SharePoint and SQL 2012

Now that SQL 2012 has come out I though I’d give it a whirl with SharePoint Foundation. Firstly I installed SQL 2012 Express with Advanced features onto the machine. There are a few changes but nothing major. I them attempted to install SharePoint Foundation and was going along swimmingly until I received an error like:

An exception or type System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException was thrown. Additional information: Coudl not find stored procedure ‘sp_adoption’.

As http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh231665.aspx points out you need SharePoint Service Pack 1 prior to using SQL 2012.

Now that’s all well and good but there is currently no download of SharePoint Foundation 2010 WITH Service Pack 1. So how do you go about doing a clean install of SharePoint Foundation onto SQL 2012?

Bottom line is, at the moment you can’t really. The best bet is to get SharePoint Foundation 2010 working on SQL 2008 R2 Express. Then you need to apply SharePoint Foundation Service Pack 1 and THEN you need to upgrade SQL to SQL Express 2012 using an in place method.

I also suppose that it is possible to install SharePoint Foundation 2010 and not run the configuration wizard, install SharePoint Foundation 2010 Service Pack 1 and then proceed but that is very, very messy.

Bottom line? It looks like we have to wait until SharePoint Foundation 2010 with Service Pack 1 is released before there is a clean installation option with SQL 2012.

So what advantages does SQL 2012 Express provide over SQL 2008 R2 Express? Not much I can see.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc645993(v=SQL.110).aspx

It still has a 10GB database and 1GB RAM limit. So, if it was me, I wouldn’t be rushing to upgrade SharePoint Foundation 2010 to SQL 2012 Express just yet.

Adding a new user to SharePoint Online

One of the most common issues I find people have initially with SharePoint Online via Office 365 is adding new users. Most think that simply creating a new users and assigning them a SharePoint license automatically gives them access to SharePoint Site Collections. It doesn’t. Why? Because what security rights do you provide that user in SharePoint? Are they going to be an administrator or are they going to be a ‘normal’ user? That’s why they need to be added manually to each Site Collection.

Basically, all you need to do is login to the SharePoint Site Collection as a SharePoint Administrator and give the new user permissions. How about rather than telling you I show you via this video I’ve just uploaded to my YouTube channel.

<img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Nwbg7DHBOa4/UOuuXA93M7I/AAAAAAAAG0o/UyQAIzLUZfg/videocf29153d95fb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-style: none" galleryimg="no" onload="var downlevelDiv = document.getElementById('be698c87-0295-45de-89e4-df9dc64fd2ac'); downlevelDiv.innerHTML = "

http://www.youtube.com/v/QN-HoAvj8-c?hl=en&hd=1“;” alt=””>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN-HoAvj8-c

I hope that makes it a bit easier to get started with SharePoint in Office 365.

Search Server Express 2010 on SBS 2011

I have blogged here before about the issue around Search Server Express 2008 on SBS 2008. However it is a different story when it comes to search Server Express 2010 on SBS 2011 as I will briefly show here.

Before I launch too deep into this post I will tell you that I have created an e-Book with over 100 pages covering everything I talk out here plus a whole lot more. Here are the chapter headings;

1. Settings the SharePoint Farm Passphrase

2. Installing search Server express 2010 on SBS 2011

3. Configuring the Search Service

4. Adding a Search Site

5. Configuring PDF indexing

6. Removing Search Server Express from SBS 2011

7. Linking to Search Center

8. Using Search Center

This book will cover much more in depth that what the rest of this blog post will so if you are really serious about Search Server Express on SBS 2010 then I’d commend this US$9.99 book to you. You can purchase it at (along with other titles):

http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/ciaops

and I appreciate everyone who does purchase a copy to support what I do.

I’ll also tip my hat to Susan Bradley for providing me a test SBS 2011 Standard server to work all this out on.

Warnings

There are a few very, very important warnings that you MUST take note of before proceeding.

A. Installing Search Server Express 2010 on SBS 2011 makes SBS 2011 ‘non-standard’. This doesn’t mean it isn’t supported what it means is that the default SharePoint on SBS gets modified which has ramifications for patching, updating and troubleshooting.

