--- id: post/sauravdhyani-com/tag-blogger-com-1999-blog-3122193036149030463-post-5740395756527498087--f6c529e55c type: post title: "Business Central 2026 Release Wave 1 Installation Guide: Requirements, Prerequisites, and Setup Walkthrough" summary: Business Central 2026 Release Wave 1 (BC28) installation requires Windows 11 or Windows Server 2022/2025, .NET 8, SQL Server compatibility level 160/170, and 16 GB RAM minimum. This guide details system prerequisites, hardware requirements, software components, and a step-by-step installation process to help consultants and administrators avoid common deployment issues. tier: community language: en tags: - installation - prerequisites - hardware requirements - windows server - sql server - .net 8 - bc28 - deployment system: platform review: state: reviewed by: opus at: "2026-10-08T01:54:32.258Z" flags: [] generated: at: "2026-10-08T01:26:53.141Z" pipeline: 0.2.0 prompts: extract-post: 1 input_hash: b6941878f6468ebd73b0ec5d29b2eea27b04edf7dbb9305a922f7e3ee25134d8 evidence: - kind: blog url: https://www.sauravdhyani.com/2026/07/business-central-2026-release-wave-1.html title: "Business Central 2026 Release Wave 1 Installation Guide: Requirements, Prerequisites, and Setup Walkthrough" date: "2026-07-07" commit: null t: null quote: null - kind: blog url: https://www.sauravdhyani.com/2026/07/business-central-2026-release-wave-1.html title: "Business Central 2026 Release Wave 1 Installation Guide: Requirements, Prerequisites, and Setup Walkthrough" date: "2026-07-07" commit: null t: null quote: Many installation issues occur before Setup even begins because the operating system, SQL Server, or .NET components don't meet Microsoft's requirements. - kind: blog url: https://www.sauravdhyani.com/2026/07/business-central-2026-release-wave-1.html title: "Business Central 2026 Release Wave 1 Installation Guide: Requirements, Prerequisites, and Setup Walkthrough" date: "2026-07-07" commit: null t: null quote: "For larger projects exceeding 1,000 objects: 32 - 64 GB RAM recommended. This additional memory significantly improves extension publishing performance." - kind: blog url: https://www.sauravdhyani.com/2026/07/business-central-2026-release-wave-1.html title: "Business Central 2026 Release Wave 1 Installation Guide: Requirements, Prerequisites, and Setup Walkthrough" date: "2026-07-07" commit: null t: null quote: Business Central 2026 Release Wave 1 modernizes the on-premises platform with .NET 8 support, updated Windows requirements, and SQL compatibility enhancements. links: learn: [] objects: [] features: [] topics: [] localizations: [] videos: [] posts: [] guidelines: [] post_id: tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3122193036149030463.post-5740395756527498087 source_id: sauravdhyani-com source_name: Saurav Dhyani url: https://www.sauravdhyani.com/2026/07/business-central-2026-release-wave-1.html published_at: "2026-07-07T05:30:00.000Z" author: Saurav Dhyani full_text: false words: 664 quotes: - text: Many installation issues occur before Setup even begins because the operating system, SQL Server, or .NET components don't meet Microsoft's requirements. why_it_matters: Identifies the root cause of deployment failures and emphasizes pre-installation validation is critical - text: "For larger projects exceeding 1,000 objects: 32 - 64 GB RAM recommended. This additional memory significantly improves extension publishing performance." why_it_matters: Guides resource planning for extension developers and differentiates requirements based on project scope - text: Business Central 2026 Release Wave 1 modernizes the on-premises platform with .NET 8 support, updated Windows requirements, and SQL compatibility enhancements. why_it_matters: Summarizes the key platform modernization efforts in BC28 that drive the updated prerequisites code_objects_mentioned: [] systems: - platform - development - administration versions_mentioned: - 2026 Release Wave 1 - BC28 preview: embeddable: true frame_url: null image: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYKcKIfvz0B0Fg6gPmaqQTSOSDl2HoRtoiVb7tVGkFP5Q3-lQaJuyaitXMU5yi5qCXoqCdEiCe0gKrZu7b5zbvGqyxbkO02AeOH0Nn9qdppIMQ6F3eg0HnO9g8kXXqr3AExGewGn4pG8N6VViTLIj4ttaHmOBqaXlg2VksNhY6FZPQT-LG5nw7Bp8bx3s/w1200-h630-p-k-no-nu/ChatGPT%20Image%20Jun%205,%202026,%2008_10_57%20PM.png image_alt: null image_w: null image_h: null site_name: null favicon: https://www.sauravdhyani.com/favicon.ico probed_at: "2026-10-07T11:50:26.867Z" --- # Business Central 2026 Release Wave 1 Installation Guide: Requirements, Prerequisites, and Setup Walkthrough [Read the post](https://www.sauravdhyani.com/2026/07/business-central-2026-release-wave-1.html) · Saurav Dhyani (Saurav Dhyani, MVP) · 2026-07-07 · 664 words · tier community · reviewed (checked by Opus) > Business Central 2026 Release Wave 1 (BC28) installation requires Windows 11 or Windows Server 2022/2025, .NET 8, SQL Server compatibility level 160/170, and 16 GB RAM minimum. This guide details system prerequisites, hardware requirements, software components, and a step-by-step installation process to help consultants and administrators avoid common deployment issues. ## Key points - BC28 runs on Windows Server 2022/2025 or Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise or Education. Windows Server is preferred for production, and older operating systems are discouraged for new deployments. - Plan for at least 16 GB RAM. Extension projects with more than 1,000 objects benefit from 32 to 64 GB. - Server and web components need .NET 8 and .NET Framework 4.8, plus IIS 10 for the web client. The database must be at SQL compatibility level 160 or 170, or Azure SQL. - Typical failures come from missing prerequisites, such as SQL Full-Text Search, the wrong .NET version, too little memory or no administrator rights. - A nine-step walkthrough runs from checking the OS and hardware to a test login in the web client. ## Quotes - "Many installation issues occur before Setup even begins because the operating system, SQL Server, or .NET components don't meet Microsoft's requirements." (Identifies the root cause of deployment failures and emphasizes pre-installation validation is critical) - "For larger projects exceeding 1,000 objects: 32 - 64 GB RAM recommended. This additional memory significantly improves extension publishing performance." (Guides resource planning for extension developers and differentiates requirements based on project scope) - "Business Central 2026 Release Wave 1 modernizes the on-premises platform with .NET 8 support, updated Windows requirements, and SQL compatibility enhancements." (Summarizes the key platform modernization efforts in BC28 that drive the updated prerequisites) ## Context - Features: Windows Server 2025/2022 support, .NET 8 platform requirement, SQL Server compatibility level 160/170, IIS 10 Web components, Full-Text Search support, Azure SQL Database compatibility, Local on-premises installations, SQL Server Express support - Versions: 2026 Release Wave 1, BC28 Source: Saurav Dhyani, community blog. Summary, key points and quotes are derived (CONTENT-NOTICE.md); read the original for the full text.