Sitecore 9.1 Prerequisites.json Missing Two Key Downloads for Scaled Deployment

If you use the Prerequisites.json for your Sitecore 9.1 Deployment, be forewarned that this file is intended for a Single Server 9.1 XP1 deployment and not a scaled build (ex. XP1 on separate servers).

What’s Missing?

If you have a scaled Sitecore 9.1 deployment, you need to execute WebDeploy to communicate and deploy databases to the SQL Server that will house your databases.

As your SQL Server will reside on a separate machine than, say your CMS, you need the following two prerequisites that are not currently in the Prerequisites.json file to ensure WebDeploy succeeds. A bug has been filed with Sitecore to remedy this:

• Microsoft SQL Server TransactSQLScriptDom (2016 x64 and x86)
• Microsoft Shared Management Objects for SQL Server 2016 (2016 x64 and x86)

Not having these two additional prerequisites can result in an error such as:

 [--------------------------------------------------------- InstallWDP : WebDeploy ----------------------------------------------------------]
 [WebDeploy]:[Path] C:\Program Files\iis\Microsoft Web Deploy V3\msdeploy.exe
 Info: Adding MsDeploy.Site (MsDeploy.Site).
 Info: Adding database (user id=mysqlaccount;data source=mysql.Sitecore.local;initial catalog=sc910xp1_MarketingAutomation)
 Info: Creating deployment plan: Pending.
 Info: Verifying deployment plan: Pending.
 Info: Deploying package to database: Pending.
 Info: Creating deployment plan: Running.
 Info: Initializing deployment (Start)
 Info: Initializing deployment (Failed)
 Info: Creating deployment plan: Faulted.
 Info: Verifying deployment plan: Faulted.
 Info: Deploying package to database: Faulted.
 Install-SitecoreConfiguration : Error Code: ERROR_EXECUTING_METHOD
 At C:\resourcefiles\XP1-Distributed-RS.ps1:219 char:1
 + Install-SitecoreConfiguration @DistributedDeploymentParams -Verbose * ...
 + 

Why Doesn’t it Work?

When you are installing a Single Server 9.1 XP1 it is assumed that you have SQL Server 2017 installed on the same box. Having this will not require the two additional prerequisites mentioned above, as the bits for communication are included. However, in a scaled XP1 9.1 deployment your Sitecore servers would not have SQL Server 2017 on them so these bits are not there.

What Can I Do About It?

Since these are missing, you can install them manually on each server, modify the Prerequisites.json file to include them, or create your own add on script to deploy these. The “Sitecore 9 Update 1 SIF Prerequisites for a Scaled Environment” guide has links to these downloads.