With a few workarounds, you can install SharePoint on a client OS.

This is primarily useful for developers

This is not intended for production scenarios because the level of support you can receive from
Microsoft is limited. However, because Windows client and server builds share the same code base,
there is no technical reason why this should not work.

Note

The only limitations that should exist are as follows:

A limit to the number of connections to IIS on the client OS. This is a hard-coded limit.

A limit to the number of processors and RAM that an instance of SQL handles at one time.

Installing Prerequisites

The Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Products Preparation Tool (PrerequisiteInstaller.exe) can not run unless
it is on a server OS. To work around this, install the prerequisites for SharePoint manually. The following
steps install all necessary prerequisites for SharePoint on a clean installation of a Windows 7 Enterprise
x64 OS.

Note

The following steps are for installing on a Windows 7 OS. If you install on Vista, it is necessary to install
Vista SP2, .NET Framework 3.5 SP1, PowerShell, and Microsoft Installer 4.5 separately before proceeding
with these steps. Download locations for this software can be found on the
http://download.microsoft.com website.

1. Install the Windows Process Activation service and required IIS features. You can accomplish this
by using either the Turn Windows Features On or Off Wizard in the Programs and Features section of
the Control Panel, or by executing the following command line:

start /w pkgmgr /iu:IIS-WebServerRole;IIS-WebServer;IIS-CommonHttpFeatures;

IIS-StaticContent;IIS-DefaultDocument;IIS-DirectoryBrowsing;IIS-HttpErrors;

IIS-HttpRedirect;IIS-ApplicationDevelopment;IIS-ASPNET;IIS-NetFxExtensibility;

IIS-ASP;IIS-CGI;IIS-ISAPIExtensions;IIS-ISAPIFilter;IIS-ServerSideIncludes;

IIS-HealthAndDiagnostics;IIS-HttpLogging;IIS-LoggingLibraries;

IIS-RequestMonitor;

IIS-HttpTracing;IIS-Security;IIS-BasicAuthentication;IIS-WindowsAuthentication;

IIS-DigestAuthentication;IIS-ClientCertificateMappingAuthentication;

IIS-IISCertificateMappingAuthentication;IIS-URLAuthorization;

IIS-RequestFiltering;

IIS-IPSecurity;IIS-Performance;IIS-HttpCompressionStatic;

IIS-HttpCompressionDynamic;

IIS-WebServerManagementTools;IIS-ManagementConsole;IIS-ManagementScriptingTools;

IIS-ManagementService;IIS-IIS6ManagementCompatibility;IIS-Metabase;

IIS-WMICompatibility;IIS-LegacyScripts;IIS-LegacySnapIn;

WAS-WindowsActivationService;

WAS-ProcessModel;WAS-NetFxEnvironment;WAS-ConfigurationAPI
2. Install the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 and the Windows Communication Foundation services. You
can accomplish this either by using the Turn Windows Features On or Off Wizard in the Programs and
Features section of the Control Panel, or by executing the following command line:

start /w pkgmgr /iu:NetFx3;WCF-HTTP-Activation;WCF-NonHTTP-Activation

3. Install KB 976462 (KB 976394 on Vista), titled “A Hotfix for the .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack
1 Is Available for Windows 7 and for Windows Server 2008 R2 as a Prerequisite for Microsoft Office
SharePoint Server 2010.” Reboot the system if the update requires a reboot.

Note

If you see an Update Does Not Apply to Your System error at this step, it can mean one of several things.
Check to make sure that you have the right KB for the right OS and are running the RTM version of the
OS. Check to make sure that you have the x64 version of the package, not the x86 version. Also check to
make sure that the OS is not already installed. All these can trigger the same error.

4. To install the Microsoft Filter Pack 2.0, run the installer from your SharePoint installation point.
The installer is located in the \PrerequisiteInstallerFiles\FilterPack\FilterPack.msi subdirectory.

5. Install the Microsoft Sync Framework 1.0. You can find it at http://download.microsoft.com.

6. Install KB 974405, titled “Windows Identity Foundation.” You can find this by searching for KB
Article 974405 and following the download links for your OS.
7. Install Microsoft Chart Controls for Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5. You can find this by searching
http://download.microsoft.com.

8. Install SQL 2008 Native Client. You can find this by searching for “Microsoft SQL Server 2008
Feature Pack, April 2009” at http://download.microsoft.com.

Installing SharePoint 2010

After you install the correct prerequisite software, you can proceed with the installation of SharePoint
2010. If you attempt to install directly from an unmodified installation point, you get an error indicating
that the client OS that you are on is not a supported OS. To work around that, it is necessary to edit a
config.xml located within the installation files for SharePoint by following these steps:

1. Copy the entire installation folder to the local computer. This can be a network share, too, as
long as you have read/write access to the files.

2. Edit the config.xml file located in the Files\Setup subdirectory in the local installation point and
add the following entry into the Configuration xml:

<Setting Id="AllowWindowsClientInstall" Value="True"/>

The full file should look something like this with the line added in italic:

<Configuration>

<Package Id="sts">

<Setting Id="LAUNCHEDFROMSETUPSTS" Value="Yes"/>

</Package>

<Package Id="spswfe">
<Setting Id="SETUPCALLED" Value="1"/>

</Package>

<Logging Type="verbose" Path="%temp%" Template="SharePoint Server

Setup(*).log"/>

<!—<PIDKEY Value="Enter Product Key Here" />—>

<Setting Id="SERVERROLE" Value="SINGLESERVER"/>

<Setting Id="USINGUIINSTALLMODE" Value="1"/>

<Setting Id="SETUPTYPE" Value="CLEAN_INSTALL"/>

<Setting Id="SETUP_REBOOT" Value="Never"/>

<Setting Id="AllowWindowsClientInstall" Value="True"/>

</Configuration>

3. Save the config.xml file in place in the Files/Setup subdirectory in the local installation point.

4. Run PSConfig.exe to launch SharePoint setup, and continue through as you would on a server
OS.

After the SharePoint 2010 Products Configuration Wizard completes, it is necessary to set the Secure
Store key and set the Unattended Service Account for the PPS service application.