Project Server 2013
Project 2013
Project Server 2010
You don’t… We have had this question a couple of times so thought it worth a posting. Customers and partners familiar with Project Server 2013 or even Project Server 2010, may be used to copying the databases to another server for testing or reporting or whatever. In Project Online that certainly isn’t an option. You have 3 PWA instances available to you so you could use one for testing – but there is no way to get access to your databases or copying them either within or in/out of the datacenters. You do of course have access via OData to much of the information in Project Online and could pull this down to a local data store for other reporting purposes – or through CSOM as described in the Project SDK. The OLAP cubes aren’t an option in Project Online – so if you wanted an OLAP capability then getting data locally (or somewhere else in the cloud – SQL Azure for example) via one of these mechanisms would enable you to use other reporting tools. You can of course save project plans down to mpp format locally too. This last point is worth considering for archive purposes – as the administrative backup options are not a feature of Project Online (as mentioned in Tuesday’s Server Settings post).
There are also 3rd party options that may help get at your data (just Bing Project Online migration tools) – and so far FluentPro appear to be coming highest up the search results. I’d certainly love to hear from other partners if you have interesting offerings too. Migration can be about getting data into the online environment – but the same kind of tools usually offer opportunities for pulling data out too – whether for reporting – or perhaps you are using the Online environment for a proof of concept which is fore-runner to a Project Server 2013 on-premise installation!
Finally, a good article if you want to build your own tools is the SDK and worth starting at the comparison of Project Online to Project Server 2013 from a development perspective.
As I have mentioned previously – Project Online is a close relative to Project Server 2013 but not an identical twin – learn to think of them as different products with different feature sets.
This is a follow up post to the one on Project Server 2013 Server Settings and covers the Server Settings options in Project Online. If you are new to Project Online and never used Project Server 2010 or Project Server 2013 then you probably don’t need to read further. You won’t miss what you never had! This posting is more for the folks transitioning or just wanting to know the differences. In this context I find it much easier to think of Project Online as a new separate product rather than think of it as Project Server 2013 hosted by Microsoft. They might be siblings – but they are not identical twins.
In Project Online there are changes to server settings due to the nature of the service offering – and the fact that you no longer have to manage the server as we do that for you. From early feedback it is clear there is some confusion around some of the apparently missing options so an explanation follows..
In Project Server 2010 Server Settings was available in the left navigation for administrators and it looked like this:-
And in Project Online we now have a couple of different ways to get to the same settings – either use the EDIT LINKS option to make Server Settings appear on the left – or use the new navigation from the gear icon in the top right and select PWA Settings. A clue here that this really is Project Online – the top left says Office 365 rather than SharePoint – which you would see with Project Server 2013 – and the menu with PWA Settings shows the Office 365 Settings option (preview in my case).
This will bring up the PWA Settings page which may look like this:
I say ‘may look like this’ because some of the options will depend on the permissions mode you are currently using. This is similar to Project Server 2013 and is well described in the TechNet article ‘Plan user access in Project Server 2013’ at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/fp161361.aspx, but for Project Online there is a way to change permission modes through the UI of the Office 365 Admin page – and you can bring up the following screen by selecting your PWA site then clicking the drop down menu from Project Web App in the ribbon and selecting Settings.
The article at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/office365-project-online-help/change-permission-management-in-project-web-app-for-project-online-HA103433509.aspx titled Change permission management in Project Web App for Project Online gives all the details – please heed the WARNING section. Changing modes loses any existing permissions you may have set and they won’t come back if you reset back again.
In my initial PWA Settings screenshot above I am in the default, SharePoint Permissions mode – so I am missing a few options compared to the following shot from another instance on my server in Project Permissions mode.
As you can see, with Project Permissions mode comes a new section on Security with the familiar options from the 2010 Security section in the top left of the first screen shot – and a couple of extra options in the Personal Settings – for managing and acting as delegates. Delegation isn’t a feature that is available when you are using SharePoint Permissions. Also this shows that Personal Settings is now a subset of PWA Settings and not its own menu option. The security section isn’t applicable to SharePoint Permissions mode as all control is governed by SharePoint rather than by Project’s groups and categories. This also covers project sites too – so the User Sync section goes away too in SharePoint Permissions mode. Also note that what was called Project Sites is now covered by Connected SharePoint sites.
