SharePoint Technologies...from the field

ForeFront client security and MOSS2007 installation - TIP

2009-07-09T04:58:28Z

If you install Forefront client security on any server in your MOSS2007 farm you might find that things suddenly stop working and you get ISAPI filter loading errors appearing in your event logs.

Here’s how to get up and running again.

1) Read this article. kb952167 - Folders may have to be excluded from antivirus scanning when you use a file-level antivirus program in Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 or in SharePoint Server 2007.

I would suggest implementing all of the folder exclusions mentioned in the article to all servers in your farm.

2) Ensure that the IIS_WPG and IIS_ADMIN_WPG groups both have Read and Execute permissions to the following folder: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Forefront Security\SharePoint.

You will need to set this permission on each server in your farm.

You should be good to go.

WebPart Development - AJAX Tab control – Tab contents not displaying

2009-07-01T02:39:37Z

I found something very interesting the other day when playing around with the AJAX tab control in a custom WebPart.

I created a WebPart that displays some data using the AJAX tabcontrol and found some interesting gotchas when working with it.

Firstly I found that databinding and adding tabs to the the tab container has to be done in a specific order, otherwise no data appears.

Here is the offending code:

//Tab1
this.m_Tab1Items = this.GetTab1Data();
this.m_Tab1View = new Repeater();
this.m_Tab1View.DataSource = this.m_Tab1Items;
this.m_Tab1View.DataBind(); 
this.tabs[0].Controls.Add(this.m_Tab1View);
                
//Tab2 
this.m_Tab2Items = this.GetTab2Data();
this.m_Tab2View = new Repeater();
this.m_Tab2View.DataSource = this.m_Tab2Items;
this.m_Tab2View.DataBind(); 
this.tabs[1].Controls.Add(this.m_Tab2View);

All looks ok.

But the weird thing is that no data was appearing. I viewed the source of the page and there is actual content but no data was being displayed. Very Weird!

After much tinkering about I changed the code to what is shown below and voila! it works.

//Tab1
this.m_Tab1Items = this.GetTab1Data();
this.m_Tab1View = new Repeater();
this.m_Tab1Items.DataSource = this.m_Tab1Items;
this.m_Tab1View.DataBind(); 

                
//Tab2 
this.m_Tab2Items = this.GetTab2Data();
this.m_Tab2View = new Repeater();
this.m_Tab2Items.DataSource = this.m_Tab2Items;
this.m_Tab2View.DataBind(); 


//add tabs
this.tabs[0].Controls.Add(this.m_Tab1View);
this.tabs[1].Controls.Add(this.m_Tab2View);

It seems that the AJAX tab control is quite particular in the way it displays data.

So the order seems to be.

Retrieve the data
Bind the data to the DataSource of a repeater control
Add the Repeater control to the tab
Add the tab to the tab container.

Bingo!!!

Hopefully this saves you hours of debugging and troubleshooting!

PowerShell script to create AD groups from a .CSV file

2009-06-24T00:21:00Z

Here is a script that I used recently on a project that might be of use to you all.

You need to pass the .csv file as a parameter and let the script do the rest!

The file has to be in the format of:

ADGroupName
MyGroup1
MyGroup2
MyGroup3

The script is below:

#######################################################################################################
#
#    Author:         Aaron Saikovski - Aaron.Saikovski@microsoft.com
#    Version:         1.0 - Built using V1.0 RTM build of powershell
#    Date:             13th May 2009
#   Description:     Creates AD Domain global groups
#                    The script assumes it's run on a domain controller.
#                    It could also be run remotely and just adjust the script with a DC name
#    Usage:             ImportADGroups.ps1 ADGroupFile.csv
#                    Example - ImportSPGroupsV1.1.ps1 "ADGroupFile.csv"
#
#######################################################################################################

#Set params
param (
[string] $ADGroupFile = ""
)

###########################################################################################
#Set the DC, OU domain information - Set depending on your environment
$objOU = [ADSI]"LDAP://localhost:389/OU=YourOUName,DC=Example,DC=com"
###########################################################################################

#Check that we have an AD grouplist
if ($ADGroupFile -ne "")
{
#loop over the groups in the .CSV file
ipcsv $ADGroupFile | foreach {

            #get the ADGroupname from the .CSV
            $ADGroupName = $_.ADGroupName;
            #ensure the site name isnt empty or blank
            if ($ADGroupName -ne "")
            {
                Write-Host -ForegroundColor green "###########################################################################################";
                Write-Host -ForegroundColor green "Adding ADGroup - $ADGroupName";
                #Create the AD Group
                $objGroup = $objOU.Create("group", "CN=" + $ADGroupName)
                $objGroup.Put("sAMAccountName", $ADGroupName )
                $objGroup.SetInfo()
                Write-Host -ForegroundColor green "###########################################################################################";
                Write-Host;
            }
    }

    Write-Host;
    Write-Host -ForegroundColor Yellow "**AD Group Processing complete**";
}
else
{
    Write-Host -ForegroundColor red "You must specify the AD group file.";
}

Another 2 SharePoint exams passed today!

