• Article

Install Search Server 2010 or Search Server 2010 Express

 

Applies to: Search Server 2010

Topic Last Modified: 2011-11-17

This article explains how to install Search Server 2010 or Search Server 2010 Express on the first computer in a deployment. This installation produces a fully functional Search Server configuration on one server.

Note

  • In this article, the term "Search Server" refers to Microsoft Search Server 2010 or Microsoft Search Server 2010 Express.

  • We recommend that you install Search Server on a computer that has a new installation of the operating system. For information about Search Server prerequisites, see Hardware and software requirements (Search Server 2010).

This article contains the following main sections:

  • Determine the kind of deployment you require

  • Install Search Server 2010 or Search Server 2010 Express

Determine the kind of deployment you require

Before you begin an installation, ensure that you understand the differences between Search Server 2010 and Search Server 2010 Express, and that you understand the installation options for each product.

Understand the product differences

The following table briefly summarizes the differences between Search Server 2010 and Search Server 2010 Express.

Main differences between Search Server 2010 and Search Server 2010 Express

Search Server 2010 Search Server 2010 Express

Scalability

A highly scalable enterprise search solution. Search-topology components can be scaled out to multiple servers to distribute the search functionality and workload, thus increasing performance, capacity, and availability of the search system.

An entry-level enterprise search solution that has limited scalability. Topology components of any particular Search service application must be on one server. Adding topology components requires advanced configuration.

Maximum capacity of full-text index

Approximately 100 million items

Approximately 300,000 items with Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Express, or 10 million items with SQL Server

Product key required?

Yes

No. Available as a free download from Microsoft, with no time restrictions.

Understand the installation options

After you start the installation of Search Server, you must choose one of the following two options: Standalone or Server Farm. The following table briefly summarizes the differences between these options. These differences apply to both Search Server 2010 and Search Server 2010 Express.

Installation options: Standalone or Server Farm

Standalone* Server Farm

Configuration options during installation

None. Stand-alone installation is automated with default settings and proceeds without prompts.

  • Requires that you specify an existing SQL Server host computer and an empty database.

  • At the end of the installation, you can run the Initial Farm Configuration Wizard to configure certain initial farm settings.

Purpose and scalability

Enables you to deploy a fully functional Search Server configuration on one computer. The computer functions as an application server for crawling and serving queries, a Web server for serving search queries and rendering search results, and a database server for hosting all of the necessary search databases. After a stand-alone installation, there is no option to add computers to the deployment to create a multiple-server farm.

This configuration can be useful when you want any of the following:

  • A small-scale deployment that has minimal administrative overhead

  • A development or test environment

  • A deployment for product evaluation

Enables you to deploy a fully functional Search Server deployment on one computer initially, and then add multiple application servers and Web servers to the deployment to distribute the search functionality and workload. We recommend using the Server Farm installation option when you are creating a production farm because this deployment can be scaled out to multiple crawl servers, query servers, and Web servers.

Database

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Express is installed automatically.

Requires a SQL Server host computer that meets the version requirements specified in the Software requirements section in Hardware and software requirements (Search Server 2010). The SQL Server host computer can be a different computer from the Search Server host computer.

Indexing capability

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Express limits maximum database size to 4 gigabytes (GB). In a stand-alone installation, this limits Search Server indexing capability to approximately 300,000 items, depending on the size and type of the items.

With a SQL Server host computer that meets the version requirements specified in the Software requirements section in Hardware and software requirements (Search Server 2010), Search Server provides sub-second query response times for an index of up to 100 million items, depending on the size and type of the items.

*You cannot have a stand-alone deployment of Search Server on a domain controller.

Install Search Server 2010 or Search Server 2010 Express

Verify that the user account that is performing the following procedures is a member of the Administrators group on the local computer, and then do the following:

  1. Start the installation

  2. Install the software prerequisites

  3. Install Search Server 2010 or Search Server 2010 Express

Start the installation

Start the installation by opening the product splash screen in one of the following ways:

  • For Search Server 2010 Express, do the following:

    1. Download Search Server 2010 Express from the Search Server 2010 Express download page (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=171064&clcid=0x409). After you click Download, click Save in the File Download dialog box and note the location to which you download the file.

