Installing SharePoint 2010 on Windows 2008 R2 using AutoSPInstaller – Lessons learned

(Note: The issues might be fixed with post-Mar 2013 releases of SP 2010 and/or AutoSPInstaller)

1. Known Issues and Resolution

1.1 Input XML file should have the name of the current server

If you are running the autospinstaller scripts one by one on the servers then ensure you have the server name specified at least once, with a search role, in search service application configuration section. This is a bug in the scripts, even if you have disabled the search service application it will still go inside the search section and will abort if doesn’t find the name of the server there
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1.2 Rerun PowerShell if it fails after installation and before running the configuration

There is a known issue where the powershell will halt after installing SharePoint and before configuring the farm. The resolution is simple and straight forward. Rerunning the ‘AutoSPInstallerLaunch.bat’ will resolve the issue and execute the remaining configuration steps.

1.3 Create search services manually

If the installation scripts fail to create the search service application then create the service manually. If for some reasons the search service application cannot be created and gives errors then one possible resolution could be detaching the server from the farm and deleting the farm databases (worked for us).
1. Step 1: Run the powershell command psconfig –cmd configdb –disconnect
2. Step 2: Using SQL Management studio, delete all of the SharePoint databases.
Ref here for more details: http://www.scottjamison.com/blog/2009/12/rebuilding-your-sharepoint-2010-farm/
 

1.4 Fix windows security token service. Remove and add the server

If ‘Claims to Windows Token Service’ fails to stop/start properly then try the following
1. Find the service instances running on the farm
2. Identify the ID of the service instance of the ‘Claims to Windows Token Service’.
3. Attempt to stop it
a. Get-SPServiceInstance -Identity IDHere | Stop-SPServiceInstance
4. If it fails to stop then attempt to delete the service instance
a. $badjob = Get-SPTimerJob | where {$_.name -like "job-service-instance-IdHere"}
b. $badjob.delete()
c. Restart timer service
d. Attempt to stop the service again through powershell
5. If the above does not work then the other option is to remove the server from the farm and add it back

a. Login to the server using the Install account where the service is failing

b. Run the SharePoint 2010 Configuration wizard and remove the server from the farm

c. Verify the sites and app pools have been deleted from the server

d. Login back to the server and rerun the SharePoint 2010 configuration wizard

e. Add the server to the farm again

f. Finish the SharePoint and the Farm configuration wizards

g. Verify the server has been added back to the farm

h. Verify the service can now be stopped and restarted.

 

1.5 Error Adding Index or Crawl Components

There is a possibility that SharePoint central admin will be stuck at adding an additional crawl or query component. In order to resolve this issue simply restart the SharePoint 2010 Timer Service and SharePoint 2010 Farm Administration Services and then try again