Important links

Here are some important links that I gathered from Microsoft articles on SharePoint

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007

Link

Security Resource Center for SharePoint Products and Technologies

Link

About performance and capacity planning (Office SharePoint Server)

Link

Plan for redundancy (Office SharePoint Server)

Link

Plan for performance and capacity (Office SharePoint Server)

Link

Performance and Capacity Planning Resource Center for SharePoint Server 2007

Link

Enable Anonymous Access in Windows SharePoint

It's become very common now to use SharePoint servers as Web servers.
For this activity it's necessary to allow anonymous access to the SharePoint portal or a specific site collection.

The routine that required here is pretty simple, but if you miss one of the steps the result is a site that you cannot reach…

Required steps:
1. Modify authentication provider: Central Administration > Application Management > Application Security. Select the required Web Application and change the Zone to anonymous.
All sites under that Web Application are now anonymous enabled.

2. On the Site Collection: Site Action > Site Settings > Advanced Permissions
Select Anonymous Access.

SharePoint 2007 enabled us to allow Anonymous Access to Sites, Document Libraries and lists.
3. When we need to enable Anonymous Access for lists and libraries we need to check this option and browse to the lists or library.

4. From the dropdown menu on the setting tab: Permissions and Management > Permissions for this document library. Select Anonymous Access.

Moving SharePoint DataBase to another SQL Server

This is a guide I wrote to help make this procedure as easy as it can.
You can find more information about "Moving SP to another SQL server" in this site:
microsoft

It is essential to know if you are moving the SP DB to to a different database server or a server with the same name!

This guide is for moving the DB's to a different database server.

Part 1

On the server that is running the Central Administration Web site, stop the following services:
· Microsoft Single Sign-On service
· Office Document Conversions Launcher service
· Office Document Conversions Load Balancer service
· Office SharePoint Server Search service
· Windows SharePoint Services Administration service
· Windows SharePoint Services Search service
· Windows SharePoint Services Timer service
· Windows SharePoint Services Tracing service
· Windows SharePoint Services VSS Writer service

Stop the IIS – CMD - iisreset /stop.

Backup the Content databases for the following SP sites :
· SP site Content DB
· SP Mysite Content DB
· Shared Services DB
· Shared Services Search DB

Backup the top level site with STSADM command:
Stsadm –o backup –url http://spsite/ –filename %system root%:\SPsite.bak
Stsadm –o backup – url http://spmysite/ –filename %system root%:\SPmysite.bak

Part 2

Copy the DB's (LDF & MDF) to the new SQL server:
· SP site Content DB
· SP Mysite Content DB
· Shared Services DB
· Shared Services Search DB

Attach the DB's to the new SQL server – Take online

Run the STSADM command:
stsadm -o renameserver -oldservername -newservername

You can find more about "renameserver" command in this link:
STSADM

Part 3

Log in to the Central Admin.
Start up and configure the services on the farm
Create all web applications exactly as before – use temp DB when you build the DB's.
Redirect the web application to the origin DB's - Application management > content database:
Disconnect all the DB’s for the web applications
Reconnect the origin DB's.

In Central Administration – restore the SSP: Central Administration > Application Management > Manage this Farm's Shared Services - restore the SSP

It worked for me, I hope it'll work for you…

SharePoint 2010 Sneak Peek

Microsoft releases sneak peeks of SharePoint 2010.
You can get a good sense of the application and look and feel overview.

link: SP 2010

How to fix Blank IIS

From time to time I came across SharePoint farms that have a blank IIS server, in some cases the IIS MMC stops responding at all. Those errors accompany by event log errors:
o Event ID 6398
o Event ID 6482
o Event ID 7076

My first action is to reset the IIS – this fix the problem for a short while…

To fix this errors permanently we need to install the appropriate hotfix and restart the server. If you have multiple servers farm, the hotfix must be apply on all servers

The link to download the fix:
link

Lockdown Feature

When publishing Web portal, most of the time we to want prevent users from accessing the application pages: _layouts/…/default.aspx

The reason to activate this feature in an internet environment is to change the permissions level of the anonymous users group Limited Access privilege. Because there is no way to change these permissions through the UI, we need to use this Feature.

The Lockdown feature removes the View Application Pages permission, and the Use Remote Interfaces permission. This is helpful in preventing users from accessing application pages on a public facing/Internet web site

The Command:

stsadm -o activatefeature -url -filename ViewFormPagesLockDown\feature.xml

Note: this is the same like on all features, we can deactivate this feature (unlocked):

stsadm -o deactivatefeature -url -filename ViewFormPagesLockDown\feature.xml

Link to Microsoft LockDown syntax: LINK

Error: Failed to upgrade SharePoint Products and Technologies

The scenario:

When I try to add a new Web server to an existing farm with no Web applications, after installing the server I ran the SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard & receive the following error message:

An exception of type-Microsoft.SharePoint.PostSetupConfiguration.PostSetupConfigurationTaskException was thrown. Additional exception information: Failed to upgrade SharePoint Products and Technologies.

