Installing a new instance of SQL Server at the command prompt enables you to specify the features to install and how they should be configured. You can also specify silent, basic, or full interaction with the setup of the user interface. Here, I am using the "silent" type of interaction.
When you install SQL Server at the command prompt, specify the setup parameters for your installation at the command prompt as part of your installation syntax.
  1. using System;
  2. using System.IO;
  3. using System.Text;
  4. using Microsoft.Win32;
  5. using System.Diagnostics;
  6. using System.Windows.Forms;
  8. namespace SqlExp
  9. {
  10. public class SqlExpInstall
  11. {
  12. #region Internal variables
  14. //Variables for setup.exe command line
  15. private string instanceAction = "Install"; // Required
  16. private string instanceFeature = "SQL,Tools"; // Required
  17. public string instanceName = "SQLEXPRESS"; // Required
  18. public string installSqlDir = "C:\\Program Files\\"; // Optional
  19. public string installSqlSharedDir = "C:\\Program Files\\"; // Optional
  20. public string installSqlDataDir = "C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft SQL Server\\"; // Optional
  21. public bool sqlAutoStart = true; // Optional
  22. public bool sqlBrowserAutoStart = false; // Optional
  23. public string sqlBrowserAccount = "NT AUTHORITY\\SYSTEM"; // Optional
  24. public string sqlBrowserPassword = ""; // Optional
  25. public string sqlAccount = "NT AUTHORITY\\SYSTEM"; // Required
  26. public string sqlPassword = "testdemo"; // Required
  27. public bool sqlSecurityMode = true; // Optional
  28. public string saPassword = "tetdemo123"; // Required when SECURITYMODE=SQL
  29. public string sqlCollation = "SQL_Latin1_General_Cp1_CS_AS"; // Optional
  30. public bool disableNetworkProtocols = true; // Optional
  31. public bool errorReporting = true; // Optional
  32. public string sqlExpressSetupFileLocation = Path.Combine(@"C:\Downloads", "sqlexpr.exe"); // Required
  33. public bool enableRANU = false; // Optional
  34. public string sysAdminAccount = "Builtin\\Administrators"; // Required
  35. public string agtSqlAccount = "NT AUTHORITY\\Network Service"; // Required
  36. public bool sqlServiceLicence = true; // Required
  38. #endregion
  40. private string BuildCommandLine()
  41. {
  42. StringBuilder strCommandLine = new StringBuilder();
  44. if (!IsNullOrEmpty(instanceAction))
  45. {
  46. strCommandLine.Append(" ACTION=\"").Append(instanceAction).Append("\"");
  47. }
  49. if (!IsNullOrEmpty(instanceFeature))
  50. {
  51. strCommandLine.Append(" FEATURES=\"").Append(instanceFeature).Append("\"");
  52. }
  54. if (!IsNullOrEmpty(installSqlDir))
  55. {
  56. strCommandLine.Append(" INSTANCENAME=\"").Append(instanceName).Append("\"");
  57. }
  59. if (!IsNullOrEmpty(sqlAccount))
  60. {
  61. strCommandLine.Append(" SQLSVCACCOUNT=\"").Append(sqlAccount).Append("\"");
  62. }
  64. if (!IsNullOrEmpty(sqlPassword))
  65. {
  66. strCommandLine.Append(" SQLSVCPASSWORD=\"").Append(sqlPassword).Append("\"");
  67. }
  69. if (!IsNullOrEmpty(sysAdminAccount))
  70. {
  71. strCommandLine.Append(" SQLSYSADMINACCOUNTS=\"").Append(sysAdminAccount).Append("\"");
  72. }
  74. if (!IsNullOrEmpty(agtSqlAccount))
  75. {
  76. strCommandLine.Append(" AGTSVCACCOUNT=\"").Append(agtSqlAccount).Append("\"");
  77. }
  79. if (sqlSecurityMode == true)
  80. {
  81. strCommandLine.Append(" SECURITYMODE=SQL");
  82. }
  84. if (!IsNullOrEmpty(saPassword))
  85. {
  86. strCommandLine.Append(" SAPWD=\"").Append(saPassword).Append("\"");
  87. }
  89. if (!IsNullOrEmpty(sqlCollation))
  90. {
  91. strCommandLine.Append(" SQLCOLLATION=\"").Append(sqlCollation).Append("\"");
  92. }
  94. if (errorReporting == true)
  95. {
  96. strCommandLine.Append(" ERRORREPORTING=1");
  97. }
  98. else
  99. {
  100. strCommandLine.Append(" ERRORREPORTING=0");
  101. }
  103. if (enableRANU == true)
  104. {
  105. strCommandLine.Append(" ENABLERANU=1");
  106. }
  107. else
  108. {
  109. strCommandLine.Append(" ENABLERANU=0");
  110. }
  112. if (sqlServiceLicence == true)
  113. {
  114. strCommandLine.Append(" IACCEPTSQLSERVERLICENSETERMS=1");
  115. }
  116. else
  117. {
  118. strCommandLine.Append(" IACCEPTSQLSERVERLICENSETERMS=0");
  119. }
  121. return strCommandLine.ToString();
  122. }
  124. public int InstallExpress()
  125. {
  126. Process myProcess = new Process();
  127. myProcess.StartInfo.FileName = sqlExpressSetupFileLocation;
  128. myProcess.StartInfo.Arguments = "/q" + BuildCommandLine();
  129. /* /q -- Specifies that setup run with no user interface. */
  130. myProcess.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
  131. myProcess.Start();
  132. return myProcess.Id;
  133. }
  135. private static bool IsNullOrEmpty(string str)
  136. {
  137. return (str == null) || (str == string.Empty);
  138. }
  139. }
  140. }
Now, call the SqlExpInstall class to install the SQL Server.
  1. using System;
  2. using System.IO;
  3. using System.Diagnostics;
  4. using System.Windows.Forms;
  6. namespace SqlExp
  7. {
  8. static class Program
  9. {
  10. /// <summary>
  11. /// The main entry point for the application.
  12. /// </summary>
  13. [STAThread]
  14. static void Main()
  15. {
  16. InstallSqlEngine()
  17. }
  19. private static void InstallSqlEngine()
  20. {
  21. SqlExpInstall EI = new SqlExpInstall();
  22. EI.sqlExpressSetupFileLocation = Path.Combine(@"C:\Downloads", "sqlexpr.exe"); //Provide location for the Express setup file
  23. int pid = EI.InstallExpress();
  25. // now let's wait till the setup is complete
  26. Process installp = Process.GetProcessById(pid);
  27. if (installp != null)
  28. installp.WaitForExit();
  29. int cc = installp.ExitCode;
  30. }
  31. }
  32. }
I hope this is useful to all the readers. Happy Coding!
Reference - https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/940.how-to-embed-sql-server-express-in-an-application.aspx