Installing SQL Server independently of Security Center - Security Center 5.12.2.0

Depending on your deployment requirements, you might have to install SQL Server before you install Security Center. The most common reasons are to install SQL Server on a drive that is separate from the system drive (typically the C: drive), or on a server that is separate from all Security Center servers.

1. Do one of the following:
   • If you are installing SQL Server Standard or Enterprise:
     1. In Windows, navigate to the SQL installation package folder.
     2. Double-click Setup.exe.
   • If you are installing SQL Server Express:
     1. In Windows, navigate to the Security Center installation package folder.
     2. Open the folder SC Packages\SQLExpress.
     3. Double-click SQLEXPRADV_x64_ENU.exe.
2. On the SQL Server Installation Center page, click New SQL Server stand-alone installation or add features to an existing installation.
   NOTE: The screenshots shown in the following steps are for SQL Server 2022 Express Advanced. The screens you see might look slightly different.

   
3. Read the software license terms, select I accept the license terms, and then click Next.
4. On the Feature Selection page, select Database Engine Services and any other features you want to install.
   For additional information on these features, consult the Microsoft SQL Server documentation.

   
5. In the Instance root directory field, select where to install SQL Server and all role database files.
   This is where you need to change the default path to C: drive if you want your databases to be stored on a different drive. You can type a path, or browse for a folder.
6. In the Shared feature directory field, select where to install the SQL Server shared features.
7. Click Next.
8. On the Instance Configuration page, select a name for the SQL Server.
   

   NOTE: The database server name is not case-sensitive but must meet all following criteria:

   • It cannot be the same name as an existing SQL instance on your server.
   • It cannot match any of the SQL Server reserved keywords, such as DEFAULT, PRIMARY, and so on.
   • It cannot be longer than 16 characters.
   • The first character of the instance name must be a letter or an underscore (_). Acceptable letters are defined by the Unicode Standard 2.0, including Latin characters a-z and A-Z, and letter characters from other languages.
   • Subsequent characters can be letters defined by the Unicode Standard 2.0, decimal numbers from Basic Latin, or other national scripts, the dollar sign ($), or an underscore (_).
   • It cannot contain spaces or the following characters: \ , : ; ' & # @
9. On the Server Configuration page, select "NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM" for the SQL Server Database Engine Account Name, unless your database administrator instructed you to do otherwise, and click Next.
   
10. On the Database Engine Configuration page, select the authentication mode for accessing the Database engine, and click Next.

    Windows authentication mode

    Windows credentials. Specify "NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM" plus any other account that must have permission to make configuration changes, such as the "BUILTIN\Administrators" user group.

    Mixed mode

    Windows administrators can access the database engine using either their Windows credentials, or the password you specify here.