    2. Double-click the downloaded file, SearchServerExpress.exe, which is a self-extracting archive.

  • For Search Server 2010, do one of the following:

    • Insert a product disc into the DVD drive. If the installation splash screen does not appear automatically after a short time, go to the root folder of the product disc, and then double-click Splash.hta.

    • Go to the product location on a file share, and then double-click Splash.hta.

Install the software prerequisites

You can install the software prerequisites manually or automatically.

  • Installing prerequisites manually For information about how to manually install prerequisites, see Software requirements and Installing software prerequisites manually in Hardware and software requirements (Search Server 2010). After you install the software prerequisites manually, go to Install Search Server 2010 or Search Server 2010 Express later in this article to resume the installation.

  • Installing prerequisites automatically Alternatively, you can install the prerequisites automatically by using the Microsoft SharePoint Products Preparation Tool. The Preparation Tool checks the computer for software prerequisites and automatically installs the prerequisites that are not on the computer. Use the following procedure to run the Microsoft SharePoint Products Preparation Tool.

    Note

    • Because the Preparation Tool downloads components from the Microsoft Download Center, the server must have Internet access while the tool runs. If the server does not have an Internet connection, you will have to obtain installable images for the required software. We recommend that you create an installation point for storing the images. You can also use this installation point for installing future software updates. For information about installation locations, see Installing software prerequisites manually in Hardware and software requirements (Search Server 2010).

    • If you are installing the software prerequisites manually, skip the following procedure about running the Preparation Tool and go to Install Search Server 2010 or Search Server 2010 Express later in this article.

To install the software prerequisites automatically by running the Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Products Preparation Tool

  1. Verify that the user account that is performing this procedure is a member of the Administrators group on the local computer.

  2. Ensure that you have an Internet connection while Microsoft SharePoint Products Preparation Tool runs, because the tool installs some of the prerequisites from the Internet.

  3. On the Search Server splash screen, under Install, click Install software prerequisites. If the User Account Control dialog box appears, click Continue.

  4. On the Welcome to the Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Products Preparation Tool screen, click Next.

  5. On the License Terms for software products screen, read and accept the license terms, and then click Next.

    The time that the Preparation Tool requires to complete the procedure depends on the number of components that the tool installs and the speed of the network connection.

  6. Click Finish if a screen appears that has the message, Your system needs to restart to continue. Press Finish to restart your system. After the computer restarts, the Preparation Tool resumes automatically.

  7. On the Installation Complete screen, review the status of each of the prerequisites, and then click Finish.

    Note

    If the product splash screen does not appear again after the computer restarts, do one of the following:

    • For Search Server 2010 Express, go to the folder to which you saved the file SearchServerExpress.exe when you downloaded it, and then double-click SearchServerExpress.exe.

    • For Search Server 2010, find the file Splash.hta where you started the product installation (on the hard disk drive, on the product disc, or in a network location), and then double-click Splash.hta.

Install Search Server 2010 or Search Server 2010 Express

Follow this procedure to continue the installation process.

To install Search Server 2010 or Search Server 2010 Express

  1. On the installation splash screen, click Install Search Server or Install Search Server Express. If the User Account Control dialog box appears, click Continue.

  2. For Search Server 2010 only:

    1. On the Enter your Product Key screen, type your product key.

    2. Click Continue after the installation program verifies the product key.

  3. On the Read the Microsoft Software License Terms screen, review and accept the terms, and then click Continue.

  4. On the Choose the installation you want screen, click Standalone or Server Farm.

Depending on whether you chose the Standalone or Server Farm option, proceed to one of the following sections in this article to complete your installation:

  • Run a Standalone installation

  • Run a Server Farm installation

Run a Standalone installation

Follow this procedure to complete a stand-alone installation.

  1. On the Choose the installation you want screen, click Standalone. The Installation Progress screen appears. This part of the setup process takes several minutes to finish.

