Anup Dholakia's World of EPM and MOSS Technologies

Getting page cannot be displayed error with Internet Explorer 8 for Explorer View on any OS Win 7/2k8

anupd — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 10:03:52 GMT

Issue

When you try to view the shared documents in explorer view for the site http://mysiteurl/default.aspx?PageView=Shared using IE8 browser, you are getting the following error “ Page cannot be displayed”

The approach we took to identify the Root Cause:

We capture the Netmon and the Fiddler trace while reproducing the issue from IE 7 and then IE 8 (working/non working)

In the non working one we see the following:-

HTTP/1.1 401 Unauthorized
Content-Length: 1656
Content-Type: text/html
Server: Microsoft-IIS/6.0
WWW-Authenticate: Basic realm="irgec"
MicrosoftSharePointTeamServices: 12.0.0.6421
X-Powered-By: ASP.NET
Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2010 07:06:13 GMT

So User-Agent is Microsoft-WebDAV-MiniRedir/6.1.7600 not IE.

Cause:

Looks like when you have basic auth WebDav Miniredirect is not able to get the windows token and then fails.

Resolutions:-

We set the Authentication to NTLM in IIS and that fixed the issue.

How does MOSS Search/Index works?

anupd — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 02:57:00 GMT

How does Search work in MOSS?

This blog is “Part One” of the upcoming series of blogs that would describe the high level architecture of the search query mechanism in MOSS 2007. The purpose of this blog is to explain to the reader what really happens in the background when a user performs a SharePoint search.

Below is the diagram that gives you a pictorial vision of the high level communication that happens between IIS, MSSearch.exe, the Search DB and the Full-Text Index.

Below is a breakdown of the 6 different stages.

Stage 1:

First thing that you need is the search query. The WebPart or the Web Service helps build up a search query. This search query is then passed to the Query Object Model (OM) via the WebPart or the Web Service.

This step happens between the client machine that submits the query and the web front end. Network traffic would show the following GET and the response:

Request:

GET /searchcenter/Pages/Results.aspx?k=sharepoint&s=All%20Sites HTTP/1.1Accept: image/gif, image/x-xbitmap, image/jpeg, image/pjpeg, */*Accept-Language: en-usUA-CPU: x86Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflateUser-Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.2; SV1; .NET CLR 1.1.4322)Host: wfeConnection: Keep-AliveAuthorization: NTLM TlRMTVNTUAADAAAAGAAYAHQAAAAYABgAjAAAAA4ADgBIAAAAGgAaAFYAAAAEAAQAcAAA

Response:

HTTP/1.1 200 OKCache-Control: private, max-age=0Content-Length: 76654Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8Expires: Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:33:34 GMTLast-Modified: Wed, 23 Dec 2009 22:33:34 GMTServer: Microsoft-IIS/6.0X-Powered-By: ASP.NETMicrosoftSharePointTeamServices: 12.0.0.6318X-AspNet-Version: 2.0.50727Set-Cookie: WSS_KeepSessionAuthenticated=80; path=/Set-Cookie: MSOWebPartPage_AnonymousAccessCookie=80; expires=Wed, 23-Dec-2009 23:03:34 GMT; path=/Set-Cookie: http%3A%2F%2Fwfe%2FSearchCenter%2FDiscovery=WorkspaceSiteName=U2VhcmNo&WorkspaceSiteUrl=aHR0cDovL3dmZS9TZ
WFyY2hDZW50ZXI=&WorkspaceSiteTime=MjAwOS0xMi0yM1QyMjozMzozNQ==; expires=Fri, 22-Jan-2010 22:33:35 GMT; path=/_vti_bin/Discovery.asmxDate: Wed, 23 Dec 2009 22:33:34 GMT

Stage 2:

The query Object Model then in turn calls the Query Processor. The role of the Query Processor is to join results from the Full-Text Index with the SearchDB.

On SQL the two databases that are queried are:

· SSP database.

· SSP Search database.

On the SSP database proc_MSS_GetKeywordInformation is run to get the keywords for displaying on the site if Office SharePoint Search is being used.

On the search database the proc_MSSGetMultipleResults is run to get the properties from MSSDocProps table. Both these stored procedures and more details about them can be viewed via a SQL trace.

Stage 3:

The Query processor then opens a Query Pipe to the query machine. The link between the Web Front End and Query server is a query pipe only provided by MSSearch.exe. When the Query pipe network traffic is examined, it is revealed to be SMB traffic. Network Monitor 3 will identify this traffic as being the CIS protocol

A high level overview of what we can see via a Network Monitor capture is below.

