SharePoint Thinks, Links and Clinks

DelegConfig v2 beta (Delegation / Kerberos Configuration Tool) : Download : The Official Microsoft IIS Site

I just love the main screen of this tool! Kerberos can be scary and misunderstood (kinda like referees!)

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Introduction

DON'T RUSH!!! You are not so smart that you should skip over reading the following. I like to skip over documentation just as much as the next person. But for your own benefit please read this information (usage tips and features). If you are not aware of everything this tool can do, you will add unnecessary confusion and work to your already frustrating experience of getting Kerberos and Delegation to function properly.

Usage Tips
READ what the report tells you - If I had a penny for every time somebody asked me what the report ALREADY SAYS I would be rich. Okay, maybe not rich, but I'd have a lot of pennies.
Start by using the report locally from the web server - You should still use the same URL that you plan on using remotely. However, certain types of authentication problems will occur only if your connection is using Kerberos and there is something misconfigured. Using this tool from a browser instance local to the server will avoid those types of problems since in most cases local requests use NTLM.
Next, use the report from a remote client - One important check that is performed is whether or not your browser has actually connected to the web service using Kerberos. If you always make your requests from the web server itself, you will likely always see a "Negotiate with NTLM" connection with a red "x" next to it (and red icons usually bother people). A second important piece of information revolves around name resolution of the client. If your requests are always from the server, how can we see what the client thinks?
Lastly, click any "Fix This" buttons locally from the server - There will be "Fix This" buttons that appear that will allow you to make the exact changes that you need to get things working. But just like any other web application, this application is at the mercy of the whole double-hop concept. The most relevant types of changes this tool can make are Trust settings and ServicePrincipalName settings which are both stored in Active Directory. If you try to make changes to these settings (i.e. you click the fixThis buttons) from a remote browser instance it will likely fail because of the failed double-hop from browser-to-WebServer then webServer-to-ActiveDirectory.
Pages
/Set/SPNs.aspx - Allows adding and removing of ServicePrincipalNames
/Set/Delegation.aspx - Allows changing Trust for Delegation settings.
/Set/Providers.aspx - Allows correcting of inadequate NTAuthenticationProviders settings.
/Report.aspx - Gives a picture of what is right and what is wrong.
/Wizard.aspx - A set of wizard steps that supports adding more tiers to /Report.aspx.
/Test.aspx - Allows double-hop tests for webServer-to-Sql or webServer-to-File server or webServer-to-webServer

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DelegConfig v2 beta (Delegation / Kerberos Configuration Tool) : Download : The Official Microsoft IIS Site

What GUID is that Feature in the Window?

Check out Robert’s post at http://www.thorprojects.com/blog/archive/2007/05/16/list-of-features-with-guids.aspx for a quick list of which GUID links to which feature within your MOSS Farm.

In addition, StefanG has a tool on msdn (http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/WssAnalyzeFeatures) which will list out the guid and feature that you have installed on your site collection. Very helpful!

Better Together : Adding a custom column to Site Settings

Over on “Better Together”, a new blog by a fellow Microsoftie Will Feaser, he shares a quick and easy to implement method of adding customized links to the Central Administration, Site Settings. All with brackets and short little ~ and others in your elements.xml file. Be forewarned, make sure you backup your environment and have proper change control as future service packs, hot-fixes, upgrades and other admins playing may change your settings.

Please join me in welcoming Will to the blogosphere. Even though he links to me as “A Tadd to much.”

Better Together : Adding a custom column to Site Settings

Stefan Goßner : Hotfix for SP2 issue that reverts SharePoint products to Trial Version has been released

If you follow SharePoint technologies on the blogosphere, you will most likely have come across Stefan’s blog. If not, here is a link to a recent blogpost regarding a fix for the “Let us go back to the Trial version” that was an added feature for SP2.

