Installing MCMS 2002 SP1a on my laptop proved quite difficult this week. This is one product that Microsoft really did not focus on the install experience.
I first tried to install it without Visual Studio 2003. It complained, so I got Visual Studio Installed. It also asked for the IE Web Controls, so I downloaded those, extracted it, and ran the build.bat file. I copied the sample app as directed and everything was working there.
I didn’t have SQL Server installed locally, so I didn’t have SQL-DMO, but the installer didn’t tell me how to get it. It kept complaining that I didn’t have Visual Studio 2002, Visual Studio 2003, IE Web Controls, and SQL-DMO, when I clearly had 2 of those 4.
I installed the SQL Client tools and that solved the SQL-DMO requirement. Then I found an MSI installer for IE Web Controls, and that did the trick there (apparently it doesn’t REALLY check to see if you have it, it just checks the Add/Remove Programs section). Visual Studio 2002 isn’t really required, the wording is just off on the installer.
That was a waste of a day. I could have gotten much more accomplished if this installation had been easier.