Downloads / SharePoint 2016 (RTM) Setup

SharePoint 2016 RTM is out already !. and as I might have guessed the entire SharePoint community is trying to get their hands on a VM (aaaha !).

Go ahead and read more to know how to carry out the installation.

Download the following Software as they are the main ingredients in our recipe.

1) Windows Server 2012 R2 - This is our OS
2) KB2919442 - Essential for step number 3.
3) April 2014 Updates [KB2919355] - for Windows Server 2012 R2
3) SQL Server 2014 SP1 Setup - This is our DB Engine
4) SharePoint Server 2016 RTM Setup - which is our chief guest
5) SharePoint Server 2016 Prerequisites - helpful offline downloader
6) SharePoint Designer 2013 Setup - you know what this is for
7) Visual Studio 2015 Setup - our gateway to coding.

Install the following components in the same order.

1) Windows Server 2012 R2 x64
2) Install Windows Server 2012 R2 - April 2014 Updates
3) Install Active Directory Directory Services
4) Install .Net framework 3.5 features
5) Install MS SQL Server 2014 SP1
6) Install SharePoint Server 2016 Prerequisites
7) Install SharePoint Server 2016
8) Configure SharePoint Server 2016
9) Create SharePoint Server 2016 first site collection
10) Install Visual Studio 2015 Pro
11) Install Office tools for Visual Studio 2015.

Looking out for Hardware Requirements.

Microsoft recommends the following - in short , for evaluation/development.
quad core processor ,
12-16 GB RAM ,
80GB Drive space.

I honestly feel this is far fetched and the following is more than enough.
i7-dual core processor (6th Gen)
8GB RAM
100 GB Drive Space (I feel 90GB is a good number. I will tell why later on !!)

There may be many of you who might be of the opinion that even lesser specs might be working well.

My Experience,

I was able to get my SP2016 development VM up and running after much hassle and the entire process took me more than 6 Hours of troubleshooting & installing, although I was using a i7-quad core processor with 12GB RAM assigned to the VM (Phew !!) .

It is really worth considering the time and effort which was put in, when finally you know that you are always moving one step forward each time you conquer your problems.

Soon I will try & update this post with links and walkthroughs, but the installation is pretty straightforward. No Hardships except for the correct set of installables.
Good luck dear SharePointers.
Please do leave your feedbacks for improvements.