We’ve added some performance configuration suggestions for SQL in this release, based on feedback from early test customers and from the results of our own performance testing. These settings are intended to help the overall performance of the system.
The following properties should be set on your Project Server databases.
Auto close is typically set to False by default when Project Server 2010 creates the databases for a farm setup. If set to True, this property tells SQL Server to automatically close the database when the last user has ended their connection and all other processes have completed. This makes sense in single user scenarios when you are using the desktop version of SQL Server with limited resources. However, on a multiple user system, this creates unnecessary overhead.
This property can be set accidentally, if you prototyped an environment using a Standalone install and then moved the databases to a production farm.
Slow queries are annoying to everyone. One of the most common factors we’ve found that cause this slowness to occur is the database statistics being out of date. The two settings above are recommended so that your statistics are kept up to date AND that query processing doesn’t wait for the statistics refresh to complete. Previously, if you set AUTO_UPDATE_Statistics to True, if SQL found stale statistics, it would halt a query and make it wait until the statistics were updated. Depending on the size of the database and the query, this can lead to a substantial wait time, leading the user to think the system is hung.
In SQL Server 2005, the AUTO_UPDATE_STATISTICS_ASYNCHRONOUSLY property was added. This enabled SQL to automatically refresh the statistics in the background while allowing queries to continue execution. This leads to a better overall user experience since the operation may be a bit slower initially but it still completes. Note, Project Server 2010 does not set this property by default. Also, note, if you are migrating Project Server 2007 databases, you should update these properties post Upgrade. For more information, go to this link: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms190397.aspx
If you upgrading databases from SQL Server 2000 to SQL Server 2005/2008, the sampling algorithm changed in the 2005 release. It is recommended that you run sp_updatestats with the RESAMPLE option to update the statistics, using the new algorithm.
Custom field performance will see the most benefit from this setting. As the number of custom field values grow, the query performance will decline as the number of records to query grows.
Note, I said custom field values, not number of custom fields. For example, if you have a task level custom field with a large lookup table and assignment roll down enabled, this one field will create a lot of potential data to query. The new departments feature of Project Server 2010 may also lead to more custom fields and custom field values on the server.
Enabling the CLR on the SQL Server allows us to execute queries in a more efficient manner by reducing stress on the application server, reducing SQL roundtrips and performing queries closer to the data. The resulting Custom Field performance gains are significant. For more information on how to enable the CLR, go to this link. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee662108(office.14).aspx#section3
I recommend starting with the SharePoint Guidance for SQL Server Database Administrators. The document is targeted to SharePoint Server 2007 but the concepts are valid for SharePoint Server 2010 as well. This document can be found here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee721075.aspx
Another article on Project Server 2007 Performance and Capacity Planning best practices white paper would also be another great read. This document can be found at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd823304.aspx
The initial documentation for planning a SharePoint Server 2010 Server farm may also be of interest to you. The documentation can be found here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc789337(office.14).aspx
Lastly, there are three videos from the Project Conference which may be of interest to you. Each cover aspects of SQL Server and Performance best practices.
http://www.microsoft.com/video/en/us/details/73213feb-9a93-43b6-94c2-65f64127bbe7
http://www.microsoft.com/video/en/us/details/15142262-d421-47f1-8ce7-ea85476cde15
http://www.microsoft.com/video/en/us/details/65b75005-8a93-459d-bd4a-65c1246501e7
2010 Server Language Packs for SharePoint Server 2010, Project Server 2010, Search Server 2010, and Office Web Apps 2010: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=046f16a9-4bce-4149-8679-223755560d54&displaylang=en
Select Change Language drop-down list to specify one of the language above (please note not all SharePoint 2010 language packs are supported with Project Server 2010, please read the TechNet documentation for a list of supported language packs), follow the installation instructions documented on TechNet and voila you are ready to do a Portfolio Analyses or should I say “Analyses de portefeuilles” using your favorite language.
Happy localization!
Following the publication of the source code for the recently released Project 2010 content pack, we also published the source code of the project to automate the deployment procedure of the content pack on MSDN Code Gallery: http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/Project2010DemoPack.