The initial communication from the WFE to the Query Server occurs via one of the random (1024 to ~65000) WFE ports. This is done to Query ports 139 and 445 and finally establishing the connection through SMB.

In the network capture you will also notice a 'Tree Connect AndX Request' for path \\QueryServer\IPC$ from WFE's random port to the Query machine's port 445. Port 139 is used as the end point mapper.

Once the Tree is created, the path is changed to \OSearch in order to be able to query the flat files inside the Query server's file system.

Note however that at this point the default 'searchindexpropagation' share which is used while propagating index from index server to the query server is not used to retrieve the query responses.

Stage 4:

The indexer plug-in (refer diagram) on the query machine retrieves the results from the index. The Indexer Plug-in is the only part of Query that will access the Full-Text Index. We will get into more details about this in the following blogs of the same series. .

Stage 5:

Now let’s get into the part where the results are returned. The results come back from the Full-Text Index as DocIds. This task occurs based on the data that the web front end receives back from the Query and the SQL servers.

Stage 6:

The end result is then the function of the query processor (refer diagram above). The Query processor joins results from the Search DB and full text index. It takes the DocIds and does the join to the SearchDB to access the document properties (Title, Display URL, doc format, size, etc). This task occurs based on the data that the web front end receives back from the Query and the SQL servers.

How does Index/Query Works related article":

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/2007.01.search.aspx

This Project is no longer checked out to you on the Project Server

anupd — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 09:28:36 GMT

Symptoms

Getting Error in the Project Pro 2007 when opening the Plan:-

This Project is no longer checked out to you on the Project Server.
To save as a different project , click OK and then Save it as a different Project

What resulted into this Problem

The problem started at my customer's end after installing the SP2 and the June CU

Degraded state of the Project Server Db's

Resolution

1. Check the Version of the Project Server DB's like Draft, Published, Archive and Reporting.

2. If you see the different Versions then you may see the above error.

3 Also check the Manage Queue if there are multiple jobs Stuck then that can result into the same situations

Unable to go to the Project Web Access Site, Getting the following Error when we go to Central Admin | SSP | Project Web Application despite the same is Started on the Operations | Services on Server and also on the services console

anupd — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 11:29:00 GMT

ERROR:

The Project Application Service doesn't exist or is stopped. Start the Project Application Service.

Resolution:

Go to the Bin folder

(C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\12\BIN ) and type the command as below:

stsadm -o provisionservice -action start -servicetype "Microsoft.Office.Project.Server.Administration.ProjectApplicationService, Microsoft.Office.Project.Server.Administration, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71E9BCE111E9429C" -servicename ProjectApplicationService

For more information:

Go to the Bin Folder and type the following command to ensure the Assembly information is typed correctly.

stsadm –o enumservice > services.txt

Open the services.txt from the same BIN folder and then do CNTRL | F and then look for Project you should see something like this below :):-

<Type>Microsoft.Office.Project.Server.Administration.ProjectApplicationService, Microsoft.Office.Project.Server.Administration, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c</Type>
    <Name>ProjectApplicationService</Name>
    <DisplayName>Project Application Service</DisplayName>
    <Status>Disabled</Status>
</Service>
<Service>

Deployment - Installation Roadmap forProject Server 2007

anupd — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 09:15:00 GMT

Deployment - Installation Roadmap forProject Server 2007

Office Project Server 2007 installation includes these three main components:

Office Project Server 2007 Web tier
Office Project Server 2007 application tier
Office Project Server 2007 database tier (Microsoft SQL Server 2000 with the most recent service pack, or Microsoft SQL Server 2005)

Office Project Server 2007 Web tier: The Web tier of the EPM Solution includes two components; " Microsoft Office Project Web Access " and " Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 " , both of which are integrated with Internet Information Services (IIS).

Office Project Server 2007 application tier: Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 is the central component of a Microsoft Office Enterprise Project Management (EPM) Solution.

Office Project Server 2007 database tier: The Office Project Server 2007 database tier consists of databases related to Project Server and Windows SharePoint Services.

Types of Installation:

One-server configuration: The one-server configuration deploys all three components on the same computer.

This configuration should only be used for a very small company or for a small pilot deployment. This is not recommended for larger companies or for customers who are using many or larger projects.

Two-server configuration: Deploy the Web tier and Application tier on one server and Database tier on second server. This configuration will be called as “Small Farm Installation”.

This topology can be used for small to medium size organizations. This topology is optimal when there is less than 50 project managers and from 500 to 1000 active projects at one time.

