David Lim's SharePoint Blog

Setting Up SMS Alert on SharePoint 2010 Lists/Libraries

2011-02-23T16:52:00.001+08:00

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.
Open the certificate store in your machine using MMC Certificate snap-in and export the Go Daddy issued certificate into a .cer file.

Open a Command Prompt window.
Type mmc and press the ENTER key. Note that to view certificates in the local machine store, you must be in the Administrator role.
On the File menu, click Add/Remove Snap In.
Click Add.
In the Add Standalone Snap-in dialog box, select Certificates.
Click Add.
In the Certificates snap-in dialog box, select Computer account and click Next.
In the Select Computer dialog box, select Local Computer and click Finish.
Click OK.
In the Console Root window, click Certificates (Local Computer) to view the certificate stores for the computer.
Click Trusted Root Certification Authorities and click Certificates
Fromt the certificate list, find certificate issued by Go Daddy Class 2 Certification Authority
Right click on it, choose All Tasks, and then Export
Click Next two times
In File to Export, fill-in the path and the file name (i.e. c:\godaddy.cer)
Click Next and click Finish

Import the root certificate and create a trusted root authority by using Windows PowerShell

On the Start menu, click All Programs.
Click Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Products.
Right click SharePoint 2010 Management Shell and Run as Administrator
Get the root certificate by typing in:

$cert = Get-PfxCertificate c:\godaddy.cer

Create a trusted root authority by typing in:

New-SPTrustedRootAuthority -Name GoDaddy -Certificate $cert

Configure the mobile account for a server farm by using Central Administration

On the Central Administration Home page, click System Settings.
On the System Settings page, in the E-Mail and Text Messages (SMS) section, click Configure mobile account.
On the Mobile Account Settings page, in the Text Message (SMS) Service Settings section

The URL of Text Message (SMS) Service: https://www.redoxygen.net/oms/service.asmx
User name: [your trial account user name]
Password: [your trial account password]

To confirm that the URL and user credentials are correct, click Test Service.
Click OK.

That's it! Your SMS alert service is up and running. To test, go to a document library and create an Alert Me setting for the changes in the library (Notes: Alert Me button will not be shown up in the Ribbon of the library if the outgoing email settings have not been configured). Upload a new file into the library, wait for a few minutes, and finger cross ... you will receive the SMS alert in your mobile/smart phone.

MCPD on SharePoint Developer 2010 Certified

2011-02-23T15:01:00.000+08:00

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.

2010-08-02T17:05:00.002+08:00

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.

In my machine, this key contains the following values:
\??\C:\Windows\system32\spool\DRIVERS\x64\3\New\PCLXL.GPD
\??\C:\Windows\system32\spool\DRIVERS\x64\3\PCLXL.GPD
\??\C:\Windows\system32\spool\DRIVERS\x64\3\New\PJL.GPD
\??\C:\Windows\system32\spool\DRIVERS\x64\3\PJL.GPD
\??\C:\Windows\system32\spool\DRIVERS\x64\3\New\hpcdmc64.dll
\??\C:\Windows\system32\spool\DRIVERS\x64\3\hpcdmc64.dll
\??\C:\Windows\system32\spool\DRIVERS\x64\3\New\hpbcfgre.DLL
\??\C:\Windows\system32\spool\DRIVERS\x64\3\hpbcfgre.DLL
\??\C:\Windows\system32\spool\DRIVERS\x64\3\New\hpmpm081.dll
\??\C:\Windows\system32\spool\DRIVERS\x64\3\hpmpm081.dll
\??\C:\Windows\system32\spool\DRIVERS\x64\3\New\hpmpw081.dll
\??\C:\Windows\system32\spool\DRIVERS\x64\3\hpmpw081.dll
\??\C:\Windows\system32\spool\DRIVERS\x64\3\New\hpcsat20.dll
\??\C:\Windows\system32\spool\DRIVERS\x64\3\hpcsat20.dll
\??\C:\Windows\system32\spool\DRIVERS\x64\3\New\FxCompChannel_x64.dll
\??\C:\Windows\system32\spool\DRIVERS\x64\3\FxCompChannel_x64.dll
\??\C:\Windows\system32\spool\DRIVERS\x64\3\New\cioum.dll
\??\C:\Windows\system32\spool\DRIVERS\x64\3\cioum.dll
\??\C:\Windows\system32\spool\DRIVERS\x64\3\New\cioum64.msi
\??\C:\Windows\system32\spool\DRIVERS\x64\3\cioum64.msi
\??\C:\Windows\system32\spool\DRIVERS\x64\3\New\hppdcompio.dll
\??\C:\Windows\system32\spool\DRIVERS\x64\3\hppdcompio.dll
\??\C:\Windows\system32\spool\DRIVERS\x64\3\New\HPJobCaps.dll
\??\C:\Windows\system32\spool\DRIVERS\x64\3\HPJobCaps.dll
\??\C:\Windows\system32\spool\DRIVERS\x64\3\New\hpfxcomw.dll
\??\C:\Windows\system32\spool\DRIVERS\x64\3\hpfxcomw.dll
\??\C:\Config.Msi\1daf14.rbf
\??\C:\Config.Msi\1daf16.rbf
\??\C:\Config.Msi\1daf18.rbf
\??\C:\Config.Msi\f21b89.rbf

