SharePoint Subscription Edition is the most recent version of SharePoint that includes numerous advanced built-in features. The general-availability version of SharePoint Server Subscription Edition, or simply SharePoint Server SE, was released on November 2021.
It’s November 2022, one year from the SharePoint Subscription Edition general availability release. Today, we will look into installing SharePoint Subscription Edition, and more precisely, installing SharePoint Subscription Edition on a single server that is not connected to the internet.
System Requirements for SharePoint Server Subscription Edition
SharePoint Subscription Edition has both hardware and software requirements. Let us discuss it before getting started with the SharePoint SE installation.
The system requirements for SharePoint Server SE can be classified as three sub topics:-
- Hardware Requirements for the SharePoint Server Subscription Edition.
- Software requirements for the Database Server of SharePoint Server Subscription Edition .
- Software requirements for the SharePoint Server Subscription Edition.
Hardware Requirements for SharePoint Server Subscription Edition
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More details about it can be found at: Hardware Requirement for SharePoint Subscription Edition.
Software Requirements for SharePoint Server Subscription Edition
SharePoint Subscription Edition only support the latest versions of Windows Server Operating Systems. It includes both the Standard and Datacenter versions of Windows Server 2019 and Windows Server 2022.
Any other Operating System is not supported by SharePoint Server SE.
More details about it can be found at: Software Requirements for SharePoint Subscription Edition.
Software Requirements for SharePoint Server Subscription Edition Database Servers
Unlike the previous versions of SharePoint, the free SQL Server Express is no longer supported in SharePoint Subscription Edition. Only the SQL Server Enterprise and Business versions are currently supported in the SharePoint Subscription Edition.
Another thing to note here is that the SQL Server will not be installed automatically with the SharePoint Server installation. SQL Server 2019 must be installed separately for SharePoint Server Subscription Edition.
More details about it can be found at: Software requirements for SharePoint Subscription Edition Database Servers
Before we get started, one thing to note here is that I’m installing the SharePoint Subscription Edition on a single server (physical) that is not connected to the internet. In such cases, you have to use any other computer to download the packages and copy them to the “server” via USB flash drive or so.
For my case, I have downloaded the packages to my laptop and copied all of them to the Windows server via the USB Flash Drive.
Getting Started
The actual installation includes not only SharePoint Server SE and the Windows Server 2019 installation, but also setting up the environment and basically starting from #SCRATCH.
The steps I took to accomplish this are as below:-
- Install Windows Server 2019.
- Install IIS (Internet Information Service)
- Install AD (Active Directory)
- Promote it to DC (Domain Controller).
- Create Service Accounts
- Install SQL Server 2019.
- Install SQL Server Management Studio.
- Install pre-requisites for SharePoint Subscription Edition
- Install SharePoint Subscription Edition.
Please note that the below installation is for learning purposes only. Read the guidelines from Microsoft thoroughly before you set up an environment for yourself or your company.
Install Windows Server 2019
I have downloaded Windows Server 2019 Evaluation edition that is valid for 180 days (6 months). You can download it from the Microsoft Download Center or by following the below link. The ISO file for Windows Server 2019 is 3GB in size.
I have downloaded it to my laptop and used the USB DVD tool to make by USB Flash drive as a bootable drive.
You can download it from here and make your USB device bootable.
Next you can use your USB Flash Drive to install OS into your Computer.
For this tutorial i have installed the Standard UI rich version of Windows Server 2019.
Also the Administrator account is created during the installation, You can set the password of the Administrator account based on your preference but the username is a not editable field.
Once the OS installation is completed. I logged into the machine via the Administrator account and installed Active Directory into the machine.
Install Internet Information Service
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Install Active Directory
Open Server Manager, then Manage > Add Roles and Features
Click Next.
Click Next.
Click Next.
Select Active Directory Domain Services.
You may receive a popup as below, click Add Features and click Next.
Click Next
Click Next
Click Install
The Features installation is completed. Now click Close.
