2. Download and Install SQL Server Express¶

If your system does not have Microsoft SQL Server Express installed then follow the instructions on this page to install this component. You will need full Administrator rights on the local machine to complete the installation of SQL Server Express.

If your system already has SQL Server Express available then continue to Install the Software.

Download SQL Server Express¶

Windows 7¶

If you are running Windows 7 (or Windows 8.0 or 8.1) download and install Microsoft SQL Server Express 2008R2 from the following link. If you are running Windows 10 go to the next section.

Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 R2 SP2 – Express Edition

Click the button labelled ‘Download’ and then make sure to select the 64-bit version of SQL Server that will be labelled ‘SQLEXPR_x64_ENU.exe‘ as shown below. Save the installation file to a local directory and then follow the installation instructions to Install SQL Server Express.

Windows 10¶

If you are running Windows 10 download and install Microsoft SQL Server Express 2014 SP2 from the following link.

Microsoft® SQL Server® 2014 SP2 Express

Click the button labelled ‘Download’ and then make sure to select the 64-bit version of SQL Server that will be labelled ‘SQLEXPR_x64_ENU.exe‘ as shown below. Save the installation file to a local directory and then follow the installation instructions below to Install SQL Server Express.

Install SQL Server Express¶

Start the Installation¶

Locate the SQL Server Express download file and double click this to start the installation. You will need to be an Administrator of the local machine to complete the installation. Click the top option titled ‘New SQL Server stand-alone installation or add features to an existing installation‘

Accept the license terms and click ‘Next’ to continue.

The installation process will check that the system ahs all the necessary prerequisites for the install. There may be additional requirements and these can be view by clicking on the blue link. If a Warning is shown in Yellow then the installation can still continue. It is common to get a Windows Firewall warning.

Do not change any of the default feature selections, click ‘Next’ to continue.

SQL Server Named Instance¶

The software uses a SQL Server Express Named Instance. This is the default setting during installation. The default named instance is SQLEXPRESS and that should be used unless another instance of SQL Server Express is already using this name. An alternative name could be TIGERMOTH for example. Click ‘Next’ to continue.

Always select the Named Instance option and not the Default Instance option.

Do not change any server configuration or collation options. Just click ‘Next’ to continue.

Add SQL Server Administrators¶

Keep the default Authentication Mode set to ‘Windows Authentication Mode‘. It is best to add all Authenticated Users of the machine to be local SQL Server Administrators in case the machine provisioned to another user. To do this click ‘Add’ and follow the series of steps below.

Click ‘Advanced’ as shown below.

Click ‘Find Now’ as shown below.

Then select the entry called ‘Authenticated Users‘ and click ‘OK’ as shown below.

Click ‘Check Names” and then click ‘OK’ to add the selection as a SQL Server Administrator.

All users of the machine now have SQL Server Administrator rights. Click ‘Next’ to continue.

The SQL Server installation process will now continue to completion.

When the SQL Server installation is complete information about the installation is shown. There should not be any major errors indicated. Click ‘Close’ to exit the installation window.

Now continue to Install the Software.