This document details how to install and test an SDL Tridion Content Manager 2013 install on Windows 2012 with a SQL Server database.

Document Summary

This tutorial guides you through installing and testing SDL Tridion Content Manager 2013 on Windows 2012 with a SQL Server.
Based on the original Creating a Development (SDL Tridion 2011) VM guide by Nuno Linhares, this is meant as a guide and may apply only to the SDL Tridion 2013 GA release.

Tutorial Sections:

• Part 1: Setting up the VM
• Part 2: Preparing Windows
• Part 3: Setting up the Database
• Part 4: Installing the Content Manager
• Part 5: Validating the Content Manager
• Part 6: Installing Visual Studio

Platform Details

Windows Version

• Microsoft Windows Server 2012 (x64)

Database version

• Microsoft SQL Server 2012 SP1

Software requirements for this tutorial

• Microsoft Windows Server 2012 (x64) (or Windows 2008 R2 SP1 x64)*
• Microsoft SQL Server 2012 SP1
• Microsoft Visual Studio 2012
• VMWare Player 5.0
• SDL Tridion 2013
• Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5
• Microsoft IIS 8

*To avoid performance issues on a local Virtual Machine (VM), consider using Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 (64-bit) instead.

Glossary

Creating your Virtual Machine

This step will guide you through the steps required to build a VM. You will need the following:

• Windows 2012 (x64) ISO (downloadable from MSDN)
• Windows 2012 Product Key (retrievable from MSDN)
• VMWare Player 5.0 (free download from www.vmware.com)

Creating the Virtual Machine

Launch VMWare Player, click on "Create a New Virtual Machine"

Select to install from an "Installer disc image file (iso)" and browse to the location of your Windows 2012 ISO file

Enter your product key, and add a user (recommended). Use a password you can remember!

Give your machine a nice name.

Give yourself enough space for growth. Gone are the days of 5, 10, or even 20 GB VM images, so make sure you don't have to go find ways to hack your disk size later on.

Click on "Customize Hardware" and set at least 2 or even 4 GB of RAM to your VM, based on your host machine's capabilities.

Click Finish. VMWare Player will now use "Easy Install" to prepare your VM. This will take between 20 and 40 minutes, depending on your hardware and background processes.

Next section: Preparing Windows

Move on to: Preparing Windows