For Project Online that is all you get and all you need. If you read the other article on Project Server 2013 you will have realized that some of the server settings were moved to Central Administration and as in the Project Online world we administer the server then all those options are handled for you – or are not applicable to the Project Online product line.
For example the options of OLAP Database Management, Server side event handlers, Alerts and Reminders and Administrative Backup and Restore are not applicable as those features are not present in Project Online. The queue is something you can view your jobs for – but not something you can choose to change control settings for – and likewise you do not need to access the Project Workflow Settings option. For Project Site provisioning the process is more controlled with Project Online – so again this obviates the need for getting at the settings. For existing customers making the transition this last change may need some procedural changes – perhaps creating your project sites first in your location of choice and then linking to a plan – if you are used to the fine control over exactly where you sites gets created.
*** Update 3/20 - I should also clarify that you will always get a site created for a project - there is no ability to turn this off in Project Online - though of course you can always delete them afterwards ***
I’d be glad to answer any questions you may have regarding PWA Settings in Project Online or Project Server 2013.
In Project Server 2013 we have moved some of the Server Settings options that were familiar to people in Project Server 2010, and in Project Online there are other changes to these server settings due to the nature of the service offering – and the fact that you no longer have to manage the server as we do that for you. From early feedback it is clear there is still some confusion about the changes so thought I’d post some explanation. I’ll do a follow up post for Project Online so as not to get too confusing in the one post (I hope) – but here goes for Project Server 2013.
*** Update 3/19 - MVP Alex Burton did a good comparison during the preview, and a neat tool http://epmsource.com/2012/09/08/project-server-2010-2013-preview-setting-comparison/ - thanks for the reminder Alex***
And in Project Server 2013 we now have a few different places so find the same settings, and the first challenge can be that we have a stripped down menu and by default and Server Settings is gone from the left navigation. A couple of solutions to this – either use the EDIT LINKS option to make Server Settings appear on the left – or use the new navigation from the gear icon in the top right and select PWA Settings.
I say ‘may look like this’ because some of the options will depend on the permissions mode you are currently using. This is new to Project Server 2013 and is well described in the TechNet article ‘Plan user access in Project Server 2013’ at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/fp161361.aspx. In my screenshot I am in the default, SharePoint Permissions mode – so I am missing a few options compared to the following shot from another instance on my server in Project Permissions mode.
So what are we still missing? PWA Settings covers the Security, Look and Feel. and Time and Task Management sections but we are missing some options in Workflow and Project Detail Pages, Enterprise Data, Queue and Database Administration and Operational Policies.
Some of these are in the ‘other’ Server Settings page – and there a re a couple of ways to get there and I’m including both just for completeness. They both come from Central Administration and reflect the fact that these settings are not generally items that the PMO should be needing to worry about but are more for the farm administrator. The first route starts at Central Administration, General Application Settings from the left navigation.
Then click Manage under PWA Settings. The other route is via the Service Application , so you would click on Application Management from the left navigation then Manage service application under Service Applications.
Within the Manage Service Applications screen you would click on Project Server Service Application – or just select the row and click Manage
And finally in the Manage Project Web Apps page you would select the Url you wanted to manage and using the drop down menu from that line you would select Manage
The first route is the shortest – but if you already happen to be in the page above then worth knowing about this other route too. Before moving on from that page though, there is one of our missing options! Manage Queue Settings for Project Web App! This is now a farm wide setting rather than a per PWA setting – so it is found on the Manage Project Web Apps page.
This next screenshot is the PWA Settings page and the thing to note is that you are in Central Administration and you can manage settings here for ALL of your PWA sites. If you used the 2nd option through Manage PWA then the right PWA will be selected – but if you arrived via General Application Settings you will need to check and if necessary change the PWA site for which you wish to manage the settings. The place to do that is highlighted.
