How to solve CU Update issues : the return

Hi all,

Today, I applied the August 2012 CU on your UAT Collaboration Farm.

This farm is populated by 4 servers.

Installing binaries was done without any issue.

Execution of the “SharePoint 2010 Product Configuration Wizard” was done with several issues.

I used my previous post “How to Apply Cumulative Updates and Avoid Issues” to have the process and most solutions in my hands.

But each upgrade is different of the other.

The main issue came from one server, that gave the impression that it’s registry lost the fact that SharePoint 2010 was already installed.

To solve this issue, I had to execute the following command :

                Get-SPProduct –local

Then, a click on the Refresh button of the “Product Configuration Wizard” let me to start the upgrade.

Then, I had all four servers status in “Upgrade Available” mode in Central Administration.

So, I execute the psconfig cmdlet :

                Psconfig –cmd upgrade –inplace b2b –wait

Directly, I had errors and the upgrade failed.

So, opening the created log files like “Upgrade-20121109-xxxxxx-xxx.log” point me out serveral sites to correct.

As I’m working on our test environment, I decided to simply delete the faulty sites.

Some were backed-up, as I need to restore one of them.

Then, the psconfig worked fine for 3 out of 4 servers… Ugh!

What’s wrong with this last server?

It was like the upgrade process was already running on this server…

Check in the server process list, and I didn’t found any running process.

So, I googled on the Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPUpgradeConcurrencyException, and found SharePointGeoff site.

Nearly same type of error, and a 4-steps solution:

1.       Stsadm –o setproperty –pn command-line-upgrade-running –pv No

2.       IISReset

3.       Restart the "SharePoint 2010 Timer" Service

4.       Psconfig –cmd upgrade –inplace b2b –wait –force

Then, now, all my servers of this farm have the status : “No Action Required”.

Job’s done.

Microsoft Certification : MCITP SharePoint Administratior 2010

Voilà,

Last month (September 28th 2012), I pass the MS 70-668 exam.
Last Wednesday (October 24th 2012), I pass the MS 70-667 exam.

And this morning, I got my Microsoft Certified IT Professional certification written in my Transcript.


I'm very glad to pass those 2 exams.




That's all folks.

Issues with migrated site containing SharePoint 2007 Branding

Hi all,

Today I’ve solved a Branding issue.

With SharePoint 2007, we have decided to develop a Company Branding, that was used by default on all pages : a new "company custom" master page.

Then this summer, we prepared the migration of all our Site Collection from SharePoint 2007 Farm to brand new SharePoint 2010 Farm.

Faced to the cost reduction, and to be as close as “from the box” as possible, it was decided not to develop a new Branding for SharePoint 2010.

One part of the biggest job was to find and point out all the Sites that could give issue during the migration.

Nearly all sites were migrated without any issue, and we knew that with the use, we, uh… I will be face to  those special cases.

How did the issue was found ?

-          The end-user started to save his site as template (Site Actions à Site Settings è Site Actions à Save Site as Template)

-          Then, he decided to create a subsite with this template.

o   Site Actions à Site Settings èGalleries à Solutions à Upload Solution

o   Select the .wsp, and activate the Solution

o   Site Actions à Create New Site è Select the Active .wsp, Title and URL Name

Of course, the user got this first error (error that is not in relation with this issue) :

So, I wanted to point out this feature with the Get-SPFeature command :

Get-SPFeature -Site http://<my WebApplication URL>/Sites/SiteCollectionName

This command gave me the Feature’s name.

Then, I discovered that this “OpenInClient” was the SharePoint 2010 “Open Documents in Client Applications by Default” Site Collection Feature.

So, for testing, I’ve activated the feature on my test site, and this issue was solved…. But then, I got a new error message in place of the first one :

This is the remaining trace of the old SharePoint 2007 branding that was applied on each sites.

So, what is the situation :

-          I know that this error is the result of a wrong-cleaned branding Site.

-          When creating the new site/subsite, the solution is searching for this specific <branded>.master page, at the Hive 14\Template\FEATURES\xxxxx.Core.SharePoint.Branding.Web folder

-          This folder is not in the features, so, the system gives us this error.

How did I manage to solve this ?

-          Open the site in SPD (SharePoint 2010 Designer)

-          Check the Master Pages content : the <branding>.master is present, but cannot be found on the server

-          Editing the master page give this error message :

-          I’ve made a backup of the site via the Central Administration Backup and Restore GUI.

-          Then, I’ve deleted the faulty master page via SPD.

-           Save site as template, upload the new cleaned .wsp as a solution, then I’ve created a new subsite : No Error

That's all folks.