The SQL Server Express install must check the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\PendingFileRenameOperations value and throw the restart required error when there is a value in this key. To solve this issue and get SharePoint 2010 binary successfully installed is by removing the values in this key and then rerunning the SharePoint Server 2010 setup file. There is no need to restart the machine after changing the registry value.

Notes: Please backup your registry key first before removing the value.

SharePoint 2010 Certified!

2010-07-12T16:06:00.002+08:00

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

2010-07-06T15:51:00.004+08:00

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

SharePoint 2007 does have some sort of content filtering capability. However, it can only filter the content based on the forbidden file types. We can go to Central Administation - Operations tab and then click Blocked File Types link under Security Configuration to define the list of forbidden file types for each web application. But there is no capability and setting to filter the content based on forbidden keyword/phrases. Moreover, we also cannot apply the file type based content filtering at a specific site collection. The granularity is at web application level, which means the filtering policy will be the same for all site collections under the web application.

Another possible solution is Microsoft Forefront Security for SharePoint, which provides both file type and keyword/phrases based content filtering. However, the filtering policy also cannot be applied at the site collection level. The granularity is at web application level.

After some researches, we finally found a suitable content filtering solution from AvePoint, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner. The AvePoint Content Shield perfectly meets our requirements. They do have the capability the perform real time and scheduled scanning of all content based on both keyword/phrases and file types. Each type of scanning has its own actions that can be chosen for its filtering profile. For example, for real time scanning you might want to block or remove the content with error message for violating contents, while for scheduled scanning you might just want to delete the violating contents. The filtering dictionary and profile are configurable and the most important thing is it can be applied at a site collection level. Hence, different site collections can have their own filtering policy. From the user interface perspective, it is nicely integrated with Central Admin where we can also see the audit trails for the scanning and filtering activities there.

Below is the screen for AvePoint Content Shield administration in Central Administration:

Below is the screen where we can define content dictionary (keyword/phrases) that can be applied at different site collections later on:

Below is the screen where we can define file type dictionary that can be applied at different site collections later on:

Below is the screen where we can define our own filtering profiles that can be applied at different site collections later on:

Replica is inconsistent error in Data Protection Manager 2007

2010-07-01T16:44:00.001+08:00

I encountered this replica is inconsistent error for protection status of SharePoint Farm Configuration Database under Protection tab inside DPM 2007 Administrator Console. The suggestion given by DPM admin console to solve the error is by performing consistency check on the farm configuration database. However after running the consistency check for several times, it didn't fix the error and consequently all protection activities, like recovery point creation for the SharePoint farm also failed.

After some troubleshooting, I found out that the root cause of this issue was due to the addition of a new content database to store a new site collection in the SharePoint farm. This made the replica of the data source (content databases) are inconsistent with the data source (content databases) on the protected farm.

To solve this issue, I need to modify the protection group, containing the error, by re-running the wizard (right click the protection group under Protection tab and choose Modify protection group). Then just clicked the Next button and finally the Update Group button to complete the process.

Tips: In the first screen of the Modify protection group wizard (Select Group Members), you have to expand the SharePoint server node under Available members until its farm configuration database node is displayed before clicking the Next button. Without doing this, the Modify protection group wizard will not be able to fix the inconsistent replica issue for the farm configuration database. This is the most tricky part.

Failed to create the configuration database - User cannot be found

2010-06-24T10:30:00.001+08:00

I got the above error message when running the SharePoint 2010 Products Configuration Wizard after installing the binaries on my Windows 7 64-bit machine. Then from the event log, it was Event ID 104 as below:

Failed to create the configuration database.