Good Luck

Stefan Goßner : Hotfix for SP2 issue that reverts SharePoint products to Trial Version has been released

Twitter and SharePoint and a Purple Polka Dotted Twikini

I have been using twitter a little over the past few years. I remember getting an account because I thought it was going to be the next big thing. It took off and I forgot that I had an account. I then remembered, went out a started to tweet again. Using my Windows Mobile phone and sending SMS messages was an OK to proceed, but I thought that there had to be a better way. I did some searching with BING (http://www.bing.com/search?q=Twitter+Windows+Mobile+Client&form=OSDSRC) and came across a few clients. I decided to give Twikini a try.

1. Written in C++, which is a plus to me over some of the other languages.
2. I like the icon
3. It looked to be just what I was looking for in a client for twitter. After some practice tweets, I was impressed.
4. GPS location posting (optional)
5. TwitPic integration
6. Retweeting (new word?)
7. Favoriting (another new word)

I won’t be following some of the tweeters in their screen shots, but Twikini has made following the 12 or so that I do follow easier.

What does this have to do with SharePoint? I follow a few SharePoint gurus and other Software Geekazoids and I think that having a Client on my phone will make it easier to follow them.

Feel free to follow me http://www.twitter.com/drtadd

Find other SharePointers of the world http://twitter.com/search/users?q=sharepoint&category=people&source=find_on_twitter

Next test will be me learning my # and @ for searching, replying, and other twitness. My GPS is not talking to it yet, but I like a challenge. I will make sure to have a true repro of the screen below in July and August!

SharePoint - webparts

Check out the list and description of the great out of the box web parts that Ian Morrish has over at http://www.wssdemo.com/Pages/webparts.aspx

This is more of a “favorites” blog entry for me to remember.

SharePoint - webparts

Trying to be sneaky and defrag a Virtual PC VHD using Win 7 mount VHD

Note to self: Sometimes, just because you can technically do it, does not mean that you should.

Lesson Learned!

I decided to save some time and defrag a Virtual PC VHD by mounting it in Windows 7. The mounting was easy, the defrag was easy as well. Started Virtual PC back up and it said “Hey, your drive is read only!” I said “crap, what did I do?” Oh, yeah, I forgot to UNMOUNT the VHD from Windows 7. So, I UNMOUNTED the Virtual PC VHD from Windows 7 and I was thinking, wow, if this works, think of the time savings! Restarted Virtual PC and it said, “Umm, you know, you modified this disk, WHICH, BY THE WAY, had a differencing disk.” I decided to tread on and made some changes and exited, feeling pretty good. Came back a little later and tried to restart the Virtual PC with its fresh defrag drive. OOPS, registry is crapped out and it makes sense. Oh well, back to the back up and Lesson learned.

NOTE: Defrag the VHD from its own OS running, not from some fancy smanzy trick of mounting the VHD in the way cool Windows 7 RC. Yeah, Windows 7 is cool and it allows you to do other things with VHDs that do work.

Go BING it!

Stsadm Technical Reference for SharePoint Server 2007 (Now with SilverLight interactivity!)

Check out the new STSADM reference on TECHNET. It now has SilverLight functionality added for your convenience. 

Stsadm Technical Reference for SharePoint Server 2007

Sharepoint Ports and Protocols - Bing

I was looking for a reference(s) for all the various ports and protocols in play with a SharePoint Implementation. I said to myself, “Hey, go BING it!". So, I did!

http://www.bing.com/search?q=Sharepoint+Ports+and+Protocols+&form=QBLH

BING is my new friend. I hope he will be yours too!

Sharepoint Ports and Protocols - Bing

SSRSIWSF – SQL Server Reporting Services Integration With SharePoint Fun

A few links that may help you out if you are battling the challenges that can occur in an implementation of SQL Server Reporting Services in SharePoint Integration Mode. Most focusing on SQL 2005 as that is the current challenge I am helping someone with.

