Before you install Denali CTP1 …

 

SQL PASS 2010 is over, and the first CTP of Denali is out. Lots of interesting stuff got announced and Demo’d at PASS. If you were part of the insider sessions, you probably got demos of some of the CTP1 features as well.

But, before you install CTP1 from that DVD in your hand, there is one pre-requisite you might want to satisfy, to make your life easier. This pre-requisite is required if you are on a machine which is earlier than Windows Server 2008 SP1 or Windows 7. We made the No-reboot package of the .Net framework as a mandatory requirement for SQL Server Installation. Yeah, we know, that this requires a one-time reboot (quite contrary to the name of the package), but this one investment will save time for later. The reboot is due to the patching of .NET 3.5 to .NET 3.5 SP1, which requires a reboot. If you regularly apply patches using Windows Update, this reboot would not be required.

Steps to achieve this with minimum hassle:

1. Go to KB Article 958488 (for Windows Server 2008R2 / Windows 7) or KB Article 956250 (for Windows Server 2008/Vista)

2. Download your architecture specific patch and run it

3. It will require one reboot

4. Start your SQL Server Denali CTP1 Installation

And one more thing, in the corner case scenario that you do not have PowerShell Installed, you may want to install that as well. SQL Server Denali CTP1 does not package that as part of the Install anymore.

Do play around with the CTP1 bits, and give us your feedback. We would love to hear back from you.

Go here and here for some user first installation experiences.