Workaround: SharePoint 2013 Preview prerequisite installer doesn’t install the Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 Native Client

If you install SharePoint 2013 Preview by running the prerequisite installer (Microsoft SharePoint Products Preparation Tool) and you see this line in the log file:

Error: The tool was unable to install Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 Native Client.

Use these steps to work around the problem:

• Go to http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=262370 and manually download and install the Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 Native Client (1033\x64\sqlncli.msi).

  Important! Do not download and use 1033\IA64\sqlncli.msi or 1033\x86\sqlncli.msi. These versions are not supported for this preview release.

• Run the Microsoft SharePoint Products Preparation Tool again.

Determine your SQL Server Version, Service Pack, and Edition

To determine the version of SQL Server, you can use any of the following methods:

Method 1

Connect to the server by using Object Explorer in SQL Server Management Studio. After Object Explorer is connected, it will show the version information in parentheses, together with the user name that is used to connect to the specific instance of SQL Server.

Method 2

Connect to the instance of SQL Server, and then run the following query:

Select @@version

An example of the output of this query is as follows:

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 (SP1) – 10.0.2531.0 (X64)   Mar 29 2009 10:11:52
Copyright (c) 1988-2008 Microsoft Corporation
Express Edition (64-bit) on Windows NT 6.1 <X64> (Build 7600: )

Method 3

Connect to the instance of SQL Server, and then run the following query:

SELECT SERVERPROPERTY(‘productversion’), SERVERPROPERTY (‘productlevel’), SERVERPROPERTY (‘edition’)

Note This query works with any instance of SQL Server 2000 or later

The following results are returned:

• The product version (for example, 10.0.1600.22)
• The product level (for example, RTM)
• The edition (for example, Enterprise)

For example, the results resemble the following:

10.0.1600.22 RTM Enterprise Edition

Note The SERVERPROPERTY function returns individual properties that relate to the version information, although the @@VERSION function combines the output into one string. If your application requires individual property strings, you can use the SERVERPROPERTY function to return them instead of parsing the @@VERSION results.

VERSION INFORMATION

SQL Server 2012 version information

The following table lists the major releases of SQL Server 2012:

Release	Product Version
SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 1	11.00.3000.00
SQL Server 2012 RTM	11.00.2100.60

SQL Server 2008 R2 version information

The following table lists the major releases of SQL Server 2008 R2:

Release	Product version
SQL Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 2	10.50.4000.0
SQL Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1	10.50.2500.0
SQL Server 2008 R2 RTM	10.50.1600.1

SQL Server 2008 version information

The following table lists the major releases of SQL Server 2008:

Release	Product version
SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 3	10.00.5500.00
SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 2	10.00.4000.00
SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 1	10.00.2531.00
SQL Server 2008 RTM	10.00.1600.22

SQL Server 2005 version information

The following table lists the major releases of SQL Server 2005:

Release	Product version
SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 4	9.00.5000.00
SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 3	9.00.4035
SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2	9.00.3042
SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 1	9.00.2047
SQL Server 2005 RTM	9.00.1399

SQL Server 2000 version information

The following table lists version number of the Sqlservr.exe file:

Release	Product version
SQL Server 2000 Service Pack 4	8.00.2039
SQL Server 2000 Service Pack 3	8.00.760
SQL Server 2000 Service Pack 3	8.00.760
SQL Server 2000 Service Pack 2	8.00.534
SQL Server 2000 Service Pack 1	8.00.384
SQL Server 2000 RTM	8.00.194

For more information, please refer to Microsoft KB321185 – How To Identify your SQL Server Service Pack Version and Edition.

Ref : lumension

SharePoint 2013 SP1 support in Windows Server 2012 R2

Before the release of Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013 Service Pack 1 (SP1), Microsoft did not support the installation of SharePoint Server 2013 in a Windows Server 2012 R2-based environment. However, with the release of SharePoint Server 2013 SP1, this configuration is supported in Windows Server 2012 R2. You can now download SharePoint Server 2013 SP1 from the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN), the Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC), and the Microsoft Partner Network (MPN).

Note You should avoid creating your own slipstream versions because of a change in the package layout that was introduced with the March 2013 product update.

This Article Applies to

• Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2013
• Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter
• Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials
• Windows Server 2012 R2 Foundation
• Windows Server 2012 R2 Preview
• Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard

Keywords:
KB2891274

Ref : Support Microsoft

Best Practices to follow before installing a SQL Server Service Pack

1.  Perform a full backup of all User, System and Resource database.

2. Note down of the important SQL Server Configuration Settings, Startup Parameters, Linked Servers, and Script out SQL Server Agent Jobs, Script out SQL Server Logins, Memory Utilization, CPU and Disk Utilization etc.

3. Create an appropriate Service Pack Deployment and Rollback Plan

4. Always install Service Packs first in Development environment and then test all applications which are using SQL Server.

5. Once everything looks good in development environment, then only install Service Pack in QA environment. Test all applications which are using SQL Server in QA environment and also test your rollback plan.

6. If everything look good in both Development and QA environment then plan to install Service Pack in a Production environment by communicating an appropriate downtime window to the stake holders and database/application users.

7. Once the Service Pack is installed successfully in a Production environment perform sanity checks to confirm all applications are working fine.

8. Reboot the SQL Server once Service Pack / Cumulative Updates or a Security Updates are applied successfully on the server.

9. If everything looks goods then release the Production environment for user activities and monitor the environment closely for a week or two to make sure there are no unusual spikes in CPU and Memory utilization.