One of the nugget it contains is the PowerShell script to automate the configurate of Secure Store Service (which is required for Excel Services 2010), and yes you can also follow the step by step procedure documented on TechNet: Configure reporting for Project Server 2010
Code is also here: http://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/ScriptCenter/en-us/a88f7b6e-9c9e-475f-afd1-c68c4ef3cc4a
$targetApplicationName = "ProjectServerApplication" $userName = "contoso\administrator" $password = "pass@word1" $url = "http://project.contoso.com/pwa" $grp1 = (New-Object System.Security.Principal.NTAccount("contoso", "domain users")).Translate([System.Security.Principal.SecurityIdentifier]).Value $memberclaims = New-SPClaimsPrincipal -Identity $grp1 -IdentityType WindowsSecurityGroupSid $pw = new-spsecurestoreapplicationfield -name "Password" -type WindowsPassword -masked:$false $un = new-spsecurestoreapplicationfield -name "User Name" -type WindowsUserName -masked:$false $fields = $un, $pw $proxy = Get-SPServiceApplicationProxy -identity "af18e4e8-3221-432f-b6cb-9e76a64d248c" $defaultServiceContext = Get-SPServiceContext $url $credentialTypes = "UserName","Password" $c1 = convertto-securestring $userName -asplaintext -force $c2 = convertto-securestring $password -asplaintext -force $credentialValues = $c1,$c2 $pkmacctclaims = New-SPClaimsPrincipal -Identity $userName -IdentityType WindowsSamAccountName $app = new-spsecurestoretargetapplication -name $targetApplicationName -friendlyname $targetApplicationName -contactemail "administrator@contoso.com" -applicationtype Group -timeoutinminutes 3 -setcredentialsuri "http://ipserver2" new-spsecurestoreapplication -ServiceContext $defaultServiceContext -TargetApplication $app -Administrator $pkmacctclaims -CredentialsOwnerGroup $memberClaims -Fields $fields $ssoapp = Get-SPSecureStoreApplication -ServiceContext $defaultServiceContext -Name $targetApplicationName [System.Threading.Thread]::Sleep(10000) Update-SPSecureStoreGroupCredentialMapping -Identity $ssoapp -Values $credentialValues Update-SPSecureStoreApplicationServerKey -Passphrase pass@word1 -ServiceApplicationProxy $proxy
The October 2011 Cumulative Updates for Microsoft Project and Project Server 2010 have now been released. The 2007 Server packages that were withdrawn for a short period are now re-built and available.
As always, we want to encourage you to test any CUs with a recent copy of your production database before deploying into production so that we can catch any problems, and fix them, in test before they start impacting a live environment.
For 2010 we should also remind you that we recommend applying Service Pack 1 - http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh272536.aspx. This article makes many references to the June CU – the October CU is cumulative so does contain all that was shipped in the June and August CU so if you haven’t installed the June or August CU then you can just install the October CU (and SP1). More details of SP1 can be found at http://blogs.msdn.com/b/project/archive/2011/06/28/announcing-the-release-of-service-pack-1-sp1-for-microsoft-project-and-project-server-2010.aspx and the downloads listed at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2510766. Q&A from the SP1 TechNet webcast can be found at http://blogs.msdn.com/b/brismith/archive/2011/07/11/project-server-2010-sp1-and-june-cu-questions-and-answers.aspx.
So without any further ado, here is the information:
Server Rollup Package(Recommended):
Description of the Project Server 2010 cumulative update package (Project server-package): October 25, 2011
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2596506
Individual Project Server Package:
Only required if you do not install the Server Rollup.
Description of the Project Server 2010 hotfix package (Pjsrvwfe-x-none.msp): October 25, 2011
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2596498
Project Client Package:
Description of the Project 2010 hotfix package (Project-x-none.msp): October 25, 2011
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2596495
More information on deploying the Cumulative Update:
The article below provides information on how to deploy the Project Server Cumulative Update.
Updates for Project Server 2010
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/projectserver/gg176680.aspx
As Project Server 2010 is now based on SharePoint Server 2010 we strongly recommend that you install the Project Server 2010 Server Rollup Package as there are a large number of individual server packages for SharePoint Server. The Project Server 2010 Server Rollup Package contains all the patches released in this Cumulative Update for SharePoint Foundation Server 2010, SharePoint Server 2010 and Project Server 2010.
For those accustomed to Project Server 2007 Cumulative Updates, you should note that the MOSS Server Rollup Package does not contain the Project Server patches. You will need to make sure that you install the MOSS + Project Server Rollup Package (the link is provided below). As in Project Server 2007, the Server Rollup Packages are much larger but they will greatly simplify your Project Server patch deployment.
