Standardize SQL Server Installations with

Configuration Files
Problem
If you have a requirement to install multiple SQL Server instances with the same settings, you
most likely want to do it without following the numerous manual installation steps. The below
tip will guide you through how to install a SQL Server instance with less effort.

Solution
SQL Server Setup generates a configuration file named ConfigurationFile.ini, based upon the
system default and run-time inputs. The ConfigurationFile.ini file is a text file which contains
the set of parameters in name/value pairs along with descriptive comments. Many of the
parameter names correspond to the screens and options which you see while installing SQL
Server through the wizard.
You can then use the configuration file to install SQL Server with the same configuration instead
of going through each of the installation screens.
SQL Server generates the Configurationfile.ini file on the Ready to Install step. If you missed
the Configuration.ini file path during the installation, you can find the configuration file in the
C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Setup Bootstrap\Log folder. There will a
subfolder based on a timestampof when you went through the SQL Server 2008 installation.

Sample ConfigurationFile.ini File

Here is a sample of what the configuration file looks like:
;SQLSERVER2008 Configuration File
[SQLSERVER2008]
; Specify the Instance ID for the SQL Server features you have specified. SQL
Server directory structure, registry structure, and service names will
reflect the instance ID of the SQL Server instance.
INSTANCEID="MSSQLSERVER"
; Specifies a Setup work flow, like INSTALL, UNINSTALL, or UPGRADE. This is a
required parameter.
ACTION="Install"
; Specifies features to install, uninstall, or upgrade. The list of top-level
features include SQL, AS, RS, IS, and Tools. The SQL feature will install the
database engine, replication, and full-text. The Tools feature will install
Management Tools, Books online, Business Intelligence Development Studio, and
other shared components.
FEATURES=SQLENGINE,REPLICATION,FULLTEXT,CONN,IS,BC,SDK,SSMS,ADV_SSMS,OCS
; Displays the command line parameters usage
HELP="False"
; Specifies that the detailed Setup log should be piped to the console.
INDICATEPROGRESS="False"
; Setup will not display any user interface.
QUIET="False"
; Setup will display progress only without any user interaction.
QUIETSIMPLE="False"

; Specifies that Setup should install into WOW64. This command line argument
is not supported on an IA64 or a 32-bit system.
X86="False"
; Detailed help for command line argument ENU has not been defined yet.
ENU="True"
; Parameter that controls the user interface behavior. Valid values are
Normal for the full UI, and AutoAdvance for a implied UI.
UIMODE="Normal"
; Specify if errors can be reported to Microsoft to improve future SQL Server
releases. Specify 1 or True to enable and 0 or False to disable this feature.
ERRORREPORTING="False"
; Specify the root installation directory for native shared components.
INSTALLSHAREDDIR="D:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server"
; Specify the root installation directory for the WOW64 shared components.
INSTALLSHAREDWOWDIR="D:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server"
; Specify the installation directory.
INSTANCEDIR="D:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server"
; Specify that SQL Server feature usage data can be collected and sent to
Microsoft. Specify 1 or True to enable and 0 or False to disable this
feature.
SQMREPORTING="False"
; Specify a default or named instance. MSSQLSERVER is the default instance
for non-Express editions and SQLExpress for Express editions. This parameter
is required when installing the SQL Server Database Engine (SQL), Analysis
Services (AS), or Reporting Services (RS).
INSTANCENAME="MSSQLSERVER"
; Agent account name
AGTSVCACCOUNT="NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE"
; Auto-start service after installation.
AGTSVCSTARTUPTYPE="Automatic"
; Startup type for Integration Services.
ISSVCSTARTUPTYPE="Automatic"
; Account for Integration Services: Domain\User or system account.
ISSVCACCOUNT="NT AUTHORITY\NetworkService"
; Controls the service startup type setting after the service has been
created.
ASSVCSTARTUPTYPE="Automatic"
; The collation to be used by Analysis Services.
ASCOLLATION="Latin1_General_CI_AS"
; The location for the Analysis Services data files.
ASDATADIR="Data"
; The location for the Analysis Services log files.
ASLOGDIR="Log"
; The location for the Analysis Services backup files.
ASBACKUPDIR="Backup"
; The location for the Analysis Services temporary files.
ASTEMPDIR="Temp"
; The location for the Analysis Services configuration files.
ASCONFIGDIR="Config"
; Specifies whether or not the MSOLAP provider is allowed to run in process.
ASPROVIDERMSOLAP="1"
; A port number used to connect to the SharePoint Central Administration web
application.
FARMADMINPORT="0"
; Startup type for the SQL Server service.
SQLSVCSTARTUPTYPE="Automatic"
; Level to enable FILESTREAM feature at (0, 1, 2 or 3).

