TechTips - Installing MOSS 2007 on Windows Server 2008 Fails

Upgrading to the newest version of a product can be a challenging process and I have found many challenges when moving from Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2008. I have had problems install IIS 7.5 and with Service pack 2 re-enabling my disabled NICs. I have come across another challenge that I didn't expect to be a problem, reinstalling my MOSS 2007 server farm.

When you try to install MOSS 2007 on Windows Server 2008 it fails, it says there is an incompatibility. The problem with this error is I know that MOSS 2007 is compatible with Windows Server 2008, what the error doesn't tell you is that you need MOSS 2007 SP1 for the install to work properly. This is a very weird installation issue; usually you simply install the MOSS 2007 program then install SP1 and SP2 afterwards. Well this time that isn't the case you have to install MOSS 2007 with SP1 integrated, which is fine if you have the Disk with SP1 on it already.

I didn't have a MOSS 2007 disk with SP1 already on it (MSDN also doesn't offer MOSS 2007 with SP1 as a download), so I could take the time to slipstream a disk with SP1 on it and install from the newly created disk, which is too much work for my liking. I am extremely lazy and don't like to add extra steps when I don't have to, so what I did to solve this annoying problem was very simple and should work for anyone in this situation.

I downloaded the Trial Version of MOSS 2007 SP1 (32-bit HERE and 64-bit HERE) and installed it, which sounds like a dumb idea but here is the catch, you can use your existing product key to upgrade from the trial version to whatever version you purchased. So now you don't have to do any extra work; like slipstreaming a disk (If that is your thing then by all means do it, I know it's not that hard) simply just download and install the trial MOSS 2007 SP1 version and upgrade.

To perform the upgrade after the install all you have to do is follow these steps:

Open MOSS 2007 Central Admin

Click the Operations Tab

Click Convert License Type

Enter your product key

Click OK

It will tell your success

Now the MOSS 2007 SP1 Trial installation is set to whatever license you own, in my case an Enterprise MOSS 2007 license. Now you can install SP2 and any other updates to the MOSS 2007 installation you want (like the cumulative update packages released monthly). Well I hope I save you some time and effort with this guide on a quick and easy way to install MOSS 2007 SP1 on Windows Server 2008.