Client Installation:
Installation of the client patch is straightforward and is the same as it was in Project 2007. The instructions for installing the client patch are below.
NOTE: Microsoft strongly recommends testing within a NON-Production environment prior to rollout.
Server Rollup Packages:
Description of the Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 cumulative update server hotfix package (WSS server-package): October 25, 2011
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2596541
Description of the Office SharePoint Server 2007 cumulative update package (MOSS server-package): October 25, 2011
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2596540
Individual Product Packages:
Description of the Office SharePoint Server 2007 hotfix package (Coreserver-x-none.msp): October 25, 2011
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2596536
Description of the Office Project Server 2007 hotfix package (Pjsrvapp-x-none.msp, Pjsrvwfe-x-none.msp): October 25, 2011
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2596542
Description of the Office Project 2007 hotfix package (Project-x-none.msp): October 25, 2011
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2596533
Deploy cumulative updates (Project Server 2007)
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd239177.aspx
Service Pack 2 for both WSS and Office Servers 2007 are required for this Cumulative Update. The KB articles below provide information on how to download and install SP2 if you have not already done so. As Service Pack 3 is also now available then you may wish to install this instead and I have included links for both SP2 and SP3 below..
Description of Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 SP2 and of Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Language Pack SP2
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/953338
Description of 2007 Microsoft Office servers Service Pack 2 and of 2007 Microsoft Office servers Language Pack Service Pack 2
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/953334
Description of Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 SP3 and of Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Language Pack SP3
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2526305
Description of the 2007 Office Servers SP3 and of the 2007 Office Servers Language Pack SP3
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2526299
The Server CU is released in two different versions. The first version is in Individual Packages specific to a particular product like WSS and Project Server. These are smaller downloads but they do not include language packs or patches for other products so patches for those products would have to be downloaded and installed separately.
The second version is the Server Rollup Packages. This is a set of two rollup packages which contains all the fixes for WSS, Project Server and MOSS. These packages should be used when MOSS is part of the deployment and/or you have language packs installed. The Server Rollup Packages are much larger but they will greatly simplify MOSS patch deployment.
In order to install this hotfix, you will need to have Microsoft Project 2007 SP2 installed on the client. Again, as SP3 is now also available I have included links for both below.
Description of Office Project 2007 Service Pack 2 (SP2) and of Office Project Language Pack 2007 Service Pack 2 (SP2)
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/953326
Description of Office Project 2007 SP3 and of Office Project Language Pack 2007 SP3
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2526091
Once we know that SP2 or SP3 is installed, you will install the hotfix by performing the following steps:
Feel free to open a support incident at http://support.microsoft.com if you run into any issues with the installation and we will be happy to help!
Quick post to remind you what recommendations and resources are available to plan deploying Project Server 2010 in a virtual environment:
Other links:
Happy virtualization!
Great News! The latest Cumulative Updates (CU) for Project and Project Server 2010 and 2007 have been released. There was a problem found in both the 2010 Server Rollup Packages which required a fix and for the patches to be rebuilt. The current guidance is that we should see it released during the week of 3/7/2010.(Oops - too eager with the cut and paste from February!) Feel free to open a support case if you have any questions around this or need assistance getting these patches deployed.
Additionally, you are welcome to join us on TechNet for a webcast where we will be discussing this issues in detail and answering questions regarding the February Cumulative Update. The information on this webcast can be found at the URL below.
TechNet Webcast: Information About Microsoft Project and Project Server May 2011 Software Update (Level 200)
https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032455143
This include a number of fixes, so Microsoft strongly recommends that you test this in a test environment based on your production environment before putting this fix live in production.
You can read about the fixes included in the Project and Project Server April CUs from the following articles:
Description of the SharePoint Server 2010 and Project Server 2010 Cumulative Update Server Hotfix Package (MOSS server-package, Project server-package): April 26, 2011
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2512801
Description of the Project Server 2010 hotfix package (pjsrvwfe-x-none.msp): April 26, 2011
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2516483
Description of the Office Project 2010 hotfix package (project-x-none.msp): April 26, 2011
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2516479
Project and Project Server 2007
You can read about the fixes included in the April CU from the following articles:
Description of the Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Cumulative Update Server Hotfix Package (WSS server-package): April 26, 2011
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2512783
Description of the Office SharePoint Server 2007 Cumulative Update server hotfix package (MOSS server-package): April 26, 2011
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2512782
Description of the SharePoint Server 2007 hotfix package (sts-x-none.msp): April 26, 2011
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2512780
Description of the Project Server 2007 hotfix package (pjsrvapp-x-none.msp, pjsrvwfe-x-none.msp):April 26, 2011
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2512784
Description of the Office Project 2007 hotfix package (project-x-none.msp):April 26, 2011
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2534046
Service Pack 2 for both WSS and Office Servers 2007 are required for this Cumulative Update. The KB articles below provide information on how to download and install SP2 if you have not already done so.
