Doing a ConfigMgr 2012 R2 SP1 fresh installation

Recently I did a blogpost about doing a ConfigMgr 2012 R2 SP1 upgrade. This because it will result in different behavior, and running tasks in the background after the upgrade. This time I started a ConfigMgr 2012 R2 SP1 fresh installation, which is something different really. Installation is doing fine with no running tasks in the background after installation. Much better this way!

And I needed both installation media this time as well :-)

This because starting with this release, Microsoft has merged the 2012 and 2012 R2 codebase. This means form this point forward both 2012 and 2012 R2 use the exact same files. The ONLY difference is a setting that blocks 2012 users from certain features to R2 because they've not paid for it. This is where the two files come in:

SC2012_SP2_ConfigMgr_SCEP.exe is the actual install/upgrade binary that everyone needs to run.
SC2012_R2_SP1.exe is the file which serves one purpose only: an upgrade path for people from 2012 to 2012 R2, if they upgrade their license to unlock the locked-out features. That's why it's so small. Remember it will NOT upgrade your ConfigMgr infrastructure.

More about that here: System Center Configuration Manager Team Blog (in comments)

Installation progress in short:

Installation is done within 35 minutes, with no running tasks left. Use the file 'SC2012_SP2_Configmgr_SCEP.exe' for that.

After installation you have System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP2 in-place, with no R2 features available.

After that start the file 'SC2012_R2_SP1_Configmgr.exe' to continue. This file unlocks R2 features missing in the other installation. You will need a R2 license for that officially.

Installation is done in a blink of an eye. This because it's used only to unlock R2 features in the ConfigMgr console.

When starting the console again, you have System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager SP1 now. Very nice indeed :-)

From now on this will be the way for fresh ConfigMgr installation. Stay tuned for more ConfigMgr news soon!

More blogposts about ConfigMgr 2012 R2 SP1:
ConfigMgr 2012 R2 SP1 and ConfigMgr 2012 SP2 released
Upgrade ConfigMgr 2012 R2 to SP1 with SP2 media (confusing)
New functionality in System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager SP1