--- title: "vCenter 5.5 on Windows Server 2012 R2 with SQL Server 2014 – Part 1" date: "2014-10-29T10:59:43Z" tags: ["SQL Server", "SQL Server 2014", "Windows Server 2012 R2", "vCenter Server"] categories: ["Microsoft", "VMware"] --- ![vCenter-5.5 on Windows Server 2012 R2 with SQL Server 2014 Part 1][1] It has been a while since I was dealing with vCenter on SQL Server simply because I used vCenter Server appliance. In series of post, I would like to guide you through the installation of Microsoft SQL Server 2014, vCenter database creation and preparation and vCenter 5.5 Update 2 installation. In my guide I will use following software: * Operating System - Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter Edition * Database - Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Enterprise Edition * VMware - VMware vSphere 5.5 Update 2b ## Microsoft SQL Server 2014 preparation Following Microsoft SQL Server best practices  I will install SQL Server 2014 with following disk layout: * Disk 1 : OS/SQL Binaries * Disk 2: System databases (aside from tempdb) * Disk 3: tempdb * Disk 4: User databases * Disk 5: User DB transaction logs * Disk 6 : VMware vCenter Server binaries ![vCenter 5.5 on Windows Server 2012 R2 with SQL Server 2014 - 1][2] 1. Before installation, I recommend running **System Configuration Checker**. It is a tool which checks if all necessary components required by SQL Server 2014 are installed. ![vCenter 5.5 on Windows Server 2012 R2 with SQL Server 2014 - 2][3] 2. Another thing that we have to do before installation is enabling of.**Net Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1**. We can do it simply from PowerShell by executing following command. ```PowerShell Install-WindowsFeature Net-Framework-Core -Source D:\sources\sxs ``` ![vCenter 5.5 on Windows Server 2012 R2 with SQL Server 2014 - 3][4] 3. We will create application users: **ap-mssql **and **ap-vcenter** and we will use it to run SQL Server services and vCenter services. I described how to do it in this post: https://www.wojcieh.net/how-to-create-application-user-in-active-directory/ ## Microsoft SQL Server 2014 installation 1. We switch to **Installation** section and select **New SQL Server stand-alone installation or add features to existing installation**. ![vCenter 5.5 on Windows Server 2012 R2 with SQL Server 2014 - 3][5] 2. Provide SQL Server 2014 product key or select evaluation. ![vCenter 5.5 on Windows Server 2012 R2 with SQL Server 2014 - 4][6] 3. Accept the license terms and if you want you can join **Customer Experience Improvement Program **also called **CEIP**. ![vCenter 5.5 on Windows Server 2012 R2 with SQL Server 2014 - 5][7] 4. Choose if you want to receive **Microsoft Updates** to patch SQL Server 2014. ![vCenter 5.5 on Windows Server 2012 R2 with SQL Server 2014 - 6][8] 5. Click next and Setup will initiate another check to make sure that there will be no problems. ![vCenter 5.5 on Windows Server 2012 R2 with SQL Server 2014 - 7][9] 6. Click next and select **SQL Server Feature Installation** ![vCenter 5.5 on Windows Server 2012 R2 with SQL Server 2014 - 8][10] 7. Choose following features: * Database Engine Services * Client Tools Connectivity * Integration Services * Management Tools – Basic * Management Tools – Complete
![vCenter 5.5 on Windows Server 2012 R2 with SQL Server 2014 - 9][11] 8. And select following directories: ![vCenter 5.5 on Windows Server 2012 R2 with SQL Server 2014 - 10][12] 9. In **Instance Configuration**, I selected **Default instance** and I clicked Next. ![vCenter 5.5 on Windows Server 2012 R2 with SQL Server 2014 - 11][13] 10. To run all SQL services we will use user called **ap-mssql**. ![vCenter 5.5 on Windows Server 2012 R2 with SQL Server 2014 - 12][14] 11. I added my user as SQL Server administrator. I selected **Windows authentication mode**. ![vCenter 5.5 on Windows Server 2012 R2 with SQL Server 2014 - 13][15] 12. As I wrote at the beginning I will distribute directories across different disks. ![vCenter 5.5 on Windows Server 2012 R2 with SQL Server 2014 - 14][16] 13 .Select **Install** and watch the progress. ![vCenter 5.5 on Windows Server 2012 R2 with SQL Server 2014 - 15][17] # Summary This concludes the installation of Microsoft SQL Server 2014 on Windows Server 2012 R2. In the next post, I will proceed with SQL Server configuration. [1]: /images/uploads/2014/09/vcenter-5.5-on-windows-server-2012-r2-with-sql-server-2014-part-1.webp [2]: /images/uploads/2014/10/vcenter-5.5-on-windows-server-2012-r2-with-sql-server-2014-1.webp [3]: /images/uploads/2014/10/vcenter-5.5-on-windows-server-2012-r2-with-sql-server-2014-2.webp [4]: /images/uploads/2014/10/vcenter-5.5-on-windows-server-2012-r2-with-sql-server-2014-11.webp [5]: /images/uploads/2014/10/vcenter-5.5-on-windows-server-2012-r2-with-sql-server-2014-3.webp [6]: /images/uploads/2014/10/vcenter-5.5-on-windows-server-2012-r2-with-sql-server-2014-4.webp [7]: /images/uploads/2014/10/vcenter-5.5-on-windows-server-2012-r2-with-sql-server-2014-5.webp [8]: /images/uploads/2014/10/vcenter-5.5-on-windows-server-2012-r2-with-sql-server-2014-6.webp [9]: /images/uploads/2014/10/vcenter-5.5-on-windows-server-2012-r2-with-sql-server-2014-7.webp [10]: /images/uploads/2014/10/vcenter-5.5-on-windows-server-2012-r2-with-sql-server-2014-8.webp [11]: /images/uploads/2014/10/vcenter-5.5-on-windows-server-2012-r2-with-sql-server-2014-9.webp [12]: /images/uploads/2014/10/vcenter-5.5-on-windows-server-2012-r2-with-sql-server-2014-10.webp [13]: /images/uploads/2014/10/vcenter-5.5-on-windows-server-2012-r2-with-sql-server-2014-12.webp [14]: /images/uploads/2014/10/vcenter-5.5-on-windows-server-2012-r2-with-sql-server-2014-13.webp [15]: /images/uploads/2014/10/vcenter-5.5-on-windows-server-2012-r2-with-sql-server-2014-15.webp [16]: /images/uploads/2014/10/vcenter-5.5-on-windows-server-2012-r2-with-sql-server-2014-16.webp [17]: /images/uploads/2014/10/vcenter-5.5-on-windows-server-2012-r2-with-sql-server-2014-17.webp