Congratulations, You have now added Active Directory to the server. 
Promote it to Domain Controller (DC)
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Create Service Accounts
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Install SQL Server 2019
For this tutorial I have downloaded SQL Server 2019 from the Evaluation center. You need to signup to download the ISO file.
Once you have downloaded the file, run the setup.exe file
Click Installation
Select “New SQL Server stand-alone installation or add features to an existing installation”
Click Next
Click Next
Click Next
Click Next
Click Next
Select Database Engine Services and Click Next.
Click Next
Input the Service Accounts and enter the password. Click Next
Account I used: SPSE\SqlServerServiceAc
Select Windows Authentication Mode and Click on Add. On the pop up search for your Farm Admin Service Account and click Ok.
Account I used: SPSE\SpFarmAdminUserAc
Click Next
Click Install.
The installation of SQL server 2019 is completed. Click Close to close the setup.
Install SQL Server Management Studio.
The next step is to install SQL Server Management Studio. For this I have downloaded the latest version of Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio which is 18.12.1.
You can download it here:- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/ssms/download-sql-server-management-studio-ssms?view=sql-server-ver16
Once you downloaded the package, click on the setup.exe file and then Click Next.
It may take some time to load the packages, please wait.
The installation of Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio with Azure Data Studio is completed.
Install pre-requisites for SharePoint Server Subscription Edition
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Install SharePoint Server Subscription Edition
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Run SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard
Once we have completed the installation of SharePoint server Subscription Edition, we need to run SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard to complete the Configuration of the SharePoint Farm.
On the next screen, we need to enter the configuration details.
For database server, I provide value as localhost, since database is hosted in the same server. For username i provide the SharePoint Farm Administrator User Account (SpFarmAdminUserAc) and its password.
On the next screen we need to enter the passphrase for the farm. This is to secure the farm configuration data and is required to join other servers into the farm. This passphrase can be changed later if required. After entering the passphrase click Next.
On the next screen, we need to choose our server role. Whether we are installing SharePoint Server Subscription Edition in a single server or we are installing SharePoint Server SE in a mufti tier architecture, should be mentioned here.
Let us select Single Server Farm here and click Next.
In the next screen, we need to specify the Port Number for the SharePoint Central Administration Web Application. Also we need to choose the Authentication Provider for the Web Application.
Here I choose 2020 as the port number, you can specify any number between 1 and 65535 as the port number. Also I choose NTLM as the authentication provider. Once done, click Next to continue.
In the next screen, we will be able to preview the configuration details based on the selections we have done in the previous screens. Click Next to proceed.
The configuration task is now started There are 10 configuration tasks to be perform in the background. This will take some time to get completed.
You can preview at which step you are now in from the screen itself.
The Configuration is about to complete, we are now on the 10th step of SharePoint Product Configuration task.
The SharePoint Configuration is now completed successfully. Take a screenshot of this page for future reference and click Finish
Now we need to login to the Central Administration Website to continue configuring the SharePoint installation.
You will be already aware of your Central Admin URL. Open it in the web browser and you will be prompted to enter the username and password.
Here you should enter the domain\username and password to access the Central Administration.
You will now get the Welcome screen. A pop up asking to Help Microsoft to improve SharePoint and OneDrive. Select No, I don’t wish to participate and then click OK.
Next screen will ask you how would you wish to configure your SharePoint Farm?
If you wish to configure the SharePoint Farm with the wizard then Click Start the Wizard, else click Cancel
You need to enter the Managed Account and also select the list of Service Applications you would like to run in the farm.
And click Next.
The farm configuration wizard is now completed. Now click Finish
The central Administration screen for SharePoint Server SE is now visible to you.
Conclusion
This was a comprehensive guide on installing and configuring SharePoint server subscription edition from scratch. Hope you liked this article. Please feel free to share it, if you could. If you have any questions, please comment, we will reply to you on it shortly.