Here we have the other Queue and Database Administration options, with Manage Queue Jobs also available here – and the Operational Policies that were missing from the menu within PWA – and finally the Project Workflow Settings option. So I think the only things missing are Enterprise Global – and About Project Server. Enterprise Global is now managed from Project Professional 2013 – from the Info tab of the File menu – under Organizer. About Project Server does not have an equivalent option in Project Server 2013.
As mentioned I will follow up with a comparison of options to Project Online – and may also have some posting about individual options if any changes in behavior warrant it. Feel free to post any questions you have!
The February Cumulative Update that should have been released last month for Project Server 2013 and SharePoint Server 2013, was delayed due to some late breaking problems. It was decided that due to the nature of these issues the best resolution was to release the planned fixes, along with the March Public Updates on Patch Tuesday, last week. This applied to both the SharePoint and Project Server 2013 updates and all the associated technologies. This also becomes the new baseline for all future updates – so you will need to install this patch before you could install, for example, the April 2013 CU.
*** Update 4/11 - see http://blogs.technet.com/b/projectsupport/archive/2013/04/11/project-server-2013-march-public-update-problems-running-the-sharepoint-configuration-wizard.aspx for details of an issue running the configuration wizard after applying the March PU ***
The following are the packages for the client and the server. The client was released on time – just listing here again for completeness. You can read about the fixes included in the Project and Project Server February CUs from the following articles:
Project 2013 Client Package: For Project Professional 2013 and Project Standard 2013 Description of the Project 2013 hotfix package (Project-x-none.msp): February 12, 2013 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2738031 Project Server 2013 Package: Includes all updates for Project Server 2013 and SharePoint Server 2013 Description of the Project Server 2013 update: March 12, 2013 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2768001
Project 2013 Client Package: For Project Professional 2013 and Project Standard 2013
Description of the Project 2013 hotfix package (Project-x-none.msp): February 12, 2013
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2738031
Project Server 2013 Package: Includes all updates for Project Server 2013 and SharePoint Server 2013
Description of the Project Server 2013 update: March 12, 2013
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2768001
The deployment of the Server update is the same as for SharePoint 2013 and previous versions of Project Server. The SharePoint article can be found at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff806331.aspx.
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!
This is an issue that limits how many resources you can successfully open in Project Professional 2013 by selecting them in the Project Web App (PWA) Resource Center and clicking Open in the ribbon. I know a few of my readers have already hit this one – and it will happen with Project Online as well as an on-premise installation of Project Server 2013. It will also happen with any browser – but with slightly different results.
*** Update 4/19 - I should also mention another 'bug' here - that until you select at least one resource then you cannot open the resource pool in Project Professional (for example to add additional resource) - the message you will get is "Action can't be performed because Office doesn't recognize the command given" - so the only workaround is to select at least one resource then all will work. Thanks to Rob Jones for the reminder to publicize this scenario. On with the original post... ***
So for example – if you are using Internet Explorer 10 and in your Resource Center you select all your resources (and you have 520+) and then you click Open on the ribbon – nothing will happen…
If you reduce the selection to around 500 then it will work just fine, and your resources will be opened as expected in Project Professional 2013 (assuming you have it installed!). If you are using Internet Explorer 9 then the issue occurs at a lower resource count – around 120 or so (and I have seen it throw up an ‘about : blank’ page) At the time of writing I was using IE 10 Version 10.0.9200.16484, and IE 9 version 9.0.8112.16421.
The numbers are not exact, as they will depend on the length of your PWA Url, and also the specific resources selected – and the failure when we use Google Chrome gives us a clue to the limitation. The same action when using Chrome (25.0.1364.160 at the time of writing) gives this pop-up – and the Launch Application will then fail to do anything…
Firefox (at the time of writing 19.0.2) will appear to work – and you will see your resources opened in Project Professional 2013 – but only the first 510 or so. The remainder are not opened.
*** Update 3/11 - I should also point out that the other 'supported' browser, Safari, does not work at all in this scenario on the PC - even with single resource - and of course on the Mac it wouldn't be expected to work as Project Professional 2013 is not available on that platform ***
The limitation here appears to be the length of the Uri going to the protocol handler – and we get the clue from Chrome – the ms-project|u|http://brismith2013/pwa|g|…. etc. It looks like IE 9 is hitting a 512 character limit – which gets me about 119 resources in my environment – and the other browsers are limited to 2048 – around the 502 to 520 mark.
