Last week I did something I thought I’d never do again, install SharePoint 2013 Server. It had been a while and to make things a little more interesting the server was in a data centre with no internet access and no easy way of transferring files across. Here are a few things I learnt that I’m sure will be helpful if you find yourself in the same situation.

UPDATE: A very similar issue with SQL 2014 and solution can be found on this Tech Community forum.

Environment:

• Windows Server 2012 R2
• SharePoint Server 2013

Problem 1: How do you get the pre-reqs onto the server?

Download the pre-requisite files here and copy them into your install source “Prerequesite” folder (look inside your install source folder structure for this).

Download the prerequisite files for SharePoint 2013 Server

Problem 2: AppFabric install issue

AppFabric wouldn’t install via the prerequisite installer giving error 1603. Lots of digging around suggested the issue was due to .NET but I found the solution was to run the pre-req installer at the command line using the full path:

C:\SP\prerequisiteinstaller.exe /AppFabric:C:\SP\prerequisiteinstallerfiles\WindowsServerAppFabricSetup_x64.exe”

If you get error 1603 you should also check the Local Groups in Computer Management and remove the “AS_Observers” and “AS_Administrators” groups if they exist.

Problem 3: The Prerequisite installer says .NET 4.5 is missing

This is because the SharePoint installer doesn’t recognise the later versions of .NET installed with Windows Server 2012 R2 includes .NET 4.5. Microsoft provides and update for this that replaces a file in the root directory of your install source files.

Download the fix for the .NET 4.5 error

Let me know if you have any other tips that might help someone else who finds themselves installing older versions of SharePoint on newer Windows versions.