Quick reference of Farm Object’s Permissions Matrix

Technorati Tags: MOSS,sharepoint,Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007,Troubleshooting

Farm Objects

	Central Admin Site (1)	Config DB	Shared Svc Admin Site (1)	SSP DB	Search DB	Project DB(s)	Associated Content Sites (1)
Central Admin App Pool	R/W	R/W	R/W	R/W	R/W	R/W	R/W
SSP App Pool (admin site + web svc + timer)	-	R	R/W	R/W	R/W	R/W	R/W
Content App Pools	-	R	-	R/W	R/W	R/W	R/W

Issues with FLV file when Blob Cache is enabled

 

Noticed this issue yesterday. Although this has been fixed with KB961749 - http://support.microsoft.com/?id=961749, there may be requirements wherein the update/patch cannot be applied and hence requires a workaround.

There are two possible workarounds, the first of which is to disable Blog Cache(not a good workaround :-) ). This can affect performance of other file types.

The second option is to modify the web.config file. The entry <BlobCache location="C:\blob" path="\.(gif|jpg|png|css|js|flv)$" maxSize="200"  can be modified to remove the file extension type of “flv”. So basically we are telling SharePoint to disable Blob Caching for files with extension .flv

Technorati Tags: MOSS,sharepoint,Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007,Blob Cache

Remove Licensing issues in SharePoint Server 2007 post SP2

 

During the installation of SP2, a product expiration date is improperly activated. This means SharePoint will expire as though it was a trial installation 180 days after SP2 is deployed. The activation of the expiration date will not affect the normal function of SharePoint up until the expiration date passes. Furthermore, product expiration 180 days after SP2 installation will not affect customer’s data, configuration or application code but will render SharePoint inaccessible for end-users.

A fix is now available vide KB971620 - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971620 This issue is no longer observed as SP2 build has been updated on the download site.

Technorati Tags: sharepoint,MOSS,SP2

note: Installation of this fix does not immediately change the license type. There is a background timer job that runs which normally takes about 20-30 minutes.

Note 1: We have also observed recently that in some scenarios entering the product key does not completely resolve licensing issues until and unless the PS Configuration wizard is run.

What is best - Backup/Restore or Export/Import?

 

 

Chart showing the differences between Backup/Restore and Export/Import.

 

Backup/Restore

Export/Import

1	Two methods – when the url parameter is used a site collection backup is created - when the backupmethod parameter is used backup of an individual database, web application or entire farm can be created
2	Backs up entire Site collection including permissions.	Export sites and/or subsite data. A limitation of the Backup operation.
3	There is no Default File Extension for back up files when using the url parameter. Any filename can be provided. However while using the backupmethod a directory or location(can include a unc path) needs to be specified	Default file Extension (if not mentioned) ".cmp"
4	When using the backupmethod parameter also known as catastrophic backup supports "Full" and "Differential" back up of Web Applicaitons. If "overwrite" option is selected while restoring it overwrites entire SiteCollection.	Provides "versions" option to control migrate/overwrite files in site
5	Not possible to schedule backups;however can be automated by creating a batch file and scheduling through Windows Task Scheduler.	Backup files should be copied to server
6	Backup of Site Collection can be tracked by stsadm -o backuphistory operation	Sites/SiteCollections would not track export/Import history

Note:

I) A large limiting factor when restoring site collections is that the backup includes the GUIDs that identify all of the items in the content database and hence are reused during the restore. If the site is being restored to a different URL and the original site still exists there will be a conflict. If this happens the only way for SharePoint to allow the restore is for the site to be restored to a new database so that the GUIDs will be unique in that database. A similar error like the one below may be displayed:
No content databases are available for this operation. Create a content database, and then try the operation again. To create a content database, click "Content databases" on the Application Management page, select the Web application to use, and then click "Add a content database."

II) It is preferable to use the Setsitelock operation to set the site collection url read-only for the entire time of the backup{ stsadm -o setsitelock -url <URL name> -lock readonly }

III) Post SP2 site collections are automatically locked as read-only before a backup process occurs.

IV) Post SP2 the force parameter can be used to ignore disk space check.