And additionally, the Upgrade.log file contains the following error message:

The access control list on %system root%\Program Files\ Common Files \Microsoft Shared\Web server extensions\12\template\layouts\Web.config could not be modified because the path could not be located in the file system.

Why it happened?

This error occurs when the SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard cannot locate or modify the Web.config file.
The reason for this error was because the SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard cannot locate or modify the Web.config file - which was supposed to be in the 12\template\Layouts folder

How can I fix it?

1. simply copy the Web.config file from the following folder:
%system root%\Program Files\ Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web server extensions\12\Config

2. plant it in the following folder:
%%system root%\Program Files\ Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web server extensions\12\Template\Layouts.

3. Run the SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard again

Microsoft Technet link

Error: The database is not consistent with the expected database schema version

After upgrade from standard license to an enterprise version of SharePoint 2007, one of my customers Starts to notice a repeated error in the event log under the application section.

Event Type: Error
Event Source: Windows SharePoint Services 3
Event Category: Topology
Event ID: 5617

The error massage was:

The schema version (3.0.149.0) of the database SharePoint_AdminContent_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx on x64a is not consistent with the expected database schema version (3.0.150.0) on XXX. 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

The Solution was very simple:

stsadm -o upgrade -inplace -url http://{relevant central_admin_url}

In my case that seemed to have solved the problem.

Additions to this Web site have been blocked

Last week I bump into new error after installing MOSS SP2 in one of our customer’s servers.

"Additions to this Web site have been blocked."

This is a Familiar problem in system with Quota templates.
I can log into the site but I can’t add or open documents and/or creating new sites and document library. The site collection was locked and unavailable for read or write access
The strange thing is that Quota was not enabled on this Site Collection, but it locks the databases anyway.

To repair this error all you need to do is go central administration -> Application Management -> Site Collection Quotas and locks
Change the setting on “Site lock Information” to “Not locked”.In my case it was on “Adding content prevented

PDF iFilter in MOSS Systems

How to install the PDF iFilter & Add to your system pdf files that are searchable with Icon.

Download the latest Adobe PDF IFilter from
adobe

Stop the IIS service.

Run the Adobe PDF IFilter Setup file on your MOSS server.
Download from the Web ICPDF.GIF icon and save it on your Server.

Copy the ICPDF.GIF file to: "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\12\Template\Images"

Open: "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web server extensions\12 \Template\ Xml\ DOCICON.XML"

Add the following to syntax for the .pdf type:


Run iisreset

Add the .pdf file type in the following list:
Central Administration - Shared Services (SSP) - Search Settings - File Types
Add the new file type: pdf

Perform a full crawl of your SharePoint content source.

Rename Content DB when moving Databases from MOSS servers

When we need to copy/move Database from MOSS server to another MOSS, there are times that we need to change the Content DB (WSS_Content) name.

The fastest way to do so is to backup the DataBase on the source server SQL and restore the DataBase to the destination server SQL. On the restore window in SQL we can determine the name of the DataBase that we want to restore. Now we can name the DataBase whatever we want.

SharePoint Server 2010 Preliminary System Requirements

Microsoft published System requirements for SharePoint Server 2010:

- SharePoint Server 2010 will be 64-bit only.
- SharePoint Server 2010 will require 64-bit Windows Server 2008 or 64-bit Windows Server 2008 R2.
- SharePoint Server 2010 will require 64-bit SQL Server 2008 or 64-bit SQL Server 2005.

In the Browsers section - XHTML 1.0 compliant, including Internet Explorer 7, Internet Explorer 8 and Firefox 3.x. running on Windows Operating Systems.
Microsoft also said: “we’re planning on an increased level of compatibility with Firefox 3.x and Safari 3.x on none-Windows Operating Systems. Due to this focus Internet Explorer 6 will not be a supported browser for SharePoint Server 2010.

So, what can you do today to get into the best shape for SharePoint Server 2010?
Start by ensuring new hardware is 64-bit. Deploying 64-bit is our current best practice recommendation for SharePoint 2007.
Deploy Service Pack 2 and take a good look at the SharePoint 2010 Upgrade Checker that’s shipped as part of the update. The Upgrade Checker will scan your SharePoint Server 2007 deployment for many issues that could affect a future upgrade to SharePoint 2010.
Get to know Windows Server 2008 with SharePoint 2007, this post is a great starting point.
Consider your desktop browser strategy if you have large population of Internet Explorer 6 users.
Continue to follow the Best Practices guidance for SharePoint Server 2007.
Keep an eye on this blog for updates and more details in the coming months.

IIS not responding

From time to time I came in to a problem in IIS server that hosted MOSS & WSS web sites – the IIS console (IIS 6 manager) is blank and/or Content Deployment schedules don’t work. Restart of IIS is required to resolve the problem (or not). Usually I find in the event viewer the following events: 6398, 6482, 7076, 5325, 4958

Microsoft kb 946517 - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/946517 provides a Hot fix that fix's the problem.

