Microsoft has been very clear about the requirements for installing SharePoint 2010. The biggest thing in this release is that it’s 64 bit only, not just on the Operating System side, but also in the SQL Server requirements. In addition, it’s also quite fussy about which versions it supports.
On the operating system side, a complete list can be found here. On the SQL Server side, it’s generally thought that it supports only SQL Server 2008 and above. However, this isn’t true – it supports SQL Server 2005 – provided that it’s 64 bit mode. However, the devil is in the details. It’s very specific about the patch level that you’re running. Glenn Berry has a list of the supported versions, with patch levels, and the SQL script for determining your precise version levels. There are only 3, so I’ll repeat them below:
- SQL Server 2005 SP3 CU3 (Build 4220) or greater
- SQL Server 2008 SP1 CU2 (Build 2714) or greater
- SQL Server 2008 R2
The kicker is that neither the SP3 level of 2005, nor the SP1 level of 2008 will cut it,and you will have a failure if you do not conform to these versions. This failure will not appear until you run the SharePoint Products configuration wizard,which is pretty much past the point of commitment. In addition, the stsam.exe –o preupgradecheck command on a 2007 farm does not appear to detect this deficiency (at least it hasn’t yet in my experience).
Do yourself a favour, and patch up your SQL servers before you start your install/upgrade. The most recent cumulative update packages, as of this writing are:
I’ve used CU7 for 2008 on my installs thus far, and can attest that it works. I’m still waiting, hopefully not long now, for 2008 R2…
