Installing SQL Server 2008 Express

November 12, 2008

Installing SQL Server 2008 Express - you'd think it would be simple, but you'd be wrong! Here are the steps you will need to go through (on Windows XP at least!)

Now you need to set SQL Server 2008 Express to accept connections from ColdFusion by allowing connections from TCP/IP (which is disabled by default).

To enable it...

You should now be able to connect on port 2775. It is a good idea to lock TCP/IP connections down to one port (for security or to allow another instance of SQL Server to run). SQL Server 2000 used port 1433, so I like to do the same for 2008. To set the port, click on the "IP Address" tab and clear the value for “TCP Dynamic Ports” and enter the port you want to use in the “TcpPort” box. You will need to use the same port when setting up your datasource in the ColdFusion administrator.

Important: You will need to restart the SQL Server Service for it pick up your changes, which you can do from the SQL Server Services node in SQL Server Configuration Manager or from the Services Control Panel.

6 comments

  1. Thanks John. I'll remember that for when I install SQL 2008 Express soon. So what do I have to do again? Reboot? And then reboot some more? I don't view reboots as an annoyance. I've learnt over time to see them as an opportunity for a coffee break. ;-)

    Surely the installer would detect what's missing from your Windows installation and automatically offer to download and install the missing components for you? Or perhaps MS assumed SQL users don't need so much hand holding? Well we don't, but it's more of a convenience feature if it was to have it.

    Comment by Gary Fenton – November 12, 2008
  2. Hi Gary, even though Caffine is a developer's stable diet there is a limit to how many I can drink in a couple of hours ;-)

    The installer does check that you have the required elements, however it just shows a report saying it failed with no useful links to the download. It also doesn't check for all requirements in one go!

    Comment by John Whish – November 12, 2008
  3. Oh my lord... I happened to be an unfortunate victim of all this last night! I didn't even make it all the way through. By the time I finished with the 4.5 Redistributable my laptop was so low on power I powered down for the night.

    Comment by Tariq Ahmed – November 22, 2008
  4. Hi Tariq, you've made it half way through the pre-install then! With another 2 battery packs you'll have it up and running :)

    Comment by John Whish – November 22, 2008
  5. Hello John and thanks for the tips.
    I have donw all steps (with the reboots)
    when I install the Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 Express with Tools (I have it as an exe file downloaded from the link you provided) it extracts all files and opens the admin window. When I try to install a new SQL database it runs and gives an error saying that reboot required and failed. I rebooted several times and no luck.
    Any idea?
    Regards

    Comment by Mahmood – December 21, 2008
  6. Hi Mahmood, Sorry I don't know what the problem is. I'd suggest that you run a registry cleaner and if that doesn't work try installing the latest service pack. Good luck!

    Comment by John Whish – December 23, 2008

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