1. The first step in building a SharePoint development environment is to create a VM with Server 2008 R2 SP1 and patch it to the latest updates.
2. Install an Antivirus. I like to use Microsoft Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010 mostly because I get it for free from my company's MSDN subscription. See the below video on how to install it for  a dev environment.

3. Add the Active Directory Domain Services Role

4. Install SQL Server Enterprise

5. Install and Configure SharePoint for development

6. Install Visual Studio and helpful Extensions see page/SharePoint-Tools.aspx

7. At this point you will want to make a backup of your environment. If you are using VMware then simply copying the files to another hard drive will work fine. If you are using HyperV make sure you do an export first.

HAPPY SHAREPOINTING

The most common question I receive as a SharePoint SIG (Special Interest Group) leader is “how do I get started on developing in SharePoint?”. Well SharePoint development has a somewhat steep learning curve, it’s a lot better now thanks to the new tooling in 2010 but still somewhat steep. Microsoft has done a good job putting out plenty of SharePoint examples and training packs for example:

• The SharePoint Developer Center
• SharePoint Guidance 2010 Hands On Lab
• SharePoint 2010 Developer Training Kit
• Developing Applications for SharePoint 2010

Yet there is still so much to understand and be aware of before developing that it makes the entry into this space seem impossible. Well there is one really good training source I have found that eases that entry and that is LearnDevNow.

My advice to get started would be first to watch the LearnDevNowvideos on SharePoint administration then to setup your own development environment. I plan to blog next on exactly how I do that but here is a brief overview of the steps I follow.

1. Acquire  hardware virtual or metal
2. install server 2008 r2
3. add the Domain controller role
4. add 3 new accounts
   1. SPFarm
   2. SQLService
   3. your developer account(don’t use admin)
5. Install SQL server enterprise with everything (You never know when you will need it)
   1. run everything under SQLService
6. Install SharePoint
   1. Configure for small farm Do not use stand alone option
   2. once installed it is ok to use the Central Admin wizard to configure your development environment.
7. Install visual studio 2010
   1. Add the following plugins to VS through the Tools-> Extension manager
      1. CKS Development Tools Edition (Server) – the foundation one is also installed with server
      2. Power commands for Visual Studio 2010
      3. Productivity Power tools
      4. Visual Studio 2010 SharePoint Power tools

Once you have your development environment built then you can move on to the development portion of the LearnDevNowvideos and try the related labs.