Issue to open some folders in Documents Library

Hi all,

Today I was facing to a strange issue : users were no more able to open Document Library via the “Open with Explorer” Library Tool option.

But, other libraries were able to be opened via this option, and subfolders of the faulty Library.

The error message was :  ... is not accessible. no permission. You might not have permissions to use this network resource.

I made a search on internet, and found the Sean Wallbridge Site http://www.brainlitter.com/2011/12/05/sharepoint-open-with-explorer-errors-the-parameter-is-incorrect/ with the same issue and a nice solution.

Issue is created (in my case) when the end-user created the folder with 2 space characters next each other.

Doing this make SharePoint replacing the first space by “%20”, but not the second space character.

So, the URL is not correctly rendered, and give the mentioned issue.

I had more than 1000 documents in the faulty library.

And about more than 400 folders to review, one by one.

Result was that only 5 folders were wrongly written with 2 time the space character in their name.

Simply edit the item, and removing the extra space, then save solved all the issues.

So, remember that not only the files can have this issue, but also the folder’s name.

That's all folks.

Link to the Updates for SharePoint 2010 Products

Hi all,

Today, I found this link concerning all the SharePoint 2010 Updates as I had to patch from RTM to Feb2012 CU the 2 last SharePoint 2010 Servers.

Technet : Updates for SharePoint 2010 Products


And the patching was successful.



That's all folks.

Post SharePoint 2007 to SharePoint 2010 Migration Issues/Solutions

Today's post will be focused on the issues reported by the end-users when using the new SharePoint 2010 environment.

Hope this will help.

1.    How to choose to open your documents in the browser or in the client ?

(client is by default)

This is the steps to follow if you want to switch the way to your documents : in the browser (default) or in your local Microsoft Office Client.

On the Library Level :

1.       Select the document library

2.       In the ribbon, select "Library" under  "Library Tools"

3.       Then click on "Library Settings" at the right end of the ribbon

e.      Select "Advanced settings" under the "General Settings" column

f.        Select "Open in the client application" to open all the documents from the Library into your local client application (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access)

g.       Validate the changes by clicking on "Ok" at the bottom of the page.

On the Site level (all documents in all document library will be affected) :

a.       Select "Site Settings" from the "Site Action" drop-down menu :

b.      Select "Site Collection Features"

c. Activate the "Open Documents in Client Applications by Default" feature

2.    Error in the Logo URL

If the <Company> Branding Logo shows a red cross icon, you have to manually remove the link to the missing logo.

1.       Select "Site Settings" from the "Site Action" drop-down menu :

2.       Under the Look and Feel menu, select the "Title, description, and icon" link

3.       Remove the referenced link to the missing logo, then click OK :

3.    Document bigger than 10Mb cannot be opened in the browser:

Any document bigger than 10Mb cannot be opened into your browser.

Do select to open in your client application (Word, excel, etc…) via the drop-down menu of the file :

4.    How to survey your site usage ?

a.       Site Actions è Site Settings

b.      Site Collection Administration è Storage Metrics

c.       Total size is detailed on the page :

5.    Unsuported Features

Due to Microsoft limitation, all the features available in the Office application are not implemented into the Excel SharePoint Web Services.

In this case, please open your document in your client application (Word, Excel, etc…)

The Excel Service used to open an excel document in the browser is not fully compatible with all the functions/options available in the Excel Client.

6.    How to hide the Quick Launch menu

Via Content Editor Web Part Editor :

1.       Select "Edit Page"

2.       Add a new Web Part

3.       Select "Content Editor" Web Parts from the "Media and Content " Categories, then on

4.       Click on the "Add" button to validate your choice

5.       Click on the link "Click here to add new content"

6.       In the right part of the ribbon, click on "HTML => Edit HMTL Source"

7.       Add this code, then click on "Ok" :

 <style type="text/css">

/*--Hide Quick Launch Panel--*/

#s4-leftpanel{

display:none

}

.s4-ca{

margin-left:0px

}

</style>

8.       To stop editing, click on "Page" in the ribbon, then "Stop Editing"

Via the SharePoint 2010 Web Interface

1.       Select :  Site Actions è Site Settings

 

2.       Select "Tree View" in the "Look and Feel"

3.       Uncheck the radio button "Enable Quick Launch", then click on "Ok"

That's all folks.

How to reinstall SharePoint 2010 on previous uninstalled SharePoint 2010 server

Voilà, I finaly succeded to join the farm with my server.

But now, the story, and how did I solved my issues :

At the begining, the Service Farm had 2 virtual servers.

