Choose the right SQL Collation during installation

During SQL Server installation you must choose which SQL Collation will be installed. With ConfigMgr 2012 there is just one choice which will work: SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS. See my other blogpost about "SQL Server requirements for ConfigMgr 2012 installation" for that HERE. With OpsMgr 2012 it seems you have the choice between Latin1_General_CI_AS and SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS during installation. Unfortunately that isn't the case. For OpsMgr 2012 the SQL Collation must also be SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS.

This because the information on "Supported Configurations: System Center 2012 - Operations Manager" contains wrong information. It mentions: "SQL Server collation settings for all databases must be one of the following: SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS, French_CI_AS, Cyrillic_General_CI_AS, Chinese_PRC_CI_AS, Japanese_CI_AS, Traditional_Spanish_CI_AS, or Latin1_General_CI_AS. No other collation settings are supported." This can be found HERE.

Can you still follow me? Well, the reason for that is because some functionality won't work on Latin1_General_CI_AS. With SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS you won't have an issue on that. The issue is especially seen on the reporting functionality in the OpsMgr Data Warehouse. There will be error messages then in the Reporting pane.

On "Clarification on SQL Server Collation Requirements for System Center 2012" the following message is displayed: The SCOM data warehouse installer will always install the data warehouse with SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS regardless of the SQL Server collation. Until this issue is fixed, please always install the SCOM operational database using SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS. There are some compatibility issues when the SCOM operational database is Latin1_General_CI_AS and the data warehouse DB is SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS. This can be found HERE.

I learned my lesson the hard way unfortunately. Just use the SQL Collation SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS for every new SQL Server installation used for Microsoft System Center 2012 components from now on! Pity that Microsoft displays wrong information on the Microsoft TechNet website on this specific topic.

Installation Prerequisite Check for ConfigMgr 2012

When starting a new ConfigMgr installation there are many prerequisites that must be configured first. In this blog I will mention the most important ones.

The most known requirements are:

• Schema extensions: Configuration Manager Active Directory schema extensions are not required for site server installation, but are recommended to fully support the use of all Configuration Manager features; TechNet
• WSUS SDK on site server: ConfigMgr software update points require at least WSUS v3.0 SP2.  If using a remote software update point, the WSUS administration console must be installed on the site server;
• Microsoft RDC library registered: The Microsoft Remote Differential Compression (RDC) library must be registered for ConfigMgr site server installation; TechNet
• SQL Server service running account: The logon account for the SQL Server service cannot be a local user account or LOCAL SERVICE.  You must configure the SQL Server service to use a valid domain account, NETWORK SERVICE, or LOCAL SYSTEM;
• Verify site server permissions to publish to AD: The site server might be unable to publish to Active Directory. The computer account for the site server must have Full Control permissions to the System Management container in its Active Directory domain; TechNet
• SQL Server version: ConfigMgr sites require a supported SQL Server version with required hotfixes for site database operations to succeed. Before Setup can continue, you must install a supported version of SQL Server on the specified site database server; TechNet
• SQL Server sysadmin rights: Either the user account running Configuration Manager Setup does not have sysadmin SQL Server role permissions on the SQL Server instance selected for site database installation, or the SQL Server instance could not be contacted to verify permissions;
• BITS installed: Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) is required for the management point and distribution point site system roles. Also, check if IIS/BITS services are running properly. Setup cannot continue until BITS is installed and enabled in the IIS settings;

Most other Prerequisite Checks can be found HERE. These are for ConfigMgr 2007, but will still be valid for 2012 installation.

Also check additional SQL Server requirements mentioned in my other blogpost: SQL Server requirements for ConfigMgr 2012 installation

After all this is done, it's possible to have a "All prerequisite rules pass successfully" status before ConfigMgr 2012 installation!

Update 25-6-2012: Clues added for installation!

SQL Server requirements for ConfigMgr 2012 installation

When installing ConfigMgr 2012 it's important to fullfill all SQL Server requirements. The following must be configured during installation:

• The instance of SQL Server in use at each site must use the following collation: SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS;
• Only the Database Engine Services feature is required for each site server (Configuration Manager database replication does not require the SQL Server replication feature);
• Configuration Manager requires Windows authentication to validate connections to the database;
• You must use a dedicated instance of SQL Server for each site;
• When you use a database server that is co-located with the site server, limit the memory for SQL Server to 50 to 80 percent of the available addressable system memory. When you use a dedicated SQL Server, limit the memory for SQL Server to 80 to 90 percent of the available addressable system memory;
• Configuration Manager requires SQL Server to reserve a minimum of 8 gigabytes (GB) of memory in the buffer pool used by an instance of SQL Server for the central administration site and primary site and a minimum of 4 gigabytes (GB) for the secondary site;

If SQL Server is installed with a different collation: Latin1_General_CI_AS (for example) it won't work. ConfigMgr 2012 installation will fail during the prerequisite check and no installation is possible at all. Also a workaround to change the default collation don't seem to work then. Best thing is to install a brand new SQL Server with the right requirements.

During SQL Server installation choose the following configuration:

At Server Configuration, choose Collation and select Customize

Select SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS instead of default

After that it's possible to have a successful ConfigMgr 2012 installation. Just make sure above requirements are configured.