• Reporting Services SharePoint Integration mode Installation Gotcha – TechBlog
• Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services - Installation and Configuration Guide for SharePoint Integration Mode.docx
  • from the install and config guide above.
• http://bloggingabout.net/blogs/mglaser/archive/2007/11/06/installing-amp-configuring-the-integration-between-reporting-services-and-sharepoint.aspx
• Integrating SharePoint with SQL Reporting Services (Michael Gannotti on SharePoint+)
• Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services Add-in for Microsoft SharePoint Technologies (readme)

• On the deploying client, the machine used for creating the reports to be deployed, update to SQL Server 2005 SP2 (client tools at least) for a better (less chance of errors) experience.

• How to: Configure the Report Server Integration Feature in SharePoint Central Administration from SQL Server 2005 Books Online (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms157412(SQL.90).aspx)

• How to: Configure SharePoint Integration on Multiple Servers

WSS & MOSS SP2 is Available - 5 No Brainer Reasons to Install - SharePoint Joel's SharePoint Land

I was going to write up a nice succinct description of the reasons and then I read SharePoint Joel’s and said, these will do just fine! Thank you again Joel.

In quotes as it was copy/pasted with respect. Go read the rest at Joel’s blog.

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WSS & MOSS SP2 is Available - 5 No Brainer Reasons to Install

It’s nice when things happen as expected.

Five No Brainer Reasons to Install SP2 (When you are ready!!!)

1. Performance Reliability/Stability Fixes

2. Browser support for IE 8 and improvements in tier 2 browsers (Firefox)

3. Reliability improvements in Indexing and Index Corpus

4. Security Improvements

5. New STSADM Commands including some to fix corruption and relationships (orphaning)

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WSS & MOSS SP2 is Available - 5 No Brainer Reasons to Install - SharePoint Joel's SharePoint Land

Microsoft SharePoint Team Blog : Announcing Service Pack 2 for Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0

Announcing Service Pack 2 for Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0

“It includes all the fixes prior to SP2, and also several enhancements to improve server farm performance, availability and stability. Plus, a new stsadm operation has been added to help customers prepare for the upgrade to the next version of SharePoint.”

Be the first on your block!

Microsoft SharePoint Team Blog : Announcing Service Pack 2 for Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0

Error message when you try to modify or to delete an alternate access mapping in Windows SharePoint Services 3.0: "An update conflict has occurred, and you must re-try this action"

“file system cache on the front-end servers are newer than the contents of the configuration database.”

Who you gonna call? Not Ghost Busters, but Cache Flusher!

Error message when you try to modify or to delete an alternate access mapping in Windows SharePoint Services 3.0: "An update conflict has occurred, and you must re-try this action"

Microsoft SharePoint Team Blog : Microsoft SharePoint “14” is now Microsoft SharePoint 2010

Microsoft SharePoint “14” is now Microsoft SharePoint 2010

Check out the link below where they talk about some of the names for the “14” wave of products including Microsoft Office 2010 and Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010.  Where did the big O go? read on

Microsoft SharePoint Team Blog : Microsoft SharePoint “14” is now Microsoft SharePoint 2010

Microsoft Update Product Team Blog : Service Pack 2 for 2007 Microsoft Office System due April 28th

Check out the Office Sustained Engineering team blog for updated information on service releases for supported versions of Office.

Taken verbatim from the Microsoft Update Blog

Changes that impact desktop applications

· Service Pack 2 adds the ability to open, edit and save documents in version 1.1 of the OpenDocument Format for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. These applications now let users save, open, and edit files as OpenDocument Text (*.odt), OpenDocument Spreadsheet (*.ods), and OpenDocument Presentations (*.odp).

· The 2007 Microsoft Office Service Pack 2 is the first service pack to support uninstall of client updates through the Microsoft Service Pack Uninstall Tool for the 2007 Microsoft Office Suite as well as via Windows Installer command line. The Service Pack Uninstall Tool will be available as a separate download.

· Save As PDF/XPS support has been built into the SP2 of these Office applications. Users no longer have to download the add-in separately.

· When many graphic objects are present performance has been improved.

· In many scenarios, expect increased print fidelity of graphical objects.