I was asked to move a physical server from our Collaboration Farm to our Service Farm.

So, as recommended by Microsoft, I've removed the SharePoint 2010 server from the Collab Farm, and tried to join the new farm.... without any success.

I made several attemps, and all were unsuccessful.

Then, I removed completely all the SharePoint 2010 products, patch, CU, registry keys, with always the same punishment : 

“The install progress conflicts with a previously installed Microsoft Office 2010 Server product”

I google for this error, and I found this first blog, from Chad Schultz :

Installing Sharepoint 2010 RTM over previous versions

So, I checked again and again, and I still had the Setup Error message box :

I continue my research on google, and found academicjargon's site, with a reference to Chad's post.

Really interresting, as Chad's solution didn't solved his problem, as mine.

The solution was to do Chad's changes, and this one too :

Turns out, you should also do this: Delete the Registries for "WebApps" that appear here:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\Products\

I  re-run the Prereq, and the install of SharePoint 2010 was started with success.

... Yes, was started ... as I has some patch missing on all 3 servers of my Farm :

KB2512800

KB2553048

KB2553050

Of course, my 2 original servers are patched at level 14.0.6117.5002, as all my other servers in the other farms located in Production and Development domains (near 15 servers).

So, yesterday, I solved KB2512800 and KB2553050 by executing the Microsoft patch on the new server.

Applying the last KB was still unsuccessful for me:

So, this morning, I decide to knock-out this KB-issue.

After more google-ing, I found a strange procedure concerning “Known issues when you install Office 2010 SP1 and SharePoint 2010 SP1”, and concerning the “User Profile” service that must be started:

Quick check on my Central Admin GUI, and I started the User Profile Sync Service, that was stopped.

I execute the KB2553048 patch, and in the “Configuration Wizard” interface, I saw the errors removed after pressing the refresh button : YES !

KB2553048 patch was also executed on my remaining server, and the install procedure follow its way as expected.

By the way, I had another error in the step 3 of the installation : “Cannot connect to the database” ….

Little run to the SQL Team, check of the access rights, and all is ok for my install account.

As mentioned into the error window, I decide to plunge into the .log to find out the problem :

 ******************************************************************************************

07/24/2012 09:48:59  10  ERR                              Failed to connect to the configuration database.

An exception of type System.FormatException was thrown.  Additional exception information: Guid should contain 32 digits with 4 dashes (xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx).

System.FormatException: Guid should contain 32 digits with 4 dashes (xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx).

   at System.Guid..ctor(String g)

   at Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPFarm.GetInstalledProductIds()

   at Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPFarm.EnsureCurrentServerProductsMatchFarmProducts()

   at Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPFarm.Join()

   at Microsoft.SharePoint.PostSetupConfiguration.ConfigurationDatabaseTask.CreateOrConnectConfigDb()

   at Microsoft.SharePoint.PostSetupConfiguration.ConfigurationDatabaseTask.Run()

   at Microsoft.SharePoint.PostSetupConfiguration.TaskThread.ExecuteTask()

 ****************************************************************************************** 

So, Google save me again, and I found the solution into Patrick Lamber blog.

Check of the registry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Web Server extensions\14.0\WSS\InstalledProducts ,

and I had the same entries, and the most interesting one, is the last with value ‘0’.

I checked if I had any Office Web Apps installed binaries (none were present on my server), and I simply deleted the ‘0’ key.

nb : I think that this key, on my server, was the remaining of the previous SharePoint 2010 install. A forgotten key left there by the uninstall.

Then, launch again the Configuration Wizard, and I was able to join with success the Farm.

Now, I’ve my 3 servers into my Service Farm.

Need to setup this new server.

That's all folks.

How to list all the Site Collection Admins into a specific Web Application in Shp2007

Hi all,

Today’s challenge, is to list all the SCA’s of a Web App.

With google, I found a nice simple post on "The Frog Pond of Technology" with a little powershell script.

Then, I found a link to the Brian T. Jackett TechNet Script Repository , and tested his script, with a little change, explained by Tasha’s feedback in the first link (I got the same blank names).

So, hereunder is the script that I’m now using to grab all the SCA’s in the needed WA.