In order to install this hotfix, you will need to have Microsoft Project 2007 SP2 installed on the client.
Once we know that SP2 is installed, you will install the hotfix by performing the following steps:
I know this announcement is coming a little late, but with the release of SP1 and all the other stuff going on we just realized (with a nudge from Treb) that we had missed posting the usual CU message. Also there was a refresh of the Project and SharePoint Server 2010 June CU package shortly after the initial release – so make sure if you downloaded or applied these early after the initial release that you have the final release (14.0.6106.5002) On the the announcement:
The TechNet Webcast for SP1 for Project and Project Server 2010 also included a round-up of the fixes in the June CU and is available at https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?culture=en-US&EventID=1032487727&CountryCode=US. I also posted the Q&A coming from the webcast at Project Server 2010- SP1 and June CU Questions and Answers – and also posted about an issue identified just after the release of SP1 and the June CU at Project Server 2010- SP1 and June 2011 CU–FormatException when trying to provision a PWA site.
If you are loading the June CU for 2010 we would also encourage you to load SP1 – see Announcing The Release Of Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Microsoft Project and Project Server 2010 for full details, and particularly the TechNet article at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh272536.aspx - Deploy Service Pack 1 for Project Server 2010
You can read about the fixes included in the Project and Project Server June CUs from the following articles:
Description of the Project Server 2010 cumulative update refresh package (Project server-package): June 30, 2011
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2536600
Description of the Project Server 2010 hotfix package (pjsrvwfe-x-none.msp): June 28, 2011
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2536586
Description of the Project 2010 hotfix package (project-x-none.msp): June 28, 2011
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2536590
You can read about the fixes included in the June CU from the following articles:
Description of the Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 cumulative update package (WSS server-package): June 28, 2011
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2544399
Description of the Office SharePoint Server 2007 cumulative update package (MOSS server-package): June 28, 2011
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2544398
Description of the Office SharePoint Server 2007 hotfix package (sts-x-none.msp): June 28, 2011
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2544396
Description of the Office Project Server 2007 hotfix package (pjsrvapp-x-none.msp, pjsrvwfe-x-none.msp): June 28, 2011
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2544400
Description of the Office Project 2007 hotfix package (project-x-none.msp): June 28, 2011
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2552541
I know of lot of you are virtualizing our application, this recent article for SharePoint 2010 is a great reminder of best practices for Project Server 2010 as well: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh295699.aspx
Check out these recent post on the same topic:
The following article got published on TechNet: Best practices for capacity management for SharePoint Server 2010 that is a great reminder of best practices you should follow in any deployment (yes all applies to Project Server 2010 as well):
This is the first of a four part series on common workflow administration tasks associated with Project Server 2010.
Installation and setup of Project Server 2010 is covered in the overall setup guide, and these articles will make the assumption that the user has already read and completed the setup of Project Server 2010.
These articles also will not cover the topic of creating Project Server 2010 workflows. Please refer to our SDK articles to find out more information on how to create our workflows.
Once a workflow has been created within Visual Studio and activated on the server farm (covered in SDK articles) the administrator will need to correctly associate the workflow with an EPT.
Hello to announce the release of the Microsoft Project Server 2010 Server Settings Backup/Restore tool (also referred to as Playbook): http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg128952.aspx
The Microsoft Project Server 2010 Server Settings Backup/Restore tool is part of the Project Server 2010 Project Resource Kit (PRK). It enables Project Server 2010 administrators to back up server settings from a selected Project Server 2010 instance to an XML or binary .playbook file. The tool can then restore the server settings to another Project Server 2010 instance. The data from the exported XML (or binary) file is what is imported to the target Project Server 2010 instance. This tool can be especially useful when you move server settings from a test to a production environment, but could also be used to generate a simple “playbook” of custom fields and views (for example, for different industries). You can access the Project Server 2010 Server Settings Backup/Restore tool by downloading the Project 2010 PRK from the Microsoft Download Center.
