Downloading and Installing SQL Server and Kennel Connection

How to check that the machine is ready:

Any active Windows updates running on the computer, either actively downloading or installing, or any updates pending restart will prevent the SQL Server program from installing. All Windows updates must be done prior to the installation.

You can check on Windows Update status by right clicking the Windows Start button on the taskbar and selecting Settings.

Then select the Update & Security option to see if there are any active Windows updates pending restart or downloading/installing on the machine. If it says there are no updates pending, you can proceed.

Note: If it shows that there are updates available, but gives a Download & Install option on the right, just close the window and do not download or install. That means there are updates available, but not actively working on being set up yet. You can proceed with the installation.

Downloading the files you’ll need for SQL Server/SQL Management Studio:

Step 1: Download .Net Framework 3.5 from the Workdrive: https://workdrive.zohoexternal.com/external/41f6fbc774cf85b605d622f18f3b9ad6a9cad0b8b11621348cf9644023b7372e

Step 2: Run the .Net Framework installer. If it give you an option to “Download & Install this Feature”, select that and let it run. It will eventually give you an option to Close once it completes the installation.

Note: If you run it and it does nothing, move onto Step 3.

Step 3: SQL Server 2022 and SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) will need to be downloaded separately from the following links.

SQL Server 2022: https://workdrive.zohoexternal.com/external/75db694eab2f7eef8091d8c1a702309b362e3db289d48db6f16bdeb0314314a9

SQL Server Management Studio: https://workdrive.zohoexternal.com/external/857b0d3c536639a078fe90c4398207df0ea8ecc6fad0296eb2b2b37662b0ec98

Step 4: Run the SQL Server installer, file name SQL2022-SSEI-Expr.exe

Installing SQL Server 2022:

Once opened, You will see a screen with 3 options, Basic, Custom and Download Media. Select Custom.

Then click Install on the next screen.

It should tell you that the download was successful, then close out of that window before opening the SQL Server installation Center. Once it opens, click Planning in the left panel.

Next, select the System Configuration Checker and let it run. As long as the window closes on its own, you should be good to proceed.

Then go back to the Installation option on the left.

Next, select New SQL Server standalone installation or add features to an existing installation to begin the process.

This should do a Global Rules check, then proceed to Product Updates on its own.

Click Next.

Note: If you've already attempted to install, or have installed another instance of SQL Server, it may give you a screen asking if you want to install a new instance, or add features to an existing one as shown here. Select Perform a new installation of SQL Server 2022 if so, then click Next.

On the License Terms page, you’ll need to click the check box I accept the license terms and Privacy Statement, then click Next.

On the Azure Extension for SQL Server screen, UNcheck the box in the top left, then click Next.

On the Feature Selection page, uncheck everything bu the Database Engine Services option, otherwise it will take you to screens you won’t need for installing different machine learning services and language extensions like Python. None of it is necessary for the needs of Kennel Connection and will cause issues with the installation.

On the Instance Configuration page, the Named Instance will default to SQLExpress. Change the Named Instance field to MSSQLSERVER22 to make it easily identifiable, then press the Tab key on your keyboard for it to change to the same name in the Instance ID field below, then click Next.

When you get to the Server Configuration page, you’ll need to do two things: On the SQL Server Database Engin row, click the dropdown menu under the Account Name column and choose the <<Browse…>> option from it.

This will bring up a window telling you to Select User Group. In the only typable field under “Enter the object name to select”, type the word System, then click Check Names on the right. Once that’s done, click OK to return to the Server Configuration Page.

It should look like this before you click OK.

Lastly, on the SQL Server Browser row, set the Startup Type from Disabled to Automatic in the dropdown.

Once it is set to Automatic, click Next.

This will take you to the Database Engine Configuration page. From here, select Mixed Mode (SQL Server authentication and Windows authentication), then type a password into both fields below, making sure they match.

Quick Tip: SQL Server continuously changes their password requirements for the SQL Authentication login. It’s best to use one capital letter, one lower case letter, a special character and a number at least.

In the Specify SQL Server Administrators section, click Add at the bottom.

This will bring you to a window you’ve seen before. Type in Everyone, click Check Names, then click OK.

Once it brings you back to the Database Engine Configuration, as long as all of the highlighted fields match to the screenshot below, click Next.

This will begin the installation for SQL Server. Once it is completed, it will let you know if it ran into any errors. If it did not, it should give you a Close button upon completion. Close out of everything for the SQL Server installation center.

Note: If it did give errors, please contact Kennel Connection support first to examine the issue. If it is deemed necessary, you may need to also reach out to a local PC technician or your company's IT team. Kennel Connection support can be emailed at support@kennelconnection.com or reached by phone Mon-Fri between 8am-7pm EST at 888-486-4343, option 2.

Enabling TCP\IP and Named Pipes:

Once the installation is completed, click the Windows Start button and scroll down the list until you see the Microsoft SQL Server 2022 folder.

Note: If you are running on Windows 11, you may need to click the All button in the upper right of the Start menu before you see the list of installed programs, then scroll to the Microsoft SQL Server 2022 folder.

Once found, click the Microsoft SQL Server 2022 folder to expand it, then select SQL Server 2022 Configuration Manager beneath. (Icon with the red toolbox.)

In the SQL Server Configuration Manager, there are a few steps that need to be taken in order for KC to be able to connect to SQL Server, as well as communicate over the network if you plan to set up the software on multiple machines.

