How do I install Windows SharePoint Services?

A. Windows Server 2003 R2 has a built-in Windows SharePoint Services component that you can install using the Add/Remove Windows Components Control Panel applet. The component simplifies installation by automatically installing the OS components that SharePoint requires (Microsoft ASP.NET, Enabled network COM+ access, and IIS). In this exercise we'll install SharePoint on a pre-R2 system.

1. Log on to the Windows 2003 server as an Administrator.
2. Start the Add/Remove Windows Components Control Panel applet (Start, Settings, Control Panel, Add or Remove Programs, Add/Remove Windows Components).
3. Select Application Server and click Details.
4. Select ASP.NET (which automatically enables network COM+ access), select Internet Information Services (IIS), and click Details, as the figureshows.
5. Ensure that Common Files, Internet Information Services Manager, and World Wide Web Service are selected. Click OK.
6. Click Next to begin the installation, and click Finish after the components are installed. Download the Windows Sharepoint Services software from http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/technologies/sharepoint/default.mspx . At the time of this writing, the latest version (stsv2.exe ) includes Service Pack 2 (SP2). Execute the file to extract the SharePoint installation files. To only extract the files and not start the installation, use the /t /c switches with the following command:

C:\stsv2.exe /c /t:c:\wsssp2 

SharePoint stores all its content in a Microsoft SQL database, which for Windows SharePoint Services can be Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine (MSDE) or, preferable, a full SQL Server 2005 or SQL Server 2000 installation (which uses Windows Integrated authentication mode). If you want to have SQL Server reside on a remote box, you need to initiate the installation of Windows SharePoint Services with the "remotesql=yes" switch. If SQL Server is installed locally, then this isn't required. To set up Windows SharePoint Services follow the steps below:

1. Start the installation from the extracted files with the following command: C:\wsssp2\SETUPSTS.EXE remotesql=yes
2. Check the "I accept the terms in the License Agreement" and click Next.
3. If SharePoint is running with the database on a single box, you can select Typical Installation; if the server will work with other SharePoint servers or with a separate server for the database (a back-end SQL datdabase), select Server Farm, as the figure shows. Click Next.

The installation screen will show the components to be installed. Click Install. After the installation finishes, the SharePoint administration Web site (http ://localhost:7048/configadminvs.aspx)  will display to let you select an application pool to use. The best practice is to use a new application pool for each Microsoft IIS virtual server, which ensures that each instance runs in a separate process but it does consume more memory. The Central Administration and regular SharePoint portal sites must run in separate pools. Each separate pool uses about 150MB of memory; additional portal sites in an existing pool use only an additional 15MB to 30MB. The Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/wss/2/all/adminguide/en-us/stsf20.mspx?mfr=true has information about account types to use for SharePoint application pool owners. The recommendation is to use a domain account that can access back-end SQL databases to simplify the process. This domain account needs to be a Security Administrator and Database Creator on the SQL Server. To configure those roles, open the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) SQL Server Enterprise Management snap-in and select Microsoft SQL Servers, SQL Server Group, (local), Security, Logins, New Login. Select the domain account and click the Server Roles tab, to set the roles, as the figure shows.

You should also select the security (NTLM or Kerberos) authentication type to use. If you select Kerberos, you need to take additional steps, which are described on the configuration Web page, which the figureshows. After you set all the options, click OK. You'll see a confirmation dialog box that tells you to run the iisreset command. Run iisreset, then click OK to the confirmation page.

You can now configure the database server. Enter the details for the SQL server (local or remote name) and a name for the database. Select "Use Windows authentication" and leave the default for Active Directory Account Creation, "Users already have domain accounts," which will stop new accounts from being created automatically, as the figure shows. Click OK.

At this point, the Windows SharePoint Services server will connect to the SQL Server machine and create the database and content per the supplied information. You'll now see the default Central Administration page http ://localhost:7048/default.aspx, which allows the creation of actual SharePoint sites and content for general user use.