What is the proper order for installing Microsoft software on a developer workstation?

Question

I've done this a million times ... setting up a developer work station.

Is there a best practices, or installation checklist for installing Microsoft development software on a work station? What about applying updates and/or service packs? Is there a specific order for doing this, in hopes of minimizing any install issues.

Our current software library consists of:

• Visual Studio 2003
• Visual Studio 2008
• SQL Server 2005
• Microsoft Office 2007

We do use some other tools, but I usually hold off on installing them once I get a good build from Microsoft ... whether a good build is possible or not is another topic! =)

Also, do you use any software like Ghost to create images of work station? Some easy way to restore your work station.

Answer 1

I would use the following and this order IS KEY if you want to do ASP.NET Development without issue.

• Operating System
• IIS for the OS <- If not done before VS, issues can be had
• OS Updates
• Office
• Office Updates
• SQL Server and tools
• SQL Server Updates
• VS 2003
• VS 2003 Updates
• VS 2005 (DON'T install SQL Express)
• VS 2005 Updates
• VS 2008
• VS 2008 Updates
• VS 2010
• VS 2010 Updates
• VS 2012
• VS 2012 Updates
• Any third party tools for development environments (Telerik, DevExpress, etc)

I have found that with this format, you will NOT have any issues, but if you change the order, I have had bad things happen before. Especially important is the IIS setup piece!

Answer 2

I'm definitely a Ghost addict. At a former work I would spend about 2-3 hours configuring properly everything needed for a user: Windows+patches, Office+patches, Acrobat Reader, etc. Once everything's ready I would create an image of the whole hard drive using Ghost, and store it somewhere (if possible, ZIP it and burn it to a DVD).

Then, when a new colleague arrived, I had Ghost restore the image onto a new hard drive - this was accomplished in 20 minutes or less! After that, manual work was reduced to:

• Changing PC's name
• Changing Windows and Office License numbers (I remember there was a tool at TechRepublic for this, technically it's not illegal)
• Changing PC's IP address (if you're not using DHCP)
• Ready!

All of those steps can be easily scripted, if you wish. Anyway, it's just 10 minutes or less.

At my current work I'm just a developer so I'm not in charge of preparing machines for new coworkers anymore. However, from this past experience I'd say using Ghost is the fastest and most cost effective way to setup new computers!

Especially the Windows installation and going to Windows Update - argh!! I really hate loosing so much time at these steps, it can be tolerated if you only do that once.

Answer 3

I'd do:

• Operating System
• Office
• .Net framework runtimes
• Security Updates
• SQL Server
• Visual Studio
• Source control client
• Anti-virus/security software (if applicable)
• Any other tools (Notepad++, ftp client, etc)
• Security Updates

SQL Server comes before Visual studio because I use the Developer Edition or a full edition from MSDN. If you install Visual Studio first, it will want to put Sql Server Express Edition on my system, which I don't want.

That just leaves the order for visual studio installs. In general you want to install the older products first. However, there may be a situation where that's not the case. If you have, say, VS2008 Standard and VS2003 Professional you might want to install the professional edition later. But I haven't been able to play with that particular scenario.

Finally, I normally prefer to apply all patches at once. It saves time. However, I want to make sure my .Net runtimes are up to date before installing the developement tools, and in the case of multiple editions of Visual Studio (or any other complicated package) I prefer to make sure each instance of the software is fully up to date before installing the next. This helps with compatibility issues.

Answer 4

I tend to go in chronological order. The oldest software to the most recent.

In your case I would do something like

1. Office 2007 (I usually install office first)
2. VS2003
3. Install VS2003 updates through Microsoft update
4. SQL Server 2005
5. Install SQL Server 2005 through Microsoft Update

And so on...

When the setup is over and the machine is configured I do a full base image with Acronis True Image.

Answer 5

I don't use Ghost as none of the workstations I setup are ever identical.

As far as install order, I would do:

• Office 2007
• SQL Server 2005
• VS 2003
• VS 2008

Answer 6

My recommendation is to start with the OS and its updates, then add Office if you need that and then install Virtual PC or VMWare. This way you can separate the different versions (and betas) of all the development stuff into different VPC's. Your real hardware will stay clean and you are able to switch between environments very smoothly.

Answer 7

For a web platform, Microsoft has a nice package installer here: http://www.microsoft.com/web/channel/products/WebPlatformInstaller.aspx

I like using sysprep before imaging a machine so that I can create multiple workstations with the same config

Answer 8

You should be able to install each piece of software regardless of the order you install it in. That being said, if you want to be 'safe', start with the lowest version of each and work you way up, installing the updates/SP's as you go along.