Unlike the other Microsoft products like Exchange, SQL Server or ISA, the installation of Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server is quite different. Like most technical people in IT the install procedure of most products is running the setup executable, leaving the defaults as they are and then selecting finish. We then go and look for the "Admin Console" and start studying the product form there. Unfortunately if you try this with MOSS, there is no admin console. There are also a number of other areas of the installation that people miss or do incorrectly.

During all of the training session that I have done on WSS and MOSS, there are a number of places that people make mistakes. I have therefore decided to create a quick step guide to help people through the process. The following steps will be explained in greater detail further in the document.

1:	Install Binaries from CD
2:	Run Configuration Wizard
3:	Start Services
4:	Create the first SSP
5:	Create first Web Application
6:	Create first Site Collection

1. Install Binaries from CD

The first step is to install the binaries from the installation CD. This is done quite simply by running the "setup.exe" from the CD, but you have to decide whether you are installing the 32 bit or 64 bit version. There are also different version of Sharepoint that you can choose from namely: WSS , MOSS Standard, MOSS Enterprise and MOSS for Search. I will not elaborate on the differences between these versions in this blog, this I will discuss in another blog.

After installation the binaries are copied into a directory called the "12 Hive". This is just an abbreviation, because the install path is quite lengthy ("C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12"). All of the files required to run Sharepoint are installed in this folder and no files are copied into the "Inetpub" directory at this stage.

2. Run Configuration Wizard

Immediately after installation the "Configuration Wizard" will launch. If not, a shortcut can be found on the "Programs" menu under the title "Office Server". This wizard is used to create the web admin console that is used to configure the rest of the components.

A number of things need to be in place before using the wizard:

1:	IIS needs to be installed	Local
2:	Service account needs to be created on Active Directory	Remote
3:	SQL Server 2000 (sp 4) or SQL 2005 needs to be available	Local or Remote
4:	Need to be logged in under an Local or Domain account with Admin Rights	Local or Remote

 

The wizard will prompt you with a number of questions that you need to provide answers for:

1:	Are you creating a new farm or are you joining an existing farm.
2:	Name of the SQL Server to be used.
3:	Name of the Configuration database
4:	Whether this machine will be a front end web server or SSP only

 

Once all the information is provided and you select finish, the wizard will create the admin console. This is achieved by creating a web site, application pool and configuration database. This process takes about 10 minutes and then you can use the admin web console.

3. Start Services on Server

The services used by MOSS can be configured by using the admin web console which can be found under "Administrative Tools". Open the admin console and select the "Operations" tab, then select the the link called "Services on Server".

There are a number of services that can be started on the server that do a number of different things, but there are only three that are critical to complete the install process successfully.

• Windows Sharepoint Services Web Application - this should already be started otherwise the admin console would not work.
• Windows Sharepoint Service Help Search - used to do searching at site collection level
• Office Sharepoint Server Search - required during the configuration of the SSP that will follow.

Each of the services will prompt you with configuration screens when started, but I will not be discussing those details in this blog.

4. Create the first SSP

The "Shared Service Provider" is the main differentiating between WSS and MOSS. It provides an additional management console that is required to configure and manage the additional services that are installed with MOSS. These services include the following:

1.	Profile	Used to import information people information
2.	Business Data Catalog	Connections to external database systems
3.	Search and Indexing	Catalog all information in the Enterprise
4.	Excel Services	Server side calculations of Excel Spreadsheets
5.	Audiences	Targeting content to certain users
6.	My Site	Private site for each user in Sharepoint
7.	Usage Reporting	Usage analysis of user activity

 

To create an SSP select the "Application Management" tab and then select "Create and configure this farm's shared services". The following screen allows you to create a new SSP by selecting "New SSP" from the toolbar.

The creation of the SSP is probably the most complicated part of the MOSS installation and therefore I will be spending some time defining the various areas:

1.	SSP Name	This section requires you to provided a logical name for the SSP and the ability to create a new web site. It is important to create a new web site! Do not install into the default web site as you will break anything else running there. I will discuss the process of creating a new web site in section 5 of this blog.
2.	My Site Location	The "My Site" component will create a new "Profile" database in SQL server and a new web site. It is possible to create a virtual directory in one of the existing web sites, but it is a better practice to create a completely new web application.
3.	SSP Service Credentials	The SSP consists of a number of sub systems that enhance the capabilities of MOSS. These sub systems have to run within a particular security context as determined by the service account. Normally the privileges of this service account needs to be quite high.
4.	SSP Database	All the metadata and configuration data contained within the SSP needs to be stored somewhere. This will create the SSP database.
5.	Search Database	The search service forms part of the SSP and is configured from here. The search service needs to store security information about what content is available to which users. This is stored in the search database that will be created.
6.	Index Server	The Index service and search service does not have to exist on the same server. The drop down combo box therefore allows you to select another service. This will only be available if you created more that one SSP. The catalog file that the index services will use to store the data will by default end up on the C: drive. This is not a good idea, change it to a larger disk.