B. You MUST know your SharePoint farm passphrase. On SBS 2011 this passphrase is randomly generated during installation. If you don’t know it you need to set it to something you know while SharePoint is working! See this previous blog post for more information.

C. Search Server express 2010 is going to stress you SBS 2011 box, especially when it indexes content. You can configure this but beware that large amounts of indexing really ‘pegs’ the box.

D. Make sure you can roll back any failed installation. This may mean uninstalling Search Server express 2010, which requires reconfiguring SharePoint as well as knowing the farm passphrase. I won’t be covering that here. That’s why I recommend you buy my e-book to get all the info.

These aside Search Server Express 2010 on SBS 2011 will allow you to provide a single search interface across just about all your network data. Search is really the ‘killer app’ in our information overload society. When people want to find information where do they go? To a search engine! Problem is most search engines only look outside a business but with Search Server Express 2010 you can now index and search your internal information. Who wouldn’t want that? best of all Search Server Express 2010 is free.

The ability to search SharePoint content on SBS 2011 Standard is provided by default, however it is limited to only the content contained within the Companyweb site. With the installation of Windows Search Server Express 2010 it is possible to not only search Companyweb content but also network file shares, web sites and Exchange Public folders.

One down side with installing Search Server Express 2010 over the existing installation of SharePoint on SBS 2011 standard is that it doesn’t directly integrate into the existing search functionality within Companyweb. This means that if you use standard Companyweb search (located in the top right of most pages) you will only be able to search Companyweb content even when Search Server Express 2010 is installed. To search across network file shares, web sites, Exchange Public Folder and Companyweb content you will need to use a special Search Center subsite once Search Server Express 2011 has been installed.

Microsoft Search Server 2010 Express is freely available from Microsoft and can be downloaded from:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=cea31a4f-a8b4-4864-b520-be612becdcfa

The general recommendation is to install Search Server Express 2010 and SharePoint Foundation 2010 on a dedicated member server in a network. However, in this example we will be installing it here onto an existing SBS 2011 Standard machine.

It is very important to ensure that the existing SharePoint Foundation configuration on SBS 2011 Standard is fully patched and up to date. It is also important to remember that SharePoint Foundation updates require a manual configuration step as detailed here:

http://blogs.technet.com/b/sbs/archive/2011/05/24/you-must-manually-run-psconfig-after-installing-sharepoint-2010-patches.aspx

This means that you need to ensure that your SBS 2011 Standard SharePoint installation does not require any more updates. The easiest way is to logon to the SBS 2011 Standard console.

From the Start Menu select All Programs, then Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Products, then SharePoint 2010 Central Administration. Accept any User Account Control (UAC) that you see.

From the menu on the left of SharePoint Central Administration select Systems Settings and then Manage Servers in this farm from under the Servers heading at the top of the right side of the page.

You should now see a screen like that shown previously. If the Status column for your SBS 2011 Standard server DOES NOT show No Action Required, as it does above, then you will typically need to run the PSCONFIG command line option to complete any SharePoint Foundation upgrade. Information on completing this process is contained in the link provided above.

It also vital that you know what the passphrase for the SharePoint farm is. .

It is also vital that prior to commencing any of this work that you ensure you have a recovery process including a verified set of backups.

With all the preliminary work completed and the Search Server Express 2010 software downloaded we are ready to commence the installation.

Log onto the SBS 2011 Standard server as an administrator and right mouse click the downloaded Search Server Express 2010 file to commence the installation and select Run as administrator from the menu that appears.. The required files will firstly be extracted to the server.

Accept the User Account Control window by clicking the Continue button.

The files will then be extracted and the installation commenced.

You should now see a Start screen displayed. In this window select the option Install the prerequisites.

You should now see the welcome screen. Click Next to continue.

The server will be checked to ensure that it meets all the minimum requirements and is configured correctly.

During this process you may find that an additional number of required components are downloaded and installed on the SBS 2011 Standard server. These will be done automatically and generally a reboot will not be required but you should be aware of the possibility.

When the process is complete you may need to take further action as recommended by the tool. Click Finish to complete the process.

You will now be returned to the Start window. From here now select the option Install Search Server Express.

This will commence the installation wizard.

The first screen you will see is the software license agreement. Check the I accept the terms of this agreement box at the bottom and click the Continue button to proceed.

You’ll then be asked for a default installation location for the binary files. Accept the default location and click the Install Now button.

You should now see the Installation Progress screen as shown above and the status bar should move from left to right as the program is installed on the SBS 2011 Standard server.

Once the installation has completed you will then be prompted to run the Configuration Wizard as shown above. Simply leave the checkbox Run the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard now checked and click the Close button.

The SharePoint Configuration Wizard should now launch as shown above. Click the Next button to continue.

You will then be prompted that the following services will be started or reset during the configuration:

– Internet Information Services

– SharePoint Administration Service

– SharePoint Timer Service

This may affect other users on the network and if so you should prepare them for interruption to their normal programs. Click the Yes button to accept this warning and continue. Then click the Next button to proceed.

Since SharePoint has already been installed on SBS 2011 Standard you will be prompted with the details of the existing configuration database like shown above.

Click Next to continue.

The configuration process will now continue. The only option available is to stop the process via the Cancel button.

You will notice during the installation process (Step 9) that the existing SharePoint farm on SBS 2011 Standard will be upgraded. As mentioned previously, this now makes the original installation of SharePoint on SBS 2011 Standard ‘non-standard’.

When the process completes you should receive a success message like shown above. Click the Close button to continue.

Internet Explorer will now be launched and you’ll be taken to the SharePoint Central Administration web site. You should then see the prompt asking whether you wish to sign up for the customer experience. Make your select and click OK.

You’ll now see the option to run the SharePoint configuration farm wizard. Here it is important to select Cancel to terminate the wizard. If you elect to run the wizard you will damage both the Search Server Express 2010 installation and the default SharePoint on SBS 2011 Standard installation requiring a reinstallation of both components. Although in most cases you use wizards on SBS 2011 Standard, with SharePoint on SBS you should NEVER run the configuration wizard.

After you cancel the SharePoint wizard you will be returned to SharePoint Central Administration as shown above.

Select Application Management from the left and then Manage service applications from under the Service Applications heading in the middle of the page.

You will now manually configure the Search Server Express Service into the existing SharePoint Farm.

Select the arrow at the bottom of the New button in the upper left side of the window and from the menu that appears (as shown above) select Search Service Application.

You will now be prompted to enter the configuration details for the new Search Service.

Leave the Service Application name as default (Search Service Application 1). Leave the Search Service Account as default (\spfarm).

Scroll down the screen for more options.

It is recommended that you create a new application pool.

It is recommended that you use a descriptive name (here SearchServicePool).

Leave the service account as default (here \spfarm).

Scroll down the page for more options.

It is recommended that you also create a new application pool for Search Query (here SearchQueryPool) and use the default service account (\spfarm).

Scroll down the page and select the Save button when complete.

You should now see the Search Service being configured as shown. This may take several minutes depending on the specifications of your hardware.

There are two phases that the configuration needs to complete. The second phase generally takes much longer than the first.

When the process is complete you should receive a success message like that shown above.

When you close that window you will be returned to the SharePoint Service Application page. Here you should see additional services listed as shown above. You will also see that the Search Service Application 1, or the name you called the Search Service name is a hyperlink. If you click this you will then be able to configure the Search Service.

If you now look at the services on the SBS 2011 Standard server you will notice an additional SharePoint Service called SharePoint Server Search 14.

To configure the Search Service simply click on the hyperlink in Central administration shown above and add the additional content sources you desire.

Finally, to actually use the Search Service create a subsite in Companyweb based on the Search template that is now available.

I will again point you to my e-book as the most comprehensive source of getting everything working.

Purchase – SharePoint Foundation Master Class: Search Server Express on SBS 2011 Standard

Book review – SharePoint 2010: How to

Sharepoint 2010 How-To by Ishai Sagi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book I think is very handy as a reference book for people who want to ‘know’ all the functions of SharePoint. Typically, these are the people that feel they need to understand the length and breadth of a product before they are willing to experiment for themselves.

With that in mind, it is not recommended that you read this book from cover to cover. Instead it will serve you better to use it as a reference when you start diving into the different areas of SharePoint. It will take you through all the options and explain to you exactly what they all do.

The people that will get the most out of this book are those who are just getting into SharePoint and want to have something they can refer to when they see all the options that can get presented at times in the product. It would prove to be a very handy book to keep on the shelf as a business gets up to speed with SharePoint as it allows them to easily research just the part they are working with at that moment and continue to do that over time as their confidence with the product grows.

In summary, more a reference book than a tutorial. It provides excellent coverage of just about all the options in SharePoint and what they all do. Is easy to read and would be of value to anyone who is getting into SharePoint and wants to know exactly what each option means. If you are just getting started with SharePoint and want to understand all the bits under the hood this book is an excellent starting point.
View all my reviews

Getting companyweb 2011 homepage back

The world is full of fiddlers. You know people who do something they are not supposed to and then not know how to fix it. I see this a lot with Companyweb on SBS 2011 for the simple reason that most network users are given too many rights.

One of the issues that is apparently occurring more and more is that people are mucking up teh default homepage on Companyweb 2011. Getting it back can be a pain but Microsoft have released with KB article that should help.

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=2539296

Basically you need to run a provide powershell script and you should be back to normal.

I haven’t as yet tested this myself but will soon hopefully.

Reviews and testers needed

I am working on a project involving SharePoint 2010 and SBS 2011 for which I need some people willing to firstly review the document that I am creating and secondly to actually technically test what the document sets out. My experience is that you can test it many times yourself but it isn’t until someone else tries to follow your instructions that you really know whether it all makes sense.

Thus, I’ll need people who are willing to do an installation and configuration on an SBS 2011 standard system ( it doesn’t have to be production, a virtual environment is fine) and provide me feedback. I’m looking firstly to ensure that want I have done works and secondly for any way that it can be improved. Helping me pick up spelling and grammar mistakes will also be part of the job.

So, you’ll need to be technical enough with SBS 2011 to install and remove software. You’ll also have to be willing to test some configurations as well as provide feedback on the process. In return I’m happy to provide you with a free copy of my finished work. I’ll also give you a plug in the acknowledgments.

If you are interested please contact me (director@ciaops.com) asap to arrange a copy of documentation and further instructions.

I can’t wait

One of the biggest drawbacks with SharePoint Online with Office 365 was that you couldn’t view PDF’s in a browser. You had to download them to you local machine and then open them. This was a real pain but understandable given the desire for maximum security (PDF’s can launch javascript automatically which can do nasty things to your machine).

Finally, Microsoft has announced that it will be allowing PDF’s to be opened in a browser! From http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/blog/Pages/BlogPost.aspx?pID=1004

PDFs

Office 365 users wanted a better, more connected and governed experience when it came to working with PDF files within SharePoint Online document libraries. Thanks to your direct comments and active voices in the Community forums, PDF files will now open directly into Adobe Reader without requiring that it be downloaded first. The PDF remains connected and stored in your SharePoint Online document library as you view and edit the file. You can even check it out like other Office documents.

After the SharePoint Online environment has been updated, users must have the latest Adobe Reader version (10.1.2) installed:http://get.adobe.com/reader/

Now I can’t wait for the update.

SharePoint beyond the Basics course

So not long now until my next workshop. This one will focus on utilizing the advanced features of SharePoint. Here are the details:

To really make the most of SharePoint you need to take it beyond the basics. This means connecting data, creating and utilizing metadata, customizing the look and feel of sites, add web parts and implement workflows. This course will show you how to do all that plus work effectively with products like SharePoint Workspace and designer to take any SharePoint installation from default to a true productivity and communications hub.

The aim of this hands on course is to provide you with the technical ability to work with SharePoint at an intermediate to advanced level as well as understand the tools that are required to craft advanced SharePoint solutions.

Venue: North Ryde RSL Club, 33 Magdala Rd, North Ryde, NSW 2113

Date: Wednesday 22nd of February 2012, from 8.30am – 5.30pm

More details and registration at – http://ciaopsfeb12.eventbrite.com/