2009-04-30T02:08:09Z

I decided to bite the bullet and finally complete the last two of the SharePoint 2007 exams, 70-541 and 70-542. I am now eligible to apply for the Microsoft Certified Master program in SharePoint (MCM) :-)

I did a few hours study, reviewed the training requirements and did a few practice exams.

Given that this is the product that I specialise in and pretty much spend all of my days working with I didn't find the exams too difficult.

My weakest result was with the Business Data Catalog as I don't use it that often and haven't done so for a while.

Anyway here are are my marks:

70-541 – WSS App dev – 857. Pass mark of 700

70-542 – MOSS App dev – 820. Pass mark of 700

I am pretty pleased and now to get onto the Masters program.

DoggieRescue - EMERGENCY APPEAL

2009-04-07T04:45:19Z

The combination of the economic downturn, decreasing donation income and ever increasing costs has brought DoggieRescue (www.doggierescue.com) to the point where it will have to close its doors unless it can raise $75,000.

So far they have raised close to $20,000, but they need our help.

Here is where the appeal total is at now, as you can see they have a long way to go:

So to those dog lovers out there dig deep and help out this very worthy cause. They run solely on donations and receive no government funding.

They have even made the news:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/lifeandstyle/lifematters/downturn-threatens-dog-shelter/2009/04/06/1238869906396.html

More info about the emergency appeal can be found here:

http://www.doggierescue.com/articles/emergency.htm

Visual Studio 2008 custom workflows not starting - TIPS

2009-03-10T05:29:33Z

I was doing some SharePoint Workflow development the other day in Visual Studio 2008 and I had the situation where my workflows wouldn't start after they have been deployed.

I found that if the following aren't configured correctly, none of your workflows will start and throw unexpected errors.

Here are some things to check to ensure that your custom workflows will start as expected:

1) Ensure that the workflow.xml references the right ‘PublicKeyToken’ value of the underlying workflow assembly.

To get this value, build and deploy your workflow and get the public key value from the GAC, replace this value in your workflow.xml.

The assembly in the GAC should match the value in the workflow.xml otherwise you will get a workflow assembly not found error when trying to execute.

2) Don't change the onWorkflowActivated1 correlation token. Leave it set to the default. If you changed it, change it back. (Don't be tempted like I was)

3) Ensure that each new task has its own correlation token. I tried sharing these (I was trying to be clever) but it doesn't work.

The rule is each new task and related actions, use a new correlation token.

4) Ensure the namespaces for the Visual Studio project matches what is in the workflow1.cs and workflow1.designer.cs files.

If you change namespaces for the Visual Studio project also change the namespaces in the workflow1.cs and the workflow1.designer.cs files as well.

If you change the namespace in the project, it will still compile, but the workflow wont run. Change in all three places.

5) Remember to deploy any external libraries that your workflow depends to the GAC as part of your build process in Visual Studio. Otherwise your workflow will fail as it cannot find the external dependency.

The command to set a post build event is as follows:

"C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.0A\Bin\"gacutil /i "$(TargetPath)" /f

Hopefully these tips will save you a lot of time!

MOSS2007 cannot crawl Vignette based sites – Solved!

2009-03-09T23:05:41Z

Recently at a client site I experienced a strange error when trying to crawl Vignette based sites from MOSS 2007.

All seemed to be configured ok and all the latest service packs and patches had been installed.

I checked the crawl logs and found the following error message highlighted in red:

I found that it crawled the content but returned ‘0’ results indexed and there were no errors. Weird!

The next step was to turn up the verbosity of the ULS logging and have a poke around. I grabbed a coffee and as this was going to take some time to resolve.

(Stay tuned for a 101 post on ULS log troubleshooting)

I rechecked the content sources just to be sure and also checked the content access/crawler account for any permission issues. All seemed ok and nothing stood out.

As part of my troubleshooting process I decided to follow my own rule when troubleshooting SharePoint.

‘Don't try to fix it, Delete it, recreate it and try again’

So I deleted the content source, recreated it and this time I added a trailing ‘/’ to the start address url and reran the crawl. Also set the ‘Only crawl within the server of each start address’ option.

(See the following screenshot)

Magic!

The crawl worked with no errors. The trick is to ensure that you have a trailing ‘/’ on any Vignette based content sources.

After doing this I could index Vignette sites and perform searches against these content sources.

Hopefully this saves you some time.

