SharePoint Business

How to delete contents of Windows.Old folder easily using a script ?

jkadeesh — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:42:00 GMT

Consider this scenario: You re-install or upgrade Vista / Windows 2008 / Windows 7 in a system. That may result the creation of "Windows.old" folder. You may try to delete that folder and its contents ; that may not work as expected - you may get multiple...(read more)

How-to: SPSReport

jkadeesh — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 19:08:00 GMT

This post is intended for: - People who haven't yet had a chance to use SPSReport to gather SharePoint speicific information - People who wanted to know some details about SPSReport before running it in their environment What is SPSReport? It is a Microsoft...(read more)

Technical Libraries for SharePoint 2007

jkadeesh — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 12:23:00 GMT

I thought to share the following information with you, Folks! Updated version of Technical Libraries for Microsoft Search Server 2008, MOSS 2007 and WSS 3.0 are available - These libraries include TechNet content for MSS 2008/ MOSS 2007 / WSS 3.0 as of...(read more)

Do you get the error: "The expected version of the product was not found on the system" when installing a SharePoint Update?

jkadeesh — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 20:48:00 GMT

Issue Details Consider this scenario: You try to install a cumulative update [CU] for SharePoint 2007 or WSS 3.0. During the beginning of the installation of the update, you may get this error: "The expected version of the product was not found on the...(read more)

Do you get the error: "You must provision the system with at least one system administrator" while installing SQL 2008 through command line?

jkadeesh — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 19:35:00 GMT

Issue Details While installing SQL 2008 through command line, you may get this as the part of the error: "You must provision the system with at least one system administrator" I tried to find out the possible cause, but did not find any. Also I looked...(read more)

How to fix the error: "The language of this installation package is not supported by your system" during Office Products installation?

jkadeesh — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:55:00 GMT

Issue Details Consider you try to install Office 2007 applications [like Office 2007 Standard / Professional / Enterprise / SharePoint Designer / OneNote 2007 / Windows SharePoint Services / Language Packs of WSS or of Office 2007 or of MOSS 2007 (i.e....(read more)

How to export Crawl Logs in SharePoint 2007 ?

jkadeesh — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 02:33:00 GMT

Do you want to gather Crawl logs for documentation or troubleshooting in SharePoint 2007? With ExportCrawlLog utility from CodePlex, you can achieve that requirement. Here are the simplified steps for you: - Download the .zip archive from http://www.codeplex.com/ExportCrawlLog...(read more)

Do you get this error: "Could not find stored procedure 'dbo.proc_getObjectsByClass' " while running SharePoint configuration wizard?

jkadeesh — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 16:41:00 GMT

Recently I worked on a SharePoint issue and wanted to share with you the details:

Issue Details:

You install a hotfix / cumulative update / service pack to WSS 3.0 or SharePoint Server 2007 environment. After the installation, you run 'SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard' (psconfigui or psconfig wizard). Then you may get the following errors / entries:

> When running the PSCONFIG wizard, it may fail at step 2 with the following error:

Configuration Failed

One or more configuration settings failed. Completed configuration settings will not be rolled back. Resolve the problem and run this configuration wizard again. The following contains detailed information about the failure:

Failed to create the configuration database.

An exception of type System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException was thrown. Additional exception information: Could not find stored procedure
'dbo.proc_getObjectsByClass'.

To diagnose the problem, review the application event log and the configuration log file located at:

<File Path> [like C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\12\LOGS\PSCDiagnostics*.log]

> You may also find the following event log entries in the Application Event log:

Event Type: Error
Event Source: Windows SharePoint Services 3
Event Category: Database
Event ID: 5586

Description:
Unknown SQL Exception 2812 occured. Additional error information from SQL Server is included below.

Could not find stored procedure 'dbo.proc_getObjectsByClass'. For more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

Event Type: Error
Event Source: SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard
Event Category: None
Event ID: 104

