SharePoint 2010 Service Applications

SharePoint 2010 Service Applications

This is a list of all the SharePoint 2010 Service applications, and is presented as one of the appendices to my book Managing and Implementing SharePoint 2010 Projects. For each of the services I describe the functionality and the purpose of the Service. I’ve also included links to articles which I found very useful since some of these are quite complex in configuring and more importantly the people who put the articles together have much much more experience in configuring these service applications than I have!!!

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Productivity 2010 Hub and the SharePoint Service Pack 1 Gotcha

Productivity 2010 Hub and the SharePoint Service Pack 1 Gotcha

Had some fun with the Productivity Hub for SharePoint 2010 today…

Now, for those who don’t know about the Productivity Hub, go here:

http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=7122

The Hub gets installed into a Site Collection.

So, after downloading then unpacking the Hub, and attempting to run the Powershell command to install the following error message appeared:

Restore-SPSite failed with: Microsoft.SharePoint.SPException: Your backup is from a different version of Microsoft SharePoint Foundation and cannot be restored to a server running the current version. The backup file should be restored to a server with version ‘14.0.0.4762’ or later and cannot be restored to a server running the current version. The backup file should be restored to a server with version ‘14.0.0.4762’ or later.

Looking at the install.ps1 file I noticed this:

LogMessage(“Restoring the Productivity Hub 2010 backup to ” + $targetUrl)    

Restore-SPSite -Identity $targetUrl -Path $backupFileName -Force -Confirm:$false -ErrorAction Stop

# Restore-SPSite -Identity $targetUrl -Path $backupFileName -Force # remove Confirm switch to see restore debug info

return $true

Ah, so the productivity hub was trying to do a restore. Seems that the download was created for the original version of SharePoint – not Service Pack 1.

So, how to install? Try this workaround.

  1. Create a single environment on a VM running the original version of SharePoint 2010.
  2. Make a copy of the ProducivitHub2010.bak into a sub-directory for safe keeping.
  3. Copy the file ProductivityHub2010.bak from the hub directory into a folder in that environment.
  4. Restore the ProductivityHub2010.bak into a new site collection in that environment.
  5. Upgrade the environment to Service Pack 1.
  6. Backup the Productivity Hub site collection restored in Step 4 to ProductivityHub2010.bak – if you are unsure on the backup command then its on the lines of this: backup-spsite -identity <productivityhubsitecollection> -path <fileandpath>-force
  7. Copy the backup file created in Step 6 over the top of the Productivity Hub Directory in Step 3.
  8. Now run the install.ps1 file, follow the steps to install the Productivity Hub as normal.

Ok, so is dirty, but it works! Am in the process of finding out from MS when the productivity.bak file will be upgraded to reflect service pack 1.

Update: 01/08/2011 : 19:00 BST. Got a reply from MS and have been advised they are aware of this issue and there will be a communication going out over the summer.

Update: 18/03/2013: 21:00 BST. There is a Service Pack 1 version available on this link:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=28178

Project Planning

Project Planning

When implementing SharePoint in an organization, its not just about dropping SharePoint on a server and saying to the client ‘There you go!’. This introduction to SharePoint Project Planning gives 10 useful steps to ensuring a successful SharePoint implementation.

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How to Synchronize a SharePoint Document Library with Outlook 2010

How to Synchronize a SharePoint Document Library with Outlook 2010

Users focus on email as the key productivity hub. Therefore, Microsoft Outlook is seen as the application that gets the most attention. To ensure that users can still access SharePoint document libraries without having to visit the document library, document libraries can be linked to Microsoft Outlook.

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What SharePoint Out-Of-The-Box (OOTB) really means

What SharePoint Out-Of-The-Box (OOTB) really means

As a SharePoint evangelist, working with users to identify their requirements can sometimes feel like an uphill struggle. We have all heard of the wishful thinkers, the my app does this so SharePoint had better too, the lets tweak this bit by bolting on that from ‘XYZ Consultants Are Us Inc’, and the list goes on.

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SPUpdatedConcurrencyException Fix when trying to install June 2011 CU for SharePoint Server

SPUpdatedConcurrencyException Fix when trying to install June 2011 CU for SharePoint Server

Fun and laughter installing the June CU 2011 for SharePoint Server.