 

Command Syntax :

Backup For site collection backup stsadm.exe -o backup -url <url> -filename <filename> [-nositelock] [-overwrite] the [-overwrite] is required when a backup already exists with the same filename. Success/Failure of the operation is displayed. For catastrophic backup stsadm.exe -o backup -directory <unc path or local drives> -backupmethod <full or differential> [-force] [-item] <created path from tree> [-percentage] <integer between 1 and 100> [-backupthreads] <integer between 1 and 100> [-showtree] [-quiet] Restore For site collection restore stsadm -o restore -url <URL name> -filename <file name> [-hostheaderwebapplicationurl] <Web application URL> [-overwrite] the[-overwrite] is required when the site already exists. For catastrophic restore stsadm -o restore -directory <UNC path> -restoremethod <overwrite or new> [-backupid] <GUID from backuphistory, see stsadm -help backuphistory> [-item] <created path from tree> [-percentage] <integer between 1 and 100> [-showtree] [-suppressprompt] [-username] <user name> [-password] <password> [-newdatabaseserver] <new database server name> [-preservechangelog] [-quiet]

Export stsadm -o export -url <URL name> -filename <export file name> [-overwrite] [-includeusersecurity] [-haltonwarning] [-haltonfatalerror] [-nologfile] [-versions] <1-4> [-cabsize] <integer value> [-nofilecompression] [-quiet] Import stsadm -o import -url <URL name> -filename <import file name> [-includeusersecurity] [-haltonwarning] [-haltonfatalerror] [-nologfile] [-updateversions] <1-3> [-nofilecompression] [-quiet]

Technorati Tags: sharepoint. stsadm,backup,export,MOSS

Additional STSADM commands

 

Post release of the SP2 for SharePoint there are additional operations available. Including brief details of the same.

1. stsadm.exe -o enumallwebs -databasename <database name> [-databaseserver <database server name>]

Displays the IDs and site map status for all site collections and subsites in the content database.

More Details: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd793606.aspx

1. stsadm -o exportipfsadminobjects -filename <path to file>

   Description: This command can be used to export InfoPath Forms Services Admin Objects.  This command will create a CAB file containing all the deployed objects.

2. stsadm -o listqueryprocessoroptions -ssp <ssp name>

Description : Displays the current values of the SharePoint Search query processor settings.

More Details: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd789568.aspx

1. stsadm.exe -o preupgradecheck [ -rulefiles <rule files delimited by comma or semicolon> ] [ -listrulefiles ] [ -localonly ]

   Description : Runs rules that are intended to assist administrators in preparing for upgrade from Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and related products to future version of SharePoint and Technology products.

   More Details: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd793605.aspx

Additional information :

• Service Pack 2 Overview : http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=148374
• The full explanation of SP2 benefits - http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=148551
• Description of Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 SP2 and of Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Language Pack SP2 -
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/953338
• Service Pack 2 for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, x86 & x64 - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=79BADA82-C13F-44C1-BDC1-D0447337051B&displaylang=en
• Description of 2007 Microsoft Office servers Service Pack 2 (SP2) and of 2007 Microsoft Office servers Language Pack Service Pack 2 (SP2) - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/953334
• Service Pack 2 for Office SharePoint Server 2007, x86 & x64 - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=B7816D90-5FC6-4347-89B0-A80DEB27A082&displaylang=en

• Slipstream Builds For Windows SharePoint Services 3.0

  • Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 with SP2, x86 - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=EF93E453-75F1-45DF-8C6F-4565E8549C2A&displaylang=en
  • Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 with SP2, x64 - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=9FB41E51-CB03-4B47-B89A-396786492CBA&displaylang=en
• List of all 2007 Office system Service Pack 2 and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Service Pack 2 packages - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/968170

Technorati Tags: Sharepoint. stsadm,MOSS

Word 2003: Red "X" displayed in place of embedded pictures/graphs/cliparts in Word document

 

Symptoms Observed and Error Message
------------------------------------------------------------

When a user opens a word document all embedded pictures/Graphics in the document  are replaced with the a blank box and a red "x" at the top left corner of the picture holder.

No error message is observed. However right clicking the blank box with the red "x" can display error messages like "Picture is corrupted", "The server application, source file, or item cannot be found", etc.

Cause and Resolution
----------------------------------

There are more than one reason for this :

Situation 1:
A document is opened from an Internet location, from a Web folder, or from any location that the Microsoft Windows redirector recognizes as being from the Internet security zone.
Situation 2:
User account created under Windows 2000 and later migrated to Windows 2003. User has a roaming profile. Word files are located on a File Share in a central location. When this user tries to open a word document stored on the central File share using Word 2003 SP2 on a machine running Windows XP SP2.
Inference
--------------
This issue may occur when either of the following conditions is true:
- The Content.mso folder does not exist.
- The Content.mso folder has insufficient permissions. These permissions prevent
users from writing to the folder.