    Note

    If this procedure fails, check the log files in the temp folder of the user account that ran the procedure. Ensure that you are logged on as the user who ran the procedure, and then type %temp% in the Address bar in Windows Explorer. If the path in Windows Explorer resolves to a location that ends in a 1 or 2, you might have to go up one level to view the log files. The name of the log file is Search Server Express Setup timestamp or Search Server Setup timestamp.

  2. On the Run Configuration Wizard screen:

    1. Ensure that the Run the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard now check box is selected.

    2. Click Close to start the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard.

      Note

      If you close this dialog box without selecting the Run the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard now check box, you can run the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard later. To do this, click Start, point to All Programs, and then click Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Products. If the User Account Control dialog box appears, click Continue.

  3. On the Welcome to SharePoint Products screen, click Next.

  4. In the dialog box that notifies you that some services might be restarted or reset during configuration, click Yes.

    The SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard runs for several minutes to automate configuration tasks such as installing Search Server services, installing and configuring SQL Server databases, and creating the Search Server Web applications and sites for Central Administration, Search Administration, and the Search Center.

  5. On the Configuration Successful screen, click Finish. The default Search Center opens. This completes the stand-alone installation.

    Note

    The remaining procedures in this article pertain only to installing with the Server Farm installation option. To continue to configure the new stand-alone installation, see Configure enterprise search (Search Server 2010).

  6. To go to the Central Administration Web site from which you can start administering the new deployment, go to the Windows Start menu, click All Programs, and then click SharePoint 2010 Central Administration.

    Note

    If you are prompted for a user name and password, type the credentials that you used to log on to the computer. Add the site to the list of trusted sites in Internet Explorer when you are prompted.

Run a Server Farm installation

Use the following procedure to complete a Server Farm installation.

  1. Verify that the user account that installs Search Server satisfies the following requirements:

    • Is a domain user account.

    • Is a member of the Administrators group on the local computer (and on each computer on which Search Server will be installed).

    • Has a SQL Server login on the computer that hosts the associated SQL Server databases. (The account that installs SQL Server automatically has this SQL Server login.)

    • Is a member of the following SQL Server security roles: securityadmin fixed server role and dbcreator fixed server role. (The account that installs SQL Server is automatically a member of these roles.)

    • Is a member of the db_owner fixed database role (applies only to databases that are affected when the user account runs Windows PowerShell cmdlets).

    For more information, see Administrative and service accounts required for initial deployment (Search Server 2010).

  2. On the Choose the installation you want screen, click Server Farm. The Server Type screen appears.

  3. On the Server Type screen:

    1. On the Server Type tab, click Complete. This option installs all components to create a fully functional Search Server configuration. It also enables you to add servers to form a multiple-server farm after installation on the first server is completed.

    2. Optional: In the File Location tab, change the installation path or the path for the index files. Ensure that there is sufficient disk space in the location specified for the full-text index. Disk space required for the full-text index can vary from approximately 2 GB for a full-text index that contains 300,000 items to approximately 1 terabyte for a full-text index that contains 100 million items.

  4. Click Install Now. The Installation Progress screen appears. The process takes several minutes to be completed.

  5. On the Run Configuration Wizard screen:

    1. Ensure that the Run the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard now check box is selected.

    2. Click Close to start the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard.

  6. On the Welcome to SharePoint Products screen, click Next.

  7. In the dialog box that notifies you that some services might be restarted or reset during configuration, click Yes.

  8. On the Connect to a server farm screen, click Create a new server farm, and then click Next.

  9. On the Specify Configuration Database Settings screen, fill in the following fields as appropriate for your organization:

    • Database server – Name of an existing SQL Server host that meets the version requirements that are specified in the Software requirements section in Hardware and software requirements (Search Server 2010).

    • Database name – Accept the default database name (SharePoint_Config), or type a different name. If the specified database already exists, it must be empty. If the database does not exist, it is created automatically.

