This series of posts covers in detail my experience with installing SharePoint 2013 and SQL 2012 BI features using http://sharepointdemobuilds.codeplex.com/
One of my favorite demos with SP2010 was the “Information Worker” VHD because it had so many great visuals, people, org charts, SharePoint team sites, and databases for BI. I haven’t been able to find any IW download VHD for SP2013.
However, today we have http://sharepointdemobuilds.codeplex.com/. Ivan Sanders was kind enough to package sample content with automated deployment. NOTE – There is no complete VHD file. You must obtain installation media for each Microsoft product (Windows, SQL, SharePoint). Trial editions are available and work fine, but you will need install from media. Below are screenshots from my experience configuring SP2013 with the demo content.
Please leave a comment if you found this post series helpful.
First we need to create a VHD container for the machine we plan to build. This can be done on any Windows 7/8 machine by opening Computer Manager and right clicking on Disk Management. I chose to create a 96 GB dynamic file. That allows room to expand while minimizing current disk usage.
The disk must be initialize to prepare it for the Windows O/S install we’ll perform next. Default options (MBR) are fine here.
The VHD file is now complete and ready for use in any VM host software. I chose VHD format for wide compatibility.
Next, we will create the VM guest machine. I am using VirtualBox (http://www.virtualbox.org) because it’s free and runs well on any Windows 7/8 desktop. The specifications I am using are shown below. NOTE – More RAM would boost performance. I have 10GB RAM and pointed to the VHD file we just created for storage. Also, I attached the Windows 2012 install media ISO to the virtual CD-ROM so we can boot and install.
