Install SharePoint 2013 on a single server with a built-in database

APPLIES TO: 2013 2016 2019 Subscription Edition SharePoint in Microsoft 365

You can quickly publish a SharePoint site by deploying SharePoint 2013 on a single server that has a built-in database. This configuration is useful if you want to evaluate SharePoint 2013 features and capabilities, such as collaboration, document management, and search. This configuration is also useful if you are deploying only a few websites and you want to minimize administrative overhead.

This article contains required information and procedures to install and configure SharePoint 2013 with a built-in database on a single server.

Overview

When you deploy SharePoint 2013 on a single server that has a built-in database by using the default settings, Setup installs Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 Express Edition and the SharePoint product. The SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard creates the configuration database and content database for the SharePoint sites. Additionally, the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard installs the SharePoint Central Administration website and creates your first SharePoint site collection.

Consider the following restrictions of this method of installation:

• You cannot use this method on a domain controller or in a workgroup environment.

• This method is not supported for production on a domain controller.

• If your computer is in a workgroup, you cannot install AppFabric for Windows Server.

• A Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 Express Edition database cannot be larger than 10 GB.

• You cannot use user profile synchronization in this type of installation. If you want to use user profile synchronization, you must use a server farm installation of SharePoint 2013. For more information, see Install SharePoint 2013 on a single server with SQL Server or Install SharePoint 2013 across multiple servers for a three-tier farm, and Synchronize user and group profiles in SharePoint Server 2013.

Before you begin

Before you begin installation, make sure that you have met all hardware and software requirements. For more information, see Hardware and software requirements for SharePoint 2013. To make sure that you perform a clean installation of SharePoint 2013, you must first remove any earlier version of SharePoint 2013 and any pre-release prerequisites if installed.

Install SharePoint 2013

To install and configure SharePoint 2013, follow these steps:

1. Run the Microsoft SharePoint Products Preparation Tool.

2. Run Setup, which installs Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 Express Edition and the SharePoint product.

3. Run the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard, which installs and configures the configuration database, the content database, and installs the SharePoint Central Administration website. This wizard also creates your first SharePoint site collection.

4. Configure browser settings.

5. Perform post-installation steps.

Run the Microsoft SharePoint Products Preparation Tool

Because the prerequisite installer downloads components from the Microsoft Download Center, you must have Internet access on the computer on which you are running the installer. Use the following procedure to install software prerequisites for SharePoint 2013.

To run the Microsoft SharePoint Products Preparation Tool

1. Verify that the user account that is performing this procedure is the Setup user account. For information about the Setup user account, see Initial deployment administrative and service accounts in SharePoint Server.

2. In the folder where you downloaded the SharePoint 2013 software, locate and then run prerequisiteinstaller.exe.

3. On the Welcome to the Microsoft SharePoint Products Preparation Tool page, click Next.

4. On the License Terms for software products page, review the terms, select the I accept the terms of the License Agreement(s) check box, and then click Next.

5. On the Installation Complete page, click Finish.

6. After you complete the Microsoft SharePoint Products Preparation Tool, you must also install the following:

• KB 2554876

• KB 2708075

• [KB 2759112]

• [KB 2765317]

Run Setup

The following procedure installs Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 Express Edition and the SharePoint product. At the end of Setup, you can choose to start the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard, which is described later in this section.

To run Setup

1. Verify that the user account that is performing this procedure is the Setup user account. For information about the Setup user account, see Initial deployment administrative and service accounts in SharePoint Server.

2. On the SharePoint Server 2013 or SharePoint Foundation 2013 Start page, click Install SharePoint Server or Install SharePoint Foundation.

3. On the Enter Your Product Key page, enter your product key, and then click Continue.

4. On the Read the Microsoft Software License Terms page, review the terms, select the I accept the terms of this agreement check box, and then click Continue.

5. On the Server Type tab, click Standalone.

6. When Setup finishes, a dialog prompts you to complete the configuration of your server. Ensure that the Run the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard now check box is selected.

7. Click Close to start the configuration wizard.

   Note

   If Setup fails, check log files in the Temp folder of the user account that you used to run Setup. Ensure that you are logged in using the same user account, and then type %temp% in the location bar in Windows Explorer. If the path in Windows Explorer resolves to a location that ends in a "1" or "2", you will have to navigate up one level to view the log files. The log file name is SharePoint Server Setup (< time stamp>).

Run the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard

Use the following procedure to install and configure the configuration database and the content database, and install the SharePoint Central Administration website.

To run the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard

1. Verify that the user account that is performing this procedure is the Setup user account. For information about the Setup user account, see Initial deployment administrative and service accounts in SharePoint Server.

2. If you have closed the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard, you can access it by clicking Start, point to All Programs, click SharePoint 2013 Products, and then click SharePoint 2013 Products Configuration Wizard. If the User Account Control dialog appears, click Continue.

