copy Wizard Use this wizard to select the source and target databases. The upgrade is done via a DTS package. Uninstalling SQL Server You can easily uninstall SQL Server 2000 by using the Add/Remove Programs applet in Control Panel. Simply choose the instance of SQL Server you want to uninstall and click Remove. Summing up As you can see, the SQL Server 2000 installation routine is pretty straightforward. I recommend that you follow these guidelines and practice installing SQL Server 2000 as a default instance and a named instance on a test machine before you install it on your production server. You'll find more information on installing SQL Server 2000 on the Microsoft SQL Server Web site and the SQL Server Community site.