FILESTREAMLEVEL="0"
; Set to "1" to enable RANU for SQL Server Express.
ENABLERANU="False"
; Specifies a Windows collation or an SQL collation to use for the Database
Engine.
SQLCOLLATION="SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS"
; Account for SQL Server service: Domain\User or system account.
SQLSVCACCOUNT="NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE"
; Windows account(s) to provision as SQL Server system administrators.
SQLSYSADMINACCOUNTS="SQLDBPool\Jugal"
; The default is Windows Authentication. Use "SQL" for Mixed Mode
Authentication.
SECURITYMODE="SQL"
; The Database Engine root data directory.
INSTALLSQLDATADIR="F:\"
; Default directory for the Database Engine user databases.
SQLUSERDBDIR="F:\"
; Default directory for the Database Engine user database logs.
SQLUSERDBLOGDIR="F:\"
; Directory for Database Engine TempDB files.
SQLTEMPDBDIR="G:\"
; Provision current user as a Database Engine system administrator for SQL
Server 2008 R2 Express.
ADDCURRENTUSERASSQLADMIN="False"
; Specify 0 to disable or 1 to enable the TCP/IP protocol.
TCPENABLED="1"
; Specify 0 to disable or 1 to enable the Named Pipes protocol.
NPENABLED="0"
; Startup type for Browser Service.
BROWSERSVCSTARTUPTYPE="Disabled"
; Specifies how the startup mode of the report server NT service. When
; Manual - Service startup is manual mode (default).
; Automatic - Service startup is automatic mode.
; Disabled - Service is disabled
RSSVCSTARTUPTYPE="Automatic"
; Specifies which mode report server is installed in.
; Default value: FilesOnly
RSINSTALLMODE="FilesOnlyMode"
; Add description of input argument FTSVCACCOUNT
FTSVCACCOUNT="NT AUTHORITY\LOCAL SERVICE"

Using the ConfigurationFile.ini

With the SQL Server 2008 installer, we can use the ConfigurationFile.ini file to install SQL
Server using one of these methods:

Using the Installer Wizard with options prefilled by the configuration file
Using a fully automated and unattended installation from the command line

Installing Using Installer Wizard

Go to SQL Server Installation Center and click on the Advanced page. Click on Install based
on configuration file, specify the location of the ConfigurationFile.ini file and the SQL Server
setup.exe location. You can find setup.exe at the root level of the SQL Server installation media.
Like a normal installation you can see all the screens with the prefilled information and this gives
you the advantage to review or make changes if needed.

Installing Using Command Prompt

Go to the SQL Server installation media root from the command prompt and specify the
ConfigurationFile.ini as a parameter as shown below.
Setup.exe /ConfigurationFile=ConfigurationFile.INI

You can override any of the values in the configuration file or add more values which are not
specified in the configuration file by providing additional command line parameters to setup.exe
as shown below.
Setup.exe /SQLSVCPASSWORD="password" /ASSVCPASSWORD="password"
/AGTSVCPASSWORD="password"
/ISSVCPASSWORD="password" /RSSVCPASSWORD="password" /SAPWD="password"

/ConfigurationFile=ConfigurationFile.INI

You can also control the level of the installer interface while installing SQL Server from the
command prompt. The installer interface level can be silent, basic or full interaction. You have to
use the below switches for the installer interface level.

/Q- specifies that setup runs in a quiet mode without any user interface. This is used for
unattended installations.
/QS - specifies that setup runs and shows progress through the UI, but does not accept
any input or show any error messages.

Please note

There is no configuration file template available on the installation media. To get the
configuration file you have to run the SQL Server Installation wizard until you get to the
Ready to Install page.
Make sure you make a copy of the ConfigurationFile.inifile before modifying it
Installer does not write passwords into the ConfigurationFile.inifile. You have to either
specify the password through a parameter or you can specify during the installation
screen prompt for the password.
If you have chosen the authentication mode as Mixed Mode, you have to specify the SA
password using the /SAPWDswitch.
For any method of installation, you have to accept the software license terms agreement.
For SQL Server 2008 R2 for a fully unattended installation you can specify it by using
the /IACCEPTSQLSERVERLICENSETERMSswitch.
Also, for SQL Server 2008 R2 you can use the /UIMODE switch instead of /Q or /QS
switch.