An exception of type Microsoft.SharePoint.SPException was thrown. Additional exception information: User cannot be found.
Microsoft.SharePoint.SPException: User cannot be found.
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPSiteCollection.Add(SPContentDatabase database, SPSiteSubscription siteSubscription, String siteUrl, String title, String description, UInt32 nLCID, String webTemplate, String ownerLogin, String ownerName, String ownerEmail, String secondaryContactLogin, String secondaryContactName, String secondaryContactEmail, String quotaTemplate, String sscRootWebUrl, Boolean useHostHeaderAsSiteName)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPSiteCollection.Add(SPSiteSubscription siteSubscription, String siteUrl, String title, String description, UInt32 nLCID, String webTemplate, String ownerLogin, String ownerName, String ownerEmail, String secondaryContactLogin, String secondaryContactName, String secondaryContactEmail, Boolean useHostHeaderAsSiteName)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPAdministrationWebApplication.CreateDefaultInstance(SqlConnectionStringBuilder administrationContentDatabase, SPWebService adminService, IdentityType identityType, String farmUser, SecureString farmPassword)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPFarm.CreateAdministrationWebService(SqlConnectionStringBuilder administrationContentDatabase, IdentityType identityType, String farmUser, SecureString farmPassword)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPFarm.CreateBasicServices(SqlConnectionStringBuilder administrationContentDatabase, IdentityType identityType, String farmUser, SecureString farmPassword)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPFarm.Create(SqlConnectionStringBuilder configurationDatabase, SqlConnectionStringBuilder administrationContentDatabase, IdentityType identityType, String farmUser, SecureString farmPassword, SecureString masterPassphrase)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.PostSetupConfiguration.ConfigurationDatabaseTask.CreateOrConnectConfigDb()
at Microsoft.SharePoint.PostSetupConfiguration.ConfigurationDatabaseTask.Run()
at Microsoft.SharePoint.PostSetupConfiguration.TaskThread.ExecuteTask()

Since my machine has been joined to my company domain and at the time of running the Configuration Wizard I was not connected to my corporate network, the wizard could not contact the domain controller.

The solution to solve this issue is by connecting to my corporate network via VPN using my home internet connection or just by plugging in the corporate network cable when you are back to the office.

Running Windows Server 2008 R2 on Windows 7 with Boot to VHD

2010-04-28T20:53:00.002+08:00

With the MSDN release of SharePoint 2010 RTM, I am very excited to start installing it on my notebook, running on Windows 7 64 bit with 4GB RAM. Then there were two options that I considered. First option was to install SharePoint 2010 directly on my Windows 7 64 bit notebook and the second option was to install it on my Windows Server 2008 R2 VHD, and then use the boot to VHD feature of Windows 7. Both options seems good. However for portability reason I chose the second option. With the second option it would be very easy and quick if I need to change my notebook and it has minimal performance impact. Microsoft estimates that Windows Server 2008 bR2 take a performance hit of only about 2% when running from a VHD. Furthermore I can also play around with all of the Windows Server 2008 features, such Active Directory.

Below are the steps that I took in order to finally have it set up and run:
1. Download Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK) for Windows 7 with 1,66 GB size
2. Unpack the KB3AIK_EN.iso file
3. Install the AIK by running StartCD.exe
4. In the Welcome screen, click Windows AIK Setup and follow the installation steps

5. Download and install Windows(R) Image to Virtual Hard Disk (WIM2VHD) Converter
6. Mount Windows Server 2008 R2.iso to a Virtual DVD drive using Virtual Clone Drive or other image mount tools
7. Open Command Prompt with Run as Administrator
8. Run the script to create the VHD by executing below command
CSCRIPT WIM2VHD.WSF /WIM:D:\sources\install.wim /SKU:SERVERSTANDARD /VHD:C:\VHD\WindowsServer2008R2.vhd
9. Make sure there are no errors

10. Set up Windows 7 boot menu to boot to the VHD by executing below commands

bcdedit /copy {current} /d "Windows Server 2008 R2 VHD"

This will return a GUID. Select it using the Mark command by right-clicking in the Command Prompt and copy it to the clipboard. Using that {guid}, execute these commands one by one:

bcdedit /set {guid} device vhd=[C:]\VHD\WindowsServer2008R2.vhd
bcdedit /set {guid} osdevice vhd=[C:]\VHD\WindowsServer2008R2.vhd
bcdedit /set {guid} detecthal on

