RDA Blogs

Introduction

SharePoint is becoming more and more prominent as the delivery mechanism for BI solutions within the Microsoft stack. The SharePoint 2010 BETA along with SQL Server 2008 R2 further strengthen the overall business intelligence capabilities and functionality possible in an organization.

I have a VM image to ramp up on SharePoint 2010 itself but in order to expand into all of the new BI features I wanted to create a new one (from scratch) with the latest SQL Server 2008 R2 CTP. So I did! It was a very tedious process but I found a guide to assist me.

I used the wonderful instructions laid out here: http://www.sharepointdevwiki.com/display/spadmin2010/Installing+SharePoint+2010+Public+Beta

However, since I was using SQL Server 2008 R2 and wanted to configure it for full business intelligence usage, I needed to modify the steps slightly. This post will outline those steps and show any updated walkthroughs.

These instructions/steps are needed only when using SQL Server 2008 R2 CTP as there are several installation issues when integrating with SharePoint 2010. Hopefully in the release these will be corrected.

Installation Steps

1) Follow Steps 00, 0b, 0c and 01 from the SharePoint Dev Wiki guide

2) Instead of step 02, we will install SQL Server 2008 R2 CTP but that comes later! DO NOT INSTALL SQL Server 2008 yet.

3) Steps 3-9 can now be skipped as everything there will be (or has been) installed with Windows Server 2008 R2, SQL 2008 R2, and SharePoint Pre-Reqs.

4) Do not even look at Step 10 - skip to 10b and 10c. I happened to disregard the notes about using the Administrator account for everything and ran into an issue at the end. You may want to look at Step 15 and review the supporting links (as well as the supporting links within those pages). Key thing is to not setup that sp_admin account for this VM.

Also, I decided after the fourth time to actually install the hotfix first (10c), reboot, then install the SharePoint Pre-Reqs (10b), and reboot again. Take the time now because if something fails you could waste hours or days going through the same steps again and again.

5) Perform Step 11 - DO NOT RUN THE CONFIGURATION WIZARD - UNCHECK THE CHECKBOX. Click on Close. The next step here will perform the rest of the configuration.

6) Install SQL Server Analysis Services Integration Mode - (see walkthrough below).

7) Perform Steps 13 and 14
It does take a few minutes to start the User Profile service and to run the synchronization. I did not see anything in the Running Jobs (the first time but the second time I did).

8) Perform Step 15 - before you click on the User Profile Service Application, select it first by click to the right of the link. Then on the top ribbon, click on Administrators (see screens below). The Administrator account should be in there automatically but only the "Retrieve People Data..." permission is selected. I selected Full Control as the TechNet links from those supporting links discussed about the account having full control.

I thought the Profile load was finished and found 0 users but it just took some time to complete. The status said it was done but apparently something was running in the background.

9) Now go back to the SQL Server 2008 R2 installation and install the default instance with Reporting Services (Integrated) and Analysis Services (native). See walkthrough below.

10) Configure Reporting Services - Integrated Mode. See walkthrough below.

11) Optional: Install Visual Studio 2010

12) Optional: Install Office 2010 BETA. Include the Visual Studio Tools for Office (VSTO).

SQL Server 2008 R2 - Analysis Services Integrated Mode Installation and Configuration Walkthrough

Click the "Use the same account..." button and enter the Administrator credentials. Click OK.

Click on "Add Current User". I was paranoid the "umpteenth" time and actually added the Local Service, Local System, and Network Service accounts in attempts to prevent the time-out issue (the issue is described below).

VERY IMPORTANT!
Since this is a domain controller, a time out issue will occur as explained here: http://powerpivotgeek.com/2009/11/17/installing-powerpivot-for-sharepoint-on-a-domain-controller/
You need to monitor the services in Server Manager - Services (while the installation is running) and change the SQL Server Analysis Services (GeminiBI) Service back to the administrator account and make sure it is started. This needs to be corrected as soon as it happens.

You do have time however. The service won't even be listed until it gets installed. The switch occurs about midway through the ASSPIInstallFarmAction. When the install is up to this point, you can see the service listed. I just kept hitting the Refresh and I did see it change eventually. Don't forget to Start the service after you change the Log On back to the Administrator account.

Click Install!

If this step does not complete successfully, you might as well delete the VM and start over. It took me three days to get this right. Possible errors are: 1) timeout, 2) Object Not Set to Instance of an Object, and 3) Could not load or find assembly Microsoft.AnaysisServices.SharePoint.Integrated. There could be others but I wouldn't even bother trying to uninstall and re-install - I tried too many times only to find the best way was to just start over from scratch. Believe me, it will save you hours.

After completion. Go to Central Admin and click on the Configuration Wizards:

Select the Farm Configuration.

Click Next

Use the Existing Managed Account and make sure the Administrator is selected. Click Next.

This process already created a root site collection (I was a little upset about that). So we can skip this part. Click Skip.

Click Finish!

Default Instance - SQL Server 2008 R2 Installation Walkthrough (after Gemini Instance Install)
(For Step 9 above)

Select All. Click Next.

SQL Server 2008 R2 - Reporting Services Configuration (Integrated Mode) Walkthrough
(For Step 10 above)

If you selected Integrated mode during installation, many of these settings are already in place. Go through each screen and make sure there is no warning symbol. Click Apply on the screens that show settings that haven't been set. The walkthrough may go through some additional details that aren't needed for your case. These mimic the configuration if a mode (native or integrated) was not selected.