Description:
Failed to create the configuration database.An exception of type System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException was thrown. Additional exception information: Could not find stored procedure 'dbo.proc_getObjectsByClass'. System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException: Could not find stored procedure 'dbo.proc_getObjectsByClass'. at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection.OnError(SqlException exception, Boolean breakConnection)
at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlInternalConnection.OnError(SqlException exception, Boolean breakConnection)
at System.Data.SqlClient.TdsParser.ThrowExceptionAndWarning(TdsParserStateObject stateObj)
at System.Data.SqlClient.TdsParser.Run(RunBehavior runBehavior, SqlCommand cmdHandler, SqlDataReader dataStream, BulkCopySimpleResultSet bulkCopyHandler, TdsParserStateObject stateObj)
at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlDataReader.ConsumeMetaData()
at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlDataReader.get_MetaData()
at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand.FinishExecuteReader(SqlDataReader ds, RunBehavior runBehavior, String resetOptionsString)
at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand.RunExecuteReaderTds(CommandBehavior cmdBehavior, RunBehavior runBehavior, Boolean returnStream, Boolean async)
at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand.RunExecuteReader(CommandBehavior cmdBehavior, RunBehavior runBehavior, Boolean returnStream, String method, DbAsyncResult result)
at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand.RunExecuteReader(CommandBehavior cmdBehavior, RunBehavior runBehavior, Boolean returnStream, String method)
at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand.ExecuteReader(CommandBehavior behavior, String method)
at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand.ExecuteReader(CommandBehavior behavior)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Utilities.SqlSession.ExecuteReader(SqlCommand command, CommandBehavior behavior)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPConfigurationDatabase.FetchId(QualifiedObjectName qName)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPConfigurationDatabase.GetObject(String name, Guid parentId, Type type)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPConfigurationDatabase.Initialize(SqlConnectionStringBuilder connectionString, Boolean enableCaching)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPConfigurationDatabase.RegisterDefaultDatabaseServices(SqlConnectionStringBuilder connectionString)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPConfigurationDatabase.Provision(SqlConnectionStringBuilder connectionString)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPFarm.Create(SqlConnectionStringBuilder configurationDatabase, SqlConnectionStringBuilder administrationContentDatabase, IdentityType identityType, String farmUser, SecureString farmPassword)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.PostSetupConfiguration.ConfigurationDatabaseTask.CreateOrConnectConfigDb()
at Microsoft.SharePoint.PostSetupConfiguration.ConfigurationDatabaseTask.Run()
at Microsoft.SharePoint.PostSetupConfiguration.TaskThread.ExecuteTask() For
more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

Event Type: Error
Event Source: SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard
Event Category: None
Event ID: 100

Description:
Configuration of SharePoint Products and Technologies failed. Configuration must be performed in order for this product to operate properly. To diagnose the problem, review the extended error information located at C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\12\LOGS\PSCDiagnostics_filename.log, fix the problem, and run this configuration wizard again. For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

NOTE: In order to resolve the issue, if you restoring the configuration database from backup, that will certainly show multiple stored procedures in that DB; but running PSCONFIG again will result the deletion of most of the stored procedures and you may get ONLY 2 store procedures in the DB as well as the similar error message]

Environment:

Windows Server 2003 SP1 or later
Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 RTM / SP1 or later
SharePoint Server 2007 SP1 or later

What are the causes?

[Possible] Cause 1:

If WSS 3.0 installation is done a part of Small Business Server 3.0 AND if WSUS 3.0 is installed prior to the installation of WSS, above said issue may occur.

Cause 2:
The issue may happen even if we do not have SBS or WSUS installed on the machines - The actual cause of the issue is unknown at this time.

How to resolve this issue?

For Cause 1, install the following hotfix:

934790 Description of the Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 hotfix package: April 12, 2007

Note that this hotfix is available in the 2007 Microsoft Office servers Service Pack 1 - More information is here:
942390 Description of the SharePoint Server 2007 issues that are fixed by the 2007 Microsoft Office servers Service Pack 1

How to workaround the issue?

For Cause 2, there are two workarounds available:

Workaround 1:

Go for a new configuration database for the SharePoint farm.

[You may want to go for this option IF:

- the amount of customizations applied to the farm are less.
- Farm has single machine or minimum number of machines.]

Amount of time and the amount of reconfiguration of the environment can determine the possiblity to select this option. As this involves reconfiguration, all the customizations to the SharePoint environment should be taken care.

Workaround 2

1. Disconnect all the SharePoint servers from the farm by running this command from Start > Run:

"%commonprogramfiles%\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\12\bin\psconfig" -cmd configdb -disconnect

2. Uninstall SharePoint / WSS from the machine.

[Important Note: If Project Server is installed on the box, you have to uninstall that product also - otherwise MOSS / WSS components cannot be uninstalled completely IF Infrastructure update [IU] is installed on the box(es).

3. Restore the configuration database from backup. Then run the following query against the config db and determine the database schema version [which should be something like 12.0.0.xxxx]

select * from versions

Reference: http://blogs.msdn.com/shaden/archive/2009/01/21/december-cumulative-update-database-schema-version.aspx

Note: Direct querying of the configuration database is NOT supported - go for this step at your own risk if you do not have any documented information about the SharePoint farm [It is always important to keep updated, detailed documentation about your IT environment especially when you handle with technical issues]. If you are unsure about the steps to be followed, kindly contact Microsoft Support for further assistance.

4. After a system restart, reinstall WSS / MOSS . Install necessary hotfixes / service pack(s) or cumulative updates to bring the server build level similar to the database schema level.

For example, if the above said query returns 12.0.0.6219 as the higher value for DB schema level, the build level of SharePoint should be at the same level [for which it should be installed with SP1 for MOSS/WSS ].

5. Run PSCONFIG wizard and select the option "Yes, I want to connect to an existing server farm"

6. Repeat the steps 2, 4 & 5 for each server in the farm.

7. Install necessary custom applications, if needed [sometimes, the custom applications write files into SharePoint installation folders - since we uninstall SharePoint, that folders will be deleted. Due to that reason, we may need to reinstall those applications again].

Happy Computing! - Jagadeesh .P

How to deal with an error in configuring 'Incoming E-mail settings'?

jkadeesh — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 16:09:00 GMT

Let me start with my first technical post about Email enabled Lists or Email enabled Document Libraries:

Symptoms:

Consider one fine day you decide to use e-mail enabled lists in SharePoint 2007. Then you configure "Incoming E-mail Settings" in the Central Administration Page [related information is here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc288433.aspx]. You select 'Yes' for the option 'Use the SharePoint Directory Management Service to create distribution groups and contacts?' and provide necessary information like Organization Unit (OU) and Domain Controller (DC).

After completing the configuration, you start to configure a document library or a list to make it to accept incoming e-mails. Once you click OK button for that page, you may receive the following in the web page:

Error

Error in the application

You check application event log and you may not see any specific entry for this error.

Then you look into the SharePoint ULS log and you may find this entry:

Application error when access /_layouts/EmailSettings.aspx, Error=Error in the application.
at Microsoft.SharePoint.SPList.UpdateDirectoryManagementService(String oldAlias, String newAlias)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.SPList.Update(Boolean bFromMigration)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.SPList.Update()
at Microsoft.SharePoint.ApplicationPages.EmailSettingsPage.SubmitButton_Click(Object sender, EventArgs args)
at System.Web.UI.WebControls.Button.OnClick(EventArgs e)
at System.Web.UI.WebControls.Button.RaisePostBackEvent(String eventArgument)
at System.Web.UI.Page.RaisePostBackEvent(IPostBackEventHandler sourceControl, String eventArgument)
at System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequestMain(Boolean includeStagesBeforeAsyncPoint, Boolean includeStagesAfterAsyncPoint)

If you disable custom errors for the associated web application in its web.config file, you may get the web page with this information:

Error in the application. at Microsoft.SharePoint.SPList.UpdateDirectoryManagementService(String oldAlias, String newAlias)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.SPList.Update(Boolean bFromMigration)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.SPList.Update()
at Microsoft.SharePoint.ApplicationPages.EmailSettingsPage.SubmitButton_Click(Object sender, EventArgs args)
at System.Web.UI.WebControls.Button.OnClick(EventArgs e)
at System.Web.UI.WebControls.Button.RaisePostBackEvent(String eventArgument)
at System.Web.UI.Page.RaisePostBackEvent(IPostBackEventHandler sourceControl, String eventArgument)
at System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequestMain(Boolean includeStagesBeforeAsyncPoint, Boolean includeStagesAfterAsyncPoint)

NOTE: Sometimes this issue may occur when you try to disable Incoming e-mail settings option for a document library or a list. To resolve the issue at that times, follow "For Situation 3:" in the section "How to resolve these situations?".

Why do we get this erro?

Situation 1. Application pool account that is used for the Central administration may be different from that of the web application on which you configure incoming e-mail settings.

This situation may also happen:

- if you had both Central admin and Web application service in a server

- and you moved the Central admin to a different server after some time.

In this situation, you may have two different application pool accounts for the Central admin. and for the web app (obviously in different machines). Let us say the boxes as:

Box A = Central admin. = AppPoolAccount-X
Box B = Web application = AppPoolAccount-Y

Situation 2. Your active directory may not have these attributes in it:

ms-Exch-mail-Nickname and
ms-Exch-RequireAuthToSendTo

Situation 3. The application pool account that is used for the Central admin. may not have necessary permissions in the Active Directory to create or delete objects.

How to resolve these situations?

For Situation 1:

Method 1: If Central admin and the related web application are in the same server:

Change the application pool account to be the same for both Central admin. site and the web application.

Method 2: If Central admin. is in a different server:

1. Enable the "Windows SharePoint Services Web Application" service via the "Services on Server" on the box running the Central Admin service.

2. Create a new dummy application pool on the Box A running Central Admin and set it to run using AppPoolAccount-Y. Note that this application pool does not need to be associated with any virtual server in IIS.

For Situation 2:

This situation normally occurs if Exchange 2003/2007 is not installed [properly] in the DC.

So, how to verify whether the required attributes are available?

- Logon Domain Controller. Install Windows support tools from SUPPORT\TOOLS folder of Windows installation CD.

- Click "Start" >"Run"; type "adsiedit.msc" (without quotes).

- Expand Node Schema and click "CN=Schema, CN=Configuration,DC=Name-of-DC,DC=com".

- Search if you can find two attributes "CN= ms-Exch-mail-Nickname" and "CN= ms-Exch-RequireAuthToSendTo".

If the attributes are not available, running the setup of Exchange with setup/forestprep will automatically register the required two attributes in the active directory.

For Situation 3:

To be able to enable an email enabled list when using the "Directory Management Service" in WSS/MOSS 2007, the application pool account used for the Central admin. should have delegated Full Control of the OU that is to be used for creating contacts for SharePoint in the Active Directory.

To delegate Full Control for the application pool account, follow these steps:

1. In 'Active Directory Users and Computers', right click on the required OU and select "Delegate Control".
2. Click Next and then click Add.
2. Enter the account name that is used as the app. pool account the Central Admin site and then select OK.
3. Select Next;then select the "Create a custom task to delegate" radio button. Select Next.
4. Select "This folder, existing objects in this folder, and creation of new objects in this folder" radio button if required. Select Next.
5. In the Permissions section, select these permissions:

"Create all Child Objects" and

"Delete all Child Objects"

6. Click Next and then click Finish.

With the above setting you may be able to enable email on a list but you will fail when attempting to disable it. Then, what are we missing here?

The failure is due to the fact that we are attempting to delete the contact from the OU. To resolve the failure when disabling the email you will need to add one additional right to the admin account

Now let us see how to set the security options for the OU:

1. In Active Directory Users and Computers, select View menu and select "Advanced Features" if it is not selected.
2. Right click on the required OU and select Properties.
3. Select the Security tab and then select the Advanced button.
4. From the Permission Entries section, double-click on the application pool account that you delegated rights as mentioned above.
5. Select the option "Delete Subtree" that is listed under Permissions.
6. Click OK twice; then restart IIS on the SharePoint box.

Thanks for visiting my blog! - Jagadeesh. P

Welcome To JK's SharePoint Business Blog!

jkadeesh — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 13:07:00 GMT

Hello Folks,

Warm Welcome to my first blog post!

I am Jagadeesh [aka JK or Jags] and I'm a SharePoint Support Engineer working with Microsoft. I was also supported Office Biz. apps. like PowerPoint, Publisher, Producer, Word and Visio during my career in Microsoft.

Here comes Goals of this blog:

To share with you SharePoint / Office Biz apps. related information which includes

Common/Known issues
Tips and tricks
News, links and references
Screenshots / demos & Howto's

Disclaimer:

This blog DOES NOT provide any technical support. If you need help with a problem involving any Microsoft product.
There is NO guaranteed response to comments on this blog.

Just FYI - For product specific support, you may want to go with one or more of the following options:

Check Online Help of your product [mostly by pressing the F1 key].
Checkout the self-help options on http://support.microsoft.com.
Search Microsoft Technical Communities
Call 800-MICROSOFT for phone based assistance
Or go online to http://support.microsoft.com/oas and choose the application for which you are having a problem to submit a support request online.

Do you have suggestions & feedback about the posts of this blog? Feel free and share them.

Do you want to discuss on any topics related to SharePoint or above said Office apps? I'd love to hear them!

[Advance] Thanks for visiting this blog!

Jagadeesh .P