MOSS 2007 and WSS 3.0 Service Pack 2 has been officially arrived

MOSS 2007 and WSS 3.0 Service Pack 2

highlights for the SharePoint Service Pack 2:

Improved Read-only Content Databases
Whenever a content database is marked read-only, all of the site collections in that database are automatically marked as read-only.

ECM Performance and Manageability
Improvements Improved performance and manageability in variations, including STSADM commands for repairing links between source and target pages.

Improved Index Rebuild Timer Jobs
SharePoint content databases running in SQL Server 2005 will undergo an automatic index rebuild, which helps stop defragmentation, and stop the database from degrading in performance.

Upgrade Checker
This will scan your SharePoint farm in advance of applying SP2 and will provide feedback on the environments readiness to upgrade.

Downloads:
MOSS SP2 - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=b7816d90-5fc6-4347-89b0-a80deb27a082&displaylang=en
WSS 3.0 SP2 - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=79BADA82-C13F-44C1-BDC1-D0447337051B&displaylang=en

Microsoft Best Practices Analyzer for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and the 2007 Microsoft Office System

Microsoft Best Practices Analyzer for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and the 2007 Microsoft Office System

The Microsoft Best Practices Analyzer for Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and the 2007 Microsoft Office System creates detailed reports to help administrators achieve greater
performance, scalability, and uptime

Download:
http://http//www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=cb944b27-9d6b-4a1f-b3e1-778efda07df8&displaylang=en

Moss Version Numbers

To find your SharePoint version (The version that you currently have), you need to enter the Site Setting. In the middle of the screen you can see the version No’.

Note that if you have more than one server in the farm, you need to match the version number on all the servers. Every service pack, update or hotfix that you install mast be applied on all the farms.

Moss/WSS 3.0 version numbers:
MOSS 2007 or WSS 3.0 SP2 12.0.0.6421
MOSS 2007 or WSS 3.0 Cumulative update (KB956056 & KB956057) 12.0.0.6327
MOSS 2007 or WSS 3.0 Infrastructure Update (KB951695 & KB951297) 12.0.0.6318
MOSS 2007 or WSS 3.0 post-SP1 hotfix (KB948945) 12.0.0.6303
MOSS 2007 or WSS 3.0 post-SP1 hotfix (KB941274) 12.0.0.6301
MOSS 2007 or WSS 3.0 post-SP1 hotfix (KB941422) 12.0.0.6300
MOSS 2007 or WSS 3.0 SP1 12.0.0.6219
MOSS 2007 or WSS 3.0 October 08 public update 12.0.0.6039
MOSS 2007 or WSS 3.0 August 24, 2007 hotfix package 12.0.0.6036
MOSS 2007 or WSS 3.0 RTM 12.0.0.4518

Beta versions:

MOSS 2007 or WSS 3.0 Beta 2 TR: 12.0.0.4407
MOSS 2007 or WSS 3.0 Beta 2: 12.0.0.4017

LoadBalancer.RegisterLauncher failed

Here's an irritating error that I bump into lately:

Event Source: Office SharePoint Server Event

Category: Launcher Service

Event ID: 6102

User: N/A

Description: LoadBalancer.RegisterLauncher failed: Unable to connect to the remote server.

This error usually happens when Document Conversions Load Balancer Service is using a wrong service account.
To resolve this error Try the following steps:

1. Configuring the proper Service Accounts

- Central Administration -> Operations.
- Security Configuration -> Service account.
- Click the Windows Service radio button -> select Document Conversions Load Balancer Service.
- Fill in the proper service account.

2. restarting the services.

- Central Administration -> Operations -> Services on Server.
- Click Stop on the Document Conversions Load Balance Service. …And stop the Document Conversions Launcher Service too.
- Start the services and the error will not appear again.

After this procedure the error will disappear.

Infrastructure Update

About a two months, Microsoft has released a significant update: Infrastructure Update.

One of the problems that the Following updates fix’s, is addresses that are not available when exposed by AAM(Alternate Access Mapping in conjunction with reverse proxy or NLB solution.

This KB fix the Bugs - KB951695

Here’s a link Http://support.microsoft.com/kb/956248

Folders that may want to excluded from antivirus

If you have seeing the error “Access Denied” when you are trying to upload new documents, it’s likely that you have antivirus Vs Moss problems. Ther are some folders that may want to exclude from antivirus scanning on system with MOSS 2007. most of the time it solved the problem.

If you don't have antivirus agent for MOSS on your system, you may want to leave out those folders. Scanning them will cause errors and weird behavior when files are uploaded.

I recommend excluding the “Microsoft Office Servers” folder. Located in: %drive%\Program Files\Microsoft Office Servers

If you - for some reason - don’t want to exclude this folder you may want to exclude the Following folders:

%drive%\\Program Files\Microsoft Office Servers\12.0\Data. (or different folder that holds the Index files)

%drive%\\Program Files\Microsoft Office Servers\12.0\Logs

%drive%\\Program Files\Microsoft Office Servers\12.0\Bin

More on this topics in Microsoft KB952167.

link to KB952167: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/952167