Install a ConfigMgr 2012 SP1 Primary Site on Windows Server 2012

Before installing the stand-alone Primary Site server, I highly recommend that you take a look at this post. That post will help you with the prerequisites for ConfigMgr 2012 SP1 on Windows Server 2012. In addition to the prerequisites you’d also need to have completed a series of steps in your environment for the installation to work. You can find a guide about how you do that here. Let’s begin!
1. Begin with mounting the ConfigMgr 2012 SP1 ISO to your server.
2. Browse the ISO image and launch splash.html.
3. Click Install.

4. Click Next on the Before You Begin page.

5. Make sure Install a Configuration Manager primary site is selected and click Next.

6. Enter your product key and click Next.

7. Check I accept these license terms and click Next.

8. On the Prerequisite Licenses page, check all three check boxes and click Next.

9. If you’ve followed my guide regarding installing the prerequisites for ConfigMgr 2012 SP1, the prerequisites are already downloaded to C:\ConfigMgr_Prereq. Select Use previously downloaded files and enter the path to where they are stored, in this example it will be C:\ConfigMgr_Prereq. If you havn’t pre-downloaded the files, select Download required files and enter a path.

10. On the Server Language Selection page, select the languages you’d like to install. In this example, we’ll go with the default (English). Click Next.

11. On the Client Language Selection page, select your languages that you’d like the clients to support. Click Next.

12. On the Site and Installation Settings page, you should enter a Site code and Site name. You should be aware that it’s not supported to change these values after the installation is completed. Choose wisely. I like to go with P01 as my Primary Site code and give it a name like Primary Site – <Location of the site>. Click Next.

13. On the Primary Site Installation page, you have the options to choose if you’re joining this Primary Site to a existing hierarchy or if you’re installing this as a stand-alone site. In this post we’ll go with the stand-alone install. One of the benefits with ConfigMgr 2012 SP1 is that you have the option to join your stand-alone Primary Site to an existing hierarchy in the future if you need it. Bare in mind though, it’s rarely necessary for anyone to install a CAS (Central Administration Site) and join your stand-alone Primary Site to that hierarchy. Select Install the primary site as a stand-alone site and click Next.

14. When prompted, click Yes.

15. On the Database Information page, enter the FQDN of your SQL Server in the SQL Server name (FQDN) field. If you’re SQL Server is configured to use the default instance name, do not type anything in the Instance name (leave blank for default) field. On the other hand and if the SQL Server is configured with a custom instance name, enter it here. In this post we’re gonna leave the instance name blank, since these series are for lab environment purposes. Your SQL team should be able to provide you with the required information in order to complete this step. Click Next.

16. On the SMS Provider Settings page, enter the FQDN of the server where you wish to install the SMS Provider. This could be your Primary Site server, SQL Server or a remote server. The SMS Provider is the component which the Configuration Manager console communicates with for database access. If you’re looking for performance in the Configuration Manager console, you should install the SMS Provider on the SQL Server. But if you’re looking to off-load your SQL Server, install the SMS Provider on the Primary Site server. I’ve always installed the SMS Provider on the Primary Site server instead of the SQL Server. Click Next.

17. On the Client Computer Communication Settings page, select Configure the communication method on each site system role. Click Next.

18. On the Site System Roles page, the wizard will give you two options. Make sure that both Install a management point and Install distribution point is selected. As you may notice, you’re not able to change the type of Client connection. This is because the configuration we did in the previous step. Once you’ve completed the installation, it’s possible to change how these Site System roles communicate. But in order to enable HTTPS, you need to have a functional PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) available to enroll certificates to the site servers and clients. I will cover this in a later post. Click Next.

19. On the Customer Experience Improvement Program page, choose if you’d like to participate or not. Click Next.

20. On the Settings Summary page, click Next.

21. The prerequisite check will now start, and if you’ve managed to get everything sorted out should not see any warnings or errors. In this example, you’ll see two warning about SQL Server memory configuration. These are safe to ignore if you’re installing a lab environment but should be addressed in a production environment. Click Begin Install.

22. The installation will now begin, and when it completes click Close. Give it some time for it to complete. Depending on your environment and hardware setup it could take anywhere between 10-50 minutes.

23. Your stand-alone Primary Site server is now installed and you’ll find the Configuration Manager console in the start-screen.