SQL Server Developer Tools (SSDT) – code-named "Juneau" – is now available. Many (including myself) believed that Juneau was simply a part of BIDS in CTP3, but after trying to use Juneau-specific functionality that this was not the case. As indicated on the Developer Tools page, and on the SSDT blog, you can download Juneau now through a Web Platform Installer.

According to this page, if you're already using Visual Studio Professional, you need to install Visual Studio 2010 SP1 *FIRST* (though if you've installed Denali, you've probably already done this), otherwise your shell gets downgraded to only have Juneau functionality – at least that's how I've read it. In any case, suggest being up to date on Windows Updates and make sure that SP1 is installed before installing Juneau. You'll also want to be sure you install the CTP3 version of Juneau on a machine that has never had a previous version of Juneau installed – even a proper add/remove does not truly get rid of all of the pieces, and you're likely to end up with a quite crippled installation. All the more reason to use a VM for Denali stuff, since it is easy enough to throw away and re-create those.

You can start the Web Platform Installer by clicking on the following link:

http://www.microsoft.com/web/gallery/install.aspx?appid=JUNEAU10

First, you'll be asked by Internet Explorer if you're sure you want the Web Platform Installer to go about its business:

Then you'll be asked again, if you have UAC enabled:

 Once you allow the program to run, you will see this introductory screen:

It says the download size is 8.51 MB, but that is a lie. To see the true download size, click on the "Items to be installed" link in the bottom left corner. You will see something like this:

My first observation here was that the local database runtime actually points to the SQL Express installer. It is not supposed to be a standalone instance, and it's interesting that they are finding a way to make Express support non-Express features that Juneau will have to support (e.g. partitioning).

When you click Install, you will be prompted (of course) to accept a license agreement. This screen also shows a summary of the items that are going to be downloaded and installed. You can click on the individual links to download each package and install them yourself, but I recommend against that because some need to be laid down in a specific order.

 Once you accept, installation will begin. This took a surprising amount of time on my system (equipped with 8GB RAM and an SSD), even after all the downloading had finished.

(A funny observation here: this is my laptop, which I use for presenting, and it is yet another example where dialogs are not tested at non-default font settings – I have my fonts set to 125%, and the text no longer fits within the dialog.)

Depending on the state of your system (including Windows Updates), you can expect several reboots to be required during the installation of various Juneau prerequisites. If you have any failures installing the dependencies (which will prevent Juneau itself from being installed), you can try running their installers manually by clicking on the download links in the failure dialog – just make sure you run the Juneau installer last. I had a heck of a time installing the .NET Framework 4.0 update from KB #2468871 using the Web Platform Installer, but after running the EXE from the KB article manually, I finally had success:

I then re-applied Visual Studio 2010 Service Pack 1 (again), just to be on the safe side. Of course I had to clear out some space first, as this is on a tight SSD – the SP1 installer apparently needs close to 6 GB free just to run.

So now when I launch my BIDS shortcut, this is the splash screen I see:

Once I opened Juneau, my experience with connecting to a server and performing various operations has not been great, so I'll leave my evaluation and description of those things for another post.