Installing SharePoint 2010 on Windows 7

I had a mission this week where I wanted to find out how to install SharePoint 2010 on Windows 7.  I’m currently attending the SharePoint Ignite for Implementers – however, this subject isn’t covered in the sessions so I wanted to test it out at the same time while I have other tech guys around.

Actually, to my great surprise, we actually have a great MSDN article already available on this: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee554869(office.14).aspx.  This article does explain most of the requirements ** READ IT COMPLETELY BEFORE ATTEMPTING **.

Obviously, I didn’t :).  Who does Stand-Alone installation nowadays, right?

So I went ahead and install my SQL Server 2008 SP1 and did a server install.  And then, in the wizard, I had a choice of an unmanaged error if I was using a domain account (for SharePoint), or a managed error saying that I can only have a Stand Alone installation if I want to use local accounts (which I wanted to – I wasn’t about to use a Microsoft Domain account for my test box).

 

Anyhow, I had to uninstall SharePoint, Office Web Applications, and the language pack, some registry keys, and I could try again.

The other thing is that the MSDN article mentions something about extracting the setup file – mine were already setup but that could be my build.  What I had to do was to check in the “.\Files\Setup” sub-folder and open up the setup.config file.  As described in the article, you have to add the following line:

<Setting Id="AllowWindowsClientInstall" Value="True"/>

I also installed all the pre-requisites – except PowerShell V2 CTP3 which is already on Windows 7.  You can get the list of pre-requisites here: https://blogs.msdn.com/opal/archive/2009/10/25/sharepoint-2010-pre-requisites-download-links.aspx

 

When you start the install, you’ll get the ‘non-supported for production’ notice:

 

The rest is standard and it actually runs fine!!

 

I’ll be playing with my new Windows 7 SharePoint 2010 installation in the coming days – if it means I don’t have to reboot to a VHD or launch an Hyper-V, that’s great news for me.

Update: I ran this on 4514.1009 with an English installation of SharePoint Server + French Language Pack + the Office Web Application Server.

Update: I’m not sure if it’s a requirement when installing on Windows 7 – I know it is for Windows 2008 R2 – but I did install it and I think it’s required : the kb971831. Unfortunately, the fix isn’t available for all versions publicly. Chances are, if you have access to the 4514.1009 build, you have access to the fix too. I’ll update when I’ll know about the public Beta 2.

Another update! I tested out the computer going to sleep and it works great. Within 15 seconds of opening up the lid, I had the Central Admin & Portal opened up from a new IE instance and it was fast to load it up – the .NET assemblies were still in cache.

October 29th Update: To be safe in Central Administration, you’ll need to run as Administrator … what’s odd is that it’s somewhat random for me. Everything is fine except in the Central Admin. My symptoms when I don’t have access: I do not see the Services on server link in the CA, I can’t create Web Applications, I can’t manage Metadata, etc. You can disable UAC as well if you want – I’m simply running the default parameters in Windows 7.

I’ll let you know how that goes.  Next step, Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 and test development – that’s what it’s for after all.

 

Maxime

Comments

• Anonymous
  March 17, 2010
  Hi, Thank you for the useful information... I would like to ask you if it is possible to download SP2010 on Windows 7 Home Premium edition on a 64 bit architecture. I tried to follow the steps mentioned in the article: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee554869(office.14).aspx but I got the error that the product requires Windows Server 2008. Is there any way to download it on such an environment? Thank you in advance...

• Anonymous
  March 18, 2010
  Hi, I don't have a Home Premium available right now but I think that when I wrote the post, that's what I had. However, this message seems more like possibly the wrong XML was edited. Maxime

• Anonymous
  March 20, 2010
  Thank you for your quick answer... I thought it might be useful to follow the steps again and I did, however, I got another error that's: the product requires Windows Vista (x64) or above Business, Enterprise or Ultimate, or Windows 7 (x64) Proffessional, Enterprise or Ultimate. so I thought it might be designed not to be installaed on Win 7 Home premium as it doesn't have Win authentication and Digest authentication features. However, I found some people in some blogs who mentioned that they installed it on this OS version, so there must be a way to do it... I will keep searching and once I find it, I will post it here... Thank you once again...

• Anonymous
  June 12, 2010
  Hi Maxiime Thanks for sharing knowledge . can you please tell me did u install sharepoint 2010 or foundation 2010. i was getting same error like u did when creating server farm. Please advise me if you have installed sharepoint 2010 on windows 7.

• Anonymous
  June 12, 2010
  Hi, yes, since then, I've installed SharePoint 2010 Server on my work Windows 7 without too many problems.  The only place I started having issues was with the User Profile Services (UPS) where I had to tweek a bunch of things (mainly around permissions, DCOM) due to the fact that I'm in a domain (work) but I'm running a standalone installation and don't want anything to do with the domain! Otherwise, the installation process is the same, change the config file (the right one, there's one for each installation type), and you are good to go.  For language packs, you have to uncompress them and do the same change.  I've heard to you can do that with Office Web Apps too but didn't try it yet.

• Anonymous
  June 13, 2010
  Thanks one more question do i need to install sql server for stand alone installation or SP2010 will install express edition  during installation ? Thanks

• Anonymous
  June 13, 2010
  No, the stand-alone installs Express edition automatically -- and it's the only install that works with Windows 7

• Anonymous
  December 03, 2010
  Please let me know if anybody could install and test SharePoint Foundation 2010 on Win7 Home Premium.  For me, I could install successfully as mentioned in msdn.microsoft.com/.../ee554869(office.14).aspx but getting blank page when accessing the site. When I have compared the steps, I have found that Win 7 Home premium doesn't have Win authentication and Digest authentication features.  Please let me know if  Win authentication and Digest authentication features mandatory for SharePoint Foundation 2010?  Any work around?

• Anonymous
  December 12, 2010
  First, I want to thanks about this post. Good information... And I also want to give information for you all. I have hosted my sharepoint 2010 site with very low cost with the provider called www.asphostportal.com. Who knows that you need to host your sharepoint 2010 site, you can go with them. I think they have great support too, they wont let you wait too long.

• Anonymous
  January 16, 2011
  Hi Will SP 2010 install on all Versions of Windows 7 x64? (Home Premium, Enterprize ect)

• Anonymous
  January 17, 2011
  Hi Bob, my understanding is that supported testing was done only with Profesional, Business, or Enterprise (x64).  I have been running Enterprise for over a year and I don't recall if my early beta testing was done on a Home Premium. If it works on Home Premium or Home Basic, it then becomes whether you need to be supported or not on that platform.  Developing on Win7 is more of a style question and it depends on the type of work you do on it.  I still use it for quick demos or development, and I typically use VM for enterprise team development. Maxime

• Anonymous
  January 23, 2011
  I'm interested to know if Bob was able to get this installed on Home Premium. I have that too and am struggling to install. Granted most of my challenges are self inflicted (rookie) ;)

• Anonymous
  October 24, 2011
  For what it's worth, I've found a way to install SharePoint Foundation 2010 on Windows 7 Home Premium. You can find the steps I followed on my blog at www.rl-soft.com/.../Post.aspx Hope this helps a few folks! Raphael.