Michal Sadowski walks us through unattended installations:
Imagine a situation when you are tasked to install a dozen SQL Server instances. Using an approach described in previous blog post installation can take a significant amount of resources and time, also there is a probability of errors due to typos (e.g. in directory paths, etc.)
There are two options that can be used for the installation:
1. Using ConfigurationFile.ini
2. Using command line parameters to setup.exe file
Below there are step-by-step instructions on how to install SQL Server using both options.
If you only have a couple of SQL Server instances in your environment, unattended installation may seem a bit overwhelming. But as you have to deal with larger and larger numbers of instances, it’s the only way to keep your sanity. It’s also the only way to install on Windows Server Core.