If you like the majority of the IT people out there, you're not really fond of reading manuals and README files. When we need to install new software, we simply find the SETUP.EXE and start running it right away. For the latest update to the MOSS 2007 beta, that simply won't cut it.

MOSS 2007 Beta2TR (or Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Beta 2 Technical Refresh) as well as WSSv3 Beta2TR (or Windows SharePoint Services version 3 Beta 2 Technical Refresh) are not being made available as a one-step setup, as we had for the MOSS 2007 Beta2 and WSS v3 Beta2.

First, you need to install the Beta2.Then, you need to update (or upgrade) that Beta2 to the Beta2 TR by running an EXE file that is packaged like a software update or patch. In fact, I have heard that one of the reasons it's being provided to us in this fashion is to actually test the method to deliver a patch or update.

The problem is that it seems like the Search component changed quite a bit from the Beta 2 to the Beta 2 TR, so simply running the EXE files with the patch won't really work. You need to carefully follow the procedure listed in the README file and if you don't, you end up with a MOSS setup where Search is broken. If you can't find the WSS Search and MOSS Search in the "Central Administration > Operations > Services on Server" page, you probably missed a step or two. Those instructions in the README file are also posted online at:

For WSSv3: http://technet2.microsoft.com/Office/en-us/library/b3e52231-16bf-4a46-a7e8-cb31b814627a1033.mspx

For MOSS 2007: http://technet2.microsoft.com/Office/en-us/library/f49862ab-e067-4723-bb90-7eb1182c65ce1033.mspx

If you just want to get a new install going, it's actually fairly straightforward:

  1. Install the MOSS 2007 Beta 2 with all its pre-requisites (check previous post on this blog about the details).
  2. Run the "SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard" to get the SharePoint Central Administration site in place
  3. Remove the Windows Workflow Foundation Beta 2.2 (one of the MOSS 2007 Beta 2) pre-requisites.
  4. Install the .NET Framework 3.0 RC1.
  5. Install the WSSv3 Beta2TR update (it's a single executable file called WSSv3b2tr-kb000000-x86-fullfile-en-us.exe for the x86, English version)
  6. Install the MOSS 2007 Beta2TR update (it's also a single executable file called officeserver2007b2tr-kb000000-x86-fullfile-en-us.exe for the x86, English version)
  7. Let the "SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard" run (it will automatically start) to finish the upgrade process. 

One step that is a bit confusing is when the instructions say you "must create a Web Application before you can upgrade to the Beta 2 Technical Refresh". One might think you need to fully configure your new farm, but that's really not the case. You simply need to run the Configuration Wizard to create the Central Administration site. Then you move to the Beta 2 TR update and only after that you proceeded to configure services on the server, create the other web applications, shared services, etc.

If you go ahead and configure the farm with only the Beta 2 installed (before you do the Beta 2 TR), you will have the WSS Search and MOSS Search services configured and running. In that case, there are additional steps that include stopping these services and deleting their configuration in the registry. You will also need to be careful if you have multiple servers in your farm. So, if you need an upgrade, take the time to RTFM (read the fine manual).

Although the Beta 2 installation notes say you need "Windows Workflow Foundation Beta 2.2 or later", you cannot start the process with the .NET Framework 3.0. The Setup for the Beta 2 will not run. You will need to start with the older bits (Beta 2.2) for the Workflow Foundation just to remove them and install the new bits (RC1) before installing the TR.

As far as the configuration steps for the new Beta 2 TR goes, it works pretty much as it did for the Beta 2 and you can use the steps on my previous post to get a farm configured. A few noticeable changes include:

  • The tasks you get in Central Administration home page are much improved
  • There's now a warning letting you know that the farm is not ready until you enable and configure all the required services
  • When you create a new web application, you now have an option to automatically restart IIS
  • When configuring the WSS Search service, you're no prompted for a folder to hold the indexing files.
  • When configuring the MOSS Search service, you now specify the account for crawling, which was required step in the Beta 2 but was previously buried under several layers of menu
  • Central Admin will complain if you do not use separate accounts for the SharePoint services and your application pools (although it will still let you do it)

There are, of course, many additional improvements. Those are the most obvious ones that you will notice as you follow the steps to configure a basic farm. Now back to testing...