SharePoint 2010 Installation Error While Using Preparation Tool with Troublesome or No Internet Access

The Error

I was attempting to complete the SharePoint 2010 Prerequisites checker at a customer today but I was having difficulty as the necessary Internet access for the checker wasn’t performing well (the customer has a Proxy server that was getting in the way and causing unexpected Internet connection issues). In the end, I had to download two components manually, which were:

• SQL Server 2008 Native Client
• SQL Server 2008 R2 November CTP Reporting Services Add-in

Figure 1 : Error: SQL 2008 R2 Reporting Services SharePoint 2010 Add-in: download error (optional component)

The problem is, even after downloading the (supposedly correct) file, according to the provided link on the checker dialog and installing, the error would persist. The webpage it provided (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-ca/library/cc262485(office.14).aspx ) suggested this website: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=164654&clcid=0x409. But no workie…

The Fix

The solution was simple. I reviewed the logfile instead and it indicated it was trying to get the following file instead – http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=166379. I downloaded and installed that version (in fact, it indicated it was an upgrade as I had already installed the other version and voila! I have all the necessary prerequisites now.

Moral of the story, trust the logs, not the help links.