Installing SharePoint 2013 on Windows 8 Client Hyper-V

[Author’s Note: This content has been unlawfully copied and pasted into another blog. I’ve asked the offender to take it down and hopefully he’ll have the common sense to respect my request. Update: after I messed with the thief a bit, he finally took it down. Victory!]

For me, one of the biggest enhancements in Windows 8 is the ability to run Hyper-V in the client O/S. This means I don’t have to have a server O/S running on my laptop; I can simply run virtual machines with whatever I need. For example, the shiny new RTM build of SharePoint Server 2013 that was released recently.

There are already a bunch of useful and detailed posts describing the install process for the SharePoint 2013 Preview. Here’s the short version for people who want a relatively simple RTM setup on a Windows 8 client machine (i.e., not running Windows Server 2012 as the host operating system).

Caution: Hyper-V will only work if your BIOS/hardware/CPU support Hyper-V. It’s a really good idea to check first before you try to use it and get frustrated. Whenever I order new hardware, I explicitly ask if it supports virtualization and Hyper-V. That way when I get something (e.g., a CPU) that doesn’t work—and that happens—I can return it for something that will work.

First, this setup is “relatively simple” because I chose a particular setup and I repeat it often. I run SharePoint in a Hyper-V virtual machine in a single-server farm. I install SQL Server and the domain controller role on the same virtual machine. This means I can export the VM, import into a different Hyper-V instance and it all just works. Because the whole setup is self-contained and doesn’t require Internet access, it’s great for demos, webinars, conference sessions and other presentations. However, this is not the best practice for a production SharePoint install. For example, you should not install SharePoint on a domain controller.

[Update: By request, here are the hardware specs for my setup: Dell Precision M4600 laptop with 16GB RAM and Intel Core i7-2860QM CPU @ 2,5 GHz. I’m allocating up to 8GB of RAM to the SharePoint VM because it’s self contained and I only have to run the one image.]
Step 1: Install Windows 8 and Add the Hyper-V Feature.

Once you have Windows 8 running, scroll to the top or bottom corner on the right side to open the fly out menu and then choose Settings > Control Panel > Programs and Features > Turn Windows features on or off. Then check the box next to Hyper-V and install it. This will require a reboot.

Step 2: Create a New VHD in Hyper-V
I’m choosing Windows Server 2012 so I’ve downloaded that .ISO file from MSDN and selected it as the O/S when I created the new virtual machine in Hyper-V. I’m going with a 30GB VM with 8GB of RAM (but I can always up these numbers later). If you don’t need Office and/or Visual Studio, you won’t need 30GB of space.

Note: The initial O/S image file will be less than 10GB. After installing SharePoint Server, the VHD is roughly 19GB and the image is using 30GB of the 50GB.
Step 3: Install the O/S (Windows Server 2012) and Name Your Virtual Machine
(Changing the name after installing SharePoint has historically been tricky.) I’m installing W2K12 Datacenter Edition with the GUI. Remember to activate Windows after you install. No one likes a VM with an O/S that hasn’t been activated. After you’ve installed the O/S, run Windows Update.

Note: If you choose Windows Server 2008 as your O/S, it will take a while. The last time I installed it, there were 123 W2K8 updates.

Step 4: Add the Web Server and Active Directory Domain Services Roles
I also add the Wireless LAN Services feature. Once you’ve installed AD, you’ll have the option of promoting the server to a domain controller. After that is finished, create the domain accounts you’ll need. I always add one for myself and another to use as the SharePoint admin account.

Step 4: Install SQL Server
I’m installing SQL 2012 as a stand-alone server (default instance). It’s a simple install process. I install the Engine (obviously) with the client and management tools. If I need more, I’ll add it later.

Note: I often export the virtual machine and save a copy at this point so that I have a base image of the O/S with SQL Server. Since both of them have been released recently, that’s what I did this time. You can also create a snapshot, but I’d rather just export a reusable copy than increase the disk space needs of my base image.

Step 5: Run the SharePoint 2013 Prerequisite Installer

Download the SharePoint RTM ISO from MSDN and launch the default.hta file. The setup file will run the product install, so don’t run that first. You want to first run the prereq install.

Note: I ran into an odd “File Not Found” error when installing the prerequisites. I have a theory, but no hard proof about why it was happening. I think that W2K12 mounting ISOs works differently than it did in W2K8. It seems that when a mounted ISO needs to continue an install after a reboot, it can’t find the files because the mounting doesn’t persist. To get around that, I burned the ISO to disk.

Step 6: Install SharePoint 2013
The actual product installer doesn't really ask any questions—that’s saved for the two configuration wizards.

Note: The first time I ran the installer, it failed. Eventually, I was able to get the install to complete. I manually restarted the VM, manually ran Windows Update and, I also ran the .NET Framework Repair Tool (thanks to Chris O’Brien for that tip).

Step 7: Run the SharePoint 2013 Configuration Wizard

There are lots of questions in the config wizard. I’m not going to go through them here. There are plenty of posts on that topic.

Step 8: Run the Farm Configuration wizard.

After running the SharePoint Configuration Wizard, you’ll be asked to run the farm config. This step includes creating a root site collection and choosing which services will run on the server.

That’s it, you’re done! Now you have a SharePoint 2013 image on Windows 8… so handy.

Note: If you’re still installing the SharePoint 2013 Preview build (I won’t know why you would), don’t forget that the “Working on it…” screen for configuring the SharePoint services will not close—it just keeps going forever.