Project Server 2010 and Windows 7

Update: Check out http://epmsource.com/2010/02/22/project-server-2010-on-windows-7-an-update/ for an update on this post.

A while back I heard that there would be an improved developer story for the next version of SharePoint. For those that have never tried developing for the platform, you typically have to have a virtual machine and dev against that.

Given the change to 64bit only and the large resource overhead running SharePoint and Project Server in a VM is a bit more of a challenge. With the new 2010 release, MS have provided support for SP2010 to be installed on Windows 7 64bit so that a developer can run it locally and provided an MSDN article to get it going, however they haven’t provided one for Project Server as the Win 7 development scenario is not officially supported, but it does appear to work. Now I accept no responsibility if you use this method, and you do so at your own risk.

Create a Windows 7 image using “****Boot to VHD”

First up, you need a Windows 7 installation. I don’t tend to use my main Win 7 installation for development, so I created a fresh one using the excellent boot to VHD capability of Windows 7.  In short there are two sets of commands you need to get boot to VHD working:

1. Create the VHD with the following:

diskpart

create vdisk file="c:\vhd\Win7Dev.vhd" type=fixed maximum=30000

Changing the file path to the location and name of the file you want to create.

2. Once you kick off the Win7 install, when you get to the ‘Install Windows’ screen, press Shift + F10 and enter the following:

diskpart

select vdisk file="c:\vhd\Win7Dev.vhd"
attach vdisk
exit
exit

Next all you need to do is install Windows 7 normally, but making sure you select the VHD partition to install into. Ignore any warnings that Windows may display, it will install ok.

Installing SharePoint 2010

Next up you need to install a heap of stuff to get SharePoint 2010 working, which is already documented over at MSDN at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee554869(office.14).aspx. In addition, you need to ensure you install KB976462 hotfix which is available from https://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/Downloads/DownloadDetails.aspx?DownloadID=23806&wa=wsignin1.0

Now, if you follow the above, and don’t run into any issues, you will have a working SharePoint 2010 dev install.

Installing Project Server 2010

The process to install Project Server 2010 is very similar to the above, but I will spell it out as it doesn’t appear to have its own MSDN entry.

1. Extract the contents of the Project Server executable to a temporary location by entering the following:

ProjectServer.exe /extract:c:\temporarylocation

where ProjectServer.exe is the name of your Project Server 2010 installation executable and c:\temporarylocation is where you wish to extract it to.

2. Next up we need to change the Project Server installation script to let it think that it can install on a client, to do this navigate to the file Config.xml located in c:\temporarylocation\Files\Setup, and add the line to the section, so the final version of the file looks like this:

3. Now Project Server 2010 can be installed in the normal manner and is ready for development on your Windows 7 box.  Again, there is a reason that MS decided this scenario wasn’t going to be supported,  so if you run into issues using Project Server 2010 on Windows 7, leave a comment below so we can all benefit.

• Project Server 2010
• Windows 7