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SharePoint Server 2016: Single Server Installation & Configuration

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As SharePoint 2016 RTM is released by Microsoft it's another exciting version of Sharepoint with a lot of improvement. Installation and Configuration process is still the same we witnessed in Sharepoint 2013 /2010 with a slight difference of the MinRole.

The MinRole feature in SharePoint Server 2016 lets SharePoint farm administrators assign each server’s role in a farm topology. The role of a server is specified when you create a new farm or join a server to an existing farm.

In this post, let's walk through the step by step process of installation and configuration of SharePoint Server 2016.

Before Start

Before you start deploying SharePoint, let's remind you of the hardware and software requirement of the SharePoint. We want to make sure our servers meets the min requirement set by Microsoft. We are on the supported deployment scenarios.

Hardware Requirement.

As per Microsoft, you need the 64-bit processor with 4 cores. Please see below table for the minimum Hardware requirement for the SharePoint Server 2016.

Installation scenario Deployment type and scale RAM Processor Hard disk space
Single server role that uses SQL Server Development or evaluation installation of SharePoint Server 2016 Release Candidate with the minimum recommended services for development environments. For information, see Minimum recommended services for development environments. 12–16 GB 64-bit, 4 cores 80 GB for system drive

 

100 GB for second drive

Single server role that uses SQL Server Pilot or user acceptance test installation of SharePoint Server 2016 Release Candidate running all available services for development environments. 16–24 GB 64-bit, 4 cores 80 GB for system drive

 

100 GB for second drive and additional drives

Web server or application server in a three-tier farm Development or evaluation installation of SharePoint Server 2016 Release Candidate with a minimum number of services. 8–12 GB 64-bit, 4 cores 80 GB for system drive

 

80 GB for second drive

Web server or application server in a three-tier farm Pilot, user acceptance test, or production deployment of SharePoint Server 2016 Release Candidate running all available services. 12–16 GB 64-bit, 4 cores 80 GB for system drive

 

80 GB for second drive and additional drives

Software Requirements:

Operating System For SharePoint Servers:

  • · The 64-bit edition of Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard or Datacenter
  • · Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview 4

SQL Server:

  • · The 64-bit edition of Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Service Pack 1 (SP1)
  • · The 64-bit edition of Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard or Datacenter

Note: SQL Server Express is not supported anymore.

Prerequisites:

The SharePoint Server 2016 prerequisite installer (prerequisiteinstaller.exe) installs the following software if it has not already been installed on the target server, in the following order:

  1. Application Server Role, Web Server (IIS) Role
  2. Microsoft SQL Server 2012 SP1 Native Client
  3. Microsoft ODBC Driver 11 for SQL Server
  4. Microsoft Sync Framework Runtime v1.0 SP1 (x64)
  5. Windows Server AppFabric 1.1
  6. Windows Identity Foundation (KB974405)
  7. Microsoft Information Protection and Control Client 2.1
  8. Microsoft WCF Data Services 5.6
  9. Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6
  10. Cumulative Update Package 7 for Microsoft AppFabric 1.1 for Windows Server (KB 3092423)
  11. Visual C++ Redistributable Package for Visual Studio 2012
  12. Visual C++ Redistributable Package for Visual Studio 2015

Service Accounts:

It is highly recommended to use the different service account with least-privilege to install and configure the SharePoint. This will enhance the security of the farm. As we are going to install Single-Server farm, we, at least, need 3 accounts (SQL, Setup A/C, FarmAdmin A/C).

Account Purpose Requirements
SQL Server service account The SQL Server service account is used to run SQL Server. It is the service account for the following SQL Server services:
  • MSSQLSERVER
  • SQLSERVERAGENT
 Use domain user account.

(Krossfarm\KF-SQL).
Setup user account (Install Account) The Setup user account is used to run the following:
  • Setup
  • SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard
  • Domain user account. (Krossfarm\KF-Setup)
  • Member of the Administrators group on each server on which Setup is run.
  • SQL Server login on the computer that runs SQL Server.
  • Member of the following SQL Server roles:
    • securityadmin fixed server role
    • dbcreator fixed server role
Server farm account ( Farm Admin Account) The server farm account is used to perform the following tasks:
  • Configure and manage the server farm.
  • Act as the application pool identity for the SharePoint Central Administration website.
  • Run the Microsoft SharePoint Foundation Workflow Timer Service.
  • Domain user account and Local Admin On SharePoint Server. (Krossfarm\KF-farmadmin)

Additional permissions are automatically granted for the server farm account on Web servers and application servers that are joined to a server farm.

The server farm account is automatically added as a SQL Server login on the computer that runs SQL Server. The account is added to the following SQL Server security roles:

  • dbcreator fixed server role
  • securityadmin fixed server role
  • db_owner fixed database role for all SharePoint databases in the server farm

Supported Scenario:

There is little change in the supported scenario for developer/stand alone installation. Below tables mention all supported scenarios:

scenario SharePoint Server 2016
Workgroup Unsupported
Domain Controller Developer Installation
Client OS Unsupported
Dynamic Memory Unsupported
Windows Web Server Unsupported

There are mainly two types of installation: single server or multiple server deployments (more than 1 server).

Single Server Installation

This type of installation is usually used for developers, proof of concept, testing the functionalities or if you have a small number of users. You can have SQL on the same server as well as use a separate SQL Server. If this will be used in production, go with separate SQL Server approach (1 SharePoint server, 1 SQL Server) because it gives more flexibility in future to add more SharePoint servers in the farm.

There are 3 steps to complete:

  1. Install the prerequisites
  2. Install the SharePoint
  3. Run the PSconfig wizard to set up the farm.
  4. Post-Installation Work

Before proceeding with installation, please make sure:

  • SQL Server Installed (SQL server 2014 SP1 x64).
  • Windows server 2012 R2 x64.
  • Make sure it is clean installation (fresh OS).
  • You have the installation media ready (downloaded on the one of the server’s drives or CD/DVD).
  • Product Key for the SharePoint Server 2016.
  • The account which will be used during the installation should have the proper permission.
  • Disk Drive space meets the minimum requirement.
  • Max degree of Parallelism set to 1 on the SQL Server.
  • The server has access to the internet.
  • Disable the anti-virus during installation and configuration.
  • Make sure firewall is not blocking.

Prerequisite Installations:

There are two ways to install the prerequisite on the SharePoint server.

  1. If Server is connected to the internet, then you can use the prerequisite.exe and let the wizard install it.
  2. If your server is not connected to the internet, then you can download all prerequisites and install using the command line.

Let's install the prerequisite using the .exe.

SharePoint Installation:

Once we successfully install the prerequisites on the server then our next step is to install SharePoint Server 2016. We need the Product Key during the installation of SharePoint.

Configure the SharePoint Server:

SharePoint Configuration Wizard.

Once you click the Finish button, this will launch the Central admin with SharePoint Configuration Wizard.

This will complete the SharePoint Installation and Configuration. Now time to configure the additional service applications and create the Web Application and site collections. If you go to the Central Admin > System Settings > Server in the Farm. You will see something like this.  http://i0.wp.com/krossfarm.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/24-1.png?zoom=3&resize=720%2C329

Post Installation:

It is not over. You can use SharePoint and start adding the content but it is highly recommended to complete the following steps:

  • Configure incoming e-mail
  • Configure diagnostic logging
  • Configure usage and health data collection
  • Configure Search settings
  • Configure the Workflow Manager
  • Exclude the SharePoint Folders from the Anti-Virus