Install SQL Server

Primentra stores all data in SQL Server: models, entities, attributes, master data rows, permissions, and the audit trail. All business logic runs inside the database as stored procedures.

Already have SQL Server?

If your organization already runs SQL Server 2016 or later, use it. Check the settings listed under "Verify the configuration" below, then continue with Create Database & Service Account.

Which version and edition

Version: SQL Server 2016 or later. Primentra uses CREATE OR ALTER, OPENJSON, and FOR JSON PATH. Older versions do not have them.
Edition: the free Express edition holds databases up to 10 GB and is enough for most deployments. Use Standard or Enterprise for larger datasets.

For Full-Text Search, install Express with Advanced Services. The plain Express edition does not include it.

Install the database engine

Download SQL Server 2019 or later from Microsoft.
Enable Database Engine Services on the Feature Selection screen.
Choose Mixed Mode Authentication (SQL Server + Windows). Primentra's service account uses SQL authentication.
Note the instance name — MSSQLSERVER for the default instance, or a named instance such as SQLEXPRESS.

Verify the configuration

Check these three things after the installation:

The SQL Server service is running.
TCP/IP is enabled in SQL Server Configuration Manager, under Network Configuration. Primentra connects over TCP, not named pipes.
The SQL Server Browser service is running. Named instances such as SQLEXPRESS cannot be found without it.

Optional: Full-Text Search

Full-Text Search is not required. Primentra works without it. When it is enabled, search uses an indexed word lookup instead of scanning every row, which is much faster on large datasets. Below about 10,000 rows the difference is not noticeable.

LIKE '%amsterdam%' scans every value row.
CONTAINS(TextValue, 'amsterdam') looks the word up in the index.

For measured figures, see Performance.

Enable it during a new installation

On the Feature Selection screen, check Full-Text and Semantic Extractions for Search under Database Engine Services. Primentra creates the indexes itself when you run Setup Database.

Add it to an existing instance

Start the SQL Server Installation Center.
Click New SQL Server stand-alone installation or add features to an existing installation.
Select Add features to an existing instance on the Installation Type screen.
Select your instance and check Full-Text and Semantic Extractions for Search.
Complete the wizard. A restart is usually not needed.

The feature installer can stop the SQL Server Agent service without restarting it. Check it in services.msc afterwards — Primentra's scheduler job depends on it.

The SQL Full-text Filter Daemon Launcher service is set to Manual by default. Set it to Automatic in services.msc, or Full-Text Search stops working after a reboot.

Verify it works

Open General Settings › Connection. The Full-Text Search panel shows four checks: feature installed, indexes created, queries working, and Windows service running. The same values are in the health endpoint — see Health & Monitoring.

You can also run this in SSMS. A result of 1 means the feature is installed.

SELECT FULLTEXTSERVICEPROPERTY('IsFullTextInstalled')

Limitations

Prefix matching only. amster finds Amsterdam, but mster does not.
Index updates are asynchronous. New rows can take a few seconds to become searchable.
The index catalog needs extra disk space.