3. On the Welcome to SharePoint Products page, click Next.

4. In the dialog that notifies you that some services might have to be restarted during configuration, click Yes.

5. On the Configuration Successful page, click Finish.

   Note

   If the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard fails, check the PSCDiagnostics log files, which are located on the drive on which SharePoint 2013 is installed, in the %COMMONPROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\15\LOGS folder.

6. On the Template Selection page, select one of the following options, and then click OK:

• In the Template Selection section, click a predefined template.

• In the Solutions Gallery section, click Solutions Gallery, and customize your own site template.

7. On the Set Up Groups for this Site page, specify who should have access to your site, and then either create a new group or use an existing group for these users by doing one of the following:

• To create a new group, click Create a new group, and then type the name of the group and the members that you want to be part of this group.

• To use an existing group, click Use an existing group, and then select the user group in the Item list.

8. Click OK.

Configure browser settings

After you run the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard, you should confirm that SharePoint 2013 works correctly by configuring additional settings in Internet Explorer.

If you are not using Internet Explorer, you might have to configure additional settings for your browser. For information about supported browsers, see Plan browser support in SharePoint 2013.

To confirm that you have configured browser settings correctly, log on to the server by using an account that has local administrative credentials. Next, connect to the SharePoint Central Administration website. If you are prompted for your user name and password when you connect, perform the following procedures:

• Add the SharePoint Central Administration website to the list of trusted sites

• Disable Internet Explorer Enhanced Security settings

If you receive a proxy server error message, perform the following procedure:

• Configure proxy server settings to bypass the proxy server for local addresses

To add the SharePoint Central Administration website to the list of trusted sites

1. Verify that the user account that completes this procedure has the following credentials:

• The user account is a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you are performing the procedure.

2. In Internet Explorer, on the Tools menu, click Internet Options.

3. On the Security tab, in the Select a zone to view or change security settings area, click Trusted Sites, and then click Sites.

4. Clear the Require server verification (https:) for all sites in this zone check box.

5. In the Add this web site to the zone box, type the URL to your site, and then click Add.

6. Click Close to close the Trusted Sites dialog.

7. Click OK to close the Internet Options dialog.

To disable Internet Explorer Enhanced Security settings

1. Verify that the user account that completes this procedure has the following credentials:

• The user account is a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you are performing the procedure.

2. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Server Manager.

3. In Server Manager, select the root of Server Manager.

4. In the Security Information section, click Configure IE ESC.

   The Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration dialog appears.

5. In the Administrators section, click Off to disable the Internet Explorer Enhanced Security settings, and then click OK.

To configure proxy server settings to bypass the proxy server for local addresses

1. Verify that the user account that completes this procedure has the following credentials:

• The user account is a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you are performing the procedure.

2. In Internet Explorer, on the Tools menu, click Internet Options.

3. On the Connections tab, in the Local Area Network (LAN) settings area, click LAN Settings.

4. In the Automatic configuration area, clear the Automatically detect settings check box.

5. In the Proxy Server area, select the Use a proxy server for your LAN check box.

6. Type the address of the proxy server in the Address box.

7. Type the port number of the proxy server in the Port box.

8. Select the Bypass proxy server for local addresses check box.

9. Click OK to close the Local Area Network (LAN) Settings dialog.

10. Click OK to close the Internet Options dialog.

Post-installation steps

After you install SharePoint 2013, your browser window opens to the SharePoint Central Administration website of your new SharePoint site. Although you can start to add content to the site or customize the site, we recommend that you first perform the following administrative tasks:

• Configure usage and health data collection You can configure usage and health data collection in your server farm. The system writes usage and health data to the logging folder and to the logging database. For more information, see Configure usage and health data collection in SharePoint Server.

• Configure diagnostic logging You can configure diagnostic logging that might be required after initial deployment or upgrade. The default settings are sufficient for most situations, but depending on the business needs and life cycle of the farm, you might want to change these settings. For more information, see Configure diagnostic logging in SharePoint Server.

• Configure incoming e-mail You can configure incoming e-mail so that SharePoint sites accept and archive incoming e-mail. You can also configure incoming e-mail so that SharePoint sites can archive e-mail discussions as they occur, save e-mailed documents, and show e-mailed meetings on site calendars. In addition, you can configure the SharePoint Directory Management Service to provide support for e-mail distribution list creation and administration. For more information, see Configure incoming email for a SharePoint Server farm.

• Configure outgoing e-mail You can configure outgoing e-mail so that your Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) server sends e-mail alerts to site users and notifications to site administrators. You can configure both the "From" e-mail address and the "Reply" e-mail address that appear in outgoing alerts. For more information, see Configure outgoing email for a SharePoint Server farm.

• Configure search settings You can configure search settings to crawl the content in SharePoint 2013.