Installation and Upgrade > Installation and Configuration Guide > Database Installation > Installing SQL Server > Before You Begin Installation of SQL Server
  
Before You Begin Installation of SQL Server
Determine which versions of SQL Server are supported for your application. See the software platform matrix (available from https://www.ptc.com/en/support/refdoc).
The installing user (typically the database administrator [DBA]) must be a member of the Windows Administrator group.
You must have 1.5–GB available hard drive disk space for a SQL Server installation with a Windchill demo database. More disk space is needed for larger databases.
For additional installation requirements and platform prerequisites, consult the Microsoft SQL Server documentation, or visit:
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/prodinfo/sysreqs/default.mspx
Note the following:
Database installation must be configured with mixed mode authentication.
Database instance must have contained database authentication configuration option activated. It can be activated by executing following statements as database administrator user:
use master
GO
sp_configure 'contained database authentication', 1;
GO
RECONFIGURE
GO
Windchill database must have the following required file groups:
PRIMARY
BLOBS
INDX
WCAUDIT
SQL Server database user must be created as contained DB user.
Database schema name and schema owner user must be identified by same name.
Default schema for database user must be identified by same name.
Windchill database must be configured as partially contained. It can be set using following statement as database administrator user:
ALTER DATABASE [<database_name>] SET CONTAINMENT = PARTIAL WITH NO_WAIT;
Windchill database must have read_committed_snapshot property set. It can be activated using following statement as database administrator user:
ALTER DATABASE <database_name> SET READ_COMMITTED_SNAPSHOT ON
The Windchill SQL Server database user must be created as contained DB user:
User Type: SQL User without login
Database User name, Schema name, Schema owner, and Default schema must be identified by same name
Windchill Database user must be a member of the db_owner role.
For a new Windchill 11.0+ installation with SQL Server 2012 and later releases, the Windchill application database collation (Latin1_General_100_CS_AS_SC) and SQL Server instance level collation can be different where the contained database instance is properly configured.
* 
The Latin1_General_100_CS_AS_SC is a Windows collation. To form the collation, while installing SQL Server for 2012 and later releases, perform the following steps:
1. In the Server Configuration tab, select the Collation sub-tab.
2. Click the Customize button. The Customize the SQL Server 2012 Database Engine Collation window is displayed.
3. Select Windows collation designator and sort order.
4. Select Latin1_General_100 from the Collation designator drop-down list.
5. Select the Case-sensitive, Accent-sensitive and Supplementary characters check boxes.
6. Click OK.
If you are planning to upgrade Windchill on SQL Server 2008 R2 or earlier versions to SQL Server 2012 or later versions then the upgrade needs to be completed with SQL Server 2008 supported collation SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CS_AS. After upgrade the database Collation must be changed to SQL Server 2012 and later supported collation Latin1_General_100_CS_AS_SC using Collation Conversion Utility from upgraded version.
Updating with a new sub installer for an updated server is allowed with Server 2014 (SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS (UCS-2)).
Database schema name and schema owner must be identified by same name.
SQL Server user, and schema must be identified by same name.
Default schema for database user must be identified by same name.
* 
Do not grant DBA or Database Admin roles or privileges to Windchill database users.
Windchill Business Reporting
The following are the supported Microsoft SQL Server database platforms and collations for Windchill Business Reporting:
Windchill Business Reporting database: Latin1_General_100_CI_AS
Windchill database: Latin1_General_100_CS_AS_SC