vCenter 5.0, SQL Server 2005, XML Core Services

[nealda]

I'm installing vCenter 5.0 on Windows 2008 R2 in a split configuration with the database on a 64-bit Windows 2003 R2 server with SQL Server 2005 64-bit. In the vSphere 5 Installation and Setup guide (pdf) (Table 9-1, page 166) it says "If Microsoft SQL Server 2005 is not already installed and the machine has MSXML Core Services 6.0 installed, remove MSXML Core Services 6.0 before installing Microsoft SQL Server 2005."

In my case, MSXML Core Services 6.0 is already installed on the SQL Server and there are several other dbs currently running in production so it would be unwise to uninstall XML Core Services from that environment.

The instructions say, "If Microsoft SQL Server 2005 is not already installed...,"  so as it is already installed, might I ignore the remaining part about removing XML Core Services? What problems might I encounter if I go ahead with the installation?

Thanks.

-David

[AndySimmons]

You're fine. There is a known issue specifically related to the SQL 2005 installation process, if the XML core services 6.0 are already installed. SQL server requires MSXML and will silently install it if it's not present.