SQL SERVER – New features in SQL Server 2016 Setup Wizard

In this world of change, the SQL Server product is also changing. One thing which is very clear is that Microsoft is listening to feedbacks from customers and enhancing the setup experience also. Some of the classic feedback implementation can be seen in the setup of the next version of SQL Server 2016. In this blog post, I will try to bring out some of the enhancements that are being incorporated in the Setup UI. Some are critical and worth making a note. Let us learn about SQL Server 2016 Setup Wizard.

Here are the few things which I noticed in SQL Server user interface.

SQL Setup allows user to add Database Engine Service SID into “Perform Volume Maintenance Task” privilege under security policy. This helps in instant file initialization

Here is the new parameter added in command line for SQL Setup.

SQLSVCINSTANTFILEINIT=”True”

This may lead to information disclosure as it could allow deleted content to be accessed by an unauthorized principal.

TempDB Configuration

In SQL Server 2016, we have the option to specify TempDB file specifications during setup itself. Most of the companies have “post deployment script” and one of the steps is to optimize TempDB files. It’s a tab called “TempDB” under “Database Engine Configuration”

Since UI has it, there is also a parameter in command line as below:

Hopefully, we would see more feedback embedded in the product by default.

Reference : Pinal Dave (https://blog.sqlauthority.com)