The Microsoft Project Server 2010 Server Settings Backup/Restore tool is part of the Project Server 2010 Project Resource Kit (PRK). It enables Project Server 2010 administrators to back up server settings from a selected Project Server 2010 instance to an XML or binary .playbook file. The tool can then restore the server settings to another Project Server 2010 instance. The data from the exported XML (or binary) file is what is imported to the target Project Server 2010 instance. This tool can be especially useful when you move server settings from a test to a production environment, but could also be used to generate a simple “playbook” of custom fields and views (for example, for different industries).
You can access the Project Server 2010 Server Settings Backup/Restore tool by downloading the Project 2010 PRK from the Microsoft Download Center.
Must read prior to any production rollout: Estimate Performance and Capacity Requirements for Microsoft Project Server 2010.
This performance and capacity planning document provides guidance on the footprint that usage of Microsoft Project Server 2010 has on topologies running Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010.
More information around performance and capacity planning for Project Server 2010 can be found on TechNet: http://technet.microsoft.com/projectserver
Additionally check out all the Microsoft Project 2010 Ignite videos released today, plenty of IT Pro content you all need to know: Microsoft Project 2010 Ignite Online Recordings Are Live!
This is the second of a four part series on common workflow administration tasks associated with Project Server 2010.
Project Server Workflows need to run under the context of a user. However, they do not run under context of the user that started the project, instead, the workflows are run under the “Workflow Proxy Account”. This means that the user account which you specify as the workflow proxy account must have the proper rights to execute all of the commands a project server workflow will need to do.
It is recommended that you setup a service user to serve as this function. The steps below show how to define and setup a workflow proxy account.
Now when Project Server 2010 is available you might think about planning the migration/upgrade to 2010 or just want to explore Project 2010 with your data… We are summarizing the available resources around upgrading to Project Server 2010 so it’s easier to get started!
· Project 2010 Quick Start Training - http://www.microsoft.com/project/en/us/quick-start-training.aspx (includes Upgrade and Migration module)
· Project Server 2010 Upgrade and Migration Center - http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9676814
· Best Practices Migration to Project Server 2010 - http://www.microsoft.com/events/series/epm.aspx?tab=Webcasts&seriesid=51&webcastid=12840 (on-demand webcast by top EPM consultants)
Even that the actual “data upgrade” step could be simple and done in few minutes we DO recommend to plan and prepare for this move very carefully as the Project Managers are usually very sensitive about their data J The duration of the physical upgrade is likely to take hours – depending on the complexity of your database and even that should be only a fraction of time devoted to studying the process and testing the upgrade scenarios.
· Project Server 2010 upgrade overview
· Review system requirements for upgrade
· Create an upgrade communications plan
· “Database attach” upgrade – simply backup your 2007 databases and attach them to your newly installed Project Server 2010
o Database attach core upgrade to Project Server 2010
· “in-place” upgrade – upgrade you existing Project Server 2007 on the same machine to 2010
· Upgrade to Project Server 2010 from Project Server 2003
· Best Practices for Migrating to Project Server 2007 (very popular whitepaper released last year by a Project Partner based on their learning with 2003 to 2007 migration)
· This upgrade has to go via Project Server 2007 so you can either
§ Migrate your Project Server 2003 data using the Virtual Migration Environment (VME) – we highly encourage this option as it includes – best practices documentation and verification scripts
Please note we strongly encourage to follow all best practices outlined in the document enclosed in the download - run all scripts provided and follow all the best practices using both pre and post migration scripts. You can save lot of unnecessary troubleshooting and re-work.
o Do it on your own by installing Project Server 2007 first (you can use the Evaluation version available here) and study the VME documents, best practices and use the VME scripts – part of the VME download mentioned above
· While there’s no “magic tool” that would seamlessly migrate processes and data – we have produced number of Solution Starters and Documented the approaches to make the transition easier – check the following resources for more information:
o Upgrade models for Project Portfolio Server 2007 http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=12e25e2b-fda6-4fda-9f1b-fa39134e26ee
o More details for Portfolio Server migration in July 2010 timeframe on Migration Center http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9676814
· SharePoint 2010 Upgrade and Migration Center - http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=189356
Q: After I upgraded to Projects Server 2010 the instance is in “Compatibility Mode” – what is that?
A: Detailed information could be found in this webcast TechNet Webcast: Project Server 2010 - Backwards Compatibility Mode (Level 300)
Q: While upgrading from Project Server 2003 does the Project Server 2007 need to be in production?
