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View helpful articles, tutorials and FAQs on the set-up and configuration

of the FocalScope omnichannel suite, according to best practice.

Download, Configure & Install SQL Server 2008


At the time this document was written, the link http://www.microsoft.com/express/Database/InstallOptions.aspx gets you to the "Database with Advanced Services" installer package for SQL Server 2008 R2 Express.

Dependencies - SQL Server 2008 R2 Express - Where to get it


Depending on your system architecture, please choose the "Database with Advanced Services" 64-bit or 32-bit SQL package.


Dependencies - SQL Server 2008 R2 Express - Installation


Considering the size of the package, downloading it to your server is recommended. Once downloaded, please run the installer. This guide for SQL's installation process will only touch on areas & settings critical to the operation of FocalScope. For more detailed instructions on setting up SQL, please see official documentation on http://www.microsoft.com.




The SQL installer alerts us to SQL's own dependencies, simply click [OK] to install the required ".NET Framework" & "updated Windows Installer".




  1. Click the [Select All] button.
  2. Set your "Shared feature directory" & "Shared feature directory (x86)" paths to your preference. For this demonstration we will leave the default paths.
  3. Click [Next] to continue...




  1. Select the 'Named instance" radio button and enter the "Named Instance", "Instance ID" & "Instance root directory:" to your preference. Default values will again be used for this demonstration.
  2. Click [Next] to continue...




  1. Leave the "Account Name" for each service at their defaults.
  2. Set the "Startup Type" for each service to "Automatic" (Where changeable).
  3. We need not concern ourselves with the "Collation" tab for now.
  4. Click [Next] to continue...




There must be a security account (either SQL account or Windows) configured, to connect FocalScope with the SQL server instance. When setting up a dedicated SQL server instance for FocalScope, it is highly recommended that you use [Windows authentication mode].

The Windows account must exist on both the FocalScope and the SQL server computers or be a Windows domain account. On the FocalScope computer the account must have "Logon as a service" rights. See the lesson Windows Account to accurately configure the Windows account.

Alternatively you can use the SQL "sa" (system administrator) account in Mixed mode. This is not recommended as SQL account names and passwords are stored in clear text and a security risk. If you must use the "sa" account, select [Mixed mode] and enter the "sa" account password you want to use.

Click [Next] to continue.




  1. We will use "Install the native mode default configuration", the other options are more advanced and will depend on what SQL environment you will be running. For this demonstration "native mode" will suffice to complete the FocalScope installation later.
  2. Click [Next] to continue...




Now that your SQL server installation is complete, just click [Close] and then we will proceed to installing the IIS server role which is the final dependency needed for installing FocalScope.



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