For now the only workaround is to open in groups of less than 500 (or 120 in IE9). Hopefully this isn’t too much of an inconvenience, but I do appreciate it can be useful when making a change to RBS or adding new resource level custom fields to be able to open all at once. We have a bug logged on this one – but it doesn’t feel like an easy one to resolve.
Another early common question coming in to Microsoft Project Support is around the addition of the client application Project Professional 2013 (the subscription offering is actually called Project Pro for Office 365) to a Project Online subscription. To clarify it is worth stepping back and understanding our offerings in Office 365. You can take a look at http://office.microsoft.com/project for the full story, or here for a comparison – but briefly you have the choice of:
So the middle one is really just the sum of the other two. You can of course still buy Project Professional 2013 or Project Standard 2013 the old fashioned way – rather than as a subscription.
Back to the main topic of the question – if I have bought a subscription to Project Online (and really should have bought Project Online with Project Pro for Office 365) how do I add Project Pro for Office 365?
*** Update 5/5/2013 - A correction here - the best way to add any extra subscription to your tenant is to go to the Purchase Services page https://portal.microsoftonline.com/Commerce/Catalog.aspx
which will allow you to add other services. This particular screenshot is from my P1 account - so will not list Project Online or Project Pro for Office 365. Only options that are available are offered - so if you have just purchased Project Online you will see Project Pro for Office 365 listed. If however you have an existing tenant and don't see Project Online or Project Pro for Office 365 their could be a couple of reasons. Currently, as I write this (5/5/2013) only the Enterprise and Academic service offerings at the latest release level have the option to add Project. So if either you are still on the pre-upgrade version (see http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/am-i-using-office-365-after-the-service-upgrade-HA103982331.aspx for details on how you would know) or you are not on an Enterprise or Acedmic service offering you will not be able to add Project Online or Project Pro for Office 365 to your existing tenant.
End of update - I'll leave the rest of this thread in place - but have crossed through some details where the better option is to follow the steps above. ***
The key thing here is when you get to the ‘just a few details’ page part of the sign up process – you can sign in with the account you created for your Project Online account – and then you are able to add the Project Pro for Office 365 subscription to your existing tenant created for Project Online. I am reliably informed that the cost works out the same both ways too. The same is true in reverse – if you went for Project Pro for Office 365 first.
This is also true for adding Project Online to your Office 365 Enterprise plan with SharePoint Online and/or Exchange Online – just sign in to your existing account at the sign up page to ensure you add the features to your existing tenant rather than creating a new and separate one. *** Update 5/5/2013 - please see the details above and use the link https://portal.microsoftonline.com/Commerce/Catalog.aspx from within your existing tenant ***
Please note my earlier blog posting on adding to a pre Feb 2013 Office 365 tenant – you will need to wait for the service upgrade of your site to the latest level before you will be able to add Project Online.
One of our common questions coming in to Microsoft Project Support right now is from customers wanting to add Project Online to their existing Office365 tenants, but finding that Project Online is not yet an option for them. The reason for this is that Project Online is part of the latest release announced on February 27th 2013 - http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/Press/2013/Feb13/02-27OfficeCommercialGAPR.aspx and as such requires the same underlying SharePoint platform as that release. For existing customers who were running Office365 before this latest release you will unfortunately need to wait for the upgrade of your current tenant before you are able to add Project Online. Details of the upgrade process can be found at the following links:
I know many of you are eager to get up and running with Project Online and certainly we thank you for your enthusiasm and excitement around our new product – but you will need to be patient if you want it within the same tenant (and you probably do!). You should receive e-mail 2 to 3 weeks before your upgrade is due. In the meantime there is plenty of good content on TechNet to get thinking and planning for Project Online, as well as the Office site here and here. Be aware though that as I write this the trial options are over-subscribed so may not be available via some of the inviting links on TechNet and other Microsoft sites.