My first SQL 2008 cluster on vSphere

Recently I had to install a SQL 2008 cluster on Windows 2008 cluster which was virtualized. I learned some valuable lessons I want to share with you.

First of all there is this new feature in the VM Tools called shared folders. Make sure it is off. It causes an error message and the description has nothing to do with the cause.

The second thing is if you want to install service pack 1 for SQL Server, slipstream it. There is a bug that crashes your installation and you can't actually remove it. The term slipstream is a not really the correct term but it works.

First you unpack the service pack with the /x option and then you need to run /x64/setup/1033/sqlsupport.msi and run it. The next step is to start the SQL Server setup and start it from the command line with the parameter /PCUSource=

More info on slipstream can be fount at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/955392.