11. Reboot the machine

Notes:
Run bcdedit /enum to list the available boot options, including their guids
Run bcdedit /delete {guid} to remove the particular boot option

Deploying Data Protection Manager 2007 (DPM) for SharePoint 2007 Protection and Recovery

2010-04-26T14:06:00.002+08:00

In order to meet our Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO) goals, we have decided to deploy and use Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 (DPM) for our SharePoint farm, rather than using third party tools or manual content database restore approach which needs a longer restore time. From that experiences, below is the summary of steps that we have performed in order to set it up for protecting our farm, which consists of web front-end, index, and database servers.

1. Service account preparation
- DPM administrator service account, which has local administrator privilege on the DPM Server
- DPM agent service account, which has local administrator privilege on the machines to be protected, which are the web front-end, index, and database servers
- SQL server service account

2. Machine preparation
- 1 server machine for DPM installation, including its database (DPM server)
- 1 server machine (or can be a virtual one and put in the same machine as DPM server) for SharePoint recovery farm

3. DPM server installation
a. Install Windows Server 2008 R2
b. Add the Application Server and Web Server (IIS) roles (on the Role Services screen, select all check boxes)
c. Install SQL Server 2005, choose the following components to install and select Default instance
- Database Services / Data Files
- Database Services / Shared Tools
- Reporting Services / * (All Items)
- Client Components / * (All Items)
d. Install SQL Server 2005 SP3
e. Grant sysadmin access for DPM administrator service account to SQL Server by executing below query in the SQL Server Management Studio query window
USE [master]
GO
CREATE LOGIN [CONTOSO\svcDPMAdmin] FROM WINDOWS WITH DEFAULT_DATABASE=[master]
GO
EXEC master..sp_addsrvrolemember @loginame = N'CONTOSO\svcDPMAdmin', @rolename = N'sysadmin'
GO
f. Install Single Instance Store (SIS) feature to reduce the amount of space that is used to store data on a volume by executing the following command in the command prompt (Run as administrator) and restart the machine after completed
    start /wait ocsetup.exe SIS-Limited /quiet /norestart
g. Add the static host entries for web front-end, index, and database servers in C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc\Hosts
h. Install DPM 2007 by selecting Use the dedicated MS$DPM2007$ instance of SQL Server
i. In the SQL Settings interface, use DPM administrator service account, which has been granted sysadmin role to the database server
j. Install SQL Server 2005 SP3
k. Install DPM 2007 SP1

4. DPM agent installation
a. On the DPM server, click Start -> Programs -> Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager -> Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager
b. Click Management tab
c. Click Install under Actions to start Protection Agent Installation Wizard
d. Enter the computer name of SharePoint web front-end server and click Add
e. Enter the computer name of SharePoint index server and click Add
f. Click Next
g. On the Credentials interface, enter the DPM agent service account, provide the password and click Next (This account should have local administrator privileges on both servers before attempting to click Next)
h. Select the No, I will restart the selected computers later option on the Choose Restart Method interface and click Next
i. Click Install
j. Ensure the agent install is successful on both servers and click Close
k. Restart the web front-end and index servers
l. Close the DPM Management GUI on the DPM server and wait for the servers to restart
m. Once each server has restarted, establish an RDP session to it using an account with local administrative privileges
n. Open a command prompt as an administrator
o. Change to the directory:
    c:\program files\Microsoft Data Protection Manager\DPM\bin\
p. Execute the following command:
    configuresharepoint.exe –EnableSharePointProtection
q. When prompted, provide the SharePoint farm account username and password
r. Ensure the operation succeeds (do not close the command prompt)
s. Execute the command:
   configuresharepoint.exe –setTempPath ‘D:\MOSS_Recovery’
   (Notes: D:\MOSS_Recovery folder needs to be created first)
t. Provide the password for the SharePoint farm account and ensure the operation succeeds
u. On the DPM Server, open the DPM Management GUI and navigate to the Management/Agents tab and ensure that the agent status for both machines are OK
v. Install the DPM agent on the recovery farm's server, following the steps a -> u
w. Install the DPM agent on the database server, following the steps a -> l

