How To Install SQL Server 2008 R2 Silently From C# Application

This code snippet is an example of how to install SQL Server 2008 r2 from your application.

Installing a new instance of SQL Server at the command prompt enables you to specify the features to install and how they should be configured. You can also specify silent, basic, or full interaction with the setup of the user interface. Here, I am using the "silent" type of interaction.

 

When you install SQL Server at the command prompt, specify the setup parameters for your installation at the command prompt as part of your installation syntax.

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Text;
using Microsoft.Win32;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Windows.Forms;

namespace SqlExp
{
    public class SqlExpInstall
    {
        #region Internal variables

        //Variables for setup.exe command line
        private string instanceAction = "Install";                                                          // Required
        private string instanceFeature = "SQL,Tools";                                                       // Required
        public string instanceName = "SQLEXPRESS";                                                          // Required
        public string installSqlDir = "C:\\Program Files\\";                                                // Optional
        public string installSqlSharedDir = "C:\\Program Files\\";                                          // Optional
        public string installSqlDataDir = "C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft SQL Server\\";                      // Optional
        public bool sqlAutoStart = true;                                                                    // Optional
        public bool sqlBrowserAutoStart = false;                                                            // Optional
        public string sqlBrowserAccount = "NT AUTHORITY\\SYSTEM";                                           // Optional
        public string sqlBrowserPassword = "";                                                              // Optional
        public string sqlAccount = "NT AUTHORITY\\SYSTEM";                                                  // Required
        public string sqlPassword = "testdemo";                                                             // Required
        public bool sqlSecurityMode = true;                                                                 // Optional
        public string saPassword = "tetdemo123";                                                           // Required when SECURITYMODE=SQL
        public string sqlCollation = "SQL_Latin1_General_Cp1_CS_AS";                                        // Optional
        public bool disableNetworkProtocols = true;                                                         // Optional
        public bool errorReporting = true;                                                                  // Optional
        public string sqlExpressSetupFileLocation = Path.Combine(@"C:\Downloads", "sqlexpr.exe");   // Required
        public bool enableRANU = false;                                                                     // Optional
        public string sysAdminAccount = "Builtin\\Administrators";                                          // Required
        public string agtSqlAccount = "NT AUTHORITY\\Network Service";                                      // Required
        public bool sqlServiceLicence = true;                                                               // Required

        #endregion

        private string BuildCommandLine()
        {
            StringBuilder strCommandLine = new StringBuilder();

            if (!IsNullOrEmpty(instanceAction))
            {
                strCommandLine.Append(" ACTION=\"").Append(instanceAction).Append("\"");
            }

            if (!IsNullOrEmpty(instanceFeature))
            {
                strCommandLine.Append(" FEATURES=\"").Append(instanceFeature).Append("\"");
            }

            if (!IsNullOrEmpty(installSqlDir))
            {
                strCommandLine.Append(" INSTANCENAME=\"").Append(instanceName).Append("\"");
            }

            if (!IsNullOrEmpty(sqlAccount))
            {
                strCommandLine.Append(" SQLSVCACCOUNT=\"").Append(sqlAccount).Append("\"");
            }

            if (!IsNullOrEmpty(sqlPassword))
            {
                strCommandLine.Append(" SQLSVCPASSWORD=\"").Append(sqlPassword).Append("\"");
            }

            if (!IsNullOrEmpty(sysAdminAccount))
            {
                strCommandLine.Append(" SQLSYSADMINACCOUNTS=\"").Append(sysAdminAccount).Append("\"");
            }

            if (!IsNullOrEmpty(agtSqlAccount))
            {
                strCommandLine.Append(" AGTSVCACCOUNT=\"").Append(agtSqlAccount).Append("\"");
            }

            if (sqlSecurityMode == true)
            {
                strCommandLine.Append(" SECURITYMODE=SQL");
            }

            if (!IsNullOrEmpty(saPassword))
            {
                strCommandLine.Append(" SAPWD=\"").Append(saPassword).Append("\"");
            }

            if (!IsNullOrEmpty(sqlCollation))
            {
                strCommandLine.Append(" SQLCOLLATION=\"").Append(sqlCollation).Append("\"");
            }

            if (errorReporting == true)
            {
                strCommandLine.Append(" ERRORREPORTING=1");
            }
            else
            {
                strCommandLine.Append(" ERRORREPORTING=0");
            }

            if (enableRANU == true)
            {
                strCommandLine.Append(" ENABLERANU=1");
            }
            else
            {
                strCommandLine.Append(" ENABLERANU=0");
            }

            if (sqlServiceLicence == true)
            {
                strCommandLine.Append(" IACCEPTSQLSERVERLICENSETERMS=1");
            }
            else
            {
                strCommandLine.Append(" IACCEPTSQLSERVERLICENSETERMS=0");
            }

            return strCommandLine.ToString();
    }

        public int InstallExpress()
        {
            Process myProcess = new Process();
            myProcess.StartInfo.FileName = sqlExpressSetupFileLocation;
            myProcess.StartInfo.Arguments = "/q" + BuildCommandLine();
            /*  /q -- Specifies that setup run with no user interface. */
            myProcess.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
            myProcess.Start();
            return myProcess.Id;
        }

        private static bool IsNullOrEmpty(string str)
        {
            return (str == null) || (str == string.Empty);
        }
    }
}

Now, call the SqlExpInstall class to install the SQL Server.

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Windows.Forms;

namespace SqlExp
{
    static class Program
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// The main entry point for the application.
        /// </summary>
        [STAThread]
        static void Main()
        {
            InstallSqlEngine()
        }

        private static void InstallSqlEngine()
        {
            SqlExpInstall EI = new SqlExpInstall();
            EI.sqlExpressSetupFileLocation = Path.Combine(@"C:\Downloads", "sqlexpr.exe");  //Provide location for the Express setup file
            int pid = EI.InstallExpress();

            // now let's wait till the setup is complete
            Process installp = Process.GetProcessById(pid);
            if (installp != null)
                installp.WaitForExit();
            int cc = installp.ExitCode;
        }
    }
}

I hope this is useful to all the readers. Happy Coding!

 

Reference - https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/940.how-to-embed-sql-server-express-in-an-application.aspx