Determining TCP activity

There a few ways that you can determine the TCP/IP activity on your system.

1. Netstat

Simply go to a command prompt and type netstat –an and you should see something like that shown above. You can see the protocol, local_ip_address:port, foreign_ip_address:port and the state.

This really only tells you the basics of which ports are connected to what IP addresses but it doesn’t actually tell you what programs are using those ports.

2. Fport

Fport is a free program that can be downloaded from :

http://www.foundstone.com/us/resources/termsofuse.asp?file=fport.zip

and when run in the command window will not only show the TCP ports but it will also show which program on your system is using that port, as shown above. For example we can see that iTunesHelper.exe is using port 1029 TCP is is process 3548.

Fport therefore provides a lot more information but it isn’t updated constantly and you need to run it in a command prompt.

3. Prio

Amoungst other things Prio can do what both netstat and fport do but do it as part of your task manager. You’ll find the free download Prio at:

http://www.prnwatch.com/prio.html

Once installed Prio will provide you with an additional tab in your task manager (accessed via Ctl-Alt-Del) called TCP/IP as shown above. In there you’ll see an up to date list of all the TCP connections and the programs using these ports.

So all 3 tools provide you with the ability to inspect what TCP/IP connections are taking place on your system. This can be of significant assistance when tracking down rogue applications accessing the Internet without your knowledge.

PDF icon in SharePoint

Now that you finally have Windows SharePoint up and running on SBS 2003 or SBS 2008 via (companyweb) you start uploading documents. When you upload Microsoft Office Documents like Word and Excel you see a nice icon next to the document, however when you upload an Acrobat document (PDF) you don’t.

As you can see from the above screen shot there are 3 files in document library. The bottom two being Excel and Word files automatically have a little icon to the left denoting the type of file, however the first file is actually a PDF and as you can see there is no distinguishing icon.

Unfortunately by default SharePoint doesn’t include a PDF icon, however with a little bit of configuration you can add it. Here’s how:

Firstly, you’ll need to download a suitable PDF icon to use. A good one can be found at:

http://www.adobe.com/images/pdficon_small.gif

and looks like:

Download the file and save it into the directory c:\program files\common files\Microsoft shared\web server extensions\12\template\images on the SharePoint server.

Next locate the file c:\program files\common files\Microsoft shared\web server extensions\12\template\xml\docicon.xml on the SharePoint server. Right mouse click on the file and select edit.

Locate the element where you will see entries for each icon starting with <Mapping key=”…. Enter the following on a new line:

The name of the file must match the name of the PDF icon you downloaded. Note that the extension names in the docicon.xml file do not have to be in alphabetical order so it is best to place the entry at the end of the existing list.

When complete, save the file and exit the editor.

Go to the DOS prompt on the SharePoint server via Start | Run | Cmd and type iisreset to restart IIS.

If you now refresh the page you should find the PDF icon displayed like so:

Just because you have now have a PDF icon doesn’t mean that your PDF documents will be indexed by SharePoint (which is possible). That also needs to be configured, but that’ll be the subject of a future post.

This information can also be found in my Windows SharePoint Operations Guide along with exactly how to configure PDF search. Not only that the Guide has a vast array of information about not only installing and configuring SharePoint but also how to get some of the best add-ons for SharePoint up and running to provide your installation with additional value and functionality.

Challenge the norm

One of the best ways to improve your productivity is to do email less. Yes, that’s right do email less. This means setting aside dedicated times to check and respond to email. Now many people would say that is totally impossible for them to do but my response is, have you actually challenged that way of thinking? Have you actually tried rather than just saying you can’t?

Here’s a great video (4 mins) from Tim Ferris the author of the Four Hour Work Week on how he manages email.

<img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-lylCK8e-Fj4/UQO04ZqsJUI/AAAAAAAAH9g/MqrPEapF5AM/video3e6e98136d5b%25255B5%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-style: none" galleryimg="no" onload="var downlevelDiv = document.getElementById('344fa4a4-c9c5-46cc-ae16-985ff637fee0'); downlevelDiv.innerHTML = "

http://www.youtube.com/v/QDhfaIbstIY?hl=en&hd=1“;” alt=””>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDhfaIbstIY&rel=0&border=1&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1

You’ll notice in there he actually briefly mentions this topic of challenging the norm when it comes to email. Interestingly, the person Tim speaks of who did this found that their boss actually commended them on improving their productivity and recommended the idea to other managers.

At the end of the day email is a tool, it shouldn’t rule your life. As Tim says, if you have a system that isn’t working you need to try something to improve it. In short, I encourage you to challenge the norm with email. Try looking at you inbox less and see how much more work you get done. All I ask is you give it a try.

For more help with improved technology productivity please see www.doemailless.com.

Another dud

Well April 1 has come and gone and the Conflicker worm didn’t destroy humanity. As “Worm chaos fails to strike” noted:

“there was no evidence it was doing anything other than modifying itself to be harder to exterminate.”

Like, duh! Why would it do anything else? As I noted in previous posts (here and here), the media does nothing to help the cause of IT security by using inflammatory articles. Why? Because they get ‘average’ users all apprehensive as to what will happen to their machines and then when nothing does (in this case again), users believe that it is all simply a case of ‘crying wolf’ and don’t change their online behaviour. This means their systems continue to remain unpatched and unsecured making it easier again for the bad guys.

There seems little doubt that the Conflicker worm is real and that it has many systems in its grasp but in the end it is all about money not about some sort of security statement or proof of concept attack.

The disjoint between informed IT security and the ‘average’ user simply grows when incidents like this occur. The lack of understanding and drive for sensationalism by the media simply makes the situation worse. In the end the only solution I can see is to force people to update their systems. You’re not allowed on the road with an unsafe car are you? Why are you allowed on the Information Superhighway with an unsafe PC? In the end regulation is the only way we can overcome this issue as I see it.

Till then, the bad guys just keep kicking goals.

SharePoint Designer is now FREE!

It just keeps getting better for SharePoint users doesn’t it? Microsoft has just announced that the tool that allows you to customize SharePoint sites, SharePoint Designer, is now FREELY available! Yes, I did say free and Microsoft in the same sentence.

This is big news as it means probably the three best tool for improved productivity in a business, Windows SharePoint, Search Server Express and SharePoint designer are now all FREE to download and use. Combine this with the new Windows Foundation server that has just been announced (and assuming it will run SharePoint) you can now drop a high quality Intranet solution into a business for very little money.

If you want to see the video of the announcement about SharePoint designer click – http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=901f0335-63da-4e9c-bfbe-4ed22a92d276#filelist

To actually download SharePoint Designer to start modifying your SharePoint site click – http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=baa3ad86-bfc1-4bd4-9812-d9e710d44f42&hash=gw61uO9NAwuBCXKIqV1LhuYD9Omkv5eLYQkFoqVFMUp9BZFnh8BuAaLkZa3gI1ndEgvoXQhF9vcR7Oy0%2fSJPLg%3d%3d#filelist

and the Homepage for SharePoint designer is here – http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepointdesigner/FX100487631033.aspx

All Windows SharePoint Operations Guide subscribers will receive this free version of SharePoint Designer in the May DVD release.

I’m excited!

Web Edition

I’ve been doing some investigating into some questions I’ve had for a while around Windows Server 2008 Web Edition. Web Edition is a basic version of Windows Server that is really only designed to run web sites. It won’t allow the installation of high end database applications and also has certain memory restriction. The good thing is that it is cheaper than Windows Server Standard given it is designed for a single purpose.

I have always wondered –

Q1. Will Windows SharePoint Services run on Windows Server 2008 Web Edition?

A. Yes it can.

Q2. Will Search Server Express 2008 also run on Windows Server 2008 Web Edition?

A. Yes it can.

Don’t believe me? Here’s a screen shot of my test machine.

The top windows shows Search Server, the middle window shows Windows SharePoint and the lower window shows the system is running on Windows Server web.

My preference is normally to run Windows SharePoint and Search Server Express on a separate machine for performance and reliability reasons. That would always require an additional Windows Server license (typically Windows Server Standard). Even though both Windows SharePoint and Search Server Express are free it makes doing things this way pricey. However, now that I know you can use the Windows Server 2008 Web Edition it significantly reduces this price, making it a very viable option in my opinion.

So what you could provide is a stand alone server running Windows Server 2008 Web Edition, Windows SharePoint and Search Server Express. Not only does that give you a great intranet solution but it also provides a search solution for all the documents and public folders in your network. If you then install this configuration on a virtual machine (i.e. no hardware cost) all you are up for is the cost of Windows Server 2008 Web Edition. That’s a a lot of functionality for very little cost.

So, if you are thinking about a stand alone SharePoint / Search Server Express server you can definitely achieve that using Windows Server 2008 Web Edition.

Default location

For those who are not aware, when you install Windows SharePoint Services v3 onto a machine and you use the Basic install

SharePoint will also install Microsoft SQL Server Embedded Edition (SSEE) onto your system and do so into the C: Drive! By default the location is C:\windows\sysmsi\ssee\msql.2005\mssql\data as shown below.

This means that SharePoint data and indexes (including search data) will reside on your C: drive. Thus, as the amount of SharePoint data grows the free space on you C: drive will shrink. Normally the C: is also the boot partition that holds the Windows boot files. If that drive starts to get full it will generally make your system unstable.

Unfortunately, if you use the basic install there is no way to avoid this. The best option then is to move the SharePoint databases straight after installation to a data drive. You can do this using the SQL management tools which are available via the command line (messy) or via a free downloadable GUI tool from Microsoft. You simply need to detach the databases using the SQL tools, move the files (both MDF and LDF) to another location and then reattach using the SQL tools again.

SBS2008 has exactly the same issue as, by default, the SharePoint databases live on the C: drive. The great thing about SBS 2008 is that it has a built in wizard that will move the databases (detach, move, re-attach) for you automatically. The recommendation is to always move these data files immediately after installation as SharePoint databases can grow very large, very quickly.

SQL database management is something that I cover extensively in my Windows SharePoint Operations Guide. So, if you have SharePoint installed on a system and the C: drive is running low on space check C:\windows\sysmsi\ssee\msql.2005\mssql\data to see whether the databases are filling the disk. If so then you should shift them elsewhere as they are only going to continue to grow.