5. Post installation configuration on the DPM server
a. Configure storage pool for disk and tape
b. Create protection group
- SharePoint farm configuration database
- IIS web site folder for SharePoint web applications (e.g. c:\inetpub\wwwroot)
- C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\12 folder
- System State

6. DPMRecoveryWebApplication creation in recovery farm
Before DPM can be used to recover any data to a protected farm, the DPMRecoveryWebApplication must be created on the recovery farm’s server. Below are the steps necessary to create the DPMRecoveryWebApplication.
a. On the recovery farm's server, open the SharePoint 3.0 Central Administration console from the Start Menu and click on the Application Management tab
b. Under the SharePoint Web Application Management heading, click on the Create or Extend Web application
c. The Create or Extend Web application page appears and click Create a new Web application
d. Choose the Create a new IIS web site and in the description, name it “DPMRecoveryWebApplication”
e. In the Port field, can use port 80
f. The Host Header and Path fields can remain unchanged.
g. Scroll down to the radio button Create new application pool and in the Application pool name box, note that the entry name includes the port number and the SharePoint recovery server name.
h. Under the Select a security account for this application pool, select the Configurable radio button and type in a suitable account and password in the fields that follow
i. Lastly, in the Database Name box, type in DPMRecoveryWebApplication
j. Click OK

SharePoint Foundation 2010 and SharePoint Designer 2010 are available as public download

2010-04-23T10:58:00.004+08:00

SharePoint Foundation 2010 download
Supported Operating Systems: Windows 7 Enterprise; Windows 7 Professional; Windows 7 Ultimate; Windows Server 2008 R2; Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2; Windows Vista Service Pack 2

SharePoint Designer 2010 64 bit download
Supported Operating Systems: Windows 7; Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 editions; Windows Server 2008; Windows Server 2008 R2; Windows Vista Service Pack 1

SharePoint Designer 2010 32 bit download
Supported Operating Systems: Windows 7; Windows Server 2003 R2 (32-Bit x86); Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 editions; Windows Server 2008; Windows Server 2008 R2; Windows Vista Service Pack 1; Windows XP Service Pack 3

Enabling Information Rights Management in SharePoint 2007 by Integrating with AD RMS

2010-04-07T17:24:00.004+08:00

Recently we have been asked to enable Information Rights Management (IRM) capability in our SharePoint infrastructure, which consists of three web front-end servers, one excel calculation server, one index server, and two clustered database servers. All servers are running on Windows Server 2008 64 bit environment.
The original plan is to prepare our SharePoint infrastructure to store IRM-protected documents, where the protection capabilities are embedded in the document. However, it will make these protected documents unsearchable since they cannot be tagged or indexed while the document contents are encrypted. This is no longer the case with AD RMS and SharePoint 2007 since the IRM policies are only applied when the documents are downloaded and they are stored unencrypted in the libraries, hence making them indexable and later searchable.

With SharePoint, IRM protection is available for files that are located in document libraries and stored as attachments to list items. SharePoint uses the access control list (ACL) on the library or list to determine the permissions that it applies to a document for the user downloading it. Protection includes the following options:

Whether or not users can print documents that are rights managed.
Whether the user can run Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) and other custom code in the file.
The number of days for which the license is valid; after the specified number of days, the license expires and the user must download the file again from the document library.
Whether to let users upload file types that do not support IRM.
Optionally, the date to stop restricting permissions to the document library; after the specified date passes, Office SharePoint Server removes all rights-management restrictions from the documents in the library.

There are basically three simple steps to integrate AD RMS with SharePoint 2007 as follows:

(Notes: since we are using Windows Server 2008, which already includes AD RMS client, there is no need to install a separate Windows RMS client as in Windows Server 2003)

1. Add permissions for the SharePoint server to the AD RMS certification pipeline

Log on to the AD RMS server as a local administrator
Click Start, and then click Computer
Navigate to c:\Inetpub\wwwroot\_wmcs\Certification
Right-click ServerCertification.asmx, click Properties, and then click the Security tab
Click Advanced, click Edit, select the Include inheritable permissions from this object's parent check box, and then click OK two times
Click Edit
Click Add
Click Object Types, select the Computers check box, and then click OK
Type the name of the SharePoint web front-end server, and then click OK twice.
Repeat the above three steps for other web front-end servers
Click OK to close the ServerCertification.asmx Properties sheet. By default the Read & Execute and the Read permissions are configured
Reset IIS