· Improved interoperability using standard DrawingML markup to describe the visual properties of the SmartArt graphic.

The 2007 Office Suite SP2 has been tested and is supported for Internet Explorer 8. Windows Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008 SP2, Windows 7 and Windows Server R2 will all be supported upon their release.

Access

· The ability to export reports to Excel has been added.

· Fixes for issues with the import data wizards, report printing and previewing, macros, Excel integration, and date filters.

· Updates to Access Developer Extensions are now included in SP2.

Excel

· The charting mechanism has improved robustness and targeted performance improvements.

· A chart object model has been added to Word and PowerPoint.

· Improved printing of graphical content, especially on PCL printers.

Groove

· Improved form tools.

· Synchronization reliability has been improved.

InfoPath

· Increased compatibility between InfoPath forms and other Microsoft products, such as Groove and Outlook.

OneNote

· SharePoint synchronization has been improved which helps reduce the load on SharePoint servers and produce fewer errors.

Outlook

· Performance in startup, shutdown, view rendering, and folder switch has been improved.

· Calendar updates, search, and RSS are more reliable.

· The object model has been improved.

PowerPoint

· Resaving of files is faster.

· Several printer-specific problems have been fixed.

· The Microsoft Office Excel Chart Object Model has been more fully integrated.

Project

· The scheduling engine, Active Cache, and Gantt charts all have improvements.

· There is additional reliability with earlier versions of the .mpp format.

Publisher

· Fixes have been made in the following areas: print preview, compatibility with Internet Explorer 8, e-mail on Windows Vista, and saving to the Content library.

Visio

· Improved compatibility with other Microsoft products in several key scenarios, such as inserting Visio drawings as linked objects in PowerPoint or Word, exporting reports to Excel, and saving drawings as Web pages for browsing in Internet Explorer 8.

Word

· Fidelity of PDF and XPS output has been enhanced.

· Fuller integration of the Microsoft Office Excel Chart Object Model.

Changes that impact the server products

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 SP2 and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server SP2 include fixes and enhancements designed to improve performance, availability, and stability in your server farms. SP2 provides the groundwork for future major releases of SharePoint Products and Technologies.

· An STSADM command line that scans your server farm to establish whether it is ready for upgrade to the next version of SharePoint and provides feedback and best practice recommendations on your current environment.

· SP2 offers support for standards-based documents formats and compatibility with a broader range of Web browsers.

· Substantial improvements to Forms-based authentication.

Windows Server 2008 SP2 and Windows Server R2 will be supported on their release.

Enterprise Content Management (ECM)

· The performance and stability of content deployment and variations feature has been improved.

· A new tool has been added to the STSADM command-line utility that enables a SharePoint administrator to scan sites that use the variations feature for errors.

Excel and Access Services

· SP2 makes it easier to configure Excel Web Access Web parts on new sites. Several rendering, calculation, and security issues have been resolved.

· Some display issues have been addressed.

· Improved compatibility with Mozilla Firefox browsers.

Groove Server

· Improved synchronization reliability.

· Groove Server 2007 Manager will install and run with SQL 2008.

· Groove’s LDAP connectivity and auto-activation functionality have been improved.

· Error reporting in the Groove Relay Server has improved significantly.

· Groove Relay Server has improved robustness.

Forms Server

· Memory requirements and the page load times for large browser-rendered forms have been reduced.

· Browser rendering of various controls, such as the 'cannot be blank' asterisk and the rich text field has been improved.

Project Server

· Better memory management in the queue service.

· Performance to certain database table indexes is improved

· Resource plans, build team, cost resources, and the server scheduling engine have improved.

Search Server

· Improvements to the reliability and stability of very large corpus crawls.

· Backup-restore has been improved.

· A new command has been introduced to the stsadm.exe tool that lets a SharePoint Administrator to tune the Query processor multiplier parameter.

· Improved accuracy in searches involving numbers.

Microsoft Update Product Team Blog : Service Pack 2 for 2007 Microsoft Office System due April 28th