Installing the right version of SharePoint

So you think that you have done everything right, but still SQL setup (in PowerPivot SharePoint integration mode) still reports “You don’t have a ‘Complete’ SharePoint installation.” How can this happen?

• You might not have followed the installation guide. It tells you to first select “Farm” and then “Complete” on your first two screens after you enter your SharePoint product key. If you are installing on a domain controller, then the only selection that is supported is “Farm” and “Complete”, thus on a domain controller you won’t even be asked – it just defaults to this configuration. They don’t even offer you the possibility of running in an unsupported configuration. Just double check what you asked for. BTW: If you are running a RC0 version of SharePoint there is a known bug that a “Standalone” rather than “Farm” install is done. This is a RC0 only bug and it was fixed in a later build.
• You might have installed the wrong version of SharePoint. You might have installed SharePoint Foundation Server instead of SharePoint Server. It turns out that this is very easy to do. It also does not ask you about “Farm” or “Complete” – it automatically installs a standalone SharePoint installation.  So, how can you tell the difference (besides one returns an error; and one doesn’t) Here is a trick:

• This is what the installation folder looks like with SharePoint Foundation Server:

  

  This will generate a “standalone” installation – and PowerPivot cannot use it. While there is a setup rule about the version of SharePoint installed, under certain circumstances, instead SQL Setup reports that a SharePoint “Complete” installation was not done. Even the error message is a bit misleading since what the rule is actually checking it to see if the registry key:

  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Web Server Extensions\14.0\WSS
  Name: ServerRole = SINGLESERVER | APPLICATION

  contains “APPLICATION”. So how can you check for a SharePoint Server 2010 distribution? Just look for some extra folders!

  Here is what a SharePoint Server 2010 distribution looks like:

  

  Notice the differences in the folders. There are additional folders for Excel Services, Access Services, and all of the new SharePoint 2010 services. Even though you might not actually turn on these features on your SharePoint site, the fact that the folders exist on the distribution tells you that you have the correct version of the product. This is the distribution you must be using for a good PowerPivot installation. Don’t worry about if it is Standard Edition or Enterprise Edition. In SharePoint, that is a difference in the key you install into the server. The bits are exactly the same.

Enjoy.