Once in the SQL Server Configuration Manager window, click on the SQL Server Network Configuration arrow on the left ‘>’ so that it expands the list below it ‘v’. Then click the Protocols for MSSQLSERVER22 option in the list.

This will show you a list of protocol names on the right with Shared Memory already Enabled, then Named Pipes and TCP\IP showing as Disabled.

Right click Named Pipes and select Enable. You should receive a pop up message that states, “Any changes made will be saved; however, they will not take effect until the service is stopped and restarted.” Click OK on this message to proceed.

Then, do the same thing for TCP\IP, right click it and select Enable, then click OK on the message that will pop up again.

You should now see the list with all protocol names enabled.

Now, you’ll need to select SQL Server Services in the top of the left list, which will bring you to the running instances of SQL Server on the computer.

Note: You will not normally see this many instances installed. These screenshots were taken from a test machine.

Find the MSSQLSERVER22 instance, which will show as SQL Server (MSSQLSERVER22) in the list. Right click it and select Restart from the menu.

Then move onto the steps for installing SQL Server Management Studio.

Installing SQL Server Management Studio:

Go back to the Downloads folder and run the SSMS-Setup-ENU.exe. This is the installer for SQL Server Management Studio. This installation is thankfully much less complicated and faster than the core SQL Server program installation.

Click Install once the window opens.

It will take a minute to load, please wait for it to go through.

Once finished, it will give you a Close option.

Note: It may give a Restart option, as well. If it does, you do not have to Restart the computer, you can simply close the window and proceed to install Kennel Connection and configure it to point to this new instance of SQL Server.

Downloading Kennel Connection Desktop:

If you have not already sent in the request to download the installer files, please visit https://kennelconnection.com and take the following steps.

Click on Support, then Request KC Install & Update

This will then take you to the file request form. Please fill out the required fields and be sure to choose the right selection in the dropdown at the bottom, highlighted in the following screenshot. You can choose if you want the latest update only, just the full installer for the software, or the full installer and the update together.

Once you click Submit, you'll be brought to a screen that will let you know your request has been sent to our support team.

Our support team will review the ticket and send you the most up to date links to download the files you need. Keep an eye on your email inbox that was used in the request form.

Once you receive the emailed links back, please download all of the files from them, then move onto the Installing Kennel Connection Desktop section.

Installing Kennel Connection Desktop:

Once the files have finished downloading, you will see the KC7Setup.exe and the latest KC7 hotfix file in your downloads folder or wherever you chose to save it to.  Many computers save to the Downloads folder if you were not given the option to choose.  The file looks like this:

Double click the KC7Setup.exe first and if prompted, choose Run. (If Windows Smartscreen blocks this file, click the "more info" button and then run anyway.)

Once the installer is running, click Next until you get to the screen where it asks you where you want to install KC7 to.  This is where you MUST make sure it says C:\KC7 or if you're installing to another internal drive, it should be drive letter\KC7. If it does, simply click Next and continue the installation by clicking Next or Install until it finishes.  Then click Finish.

If it does not show C:\KC7 as the install path OR you are installing to a different internal drive, proceed to the next step.

If it does not show C:\KC7, you must change it to show C:\KC7 or whichever drive letter you're installing to.  Click on the Change button.

Click the drop-down arrow and choose your C drive or whichever drive letter you're installing to.

You may now notice that the folder name only shows C:\.  If it does, in the Folder name field, simply type in KC7 after the slash and then click OK.

Click Next and install.  The KC7 software will now be installed.  Once it is completed, click Finish to close the wizard.

Hotfix Installation Guide:

Step 1. We normally suggest starting with your main computer where the database is hosted; however, if you have workstations that are highly used and need minimal downtime on those machines, you may start with those computers first. KC MUST remain closed on all computers until the hotfix has been completed on the first computer. First, go to your C:\KC7 folder and rename the KC7.exe to KC7old.exe.

Step 2. Next, extract the hotfix files, if you downloaded a zip folder, by right clicking the zip and selecting Extract All in the menu. Once it unzips the files into a folder, copy them and paste them into the C:\KC7 folder, replacing the files in the destination. Once the files have been replaced, it is safe to open KC on the main computer and continue working. 

Step 3. If you have secondary workstations, perform the same steps above for the file replacement. Once done, move onto the Configuring Kennel Connection to Point to SQL Server section.

Configuring Kennel Connection to Point to SQL Server:

Double click on the Kennel Connection 7.0 icon on your desktop. It should look like this.

This will open the Kennel Connection Configuration Wizard. Click Next in the bottom right.

You will then want to choose if this is the main computer or secondary workstation. As this is a server set up, choose one of the top two options to set this as a main computer installtion.

Then click Next to have KC detect instances of SQL Server installed on your machine. Once it finds the instance, it will bring up the SQL Server name, username and password that you created during the SQL Server installation.

Once done, click Test on the right and it will run a test of the credentials you entered. It should give you a message saying the connection was successful with an OK button. click OK, then click Finish in the lower right.

Once you do this, KC will be installed with SQL Server and open up to show the registration screen.

If you are new to Kennel Connection, fill this out and it will begin a 30-day trial of the software for you. Please then reach out to Kennel Connection support for your registration code if you have not already.

If you are coming from an old computer, click Cancel then click No when it asks if you want to continue registering. This will close out of the software entirely. Then, use the following guide on restoring your database backup here.