Technet Live Event - Windows 7 Client - An Update for IT Pro’s

2009-02-25T08:58:14Z

The Windows 7 beta is here and everyone’s talking about it. In this session we’ll discuss what Windows 7 means for the IT Pro and enterprises and mid-market customers in general. Technologies covered include DirectAccess, BranchCache, Federated Search, Bitlocker to Go and the ways in which Windows 7 streamlines PC management. Demo’s include DirectAccess, BranchCache, Bitlocker to Go, User Account Control changes and many of the management changes.

Date: Friday March 6th 2009
Time: 11:00AM – 12:15PM (GMT +10 Sydney Daylight Savings Time)
Register here:
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/InviteOnly.aspx?EventID=20-3A-E4-E8-8D-B9-92-84-7B-55-BD-AA-42-90-2A-1E&Culture=en-AU

SharePoint Workflow Permissions Tip

2009-02-15T23:36:53Z

I recently found some differences when developing Workflows in Visual Studio and SharePoint Designer (SPD).

Here is what I discovered:

Visual Studio developed Workflows - deployed at the server level, run under the System Account. They do not require any permissions by the user/initiator of the workflow. Also these workflows are strong named and placed in the GAC. So be careful.
SharePoint Designer developed workflows - These are called ‘Declarative’ workflows and only have have the permissions that the initiator has. So any actions that the workflow needs to perform will inherit the permissions of the initiator and NOT the System account.

This is bit of a trap for young players.

Please donate to the Australian Red Cross - Victorian bushfires 2009 – Appeal - Updated

2009-02-09T02:36:26Z

The southern states of Australian were devastated by the worst bushfires in our history over the weekend. Many people have lost their homes and over 100 people have lost their lives.

This is the worst natural disaster that Australia has ever experienced and you can help out by donating to the Australian Red Cross Bushfire appeal:

http://www.redcross.org.au/vic/services_emergencyservices_victorian-bushfires-appeal-2009.htm

Our thoughts and prayers are with all of those affected.

**UPDATE **

I got an email from a contact in the UK Red Cross recently asking me to put a link to their site where people in the UK can both donate money and also find any relatives that might be missing or affected by this tragedy.

Here are the links for those living in the UK :

UK donations: http://www.redcross.org.uk/bushfires

UK Family locator link: http://www.redcross.org.uk/standard.asp?id=90835

Thanks to all for all the messages of sympathy and support.

SharePoint Diagnostics (SPDiag) Tool v1.0 is now available for download!

2009-02-08T23:39:48Z

Check out the details here:

http://blogs.msdn.com/sharepoint/archive/2009/02/05/sharepoint-diagnostics-spdiag-tool-v1-0-for-sharepoint-products-and-technologies.aspx

This is the ideal tool to collect data from performance counters, ULS log files, IIS log files, event logs, and WMI (Windows Management Instrumentation), and then display and analyze the data in snapshots and custom reports.

Download the tool here:

x86

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=412a9ef1-3358-4420-b820-0ca3f4641651&displaylang=en

x64

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=be58d769-2516-43cb-9890-3f79304528ff&DisplayLang=en

Awesome article! - Integrating External Document Repositories with SharePoint Server 2007

2009-02-06T03:33:26Z

Learn to design, implement, and deploy a complete solution for integrating an external document repository with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. External repositories can participate in workflows and use task lists and extensible metadata.

Written by some MCS guns and MVPS!

More details can be found here:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd440954.aspx

My goals for 2009

2009-01-15T00:55:36Z

Each year I like to setout my top 5 personal and professional goals for myself and to share them with others.

So here is my list for 2009:

Get fit and start riding my new bike that I inherited from a friend. I need to loose around 10-15KG
Finally get my Wing Chun Level 1 grading
Pass the Microsoft Certified Master certification (MCM) in SharePoint
Reconnect with friends I haven't spoken to for a while
Finally move to a paperless office and use OneNote more

The SharePoint December cumulative updates are now available for download.

2008-12-18T06:57:09Z

The download links are as follows:

December Cumulative Update for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0
http://support.microsoft.com/hotfix/KBHotfix.aspx?kbnum=960010&kbln=en-us
December Cumulative Update for Microsoft Office Servers
http://support.microsoft.com/hotfix/KBHotfix.aspx?kbnum=960011&kbln=en-us

The version of the content databases should be 12.0.0.6335 after successfully applying these updates.

The product team have announced that going forward (from Dec onwards) each cumulative update will contain all hotfixes that were released previously.

So no more having to manage which hotfixes have been applied to which environment. This means you will only need to install a single cumulative update pack, instead of each hotfix individually.

Nice!

OzMoss.com has moved!

2008-12-03T02:41:07Z

Firstly big shout out to Grant Holliday of OzTFS.com fame and a recently joined and relocated member of the Microsoft TFS team over in Redmond. Thanks Grant!

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Grant has some more info here.