02 Mar SQL Server Installation using Configuration File
Mostly in all organizations, there are diverse SQL server environments such as development, test and production. The databases in these environments require almost similar configurations and usually database administrators had to install database management on several servers. For us to enhance this process, we will discuss how we can set up a configuration file which can be used for installation in these different environments. In this article, we’ll walk through the steps in setting up SQL Server environments by using a configuration file.
This will be in two phases.
- How to Create a SQL server Installation File
- Installing SQL Server from a configuration file
How to Create a SQL Server Installation File
We can generate the configuration file without installing the SQL Server. Yes, it’s possible! We will generate this file on our local computer (we are using a computer with Windows 10 operating system). We must have downloaded the SQL Server version installation files on our computer. The generation of the configuration file is almost identical to the installation of SQL Server.
To get started, we will perform a double-click on the setup file. When the installation centre starts, we will choose “Installation” > “New SQL Server stand-alone installation or add features to an existing installation”:
After that, we will continue as we are installing a new instance on our local machine:
Then, we accept the license terms:
When the services are ready to be installed, instead of clicking on “Install”, we just locate the configuration file – “ConfigurationFile.ini”:
Finally, having generated this file, we can cancel the setup
Hence, we possess an installation file, with predefined settings that can serve as a template for deploying the SQL Server instances in new environments.
Let’s move on to the second phase.
Installing SQL Server from a configuration file
Now, we want to install SQL Server on one of our environments using the preconfigured file. To do this, we will double-click on the installation file and choose “Advanced” > “Install based on configuration file”. Then find the configuration file, choose it and click “Open”:
We will click “Next” to move forward and in the next step, we can see that all necessary features and services have been selected already .
However, for each environment, we might need to modify the data directories:
In the final step, we review our settings and click on “Install”:
We have successfully installed SQL server using configuration file. If you have any questions while trying this, don’t hesitate to ask in the comment section below.
No Comments