SQL Server Homelab Deployment

Let’s do a SQL Server Homelab Deployment!
First, we need to deploy a VM on our NAS:

It’s a standard Windows Server deployment, and I’m running version 2022.
Once the VM is up, I start the SQL Deployment Wizzard and follow the steps on the screen until this one, and select what I need:

I stick with the default instance name:

Next, I changed the Server Browser from Disabled to Manual and allowed additional maintenance task permissions with the checkbox at the bottom:

The collation is most likely correct, so I double-check. Of course, this depends on your location, and you might use a different character set.

The next pic isn’t exactly best practice from a security point of view.
In a production environment, you would run Windows auth only so that AD can deal with the log-in process.
I’m okay with the quick and dirty mixed mode in my lab and will use good old “sa.”

A few minutes later it’s done:

Installing SQL Management Studio

Grab a copy of SSMS here and run the installer:

Okay, if you insist, let’s do this:

Let’s open the Management Studio and right-click the server:

The properties show us the exact version:

A quick check here shows that it’s pretty outdated, so why not download the latest cumulative update from the top of the page?
It’s a next-next-finish setup and doesn’t require a reboot.

Still, let’s check if there are other updates available using Windows Update with the “other MS products” box enabled:

Great! Now let’s open SQL Server Config Manager and select SQL Server Network Config / Protocols:

Select TCP/IP and drill into the properties, and find the IP address of your server. Enabled the port, so it defaults to 1433.

In theory, the machine should have all ports enabled, but I’ve seen this failing, hence the manual approach.
Maybe I’m just old-school, who knows?

That should do. Let’s deploy an application to test if it works.

More homelab posts: