Installing and Configuring Office Web Apps Server for SharePoint 2013 Farm

Having read about the improvements in browser-based file viewing and editing services for Office files by using Office Web Apps Server, particularly for SharePoint 2013 Farm, I have decided to set it up and configure in my own test environment.  Office Web Apps 2013 now requires dedicated server(s), either physical or virtual, where we can set up an Office Web Apps Server farm with load balancing and scale-out capability in addition to high availability, to provide the services to multiple on-premises hosts.

I already set up and configured my SharePoint 2013 virtual machine (running on Windows Server 2012) on my Windows 8 laptop.  I got a domain controller, named corp.com set up in the virtual machine.  So the next step for me is to set up a new virtual machine to run the Office Web Apps 2013.  Below are the steps that I performed (for HTTP connection to Office Web Apps Server):

• Create a new virtual machine, including a new virtual hard disk using the Hyper-V Manager. 
• Create Internal Network Virtual Switch on the Hyper-V Manager and configure the new virtual machine to use it so that the new virtual machine can talk with my existing SharePoint 2013 virtual machine.  Similarly I need to configure my SharePoint 2013 virtual machine to use this Internal Network Virtual Switch as well.
• Install Windows Server 2012 and configure its Network Settings (IPv4) to be in the same network segment as my SharePoint 2013 virtual machine.
• Rename my new virtual machine's computer name to "owa" and join it to the "corp.com" domain.
• Open the Windows PowerShell prompt as an administrator and run the following commands to install the required roles and services.  Restart the virtual machine once completed:

Add-WindowsFeature Web-Server,Web-Mgmt-Tools,Web-Mgmt-Console,Web-WebServer,Web-Common-Http,Web-Default-Doc,Web-Static-Content,Web-Performance,Web-Stat-Compression,Web-Dyn-Compression,Web-Security,Web-Filtering,Web-Windows-Auth,Web-App-Dev,Web-Net-Ext45,Web-Asp-Net45,Web-ISAPI-Ext,Web-ISAPI-Filter,Web-Includes,InkandHandwritingServices

Programming in HTML5 with JavaScript and CSS3 - Free Microsoft Exam Voucher

This is not related to SharePoint, but I am always keen on catching up my coding skills with the latest technologies since caught up with .NET in year 2000.  Recently, I passed a new Microsoft exam: 70-480 Programming in HTML 5 with JavaScript and CSS3.  From what I learnt, HTML5 with JavaScript and CSS3 is a promising web technology with impressive features and is becoming a de-facto standard in web application development world. 

Though I don't have to write code for my job anymore, playing around with new tools and technologies is my great interest. Last year, I also explored and worked on my personal mobile web application project using ASP .NET MVC 4 mobile application template and jQuery Mobile framework.  I can say that these emerging technologies are all fantastic and greatly recommended. 

There is a free HTML5 exam voucher offered by Microsoft in case you haven’t heard of it and interested to be certified as well.  You can go to this link to get the free voucher: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/html5-offer.aspx. Not sure when it will expire though. You can also take the free online course Developing in HTML5 with JavaScript and CSS3 Jump Start for your exam preparation http://channel9.msdn.com/Series/Developing-HTML-5-Apps-Jump-Start To motivate you further, click and read this http://readwrite.com/2013/01/30/top-7-in-demand-tech-skills-for-2013   All the best..

Setting Up SMS Alert on SharePoint 2010 Lists/Libraries

For the past week, I have been working on an enterpise microblogging POC for a customer in Australia, running on Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 platform.  It's an interesting POC and one of the key requirements implemented was the capability on sending SMS alerts for changes in SharePoint lists/libraries that interest the users.

We found an SMS provider that offers a trial account which enables us to send SMS from our  SharePoint by calling their Web Services. It is Red Oxygen global SMS gateway (30 days trial)

Below are the steps in setting up and configuring the SMS alert:

• Obtain the root certificate for the SMS service provider's HTTPS Web address, which is https://www.redoxygen.net/oms/service.asmx.  Open the URL using your browser and find out its SSL certificate.  The certificate is issued by Go Daddy Secure Certification Authority.

MCPD on SharePoint Developer 2010 Certified

I have passed Exam 70-573: TS: Microsoft SharePoint 2010, Application Development early this month, following the previous three SharePoint 2010 beta exams I passed on mid last year.  This entitled me for MCPD on SharePoint Developer 2010 credential. 

Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 encountered an error during setup. One or more required office components failed to complete successfully.

I encountered this error today after trying to reinstall SharePoint 2010 on my Windows 7 Enterprise 64 bit machine.  It failed near the end of the binary installation.  From the log file, I found that the “One or more required office components” failed during the setup was the installation of the SQL Server Express database for SharePoint.  And the root cause of the problem was in the Windows Registry, which is HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\PendingFileRenameOperations. 

SharePoint 2010 Certified!

Praise the Lord!

Last weekend I got some pleasant news from Microsoft Certification Program Team.  I passed two  Microsoft SharePoint 2010 beta exams taken on last May 25, which are Exam 70-667 TS: Microsoft SharePoint 2010, Configuring and Exam 70-668 PRO: Microsoft SharePoint 2010, Administrator.  This entitles me for both MCTS - SharePoint 2010, Configuration and MCITP - SharePoint Administrator 2010 credentials.

On top of that, I also passed Exam 70-576 PRO: Designing and Developing Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Applications beta exam on June 9, counted toward MCPD: SharePoint Developer 2010 credential. One more exam to go is Exam 70-573 TS: Microsoft SharePoint 2010, Application Development

I am very glad to be again among the very first group of people worldwide achieving this credential.  It's similiar to my SharePoint 2007 and .NET certification achievements many years back.

AvePoint Content Shield: A Superior Content Filtering Solution for SharePoint 2007

One of the requirements that we have to deliver for our client is to implement a content filtering solution for our SharePoint 2007 farm with the following core capabilities:

• The solution can perform real time scanning of all content prior to upload for instance(s) of forbidden keyword/phrases and file types, and can block or replace the violating content accordingly
• The solution can perform scheduled scanning of existing content which have been uploaded to the sites for instance(s) of forbidden keyword/phrases and file types, and can remove the violating content accordingly
• Each site collection can has its own filtering dictionary, containing the list of  forbidden keyword/phrases and file types, and its own filtering profile, containing the list of actions to be taken for violating content based on scanning type, such as block, delete, remove content with error message, send email to content creator or modifier, etc.  This is actually the main requirement since each site collection can be owned by different agencies and each agency has its own content policy.  For example, some agencies might allow .avi content in their sites, while other agencies might prohibit them
• The content filtering can be performed on lists, list attachments, and document libraries for items where their iFilters are installed, including zipped items
• The solution provides audit trails for all the actions taken, such as block, delete, etc.
• The solution user interface is integrated with SharePoint Central Administration