Resolution:
---------------------

To resolve this issue, make sure that the Content.mso folder exists and that all users and processes have full permissions to the folder. By default, the
Content.mso folder is a hidden system folder that is located on the computer under C:\Documents and Settings\User name\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files

Related KB - http://support.microsoft.com/Default.aspx?id=897693

 

Technorati Tags: "word 2003","Red X",MSOFFICE

SharePoint 2010

 

Word web app cannot open this document for viewing due to an unexpected error. To view this document open  it in Microsoft word.

The first point to check is if you are observing this error on the DC.

1. For a DC there are additional steps that need to be taken for the Web app to work successfully.
2. Executed the following command in SharePoint Powershell 
   • $e = Get-SPServiceApplication | where {$_.TypeName.Equals("Word Viewing Service Application")}
   • $e.WordServerIsSandboxed = $false
   • $e.WordServerIsSandboxed
   • Browsed to server's “c:\windows\system32\inetsrv\config\applicationHost.config” and added the following line below in the end of the dynamicTypes.
     • <add mimeType="application/zip" enabled="false" />
3. Do an IIS reset and you are good to go.

note: You may experience similar issues with PowerPoint too. Here are additional PowerShell command to resolve

Get-SPPowerPointServiceApplication | Set-SPPowerPointServiceApplication -EnableSandboxedViewing $false
Get-SPPowerPointServiceApplication | Set-SPPowerPointServiceApplication -EnableSandboxedEditing $false

You will need to enter "Y" as answer for each cmd

Technorati Tags: sharepoint,Troubleshooting,SharePoint 2010

People Picker issues

Technorati Tags: MOSS,sharepoint,Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007,Troubleshooting

There are quite many posts on debugging people picker issues and hence this post is primarily to highlight recent increase in people picker issues because of network appliances.

It is best to take a two way network capture(between WFE and desktop) and analyze the same.  make sure you do a  ipconfig /flushdns before start of capture.

We observed that some third party network appliances are blocking people picker requests as SQL injections and causing People Picker to fail.

Will add more details later.

MOSS/WSS basics of debugging errors

 

This blog is dedicated to troubleshooting MOSS/WSS errors. I will keep adding to this periodically.

1. The first and foremost is of course the Application log in Windows Event Viewer.

2. Next check for the ULS log; this is located under the ……/12/logs folder. It is not always that you get a horde of information here, but then there are time when the information in the log points you to the resolution. You can increase/decrease the level of reporting by changing setting in Central Admin | Operations | Logging and reporting.

3. Another important log is the upgrade.log located under the ……/12/logs folder. This file is very useful when it comes to troubleshooting issue related to upgrades (including patch updates, Service Packs.) Please note here that the message you will normally see on un-successful completion of PSConfig is “Configuration of SharePoint Products and Technologies failed.  Configuration must be performed before you use SharePoint Products and Technologies.  For further details, see the diagnostic log located at C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\12\LOGS\PSCDiagnostics_x_xx_xxxx_xx_xx_xx_xxx_xxxxxxxxxx.log and the application event log.” However this log does not have a lot of information.

4. A very common error is “An unexpected error has occurred”. Of course this is very generic and does not give any clues to the actual error. To top it you may also not see any errors written to the log files or trace logs.

Changing the entry in web.config as follows can throw some light on this error.

<SafeMode MaxControls=“200“ CallStack=“false“… to <SafeMode MaxControls=“200“ CallStack=“true“… and the entry <customErrors mode=“Off“/> (by default this is on) will give a standard AP.Net  error page with the stack trace.

5. Another common error that I have observed is “The schema version (X.X.XXX.X) of the database spscontentdb on SQLMOSSServer(name of the sql server) is not consistent with the expected database schema version (Y.Y.YYY.Y) on MOSSserver(name).  Connections to this database from this server have been blocked to avoid data loss.  Upgrade the web front end or the content database to ensure that these versions match. ”

For every similar entry that you observe in the application log in Event Viewer, you can cross verify this by looking into the versions table of the respective DB. Of course we all know that directly modifying the database puts the SharePoint installation into an unsupported manner(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/841057/en-us). So what’s the alternative; use the command “psconfig -cmd upgrade -inplace b2b -wait –force” which will re-synchronize the schema versions. If you still observe errors check the upgrade log further.

Technorati Tags: MOSS,sharepoint,stsadm,Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007,Troubleshooting