      Note the database name that you specify here in case you add servers to the Search Server 2010 deployment later. It might be helpful to specify a friendly name that you can remember. You must specify the database name again when you install Search Server 2010 on additional servers in the farm.

    • Database Access Account – Verify that the user account that you want to specify is a SQL Server login and is a member of the SQL Server securityadmin and dbcreator fixed server roles, and then follow the instructions on the screen.

  10. Click Next.

  11. On the Specify Farm Security Settings screen, type a new passphrase in the Passphrase and Confirm passphrase text boxes.

  12. Click Next.

  13. On the Configure SharePoint Central Administration Web Application screen, accept the suggested port number or type a port number that you want to use.

  14. On the Completing the SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard screen, confirm the settings, ensuring that you entered the correct Configuration Database Server name and Configuration Database Name.

  15. Click Next. The SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard runs for a few minutes to automate several configuration tasks.

  16. On the Configuration Successful page, click Finish.

    Warning

    If you are prompted for a user name and password, type the credentials that you used to log on to the computer. Add the site to the list of trusted sites in Internet Explorer when you are prompted.

  17. On the Help Make SharePoint Better screen, select your preference, and then click OK.

    Note

    If you are prompted for your user name and password, type the credentials that you used to log on to the computer. Add the site to the list of trusted sites in Internet Explorer when you are prompted.

To run the Initial Farm Configuration Wizard

  1. On the Configure your SharePoint farm page, in response to How do you want to configure your SharePoint farm?, do one of the following:

    1. Click Cancel to go to the Central Administration Web site and start to configure the farm without using this wizard. If you click Cancel, you have completed the procedures in this article. You can start the Initial Farm Configuration Wizard later from the Configuration Wizards page in the Central Administration Web site. To continue to configure the new installation, see Configure enterprise search (Search Server 2010).

    2. Click Start the Wizard if you want the wizard to help you select farm services to use and create your first site. The services that you select will run with default settings on all servers in the farm.

  2. On the Configure your SharePoint farm page, in the Service Account section, click a service account option that you want to use to configure the services.

    Important

    We strongly recommend that you specify a user account that is not the farm administrator account to configure services in the farm. If you specify the farm administrator account to configure services, the default content access account is also configured as the farm administrator account. In that case, the default content access account might have permissions to crawl certain documents that you do not want to crawl.

  3. On the Configure your SharePoint farm page, in the Services section, all services in the list except Lotus Notes Connector are selected by default. We recommend that you accept the default settings for the services to run in the farm, and then click Next.

    The following table describes the services that are listed in the Services section.

    Service Description

    Business Data Connectivity Service

    Provides the SharePoint farm with the ability to upload Business Data Connectivity models that describe the interfaces of your enterprise's line-of-business systems. This enables access to the data that is in these systems.

    Lotus Notes Connector

    Search connector to crawl the data in a Lotus Notes environment.

    Search Service Application

    Crawls content and serves search queries.

    Secure Store Service

    Stores data (for example, a credential set) securely and associates it with a specific identity or group of identities.

    State Service

    Provides temporary storage of user session data for Search Server components.

    Usage and Health data collection

    Collects farm-wide usage and health data so that administrators can view usage and health reports.

    Web Analytics Service Application

    Collects usage and health data for use by administrators and features.

  4. On the Create Site Collection page, create a Search Center by doing the following:

    1. Optionally, in the Title and Description section:

      1. In the Title box, type a title for the new site collection. You might want to specify a name that indicates that you are creating a Search Center.

      2. In the Description box, type a description of the site collection.

    2. In the Web Site Address section, specify a URL for the site collection.

      For future use, bookmark or note the URL of this Search Center site.

    3. In the Template Selection section, click the Enterprise tab.

    4. In the Select a template list, ensure that the Basic Search Center template is selected. The Search Center site includes pages for displaying search results.

    5. Click OK.

    6. On the This completes the Farm Configuration Wizard page, review the summary of the farm configuration, and then click Finish to go to the SharePoint Central Administration Web site to configure other settings for the farm. For information about how to continue to configure the new installation, see Configure enterprise search (Search Server 2010).