Introduction: The Portable Paradox In the world of enterprise software, "portability" is often a dirty word. Applications are expected to hook into registries, spawn Windows services, and embed themselves deeply into the operating system. Microsoft SQL Server Express—the free, entry-level version of the world’s most popular enterprise RDBMS—is the epitome of this "installed" philosophy.
Between SQL Server 2005 and 2012, Microsoft experimented with (also called RANU — Run As Normal User). An application could attach a database file ( .mdf ) directly via a connection string without a full service installation. ms sql server express portable
E:\SQL2019_Setup.exe /Q /ACTION=Install /FEATURES=SQLENGINE /INSTANCENAME=SQLEXPRESS /SQLSVCACCOUNT="NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE" /AGTSVCACCOUNT="NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE" /SQLSYSADMINACCOUNTS="BUILTIN\ADMINISTRATORS" /INSTANCEDIR="E:\SQLExpress" /SQLUSERDBDIR="E:\SQLExpress\Data" /SQLUSERDBLOGDIR="E:\SQLExpress\Logs" /TCPENABLED=1 /BROWSERSVCSTARTUPTYPE="Automatic" /IACCEPTSQLSERVERLICENSETERMS This forces all binaries, system databases, user databases, and logs onto the USB drive. Save the following PowerShell script as StartSQL.ps1 on the root of the USB drive. Introduction: The Portable Paradox In the world of
if (-NOT ([Security.Principal.WindowsPrincipal] [Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity]::GetCurrent()).IsInRole([Security.Principal.WindowsBuiltInRole] "Administrator")) Write-Host "Administrator rights required to create/remove service." -ForegroundColor Red exit 1 Between SQL Server 2005 and 2012, Microsoft experimented