2. Specify RMS server location in SharePoint using Central Administration

Open SharePoint 3.0 Central Administration site
Click Operations, and then click Information Rights Management
Select Use the default RMS server specified in Active Directory checkbox
Click OK

3. Enable IRM policy to control access to the contents of a document library

Open a SharePoint site and go to the document library where we want to enable the IRM policy
Click Settings, and then click Document Library Settings
Under Permissions and Management, click Information Rights Management
Select the Restrict permission to documents in this library on download check box
In the Permissions policy title box, type in the policy title
In the Permission policy description box, type in the policy description
Click OK

SharePoint will now automatically apply AD RMS rights to the document when it is downloaded from the document library. These rights are determined by the the user permission for that library. For example, a user who has Read permission will not be able to modify the document when it is downloaded from the document library.

Notes: When AD RMS protected documents (created outside SharePoint environment) are uploaded to the library with IRM policy enabled, the original document protection policy will supercede the library protection policy when those documents are downloaded or accessed by users. AD RMS end-to-end security prevents SharePoint from decrypting documents created outside of the SharePoint environment, hence applying the SharePoint library IRM policy to those documents.

Configuring SQL Server 2005 Log Shipping for SharePoint 2007 Disaster Recovery Farm

2010-04-06T17:26:00.003+08:00

As part of the architecture design to provide 99.5% availability for our SharePoint infrastructure, which is equivalent to 3.5 hours downtime per month, we plan for the redundancy and failover between two server farms. The primary farm is located in a main data centre and the secondary farm is located in a Disaster Recovery centre in the same city. Both farms have been setup separately with their own configuration database and Central Administration content database. All customizations and patches have been deployed on both farms as well.

To support the disaster recovery scenario, the primary farm's content databases are configured with log shipping to the failover farm in the disaster recovery centre. Log shipping essentially involves copying the content database backup and subsequent transaction log backups from the primary farm's database server and restoring the content database and transaction log backups on the secondary farm's database server. The content database and transaction logs are restored on the secondary farm in standby or no-recovery mode, which allows subsequent transaction logs to be backed up on the primary and shipped or copied to the secondary server and applied there.

The steps to configure log shipping for a particular content database are as follows:
1. Ensure that the content database is on Full or Bulk_logged recovery model since log shipping requires those models to function. To change the recovery model for the database, right click on the database, select properties and in the Options tab, click on the Recovery Model drop down list box and select Full or Bulk_logged recovery model.
2. Right click the content database in the primary farm's database server, and then click Properties.
3. Under Select a page, click Transaction Log Shipping.
4. Select the Enable this as a primary database in a log shipping configuration check box.
5. Under Transaction log backups, click Backup Settings.
6. In the Network path to the backup folder box, type the network path to the share created for the transaction log backup folder. Before configuring log shipping, we must create a share to make the transaction log backups available to the secondary server. This is a share of the directory where the transaction log backups will be generated. For example, if we back up our transaction logs to the directory d:\data\tlogs\, we could create the \\primaryserver\tlogs share off that directory.
7. If the backup folder is located on the primary server, type the local path to the backup folder in the If the backup folder is located on the primary server, type a local path to the folder box. (If the backup folder is not on the primary server, you can leave this box empty.) If the SQL Server service account on primary server runs under the local system account, we must create backup folder on the primary server and specify a local path to that folder.
Notes:
If we are backing up to a network path, there will be some increase in the transaction log backup times and it will decrease the space requirements on primary server . The network path should go to the location where we want to store the transaction log backups on the secondary server. Most DBAs use a network share to back up the files to because they want the transaction log backup files on the secondary server to protect them in the event that the primary server goes down. The local path option will back up the transaction logs to a path on primary server. Make sure the transaction log backups are not backed up to the same physical drive where your database data files or log files exist. Should they be backed up to the same physical drive, it would cause I/O contention and overall SQL Server performance degradation.
8. Configure the Delete files older than and Alert if no backup occurs within parameters.
9. Note the backup schedule listed in the Schedule box under Backup job. If we want to customize the schedule, then click Schedule and adjust the SQL Server Agent schedule as needed.
10. Click OK.
11. Under Secondary server instances and databases, click Add.
12. Click Connect and connect to the instance of SQL Server that we want to use as our secondary server.
13. In the Secondary Database box, choose a database from the list or type the name of the database we want to create.
14. On the Initialize Secondary database tab, choose the option that we want to use to initialize the secondary database.
Notes:
If we choose to have Management Studio initialize the secondary database from a database backup, the data files created on the secondary server will have the same names as those on the primary server, and will be created in an identical directory structure, including the drive letter.
15. On the Copy Files tab, in the Destination folder for copied files box, type the path of the folder into which the transaction logs backups should be copied. This folder is often located on the secondary server.
16. Note the copy schedule listed in the Schedule box under Copy job. If we want to customize the schedule for our installation, click Schedule and then adjust the SQL Server Agent schedule as needed. This schedule should approximate the backup schedule.
17.On the Restore tab, under Database state when restoring backups, choose the No recovery mode or Standby mode option. If we chose the Standby mode option, choose if we want to disconnect users from the secondary database while the restore operation is underway.
Notes:
No Recovery Mode: This is the default option. In this option, the destination database will be inaccessible.
Standby Mode: In this option, the destination database will be read only until the next transaction log backup is applied. After the transaction log is applied, the database will be returned to read-only mode again. This allows read-only access and users will not be able to make any changes to the database and they will be disconnected when the next database backup is applied.
18. If we want to delay the restore process on the secondary server, choose a delay time under Delay restoring backups at least.
19. Choose an alert threshold under Alert if no restore occurs within.
20. Note the restore schedule listed in the Schedule box under Restore job. If we want to customize the schedule for our installation, click Schedule and then adjust the SQL Server Agent schedule as needed. This schedule should approximate the backup schedule.
21. Click OK.

