Microsoft is providing KB955725 in order to help customers make Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 play nice with its data platform. The Knowledge Base article contains a list of known issues associated with the process of installing SQL Server on the next iterations of the Windows client and server operating systems from Microsoft.

According to the Redmond company: “Windows 7 does not use the RequireKerberos property to determine whether Kerberos authentication is enabled. When FIPS policy is enabled in Windows 7 or in Windows Server 2008 R2, Cluster Validation fails during SQL Server 2008 RTM installation. SQL Server 2008 RTM installation may fail on Windows Server 2008 R2.”

At the same time, the KB article is not only designed to enumerate a list of problems that Microsoft is aware of when it comes to integrating SQL Server 2008 into Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2. In fact, the article also provides advice and guidance for customers looking to resolve issues that they come across. There are two requirements that need to be respected in order to minimize the chance of installation hiccups.

First off, “You should install SQL Server 2008 SP1 as this is the supported version on these new operating systems (they included fixes specific to a couple of issues including the fact that Windows 7 doesn’t use the Required Kerberos property to determine if Kerberos is enabled for a network name resource),” revealed Microsoft's Andrew Fryer.

In addition, just as the software giant manages to emphasize in KB955725, .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 is a vital component of any Windows 7 – SQL Server 2008 SP1 equation. “You’re going to need the .Net framework 3.5 sp1. If it isn’t there then the SQL installer will do it for you in Windows 7 but it will then restart the installation once this has been done which may look a little odd and confuse you. In Windows Server 2008r2 you should add the application role using server manager, servermangercmd.exe or the new Deployment Imaging servicing & management tool (DISM) prior to installing SQL Server,” Fryer added.