How to specify the name of the central admin content database
I don't know how data centers overseas works, but in Singapore, some data centers requires users to apply for new databases, and the facility managers (FM) will create those databases for them. But if you set up SharePoint using the wizard, the wizard will create a database normally called AdminContent_[GUID] (if memory don't fail me), which poses a problem. Thanks to Harikumar from Microsoft, I now know how to control the name of the central admin content database.
So after installing SharePoint, instead of running the wizard to setup SharePoint, uncheck "Run the SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard now" and close the dialog.
Note: At this point, if you need to create the CentralAdmin content database first, you should do so now, making sure that the database collation is Latin1_General_CI_AS_KS_WS collation. The configuration database will be created by the wizard, so you need not create that.
Open up the command prompt and navigate to "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extension\12\bin". Next, execute this command,
psconfig -cmd configdb -create -server sqlserver -database SharePoint_Config -user domain\mossadministrator -password password -admincontentdatabase CentralAdmin_Content
On the right, is the familiar screen that we are used to, if you have been testing SharePoint for a while, the configuration wizard screen where you specify where the database is to be created.
[-cmd configdb create] tells psconfig to create the configuration database [-server sqlserver] tells psconfig to create the database in the sql server named sqlserver [-database SharePoint_Config] tells psconfig to create a database named SharePoint_Config to be used as the configuration database [-user domain\mossadministrator] tells psconfig what is the credential used to connect to the database [-password password] tells psconfig the password for the account [-admincontentdatabase CentralAdmin_Content] tells psconfig to create a database named CentralAdmin_Content to be used to store the content for central admin, something new in V3 as V2's central admin is not a wss site. |  |
Notice that the total number of tasks to complete is 3, which does not tally with the number of task the wizard has to complete. Well, the command only creates the database, nothing more. Hence after the operation completes you need to run the wizard, and select "Do not disconnect from this server farm"...