Steps 22 to 26 below are optional:
22. Under Monitor server instance, select the Use a monitor server instance check box, and then click Settings. To monitor this log shipping configuration, we must add the monitor server now. To add the monitor server later, we would need to remove this log shipping configuration and then replace it with a new configuration that includes a monitor server.
23. Click Connect and connect to the instance of SQL Server that we want to use as our monitor server.
24. Under Monitor connections, choose the connection method to be used by the backup, copy, and restore jobs to connect to the monitor server.
25. Under History retention, choose the length of time you want to retain a record of your log shipping history.
26. Click OK.

27. On the Database Properties dialog box, click OK to begin the configuration process.

SharePoint 2007 Farm Migration

2010-04-01T11:32:00.005+08:00

As part of the company acquisition and platform enhancement, recently we have been tasked to perform a migration from an old SharePoint 2007 farm (running on old company domain) to a new SharePoint 2007 farm (running on new company domain). The old SharePoint farm has one root site collection with fourteen sites, stored in one big content database. On the new SharePoint farm, these fourteen sites will be created as site collections with their own content databases in order to ensure enhanced operation procedures. The new farm topology consists of one web front-end server, one index server and one database server. There is also a recovery farm in a standalone server and a DPM 2007 server for backup and restore purpose. The migration was performed by using the stsadm command line tool.

The steps taken during the preparation of the migration process are below:
1. Setup and configure the new SharePoint farm
2. Deploy non out of the box site templates if any (e.g. F40 application templates) in the new farm
3. Create staging web application in the new farm
4. Create destination web application in the new farm

The steps taken during the actual migration process are below:
1. Set the root site collection in the old farm to read only mode to prevent any new updates
    stsadm -o setsitelock -url {root_site_collection_url} -lock readonly
2. Copy the content database backup file of the old farm to the new farm's database server and restore it
3. Attach the restored content database to the staging web application in the new farm
    stsadm -o addcontentdb -url {web_application_url} -databasename {database_name}
4. Export the fourteen sites of the root site collection in the staging web application to files in the file system
    stsadm -o export -url {site_url} -filename {file_path_and_name} -overwrite -includeusersecurity -versions 4 -cabsize 100

Notes:
includeusersecurity: preserves the user security settings
versions: indicates which type of file and list item version history should be included in the export. If the -versions parameter is absent, the export operation will default to using a value of 1.
1: Last major version for files and list items(default)
2: The current version, either the last major or the last minor
3: Last major and last minor version for files and list items
4: All versions for files and list items
cabsize: An integer from 1 to 1024 megabytes that describes how large each cabinet file (*.cab) should be. Once the specified size is reached, another cabinet file is generated. This can be beneficial if you are copying files over a network, and you want the file size to be small.

