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By now, you should have a fixed clone parent VM with the server OS installed and configured. You should also have a linked clone with VS 2005, SQL Server 2005 and any other developer tools you use frequently.

Before installing Microsoft SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS), you need to configure SQL Server. If you do not see SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) in your Start menu, install if from the client tools on your CD. This is not obvious! As mentioned previously, refer to Keith Pattons's blog postings for detailed steps.

Since this is purely a standalone development machine, you can use your Windows administrator COMPUTERNAME/Administrator login for the database also. Set up the roles as shown in the diagram below. In a production environment, you would first install the database and then set up seven separate domain accounts. Be sure to use the Surface Area Configuration Manager to enable TCP/IP and Named Pipes connections. Then, stop and re-start the database engine service for it to take effect. Also, set SQL Server "Maximum Server Memory" to half of that allocated to the VM. You can do this by right-clicking the server name in SSMS under properties. One more thing regarding the DB: if you plan on playing with Team System, note that it will not work with a "Developer" edition of SQL Server 2005.

The next step is to install Microsoft SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS). Create a new linked clone as before, and grab a free six-month trial of SharePoint here. In VMWare, right-click the drive icon in the task bar and select edit. Now, you can point it to the SharePoint ISO image you just downloaded to the desktop of your host PC. Choose the "Advanced" installation option. Then, on the "Server Type" tab, select the "Complete" option. Follow the steps outlined here. Since this is not a production machine and will not be joining a domain, you do not need to run Sysprep. After the install, you can run the configuration wizard. Aside from starting services and setting up email, note the following order of operations:

  * Create Shared Services Provider (configure index server first)
  * Create Web Application (and reset IIS using iisreset /noforce)
  * Create Site Collection

When you have things configured, run Windows Updates, as you should after each major install. Open Visual Studio at least once. Next, install the tools and extensions. This is the order in which I installed them:

  * Visual Studio Extensions for Windows SharePoint Services (VSeWSS)
  * Visual Studio Tools for Office Second Edition (VSTO)
  * Visual Extensions for Windows Workflow Foundation (VSeWWF)

Both VSTO and VSeWWF wil display success message panels after a successful installation. You can check for a successful installation of VSeWSS by opening Visual Studio and choosing to create a new project. If the install was successful, you should be able to see the SharePoint project templates shown below:

Aside: Tips for Team Development Environment VM:
  * Sysprep the base VM
  * Do not use vOptimizer
  * Do not run the SharePoint Products and Technologies Wizard on the original VM

You should now be up and running. I have kept this series of blog posts brief and referred the reader to step-by-step instructions already covered by other blogs. The goal was to record my personal experience as I attempted to create a SharePoint development environment for my own learning purposes. This was an obvious first step before attempting the slightly more ambitious task of setting up a cloned team development VM. My machine is 3GHz, 2GB RAM and runs XP. My external drive is 160GB. My new environment works like a treat and is reasonably fast when running a single VM. Happy coding!