A: No. The Project Server 2007 is just pass-through environment so the databases could be immediately attached to Project Server 2010. To make this easier we are offering the “Virtual Migration Environment” – for details see above.
Q: How could I migrate my customizations?
A: All custom code written against Project Server 2003 leveraging PDS has to be re-written to use the Project Server 2007/2010 PSI – more information in Project Server 2007 SDK here. Custom code against Project Server 2007 requires small changes and possibly accommodating new functionality and new user interface – more in the Project 2010 SDK.
Q: Any additional resources for Upgrade to 2010?
A: Yes – check the Project Aministration blog (yes - it's this one :)) or check for answers in the official Microsoft Project Server - Setup, Upgrade, Administration and Operation forum.
Quick reminder that there are two webcasts you might want to attend this week:
As mentioned by Brian on his blog we will also continue the regular Cumulative Update (CU) webcast series in the coming year: Project Server: Post SP1 Cumulative Update Webcast Series
*** Update *** 11/18/2010 - The issues have now been resolved and the links to the revised updates are now available. The KB number is unchanged, but the Revision Number on the article is 2.0 and the version of the patch is 14.0.5128.5003. Sorry for any inconvenience caused.
Please see the posting on the SharePoint blog regarding an issue recently discovered with the October CU for SharePoint Server 2010 that also affects Project Server 2010 - http://blogs.msdn.com/b/sharepoint/archive/2010/11/05/critical-information-about-the-sharepoint-server-2010-october-cumulative-update.aspx. The current recommendation is to not load the CU, and SharePoint have also released details of a workaround if you have already loaded the October CU - http://blogs.msdn.com/b/sharepoint/archive/2010/11/06/details-and-workaround.aspx.
The Cumulative Update packages affected are the Server Packages for SharePoint Foundation, SharePoint Server and Project Server 2010, specifically;
The downloads for both of these packages have been removed from our servers. If you have already downloaded them you SHOULD NOT install them. They will be republished.
The October Cumulative Update for the packages listed above makes some changes and updates to the user profile database. Unfortunately there are certain situations where this update does not complete as expected and leaves the update in an inconsistent state. This causes issues with several SharePoint features that use the User Profile Application such as MySites, People and Expertise Search & Ratings.
For details of the workaround please see the SharePoint blog above.
This issue affects the SharePoint features that use the User Profile Application – so does not directly impact Project Server 2010 functionality – but obviously many of our Project customers may be using these features.
A must have for all SharePoint and Project Server farm administrators, PMO administrators and consultants: Professional SharePoint 2010 Administration from Todd Klindt, Shane Young, and Steve Caravajal (ISBN: 978-0-470-53333-8, Wrox, 840 pages, June 2010). I really enjoyed the breadth of topics, the expertise and advices as well as the writing style from the authors. A MUST buy to complement your 2010 arsenal and readiness!
PS: check out the raving reviews on Amazon as well.
Thanks to the TechNet writer’s team Project Server 2010 Administrator's Guide NOW AVAILABLE! A great asset for all project administrators.
Table Of Content:
Following this announcement at the beginning of March 2010: ANNOUNCING Microsoft Project Server 2010 IT Professional TechNet Webcast Series, don’t miss out tomorrow (April 21st) this free opportunity to learn from Jean-Francois LeSaux, EPM Lead Architect, Microsoft Corporation, Project Server 2010 - Coexisting with SharePoint Server 2010.
Live at a browser near you starting at 8:30 Pacific Time (Seattle time!): https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032442979&EventCategory=4&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US
Webcast Agenda:
As a reminder all upcoming and recorded webcasts and podcasts can be found here: http://www.microsoft.com/events/series/epm.aspx
As mentioned this morning in this webcast Microsoft Project Server 2010 – Operations webcast on May 19th a great tool to analyze logs is the Performance Analysis of Logs (PAL) Tool on CodePlex. To test it out, download the 64 bit version in the newly released Project 2010 demo image (Microsoft Project Server 2010 RTM Demo Virtual Machine is Ready for Download). I created a list of performance counters listed below (in my case all roles are in one virtual machine, in a production environment you will have to adapt the counters for each server role in your farm):
I then started the trace, played around with my demo image to generate some stress (like republish all projects with a PowerShell script!) and after two hours I used PAL to analyze the logs generated and got this very useful report (attached in this post to illustrate the analytical power of the tool, again this is just a sample):
Virtual lab recently released, while its focuses on SP 2010 you could easily leverage the same approach to monitor Project Server 2010 as well. Monitor your farms!
https://cmg.vlabcenter.com/default.aspx?moduleid=c4997f2a-30ad-4ce4-8d01-292654af4f36
The objective of this lab is to provide a basic introduction to using Service Level Monitoring to monitor services provided by SharePoint Server 2010. By the end of this lab you will be better able to create a Service Level Object, generate a Report of SharePoint Services Availability, and configure a Service Level Dashboard.
