While setting up a new VM for an upcoming project I ran into an issue while trying to install SQL Server 2005. During the step with the setup wizard checks all of the necessary components and system configuration settings on your machine it gave me a warning message about the COM Plus catalog Requirement. The message dialog had the following messages:
- COM Plus Catalog Requirement
- If SQL Server Setup fails, Setup will roll back the installation but my not remove all .manifest files. The workaround is to rename the files and then rerun Setup. For more information, see How to: Work Around COM+ Check Failure in SQL Server Setup.
I recently built out a VM Image library for isolating client projects (thanks Dave) here at VelocIT, and this is at least the second time I've seen this particular error message. Rather than have to Google for solution the next time I hit this same wall, I figured I'd post my solution in hopes of saving some time in the future.
Install MSDTC
The solution for me was to install - or re-install - the Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator (a.k.a. MSDTC ). To do so, just fire up a command prompt and run the following command: msdtc -install
That should re-install the msdtc service on your machine. After that you'll need to actually start the service... that's an important step to remember. :)
Past Experiences
I've had some previous experiences with MSDTC when trying to setup development environments. So, if you're looking to use MbUnit and a remote (read: not on your local machine) SQL Server, I'd recommend reading my post on Using MbUnit with Com+ 1.5 Transactions.
Oh... and if you're looking for an awesome unit testing framework for .net, I'd suggest you give MbUnit a whirl. For an intro to some of the hotness that MbUnit has to offer, check out James Avery's Unit Testing for People who Love Unit Testing talk.