########################################################### #SP_Display-SiteCollectionAdmins1.ps1 -URL # #Author: Brian T. Jackett #Last Modified Date: Mar. 25, 2011 # #Display all site collection admins for all site collections # within a web application. ########################################################### [void][System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName('Microsoft.SharePoint') #DECLARE VARIABLES [string]$siteUrl = $args[0] function GetMissingParameter { $script:siteUrl = Read-Host "Enter Site URL" } ############ # MAIN ############ #IF MISSING PARM FOR SITE URL, ASK FOR INPUT TO FILL if($args.length -eq 0) { GetMissingParameter } $rootSite = New-Object Microsoft.SharePoint.SPSite($siteUrl) $spWebApp = $rootSite.WebApplication foreach($site in $spWebApp.Sites) { foreach($siteAdmin in $site.RootWeb.SiteAdministrators) { Write-Host "$($siteAdmin.ParentWeb.Url) - $($siteAdmin.Name)" Write-Output "$($siteAdmin.ParentWeb.Url) - $($siteAdmin.Name)" |Out-File -encoding default -append } $site.Dispose() } $rootSite.Dispose()

nb: added the output to a file

I didn’t test this script in SharePoint 2010, but it is said that this script in object model will work for 2007 and 2010.

That's all folks.

How to Apply Cumulative Updates and Avoid Issues

Hi all,

The last few weeks, I was busy in patching our SharePoint 2007 and 2010 farms in test and prod environment.

Of course, I faced several issues, but now, I can say that all farms are up-to-date until Feb 2012 CU.

I can warmly told you to monitor available space on your SQL disk, and the Errors in your Event Viewer for the lack of access rights on the DB's.

Part 1 : Procedure followed to apply the CU

First of all, write down the complete list of your servers of all your farms.

I've 3 environments : PROD, UAT (should be as close as possible to PROD) and Test.

Test is only used for big changes, or in standalone.

PROD and UAT are very important, as if UAT pass the tests, we are allowed to apply the changes in PROD.

This procedure is for the patch, adding new feature, and in this case : allow the end-users to test their migrated sites and to fill the survey.

Doing this, we were able to point out the sites that were customised via SharePoint Designer in 2007.

Now, let's go for the CU process :

STEP1 :

-          Download and prepare the binaries of the CU that will be needed for your patching process.

-          Install the binaries on all your servers in the same Farm. (proceed farm by farm)

-          At the end of this install process, do not click on the message box : "Do you want to reboot to finalise the installation of this package?"

Sometime, this message was displayed, sometime not… Strange…

-          When the binaries are installed on all servers, click on "OK" or "No", following the end message that you got.

STEP 2 :

-          Open the "Configuration Wizard", click "Next", then "YES"

-          And WAIT !!!!

-          Do same operation on all the remaining servers of your farm

-          When all servers are at the same step, go to your CA, and press "Next"

-          When the Wizard is successful, do not click on "Finish", but continue the Configuration process to the next servers, one-by-one.

STEP 3 :

-          On the CA, click "Finish" and check your farm version (System Settings è Manage Servers in this Farm

-          Check the Version, and the status of your servers in the farm. (in this example, 2 servers are upgraded, not the 2 others)

-          Check the Upgrade Status via Upgrade and Migration è Check Upgrade Status

Part 2 : Errors found

Case #1 : Event 3760

The account issue occurs specially on our TEST environment, as DB's are copied from prod, removed and replaced for test purpose.

Case #2 : Event 3758

SQL disk-volume was full.

Solution is to move some DB's to another volume, but SharePoint Services have to be stopped.

Case #3 : Database is deleted, but still listed in SharePoint 2010 CA

I also had this Event 3760, same error as in case #1.

The difference is that the concerned DB was deleted from SQL disk, but was not deleted from SharePoint CA.

So, I removed the entry via Application Management è Manage Content Database, select the related Web Application, and then delete the missing Database Name entry.

Part 3 : used tips

-          If you have the status "Upgrade Available" in the "Farm Information" page, you can always execute this command from your BIN folder (<drive>:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\BIN) :

psconfig -cmd upgrade -inplace b2b -wait

               or
            psconfig -cmd upgrade -inplace b2b -force -cmd applicationcontent -install -cmd installfeatures

In my example, I had to wait longer than in the other farms, as lot of DB's were present, and to run                                                the second psconfig command on the last server.

-          When you've installed the binaries, and you need to install again the CU, you can force it's installation via the command line :

<filename>.glb.exe PACKAGE.BYPASS.DETECTION.CHECK=1

-          In the configuration Wizard, if there is some installed patches shown as "Missing on <servername>", you can use this PowerShell command :

Get-SPProduct -local

            Then, press "Refresh" in the Configuration Wizard".

If you still have issues, please check the created logs, and the Event Viewer.

Doing this let me update all my servers until Feb 2012 CU, in SharePoint 2007 and 2010.

That's all folks.