Install SQL Server 2008 on different Drive

by Ravi Tuvar 4:49 AM 0 comments

I removed all sql server 2005 installations and Visual Studio 2005 (BI Tools).
I am running vista 64 bit, so I install SQL Server 2008 64 bit.
I needed to install sql server 2008 on another drive than the default suggested 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft Sql Server\'. The drive and path I wanted to use was 'D:\Program Files\Microsoft Sql Server\'.
During setup (when selecting features), I received the following error : "The INSTANCESHAREDWOWDIR command line value was not specified. This value must be specified when the INSTANCESHAREDDIR value is specified."
Yeah, I know this is really helpfull, don't you agree...
It appears that this error only occurs if I select an install dir different from the default one (C:\Program Files\Microsoft Sql Server).

I found a work-around:

1. Run the setup, select all the features you want to install. DO NOT change the install folder, press next 
2. When you see the screen displaying the configuration summary (just continue the setup untill you can copy the ConfigurationFile.ini path)
3. Copy/paste the  ConfigurationFile.ini file on the drive/folder you want to use for installation
4. Edit this file to set correct values for INSTALLSHAREDDIR & INSTALLSHAREDWOWDIR (for my case I set D:\Program Files\Microsoft Sql Server and D:\Program Files\Microsoft Sql Server (x86))
5. This step was neccesary because I want to use mixed mode authentication, if you also want to use mixed mode authentication you have to add the sa password to the ini file:
    If you have: SECURITYMODE="SQL"
    Add this entry to the file:
    SAPWD="<Password>"
6. Run setup from the command line : setup.exe /q /action=Install /configurationfile=<Path to your custom .ini>
    In my case, I first did a 'G:' and than an '<ENTER>' in the command prompt to navigate to the SQL Server 2008 installation Drive, than I entered:
    setup.exe /q /action=Install /configurationfile="D:\Program Files\Microsoft Sql Server\ConfigurationFile.ini"
    <ENTER>
    Note : the /q stands for silent mode. I didn't try without this switch.