0

I want to install SharePoint on my laptop for development purposes. I'll probably have Windows7/8 in the laptop when purchased.

The idea is to have a dual boot system, one for the original Windows7/8 and the other into a virtual machine. Then install SharePoint onto the virtual machine.

Previously I've used esxi but don't think this will work in the manner mentioned above. Will VMware workstation provide a solution ?

Improve this question
7
  • UPDATE: From what I understand: You are suggesting when the laptop boots it loads into a VM environment Then from here I can choose which OS(s) to launch ? So I could launch just my window7/8 or the Servers ? The boot loader could be EasyBCD or VM Player ? <br /> By choosing Virtual Box of Hyper-V wont this take up resources as these products sit on top of Window 7/8 The default OS?
    – Orange Juice Jones
    Jan 23, 2015 at 15:17
  • Dual boot means you can have two or more operating systems. Here there won't be any resource congestion, i.e if you go with Virtual Machines (which require a host OS to start with), then the resources gets shared between the Host Win7 and the Server VM.
    – Amal Hashim
    Jan 23, 2015 at 15:25
  • 'which require a host OS to start with' Can this be a lightweight VM where the user can choose which OS's to launch? Which product(s) can do this?
    – Orange Juice Jones
    Jan 23, 2015 at 15:31
  • It depends on how much RAM your laptop has. As I said you can get a decent experience if you can allocate 8 GB to the Virtual Box running Windows2008+SharePoint
    – Amal Hashim
    Jan 23, 2015 at 15:37
  • No You will boot to windows 7 and then start Virtual Box. You can treat it as a separate software.
    – Amal Hashim
    Jan 23, 2015 at 15:47

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
0

You can use Virtual Box provided by Oracle.

Here are the high level steps you should execute

  1. Create a new VM
  2. Choose OS = Windows 2008 64 bit
  3. Set memory (8GB Works pretty well)
  4. Choose hard disk - Existing vhd file or create new one (here you need to install everything like OS, SQL, SharePoint etc)

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ritazh/archive/2011/02/24/host-sharepoint-2010-vm-with-virtualbox.aspx

Improve this answer
0

VMware workstation would work as proposed... I've also used the free VMware player for some coursework I've done with Windows Server 2008, Exchange and SQL Server -- so the free version should also do the trick if you have a windows host: http://www.vmware.com/products/player

For those using OS X I tend to like Parallels (which is not free), but they're all just as capable (including Virtual Box which is free) so it's just a matter of preference.

Improve this answer
0

You could run SP 2010 for development on a Win 7 x64 machine too - Setting Up the Development Environment for SharePoint 2010 on Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee554869(office.14).aspx

This post describes building a SP 2010 dev machine using (free) Virtual Box - How to build a SharePoint 2010 development machine http://smallcitydesign.com/how-to-build-a-sharepoint-2010-development-machine/

Improve this answer
0

Choosing a virtualization system is not a good idea for me, SharePoint consumes a lot of resources. In order to take full advantage of your computer's capabilities, I recommend doing this :

  • create a vhd (Virtual Hard Disk)
  • add it to the boot loader with the EasyBCD tool
  • boot on the new machine and install your new environment on it

I highly not recommend to set up a dev environment on a public version of windows (7/8), I tried that and the platform wasn't stable enough.

Feel free to comment if you need more details.

Improve this answer
7
  • Hi - I always though dual boot it optional choice its OS1 or OS2 etc ? so what will the base OS be ?
    – Orange Juice Jones
    Jan 23, 2015 at 14:51
  • @OrangeJuice : If you choose to do it a la dual boot, the host OS will be your default OS, i.e. windows 7 or 8.
    – KhalilG
    Jan 23, 2015 at 14:58
  • UPDATE: From what I understand: You are suggesting when the laptop boots it loads into a VM environment Then from here I can choose which OS(s) to launch ? So I could launch just my window7/8 or the Servers ? The boot loader could be EasyBCD or VM Player ? By choosing Virtual Box of Hyper-V wont this take up resources as thies products sit on top of Window 7/8 The default OS?
    – Orange Juice Jones
    Jan 23, 2015 at 15:16
  • @OrangeJuice : Sorry but I've made a mistake and I fixed it. I as suggesting that using a virtualization system is not the best choice because the 2 operating systems will run in the same time and they will share the computer resources. With the dual boot option, you will create a vhd that you will add to your boot loader. When you reboot your machine, you will be prompted to choose one of the too machines, the first one is your default OS, the second one is your vhd. Choosing to boot on the vhd will give it the full computer resources and capabilities (full CPU, full RAM, ...).
    – KhalilG
    Jan 23, 2015 at 15:27
  • Ok. But its probable that I require two machines (servers) to run toghether (SharePoint and AD) therefore I will require virtualisation. Also I wanted the laptop to behave like a normal machine so I can watch my DVD's :) This is why I suggested dual boot also. From what I understand now is that I dont need dual boot intead boot directly into EasyBCD or equivalent, this will launch mwy win8 and servers as required. ?
    – Orange Juice Jones
    Jan 23, 2015 at 15:40

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.