After installing the CU, and then running an update as per the instructions at:

You may get this error just after step 2 of the Config Wizard:

===

An exception of type Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPUpdatedConcurrencyException was thrown. Additional exception information: An update conflict has occurred, and you must re-try this action. The object SPUpgradeSession Name=Upgrade -20110924-194525-15 was updated by DOMAIN\ACCOUNT, in the PSCONFIG (7240) process, on machine SERVER. View the tracing log for more information about the conflict.

Total number of configuration settings run: 3

Total number of successful configuration settings: 2

Total number of unsuccessful configuration settings: 1

Successfully stopped the configuration of SharePoint Products.

Configuration of SharePoint Products failed. Configuration must be performed before you use SharePoint Products. For further details, see the diagnostic log located at [LOCATION OF LOG] and the application event log.

 

To Resolve:

  1. stsadm -o setproperty -pn command-line-upgrade-running -pv No
  2. IISReset
  3. Restart the Windows SharePoint Timer
  4. psconfig –cmd upgrade –inplace b2b –wait –force
How to Synchronize a SharePoint Document Library with Outlook 2010

How to synchronize a SharePoint Contact List with Microsoft Outlook 2010

A SharePoint Contact list can be synchronized with Microsoft Outlook; so that features available in Microsoft Outlook contacts would be available to a SharePoint Contact list displayed in Outlook. Another benefit of this approach is that users would be able to see all their contacts in Outlook instead of having to visit many differing locations.

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Productivity 2010 Hub and the SharePoint Service Pack 1 Gotcha

Thoughts on a SharePoint Study guide

Well, its been sooo busy with me writing the MOS Study Sharepoint section for the MOS exam 77-886, and being inundated with queries concerning what is the best study guide to use for SharePoint, that I thought lets drop my thoughts in this short blog for you to mull over.

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Do you UAT SharePoint Standard Features?

Do you UAT SharePoint Standard Features?

Got a query today concerning User Acceptancy Testing (UAT) on SharePoint. As a SharePoint implementator, we know that the client needs to test the provision (your deliverables) of the SharePoint environment, based on exactly what they requested (the scope).

However, some may think that simply carrying out testing on just what the scope entails covers a full UAT.

Take this scenerio – the client is brand new to SharePoint, wants the product and needs to make sure that the team sites can store compliance data.

Do you UAT just the team site in terms of storing compliance data? No – the client doesn’t know SharePoint!

Another scenerio – the client is upgrading from SharePoint 2007 to 2010, wants the product and needs to make sure the team sites can store compliance data.

Do you UAT just the team site in terms of storing compliance data? No – the client needs to understand the nature of SharePoint 2010 against 2007 – they are not the same beast!

Of course, it all depends on whether the UAT is solely technical, or business oriented; for example, the UAT may simply be part of handing over support of the product into Business As Usual (BAU).

In anycase, UAT is perceived as something that guarantees the using the product of the product – the client is comfortable and convinced that the product does what it says on the tin. When implementing SharePoint you push the features of SharePoint; hence, you have documented standard sharepoint functionality. That must be conveyed that it works from a demonstratable perspective. Therefore UAT is required for standard SharePoint functionality.

That said, some clients might steer you away from this because in their view all they are interested in is the bits they asked for from SharePoint beyond what they ‘know’ / what they ‘think’ it does out-of-the-box. Beware of this approach since they may be assuming too little, too late.

In my experience I always UAT standard sharepoint since remember the element of training locks into this and it gives you invaluable insight into what the client expects to do with the product in their workplace. You should remind your client of this as it will instill in them the importance of understanding the nature of the beast!

Project Planning

My pennyworths on Third Party Product Deploy in SharePoint – Where is the Documentation then?

I have a customer who has third party developers enhancing their SharePoint platform; their questions surrounded the control of these developers from the perspective of how their products end up running in SharePoint. We all know that SharePoint is pretty ‘laissez-faire’ about any products on the servers it runs, whether they be SharePoint workflows, Visio workflows, Site Features, Automation and the list continues. SharePoint doesn’t care whether you have details about how the product is supported or managed. So, as a SharePoint manager, you will understand that SharePoint infrastructure requires protection of its integrity; particularly since there are levels of SharePoint applied (i.e. Production, Pre-Production and Disaster Recovery platforms are usually kept in sync). Not doing this or at least being proactive results in an uncontrolled, and chaotic environment where no-one really has a handle on what is installed, who did it, and why – worst case scenarios include not being able to even find the original developer who created the product now running on your company-wide SharePoint implementation.

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