Setting Up the Development Environment for SharePoint Server

When you create or customize SharePoint solutions, it is usually best to develop the solution on a local computer where Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 or Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010 is installed. This article describes how to install a development environment with Microsoft SharePoint 2010 and Microsoft Visual Studio 2010. The development environment that you create by using these instructions will not support SharePoint farm installations, and you should not host active production sites with this configuration. These instructions will enable you to get started with an environment that is specifically suited to developing SharePoint custom solutions.

Step 1: Choose and Preconfigure the Operating System

The requirements for a development environment are less stringent and costly than the requirements for a production environment, and the guidelines in this topic will not support a production environment installation. You have several options for preconfiguring the operating system of a local computer on which you will install SharePoint 2010 for development purposes. The choice you make will be determined by factors specific to your organization and environment (such as budget, the size of your development team, and the operating systems that you and your organization are already using).

In any development environment, you should use a computer with an x64-capable CPU, and at least 2 gigabytes (GB) and preferably 4 GB of RAM for SharePoint Foundation, and 6 to 8 GB of RAM for SharePoint Server.

Following are the options:

  • Install SharePoint on Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 x64 (or Windows Server 2008 R2 x64).

  • Use Microsoft Hyper-V and install SharePoint on a virtual machine running a Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 x64 (or Windows Server 2008 R2 x64) guest operating system.

  • Install SharePoint on Windows 7 x64, Windows Vista Service Pack 1 x64, or Windows Vista Service Pack 2 x64.

  • Use Microsoft Hyper-V and install SharePoint on virtual machine running a Windows 7 x64, Windows Vista Service Pack 1 x64, or Windows Vista Service Pack 2 x64 guest operating system.

Windows 7 and Windows Vista cannot be used for production deployments of SharePoint 2010. If you use Windows 7 or Windows Vista for your development environment, you should have access to a test environment that has the same operating system installed as your production environment. Windows 7 and Windows Vista are recommended only for developer workstations and should only be used for stand-alone installations. You can use a separate Microsoft SQL Server instance, but you should not configure your installationas a SharePoint farm and you should not host active sites on this configuration.

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