NOTE: As your system grows to where it has 50 or more project managers and more than 1,000 active projects, Web tier can implement in load balanced topology. In this topology, the Web tier (Project Server front-end Web server) is deployed in a load-balanced cluster to provide higher availability. This type of environment will be called as “Medium Farm Installation”

Three-server configuration: The three-server configuration deploys each component on its own server. It means, Web tier on one machine, Application tier on second machine and Database tier on third machine. This configuration will be called as “Large Farm Installation”.

As your EPM Solution scales in size to a large organization and needs to support a greater number of active projects (3,000 or more), it should scale to a server topology that provides redundancy at each tier for greater availability. An additional front-end Web server provides a better experience for a large number of Office Project Web Access users.

This farm can be increased in size to meet the needs of a much larger company by having multiple front-end Web servers and application tiers. The database tier can also be clustered with additional database servers or to include multiple clusters.

Step by Step Installation of Project Server 2007 Videos:-

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=a33a6559-85e1-41e5-b209-4d96a114405f&displaylang=en

Install Project Server 2007 to a stand-alone computer

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc197667.aspx

Deploy Project Server 2007 to a server farm environment

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc197479.aspx

Configure Office Project Server 2007 client connectivity

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc197587.aspx

Web cast session on some important topic on Project Server 2007

http://blogs.msdn.com/project/archive/tags/Webcasts/default.aspx

http://blogs.msdn.com/project/archive/tags/Administration/default.aspx

Unable to build a PWA instance, every time you create a new instance it will vanish and will not log any error in the Event Viewer on the App. Server

anupd — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 06:40:00 GMT

Things to check:

Check if the user has any other Front End Server, if yes then you will see the following error in the Event Viewer on one or more of the Front End Boxes:-

Event Type: Error

Event Source: Windows SharePoint Services 3

Event Category: Timer

Event ID: 6398

Date: 3/30/2009

Time: 9:57:54 PM

User: N/A

Computer: <computername>

Description:

The Execute method of job definition Microsoft.Office.Server.Administration.JobScheduler (ID f1715e9a-2641-4d95-ac82-78c6c7e62027) threw an exception. More information is included below.

Could not load file or assembly 'Microsoft.Office.Project.Server.Administration, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

Event Type: Error

Event Source: Office SharePoint Server

Event Category: Office Server Shared Services

Event ID: 7080

Date: 3/30/2009

Time: 9:57:54 PM

User: N/A

Computer: <computername>

Description:

An exception occurred while running the job scheduler.

Reason: System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Could not load file or assembly 'Microsoft.Office.Project.Server.Administration, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified.

File name: 'Microsoft.Office.Project.Server.Administration, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c'

at System.Reflection.Assembly._nLoad(AssemblyName fileName, String codeBase, Evidence assemblySecurity, Assembly locationHint, StackCrawlMark& stackMark, Boolean throwOnFileNotFound, Boolean forIntrospection)

at System.Reflection.Assembly.nLoad(AssemblyName fileName, String codeBase, Evidence assemblySecurity, Assembly locationHint, StackCrawlMark& stackMark, Boolean throwOnFileNotFound, Boolean forIntrospection)

at System.Reflection.Assembly.InternalLoad(AssemblyName assemblyRef, Evidence assemblySecurity, StackCrawlMark& stackMark, Boolean forIntrospection)

at System.Reflection.Assembly.InternalLoad(String assemblyString, Evidence assemblySecurity, StackCrawlMark& stackMark, Boolean forIntrospection)

at System.Reflection.Assembly.Load(String assemblyString)

at Microsoft.Office.Server.Administration.ScheduledJobCollection.CreateSqlCollectionItem(Object obj)

at Microsoft.Office.Server.Administration.ScheduledJobCollection.GetScheduledJobsInNextInterval(DateTime nextDueTime)

at Microsoft.Office.Server.Administration.JobScheduler.Execute(Guid targetInstanceId)

WRN: Assembly binding logging is turned OFF.

To enable assembly bind failure logging, set the registry value [HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion!EnableLog] (DWORD) to 1.

Note: There is some performance penalty associated with assembly bind failure logging.

To turn this feature off, remove the registry value [HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion!EnableLog].

We need to ensure that we have the Project Binaries installed on all the WFE machines in the Farm.

Please review this Blog for more information:-

http://blogs.msdn.com/brismith/archive/2006/12/28/mixed-server-farm-topologies-all-servers-must-have-all-skus-loaded.aspx

EPM (Enterprise Project Management)

anupd — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 14:33:00 GMT

On Line Training!!!

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/epmsolution/FX101935291033.aspx

Product Group Blog

http://blogs.msdn.com/project/

Project Conference

http://www.msprojectconference.com

More Information on Project

http://www.epmconnect.com/US/Pages/ProjectNews.aspx