*** Update *** 11/18/2010 - The issues have now been resolved and the links to the revised updates are now available. The KB number is unchanged, but the Revision Number on the article is 2.0 and the version of the patch is 14.0.5128.5003. Sorry for any inconvenience caused. This only applies to KB 2394322 (link below) and 2394320 (which isn't in the links below)
***Update*** Please see the latest information on potential issues with the October CU at http://blogs.technet.com/b/projectadministration/archive/2010/11/08/critical-information-about-the-sharepoint-server-2010-october-cumulative-update.aspx
*** Update *** Reminder, the TechNet Webcast giving more details of this cumulative update:
Tuesday, November 09, 2010 8:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada), TechNet Webcast: Information About Microsoft Project and Project Server Cumulative October Update – with Adrian Jenkins and Brian Smith.
Great News! The latest Cumulative Updates (CU) for Project and Project Server 2010 and 2007 have been released. You can download them directly from the links in the KB articles.
As Project Server 2010 is now based on the MOSS we strongly recommend that you install the Server Rollup Packages as there are a large number of individual server packages for MOSS. There is a set of two rollup packages which contains all the fixes for SharePoint Foundation Server, MOSS and Project Server. Both Server Rollup Packages should be installed to ensure that the underlying technology that Project Server depends on is up to date.
For those accustomed to Project Server 2007 Cumulative Updates, you should note that the MOSS Server Rollup Package does not contain the Project Server patches. You will need to make sure that you install the MOSS + Project Server Rollup Package (the link is provided below). As in Project Server 2007, the Server Rollup Packages are much larger (~150MB each) but they will greatly simplify your Project Server patch deployment.
You can read about the fixes included in the October CU from the following articles:
1. Download the hotfix from the link in the KB Article.
2. Extract the patch package by running the .exe file that you downloaded.
3. Run the extracted .exe file to apply the patch to your Project Professional/Standard client.
Note: The SP2 Requirement is new as of the August 2010 Project and Project Server 2007 Cumulative Updates.
The Server 2007 CU is released in two different versions. The first version is in Individual Packages specific to a particular product like WSS and Project Server. These are smaller downloads but they do not include language packs or patches for other products so patches for those products would have to be downloaded and installed separately.
The second version is the Server Rollup Packages. This is a set of two rollup packages which contains all the fixes for WSS, Project Server and MOSS. These packages should be used when MOSS is part of the deployment and/or you have language packs installed. The Server Rollup Packages are much larger (~100MB each) but they will greatly simplify MOSS patch deployment.
Delegation is a great new feature in Project Server 2010 that allows one user to allow others to act on their behalf. Very useful when a Project Manager is going to be out of town and doesn’t want to have to re-set the status manager for all her owned tasks just so someone else can action updates – instead she just sets a delegate and they can work as if they were the Project Manager. Works across all features – so can be used for timesheets, or even administrative functions. I’m sure there will be plenty of posts going in to the details but wanted to describe how this works for both new instances of Project Server 2010 as well as upgraded 2007 instances
This is pretty powerful and for new Project Server 2010 instances the default behavior is that Administrators can manage resource delegates – so they can set up delegates for any user on the system. So if they navigate to the Manage Delegates option (under the new Personal Settings on the left navigation – or site map) and click New they will see all the users who can be a delegate if they click the Browse button next to Set Delegate, and they will see ALL users if they click Browse next to the Working on Behalf Of.
However, we have taken the design decision that this is quite a dramatic new feature for existing 2007 users, so the default if you have upgraded a PWA instance from 2007 is that Administrators CANNOT manage resource delegations. So in this case when clicking Browse next to Working on Behalf Of they would see no one.
So the next question is – how do I change this? It is one of the tricky category permissions that sometimes catch our customers out – as it is set for the category of My Organization within the Administrators group. So if you either want to turn this off in your native 2010 instance, or turn it on in your upgraded 2007 instance, go to Manage Groups and select Administrators, then within the Add or Edit Group page scroll down until you see the Categories.