For example:

stsadm -o export -url http://oldportal.contoso.com/marketing -filename D:\SharePointSiteExport\Marketing\Marketing.exp -overwrite -includeusersecurity -versions 4 -cabsize 100
stsadm -o export -url http://oldportal.contoso.com/sales -filename D:\SharePointSiteExport\Sales\Sales.exp -overwrite -includeusersecurity -versions 4 -cabsize 100

5. Create fourteen new site collections with their own dedicated content databases using Blank site template in the new farm
stsadm -o createsiteinnewdb -url {site_collection_url} -ownerlogin {owner_login_id} -ownername {owner_name} -owneremail {owner_email} -sitetemplate "STS#1" - title {site_collection_title} -description {site_collection_description} -quota {quota_template} -databasename {database_name} -databaseserver {database_instance_name}

For example:

stsadm -o createsiteinnewdb -url http://newportal.contoso.com/sites/Marketing -ownerlogin "contoso\davidlim" -ownername "Lim, David" -owneremail "davidlim@contoso.com" -sitetemplate "STS#1" -title "Marketing Site" -description "Contoso Marketing Site" -quota "Contoso Quota" -databasename "Contoso_Content_Marketing" -databaseserver "CONTOSOSQL"
stsadm -o createsiteinnewdb -url http://newportal.contoso.com/sites/Sales -ownerlogin "contoso\davidlim" -ownername "Lim, David" -owneremail "davidlim@contoso.com" -sitetemplate "STS#1" -title "Sales Site" -description "Contoso Sales Site" -quota "Contoso Quota" -databasename "Contoso_Content_Sales" -databaseserver "CONTOSOSQL"

6. Import the exported fourteen site files into their coresponding site collections in the new farm
stsadm -o import -url {site_collection_url} -filename {file_path_and name} -includeusersecurity -updateversions 2

Notes:
updateversions: indicates how to resolve situations where a file to be imported to a site already exists in that site. If the -updateversions parameter is absent, the import operation will default to using a value of 1
1: Add new versions to the current file (default)
2: Overwrite the file and all of its versions (delete then insert)
3: Ignore the file if it exists on the destination

For example:

stsadm -o import -url http://newportal.contoso.com/sites/Marketing -filename D:\SharePointSiteExport\Marketing\Marketing.exp -includeusersecurity -updateversions 2
stsadm -o import -url http://newportal.contoso.com/sites/Sales -filename D:\SharePointSiteExport\Sales\Sales.exp -includeusersecurity -updateversions 2

7. Delete the staging web application in the new farm, including its IIS web site and content database

Error in the Site Data Web Service - No results returned from Search

2010-03-31T15:58:00.002+08:00

I found this error message in the Crawl Log of Search Administration settings in Central Administration site after getting a complaint from the user that they cannot find any results when performing a search on a particular site collection. It happened after we performed a site migration from one SharePoint 2007 farm to another SharePoint 2007 farm running on two different domains with trust relationship.

The root cause of this error is corrupted SIDs in the UserInfo table of the site collection, which returns no search results. And the steps to solve the issue are:

1. Log on to the database server of the SharePoint farm and open SQL Server Management Studio

2. Locate the content database containing the site collection

3. Open SQL query windows and execute the following query against the content database

Select tp_login, tp_systemid, tp_deleted from userinfo where len(ltrim(rtrim(tp_systemid))) <25 and tp_deleted = 0

4. Note down a list of users returned from the query, other than the following system users, if any

NT AUTHORITY\authenticated users
NT AUTHORITY\local service
NT AUTHORITY\system
SHAREPOINT\system

5. Grant a permission (e.g. Read permission) to those users (except the system users listed above) in the root site of the site collection. This will somehow fix the corrupted SID. After that, can also remove back the assigned user permission if needed.

6. Reexecute the query againsts the content database until no more users (other than the system users), are returned from the query.

7. Run the incremental or full crawl on the content source containing the site collection

8. Perform the search on the site collection and get the results

Notes: When performing step 5, I found that some users cannot be granted the permission. It returned an error message, saying "The user does not exist or is not unique". I just skipped these users and move on to the next user in the list.

Welcome to My SharePoint Blog

2010-03-31T13:07:00.000+08:00

I would like to dedicate this blog as a diary of the exciting and challenging things that I have experienced and encountered while implementing SharePoint projects for my clients. It has been more than four years since I delivered the first SharePoint 2007 project in 2006. A lot of challenging issues have been found and ironed out during this journey. With the release of SharePoint 2010, there will be much more exciting things ahead.

Welcome to this blog!