Build Virtual Appliances: SQL Server 2005: Page 3

1. Install SQL Server Enterprise Edition with the following settings:

Note: You use a default instance to keep the machine generic. This is also why you use the LocalSystem account as the service account. Using generic values will let you more easily replicate the machine as needed.

2. Once the installation is complete, add Service Pack 2 . Select all applicable modules; the required modules should already be selected. Apply the upgrade to all instances. Use your organizational settings for Error and Usage Reporting. Stop any process that is locking a file in order to avoid reboots. Monitor the Service Pack installation progress.

3. At the end of the process, Launch the Vista User Provisioning Tool. This will let you grant Vista users access to SQL Server and Analysis Server administration roles. Do this even if you don’t have Vista users yet. You never know when they will arrive and doing it will ensure your SQL virtual appliance is ready for anything. Add all existing users to all roles.

4. Reboot the server if you need to. SQL Server is ready for customization.

5. Launch the SQL Server Management Studio and connect to the local database instance.

6. Right-click on the name of the SQL Server (SQLSource) and select Properties. Configure the settings as follows:

7. Click OK to close the dialog box and apply the settings.

8. The last step is to move the Temporary database so that it can profit from the data and log disks. Moving the Temporary database will increase performance on the server. To move this database, refer to the Moving the tempdb database section of Microsoft Knowledge Base article number 224071 at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/224071.

9. Close the SQL Server Management Studio. SQL Server is ready to run.

10. Use the Windows Update site to verify if the machine needs updating. The best way to do this is to use the shortcut in the Tools menu in Internet Explorer. Once updates have been applied, your configuration is complete.

Your virtual application is now ready. To use it, copy the files that make it up and run the Microsoft Sysprep command against the new copy. Sysprep can be found on the Windows Server 2003 Installation CD under SupportTools; it is contained within the Deploy.cab file. Once the copy is de-personalized, you can use it as a seed machine for any other virtual instance of SQL Server 2005 you need to deploy. That’s it. You may never need to install SQL Server 2005 ever again!

Note: For information on Microsoft product licensing in virtual machines, download the white paper at http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=7327814 or go to the Microsoft Windows Server Virtualization Calculator at http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=7327815.