 

5. Create the First Web Application

Now that the main configuration has been done, we can start by building the infrastructure to host you first portal site. The explanation that follows will be the same procedure as referred to in the previous section when creating a new web site or application. Navigate to the "Application Management" tab and the select the hyperlink called "Create or Extend Web Application". This version of MOSS 2007 will create the complete web site and application for you. The previous version forced you to create it in IIS manually and the extend it from within Sharepoint.

The above dialog box will be used to create the new web application, but once again there are a number of areas to look out for:

1.	IIS Web site	Always create a new web application and specify a logical name that is descriptive of the purpose of the site. Each web application in IIS must have an unique port number in IIS unless you provide a proper domain name in the "Host Header" field. Remember to register the domain name with an DNS server either internal or external to you network. A directory will also be created under the "Inetpub" directory, but this is only to host extensions in the form of web parts as most of the content will be stored in the content database.
2.	Security Configuration	Authentication for MOSS is done through IIS using either "Active Directory" , Anonymous or SSL. Please note that if you use anonymous, all access to the site is "Read Only" regardless of you network credentials. SSL will require a digital certificate issued by an CA either internal or external to your network.
3.	Load Balanced URL	The URL is created based on the settings defined earlier when creating the web application, but if the DNS entry is different then you might want to change this.
4.	Application Pool	Application pools is a new feature with IIS 6.0 that allows each web application to run in a different process. This allows each application to be started and stopped independently from one another. Another important aspect is the identity of the application pool that will be used to connect to external resource outside of IIS. Therefore the service account used here will used to connect to SQL Server. Ensure that this account has a valid logon in the SQL Server.
5.	Restart IIS	This is where most people break the creation of the web application. Once all the settings are complete on this page and you select the "OK" button, IIS will start the creation process. Before you can see the web site, you will have to run an "IISreset" from the command line. Most people are impatient and run the "IISreset" before the creation process is complete and therefore the process fails. Rather run and "IISreset /noforce"  that will allow IIS to complete all IIS threads before initiating a restart.
6.	Database Name	Each web application will have its own content database to store all its information. This section allows you to specify the server, database name and account with sufficient privileges to create the database.
7.	Search Server	Each web application can be connected to a different search server depending on how many SSP's you created. Quite often this option is disabled. This is normally caused by not starting the search service or not configuring the SSP.

 

6. Create the first Site Collection

Even though we created the web application, we still have nothing to look at. This is because there is no content, features or web parts configured in any logical format. This is achieved by creating a site collection within the web application. It is important to note that one web application can have many site collections within it, each with a different template applied. Each site collection can have many sub-sites creating separate hierarchical structures within the web application. Navigate to the "Application Management" tab and select the option called "Create Site Collection".

Once again there are a number of things to take note of to do this successfully:

1.	Web Application	You must select the web application in the drop down list that you created in section 5 of this blog. Most people leave the default and then they create the site collection under the admin web site.
2.	Title and Description	This will appear on the home page of the site as a description of the purpose of the site.
3.	Web Site Address	Site collection are normally created in a virtual directory called "Sites" under the path of the web application. Give a name to your site collection and it will appear as a virtual directory under "Sites".
4.	Template	Templates is a discussion by itself, but I will summarize it here. Sites consist of features, web parts and style sheets, Templates is a fast way of getting a site up and running without having to define it yourself. I prefer a "Blank Site" as it allows me to configure these things myself.
5.	Administrator	Each site collection can have its own administrator that does not work in IT. This will give a "Power User" in a certain department complete control within this site collection. MOSS was designed with delegation of authority in mind.
6.	Quota	This allows you to limit the amount of disk space that can be consumed by this site collection. Additional templates can be define under the "Application Management" tab and then selecting "Quota Templates".

 

This is the bare bones version of getting MOSS up and running properly. The last tip that I will give you is to follow the task list in sequence as defined on the "Home" tab within administration console.

Related Blogs:

Sharepoint Server Topologies

Overview of Shared Service Providers in Sharepoint

Joining a WFE server to a Sharepoint Farm

SharePoint - Applications, Site Collections and Sites

A developer's 101 to installing Windows SharePoint Services 3.0