How to install SQL Server 2012

Applies to: SQL Server 2012, Windows 8, Windows Server 2012.

This article will guide you on how to perform a new SQL Server 2012 standalone installation.

If you would like to learn how to install SQL Server 2012 Express Edition, please click here.

An evaluation copy of SQL Server 2012 can be downloaded from here.

If you are upgrading to SQL Server 2012, consider these resources and recommendations:

Read about supported upgrade scenarios here.
Download and run SQL Server Upgrade Advisor from here (located at the bottom of the link)
Upgrade to the same language version as the existing instance of SQL Server.

However this article is not for upgrade scenarios.


The following are some recommendations before installing SQL Server 2012:

Operating Systems Requirements.

Additional software requirements and hardware requirements:

New on SQL Server 2012 installation.

Some error messages you may face installing SQL Server 2012 are:

Step-by-step procedure to install SQL Server 2012.


Run SQL Server 2012 setup.














On the screen above, make a click on the "Installation" hyperlink in the left side of the screen.







This screen shows the types of installation available.  Let's select the first type available "New SQL Server stand-alone installation or add features to an existing installation".







Above you will find the first set of Setup Support Rules. The Next button is available only if all check results are successful, or if failed checks do not block installation.







On the page above, specify the edition of SQL Server to install.  We chose the Enterprise Evaluation Edition.

You should also provide a product key, if required. Sometimes the product key is included in the media (product key is pre-pidded).







The page above is the License Terms page.  Read the license agreement and if you agree with it, check the "I accept the license terms" check box, and then click the Next button.







Access to the Internet is required, since SQL Server setup will try to get updates for SQL Server during installation. If the computer does not have access to the Internet and Windows Update service, then you may get the above error message:

"SQL Server Setup could not search for updates through the Windows Update service. You can either check again or click Next to continue. To troubleshoot issues with your Windows Update service, view the link below ensure you have Internet or network access, and ensure your Windows Update service can find updates interactively through the Windows Update control panel

Error 0x80240042: Exception from HRESULT: 0x80240042."







On the following page, setup files will be installed.









The above screens belong to the second set of Setup Support Rules.

About the Windows Firewall warning, you can go ahead with the installation of SQL Server, but when it finishes configure your Windows Firewall to allow SQL Server access or disable it. Click here to know how to configure Windows Firewall for SQL Server access.

About the Microsoft .NET Application Security warning, Setup Support Rules verifies Internet connectivity and triggers a warning if there is no Internet connection. The reason to check for Internet connection is "because .NET always tries to connect to CRL.MICROSOFT.COM on startup to check signature validation.". For more information click here.

Neither of these warnings will prevent you from installing SQL Server.









After configuring Windows Firewall, the Windows Firewall warning will disappear if you click on the "Re-run" button.








On the SQL Server Setup page shown above, you can decide to install specific features of SQL Server or decide to install SQL Server using a setup role. For more information about this page, please click here.







On the Feature Selection page, please select the features you would like to install. A description of each feature will appear on the "Feature description" area when you click on a feature.














The "Prior Visual Studio 2010 instances requiring update." rule verifies if Service Pack 1 for Visual Studio 2010 has been applied"






On the Instance Configuration page, select a default or named instance for your installation, and select the directory where you want to install the features you have chosen.





 

This page is just for the purpose of reviewing disk usage.  Click on the "Next" button to continue setup.







It is recommended to create a local user or use a domain user account to start SQLServer services.

If the computer is not part of a domain, use a local user account without Windows administrator permissions. You can create this account using Control Panel -> User Accounts.

Use a Domain User Account if the service must interact with network services or access domain resources. This account should be pre-created by a domain administration in your environment.

Whether you create a local user or a domain user account, the password you use to create the account must be a strong password.

You can also use built-in accounts (the Network Service account, Local Service, Local System) as service accounts. However, I would not recommend to use Local Service Account for SQL Server (MSSQLSERVER). Use Local System if you need a very high-privileged account. It has extensive privileges on the local system.

Microsoft recommends you to specify an individual account for each service. The service accounts used for this configuration must have a strong password as mentioned above, otherwise you will get the error "Invalid or missing username or password. To continue, provide valid credentials for the SQL Server Agent service".  A strong password  is one that has a combination of letters in uppercase, lowercase, numbers and special characters.






On the Database Engine Configuration page, choose the authentication mode to use for your SQL Server installation.

Enter and confirm the password for the (sa) login when you choose Mixed Mode Authentication.

Use the "Data Directories" tab on the "Database Engine Configuration" page to change the default location for data directories.








Use this page to enable FileStream on this instance. To enable it, select "Enable FILESTREAM for Transact-SQL access".

Select "Enable FILESTREAM for file I/O streaming access" to enable Win32 streaming access for FileStream.

On the "Windows share name" text box, to enter the name of the Windows share in which the FileStream data will be stored.

Select "Allow remote clients to have streaming access to FILESTREAM data" to allow remote clients to access this FileStream data on this server.







Select "Install Analysis Services in Multidimensional and Data Mining Mode" to install Analysis Services with support for online analytical processing databases and data mining models.

Select "Tabular Mode" to install Analysis Services with support for tabular models.

Each mode is exclusive of the other.







On the Reporting Services Configuration page, choose to install Reporting Services on Native Mode or SharePoint Integrated Mode.







On the Error Reporting page, optionally clear the check box to disable error reporting.






The above dialog belongs to the Installation Configuration Rules. Setup will be running these rules to determine if the installation process will be blocked.






On the Ready to Install page, review the summary of features and components for your SQL Server installation. To proceed, click Install.














This installation completed successfully, but if the SQL Server 2012 installation completed with the "Error installing Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Shell. Error 1706" error message, please see click here for a workaround.







This is how the Start Screen looks on Windows Server 2012 after you install SQL Server 2012.







Change the start mode of SQL Server services as you wish using SQL Server Configuration Manager.

Please enable SQL Server Browser service if you installed a named instance of SQL Server.








Enable all three protocols. Click here to know how.







Do not forget to restart SQL Server service after enabling a new protocol.













You are now ready to use SQL Server 2012. Enjoy it!
 

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