Now for the tricky bit – click on My Organization and you will then see the set of permissions for My Organization! I have collapsed the Project permissions to fit the interesting bit in – the Manage Resource Delegates option.
In 2007 upgraded instances this will look like this and be unchecked – and will need to be checked if you want administrators to be able to set delegates for everyone – in 2010 native instances it will already be checked – so uncheck if you want to turn this off for administrators. You can of course do this the other way around, and go to Manage Categories and then select Administrators – but the key take-away here is that you need to select the category (or group) to see the applicable permissions – something that isn’t always intuitive.
More 2010 postings to come –many, like this one based on early feedback and experience from our TAP customers and Ignite attendees (thanks Jesse!).
Based on frequent questions and exciting updates – please find the rich list of options for Evaluating Microsoft Project 2010 -
· Free 60 day trial download
· NEW: Now available in 26 languages!
· NEW: Now available in 32 and 64 bit!
· Get started here
· We offer 3 options to evaluate Project Server 2010 for free:
o Download the Project Server 2010 installation
o Download pre-configured Demo Virtual Image
o UPDATED: Use Hosted pre-configured Demo Virtual Image (now based on the final released version)
· Gain easier access to technical resources on TechNet and MSDN
Q: We are using Previous versions of Microsoft Project to build our plans, could we open the MPP files in Project 2010?
A: Absolutely, you can open the MPP files from users of previous versions of Microsoft Project. More information could be found here.
Q: Could my current Microsoft Office Project Professional 2007 and Project Professional 2010 Evaluation version coexist on one machine?
A: Yes, the above versions could coexist on one machine. Please be advised that after you install Project 2010 side-by-side all MPP files will by default open in Project 2010. To open MPP file in Office Project 2007, please start Office Project 2007 first.
Q: We are currently using previous version of Project Server. Could I upgrade the data to Project Server 2010?
A: Absolutely. We have built Upgrade and Migration TechCenter for Project Server 2010 on Microsoft TechNet that has all resources and will help you learn about options quickly!
Q: To migrate from Office Project Server 2003 do I need to download Office Project Server 2007?
A: We advise to use the Virtual Migration Environment that already comes with pre-installed and pre-configured version of Office Project Server 2007 and Office SharePoint Server 2007. However you still have the option to download Evaluation version of Project 2007 from this URL if you like to build the migration environment on your own.
· Product information and trial download
o Main product site www.microsoft.com/project
o Project Team Blog blogs.msdn.com/project
· End-User Product Help
o Project 2010 Help http://office2010.microsoft.com/project-help
o Project Server 2010 Help http://office2010.microsoft.com/project-server-help
· Interactive content – Videos/Sessions/Webcasts
o Quick Start Training - http://www.microsoft.com/project/en/us/quick-start-training.aspx
o Project Video Channel - www.microsoft.com/showcase/en/US/channels/microsoftproject
o Project Webcasts - www.microsoft.com/events/series/epm.aspx
· IT Professional related – TechNet
o TechCenter http://technet.microsoft.com/ProjectServer
o Admin Blog http://blogs.technet.com/projectadministration
· Developer related - MSDN
o Developer center http://msdn.microsoft.com/Project
o Programmability blog http://blogs.msdn.com/project_programmability
· Project & Project Server 2010 Demo Image
o Download http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9713956
o Hosted Virtual Lab http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9713654
· Got questions? Search or ask in the official Microsoft Forums
o http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/category/projectserver2010,projectprofessional2010
· SharePoint 2010
o http://sharepoint.microsoft.com
Although you can upgrade directly from 2007 to 2010 (assuming all pre-requisites are met) this isn’t the case with 2003 – you have to go via 2007, and obviously you also need to get up to x64. To help make this process as painless as possible we have created the Virtual Migration Environment.
The Microsoft Project Server 2010 Virtual Migration Environment (VME) is now available on the download site. http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9729345
What is the VME?
The VME is a Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V based image of a fully configured and operational SharePoint 2007 /Project Server 2007 farm with Project Pro 2007 and SQL Server 2005. This instance is intended to be used to migrate Project Server 2003 and SharePoint 2003 customers forward to 2007 as the first step of the two step migration to 2010.
The design goals were to create a standalone environment that could be run on a typical desktop/notebook and can be reset for multiple runs. It can also be used as a test environment for PDS to PSI conversion efforts.
Other useful resources for migration and upgrade: