KB948109 SQL Server 2005 SP2 Security Upgrade Fails To Install

Man, being trying to install this on a server for while now and it keeps failing. The log reads:

SQL Server not responsive prior to running Repl post script procedure

So it turns out that if an SQL 2005 instance doesn’t use Windows Authentication for SQL login then the patch will fail to apply. How can you find out which instance is causing the problem? Use the management tools (or download the free Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio Express) and then try attaching to each instance individually using the Windows Authentication. Find one that doesn’t, then there’s your culprit.

SharePoint database options for SBS 2008

So, you’re thinking that since you went out and purchased SBS 2008 Premium, which includes SQL Server 2008 on a second server, you’d like to use that to hold the content databases for Sharepoint v3. Remembering, this is all RC0,1 stuff, here’s my take.

After SBS 2008 is installed, SharePoint v3 will be configured to use SQL 2005 Embedded Edition on the first SBS 2008 server (no other option from what I see). Now, before you start adding data to SharePoint you can go into the SharePoint Central Administration and specify a new default database server. Next, you are going to have to migrate the existing Companyweb databases (from SQL 2005 Embedded) to the second server with SQL 2008. Alternatively, you are going to have to create new content databases for Companyweb. Why? I’ll assume you still want the SBS 2008 wizards to work and they work on http://companyweb. Thus, it is probably easier to simply shift or recreate the Companyweb databases than try and create a completely new application and make that Companyweb. Is only my guess.

But hang on, let’s have a think about this. You probably decided to go with SQL 2008 rather than SQL 2005 Embedded Edition for performance reasons but my guess is that any gains would be lost as you have to send and receive data between servers. Remember the Sharepoint Web site is on the first SBS 2008 box while the content database is on the second SBS 2008 box.

Ok, since Sharepoint is a free application you could install it on the second SBS 2008 (which has SQL 2008). That way you get the “performance” improvement of SQL 2008 and no loss of “performance” because of cross network traffic. Ah, yes but now Sharepoint won’t work with any of the inbuilt SBS 2008 wizards because it is a new instance. I’m sure you could rectify that but my guess it would be “unsupported”

So I question what “performance” improvement is expected from SQL 2008? I have not found anyone who can tell me whether SQL 2005 Standard is better than SQL 2005 Embedded or SQL 2008. Therefore, I’d say you are probably better staying with the standard Sharepoint v3 install on SBS 2008 using SQL 2005 Embedded Edition. So unless you are planning another use for SQL 2008 why do you need SBS 2008 Premium? There are legitimate reasons for SBS 2008 Premium but if you are just getting it for Sharepoint maybe there isn’t.

Thanks Wayne

I recently gave our resident SBS Guru and MVP, Wayne Small, a look at my Windows Sharepoint Operations Guide so he could give me some feedback based on his own extensive experience with Sharepoint and publishing technical material. I am pleased to say that he has written a nice review in one of his recent blog posts.

In it he says:

“It gives great overview in how to perform many of the tasks that you will need to do in a SharePoint installation, along with real world experience where it varies from the official Microsoft line. I’d suggest you check it out if you are doing work with SharePoint as it will save you time and money.”

I’d just like to say thanks to Wayne for taking the time to firstly have a look at what I have created and secondly to give my work such a positive wrap, I really appreciate it.

Snap, Patch, Pop

I was reading Andys Techie Blog about some recent dramas he had when applying Sharepoint patches. Now, I’m no stranger to those problems and a few months back I had a similar issue where a patch creamed all my Sharepoint sites. Since then I’ve taken what I reckon are some pretty simply steps to reduce potential downtime.

The first step is simply to virtualize all my servers. Originally, I used Microsoft Virtual PC but I have since migrated all these virtual machines to Hyper V on Windows 2008 64 bit edition. So prior to applying recent patches I simply used the Hyper V manager to take a snapshot of the machine (i.e. image backup). I then applied the patches, made sure everything was working and if so deleted the snap shot backup. In the event of problems, I could easily restore the previous snapshot in a matter of minutes.

I also maintain a “clean” virtual Sharepoint server for disaster recovery. All I need to do it fire up the “clean’” server, join it to my domain and restore my stsadm –o backup file and I’m basically up and running again. Because the “clean” machine is virtual I can leave it suspended until I need it.

Another great thing about virtualization is that you can tune many of the attributes of the virtual machine. Let’s take memory for starters. If I determine a machine needs 1,012MB of RAM then I can allocated exactly that amount. I know RAM is cheap but I’d rather allocate it so I get the best utilization out of the memory in the host machine. Next, let’s look at hard disks. All virtual hard disks are stored in a compressed format so even though my host machine has 300GB of disk space I can run virtual machines that use over 300GB of disk space. Need to add more hard disk space? Simply allocate another hard disk to the virtual pc and you’re away. No need to open a case, connect wires, etc, just attach and use. Finally, I can have any number of networks on my host machine. I can easily assign any machine to a different network connection without the need for plugging cables at a patch panel. This comes in extremely handy if you want to isolate a machine from the network to work on. Simply change the connected adapter and viola, isolated.

Now, I’ve been using virtual machines for a long while but with products like Hyper V and VMServer I think we will start to see virtual machine hits mainstream. If you aren’t using virtual machines then I think you REALLY need to look at them. If you are planning an upgrade of your own infrastructure then you REALLY need to consider Hyper V as an option, simply because it just provides so much flexibility and ease of use.

I can see the day when most clients will simply access a remote facility to get access to their data. In most cases, their machine and good deal of other customers, will all be running on a single piece of hardware but thanks to the wonders of virtualization, will appears to be multiple machines. I would also seriously consider selling clients a Hyper V solution to run their next server upgrade in their own offices. Sure, I know its not a perfect solution, but these days in IT what is? In my experience virtualization make infrastructure management much simpler.

My message? Go forth and virtualize.

If you have Search Server Express 2008

You are recommended by Microsoft to install KB951297, which also part of the general SharePoint infrastructure upgrade.

If you are, as I am, running Windows SharePoint V3 and Microsoft Search Server Express 2008 then Microsoft recommends:

“you should install the Infrastructure Update for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 (KB951695) first and the Infrastructure Update for Microsoft Office Servers (KB951297) second.”

which is luckily the way that I did it after discovering that there was a separate update for Search Server Express 2008.

Be warned that the update for Search Server Express 2008 is part of the general Infrastructure update for Microsoft Office Servers, so the download is over 200MB (since it contains updates for ALL Office Server products). Also take heed of this from Microsoft:

It is strongly recommended that you install Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Service Pack 1 and Office Servers Service Pack 1 before installing the Infrastructure Update for Microsoft Office Servers (KB951297) and the Infrastructure Update for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 (KB951695).

Otherwise the update went smoothly and I haven’t seen any issues after a reboot. Fingers crossed.

SharePoint recommended update

Microsoft has released an infrastructure update for Windows SharePoint 3.0 (KB951695) and says:

It is strongly recommended that you install this update

I have applied this to our internal stand alone Sharepoint server, rebooted and everything seems to be OK. So, unless something major pops up shortly, it is probably a very good idea if you schedule to install the update. Obviously, make sure that you have a good backup and can restore Sharepoint if need be because I have had trouble with previous updates “breaking” my Sharepoint installations. So far, so good however.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to share with you some feedback I received from one of my Windows Sharepoint Server Operations Guide international subscribers:

“We found that using the Windows SharePoint Operations guide has simplified our deployment process for SharePoint WSS 3.0 and has drastically reduced the learning curve for our technical staff. The crew at Saturn alliance understand the product and the needs of small and medium size business. In addition they are always there to help out whenever we have questions” – Andre Vittorio

Thanks Andre, always good to hear that the Guide has helped. I believe the biggest benefit of the Guide is simply the time it saves you getting up to speed with the more technical aspects of Sharepoint. You could spend a plenty of time learning and testing this stuff yourself however, that is why I believe the Guide represents great value, since it has already been done for you.

Also, don’t forget the fact that Guide content is updated monthly, ensuring it remains current.

If you want more information about the Guide check out the web site:

http://wssops.saturnalliance.com.au

or just contact me. I’m happy to answer any questions you may have about the Guide.

MOSS vs WSS

It is always hard to find in plain English the difference between Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server (MOSS) and Windows Sharepoint Server. Here’s something which I think does the job really well.

http://www.office-talk.com/pages/compare.html

So from the list you can easily see that MOSS has more features but you obviously have to pay for these but if they are help your business then the investment is well worthwhile.

I was wrong – again

In a previous post I posed the possibility that there was missing step in the migration of Companyweb from SBS 2003 to SBS 2008. After repeating the process again it appears that it does work as laid out in the recommended migration process.

Interestingly, when I repeated the process using an untouched version of SBS 2003 Companyweb I actually received a timeout during the Application creation stage. After running the process again it worked as expect. Perhaps when I did my initial migration there was also some sort of timeout that I wasn’t aware of and the site creation failed to complete properly. Maybe, it had something to do with the fact that I used a demo SBS 2003 Companyweb I have. Maybe, there were some security issues I over looked on the SBS 2003 Companyweb that caused the failure of the site creation. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

Yes, maybe but looks like I stuffed up (again) and the recommended migration process works as expected. Now I just have to work out what I did wrong.