For the unattended deploying of SQL 2005 Express or also SQL 2008 R2 Express I highly recommend to not do that if you do not want to run into a support nightmare!
For us we have implemented such a solution in an MSI Installer (UI sequence to chain it) and it works in our testing environment well. But actually the SQL Express Server is deeply tied into the OS (e.g. Windows Authentication) and has several issues e.g. in Offline scenarios when e.g. a Notebook is not connected to a domain and therefore the SQL Server is not working. On the other hand side if you install the SQL server you also have to care about the security issues of this server instance and tell your customer to make the backups. Also we have severe issues at our customer sites where troubleshooting is not very easy and this is assumed to be at least for 50% of all installations. In total this is a real support nightmare and you need people understand the customers domain environment and how to troubleshoot the sql server express in these environments. And also customers do things like changing the computer names or domain names what a SQL server doesn't like. That then becomes a support issue for you. In total I highly recommend not to do that and look for a better alternative for data storage. One solution might be a full blown SQL Server which is maintained by a SQL admin (with deeper SQL server understanding) for several clients. Microsoft does the same e.g. for the TFS environment where the configuration is described for an admin and in our company this guy had to solve several issues which were not described in that manual but appeared in our environment. For data storage at client side have a look at an embedded database e.g. at VistaDB (good equivalent for SQL Server Express Edition), MS SQL Compact Edition or SQLite. Spending here some time for migration to one of these concepts definitely helps you in preventing a unattended MS SQL Server Express nightmare. Tobias 2010/11/15 Blair <os...@live.com>: > Several of my messages don't seem to go through either. Many other times I > see from the list replies to messages I never received, etc. SF seems to not > always be the most reliable system around... > > -----Original Message----- > From: Christopher Painter [mailto:chr...@deploymentengineering.com] > Sent: Sunday, November 14, 2010 5:30 PM > To: General discussion for Windows Installer XML toolset. > Subject: Re: [WiX-users] Deploying sql server express > > I sent the below response yesterday morning but I never saw it appear in the > > list. Either SourceForge is dropping messages or I am being censored for > some > reason. > > Chris > > Christopher Painter, Author of Deployment Engineering Blog > Have a hot tip, know a secret or read a really good thread that deserves > attention? E-Mail Me > > > > ----- Original Message ---- > From: Christopher Painter <chr...@deploymentengineering.com> > To: General discussion for Windows Installer XML toolset. > <wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net> > Sent: Sat, November 13, 2010 7:14:18 AM > Subject: Re: [WiX-users] Deploying sql server express > > 2005 or 2008? Personally I'm of the opinion that if you need a light weight > sql > > engine that's easy to deploy to go with Compact Edition. If you need > something > heavier it should only go on a server and not a client and don't > even attempt to > > automate the installation of it. SQL Express Setup has really, really > grown > out of control in terms of it's size, number of prereqs and conditions that > it > checks for ( you can't install this feature because xxx is already installed > > ). Silent install of this beast is still fine for admins in a > controlled environment but trying to put it into a product installer to run > silently on any machine has reached the point of insanity, IMO. > > > Christopher Painter, Author of Deployment Engineering Blog > Have a hot tip, know a secret or read a really good thread that deserves > attention? E-Mail Me > > > > ----- Original Message ---- > From: Sean Farrow <sean.far...@seanfarrow.co.uk> > To: "wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net" <wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net> > Sent: Sat, November 13, 2010 4:07:58 AM > Subject: [WiX-users] Deploying sql server express > > Hi: > I'm in the process of looking at deploying sql server express with an > application. > What is the best way of doing this, given that sql server express no longer > uses > > merge modules. > Any thoughts/advice appreciated. > Cheers > Sean. > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > -- > Centralized Desktop Delivery: Dell and VMware Reference Architecture > Simplifying enterprise desktop deployment and management using > Dell EqualLogic storage and VMware View: A highly scalable, end-to-end > client virtualization framework. Read more! > http://p.sf.net/sfu/dell-eql-dev2dev > _______________________________________________ > WiX-users mailing list > WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users > > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > -- > Centralized Desktop Delivery: Dell and VMware Reference Architecture > Simplifying enterprise desktop deployment and management using > Dell EqualLogic storage and VMware View: A highly scalable, end-to-end > client virtualization framework. Read more! > http://p.sf.net/sfu/dell-eql-dev2dev > _______________________________________________ > WiX-users mailing list > WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Centralized Desktop Delivery: Dell and VMware Reference Architecture > Simplifying enterprise desktop deployment and management using > Dell EqualLogic storage and VMware View: A highly scalable, end-to-end > client virtualization framework. Read more! > http://p.sf.net/sfu/dell-eql-dev2dev > _______________________________________________ > WiX-users mailing list > WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Beautiful is writing same markup. Internet Explorer 9 supports standards for HTML5, CSS3, SVG 1.1, ECMAScript5, and DOM L2 & L3. Spend less time writing and rewriting code and more time creating great experiences on the web. Be a part of the beta today http://p.sf.net/sfu/msIE9-sfdev2dev _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users
