Category Archives: SharePoint

SharePoint

Automating Installation and Uninstallation for SharePoint 2010 Farm Solution

I’ve been trying to figure out how to automate the process for uninstalling a farm solution in SharePoint 2010. This is a two-step process:

  1. Retract the solution from the farm
  2. Remove it from the solution store

Unfortunately, you can’t perform the second operation right after the first, because there’s a delay when SharePoint retracts a solution. The delay can be several seconds, so you can either wait, or do something else while remembering to perform the second step.

Similarly, when installing a farm solution, you must first add it to the solution store before deploying it. Deployment can also take several seconds. In this case the delay is less inconvenient because you can let it run and work on something else, but it’d be nice to know when deployment completes. Continue reading Automating Installation and Uninstallation for SharePoint 2010 Farm Solution →

SharePoint

SharePoint 2010 Sandbox Solution Failure with Single Dot Path

Converting a SharePoint 2007 solution to SharePoint 2010 is straightforward. In fact, other than recompiling the Visual Studio project with the SharePoint 2010 DLLs, you do not have to do anything else at all. When it comes to deploying the solution in SharePoint 2010, you can deploy it as a farm solution or a sandboxed solution. A farm solution is the same as a SharePoint 2007 solution; it is scoped to the farm level and operates with full trust. A sandboxed solution is scoped to a site collection and is limited in capabilities, but it offers certain benefits to both farm administrator and developers. The distinction between a farm and sandboxed solution lies in the deployment process, not in the solution package (which is the same in both cases).

After recompiling a project for SharePoint 2010, I was able to deploy it successfully as a farm solution. I then attempted to deploy the same solution package as a sandboxed solution. The first step was to add the solution package to the solution store with the following PowerShell cmdlet:

add-spusersolution -literalpath C:\solutions\SoftArtisansTutorial.wsp -site http://echo/sites/postone

However, this immediately resulted in the following error:

Add-SPUserSolution : The manifest.xml file could not be found within “SoftArtisansTutorial.wsp”. Continue reading SharePoint 2010 Sandbox Solution Failure with Single Dot Path →

SharePoint

Managing SharePoint 2010 Farm Solutions with Windows PowerShell

In SharePoint 2007, you can manage solutions using the stsadm command. In SharePoint 2010, stsadm still works, but is deprecated in favor of PowerShell cmdlets. Whereas with stsadm you use a command-line switch to specify the operation to perform, with PowerShell you use separate cmdlets. Below are the list of stsadm commands and equivalent PowerShell commands for common tasks to manage a farm solution. SharePoint 2010 also includes support for sandbox solutions. While they are not discussed here, you’d use similar cmdlets to manage them as well.

When running a cmdlet, the cmdlet returns right away, but the operation will take some time to complete. If you attempt to execute one cmdlet immediately after another, you may get an error if the previous operation hasn’t finished running.

To get further information on a cmdlet, for instance add-spsolution, just type get-help add-spsolution in PowerShell. Continue reading Managing SharePoint 2010 Farm Solutions with Windows PowerShell →

SharePoint

SharePoint 2010 Development: Getting Started


[Image via Tihomir Ignatov]

Setting up a SharePoint Development Server

Recently I wanted to start some SharePoint 2010 development, and taking Microsoft’s recommendation that developing for SharePoint be conducted on a machine that already has it installed, I set out to create development-optimized SharePoint environment.

One of the greatest tools I came across was the SharePoint 2010 Easy Setup Script. The script is a set of Windows PowerShell scripts that install and configure all the pre-requisites and products to get you developing for SharePoint in no time.

Running these scripts will install evaluation versions of: Continue reading SharePoint 2010 Development: Getting Started →

SharePoint

5 Exciting SharePoint Apps

Choosing a SharePoint application isn’t exactly as easy as choosing one for Twitter, iPhone/iPad or Gmail—as of now, the closest the EIM behemoth comes to having a centralized marketplace is Microsoft PinPoint, which is hardly comprehensive. The majority of SharePoint apps and web parts are either sold by their individual creators or housed under a handful of big developers like CorasWorks, filtering and pinpointing (cough cough) the one you want a lengthy and inefficient process. Which isn’t to say there aren’t any good apps out there. There are plenty, but you have to look. (Or let me do the looking for you.) The following five apps stood out among the dozens I examined in terms of their usefulness, scalability and pop-factor (no dundering Windows 95-era dinosaurs here). Think I’ve missed one? Feel free to add it in the comments.

1) Loqu8 Insight

What it does: Billed as an “augmented learning” solution, this application provides its users with contextual pop-ups pulled from Bing, Google and Google Docs, foreign language translation services, LinkedIn and Salesforce while they’re in SharePoint, Outlook, Word, Excel and/or PowerPoint.

 

Example: Jerry is tasked with creating a presentation in SharePoint on how to use social media in the workplace. One problem: he doesn’t really know what this “social media stuff” is, so he activates Loqu8, selects the Bing or Google search tab in the Loqu8 pop-up window and then scrolls over those mysterious words. The window instantly populates with search results, including an article on using social media in the workplace. Cha-ching! Continue reading 5 Exciting SharePoint Apps →

SharePoint, SQL Server, Windows Server

Windows Server 2008 R2 domain controller: Fixing SceCli Event 1202

When running IIS, SQL Server, or SharePoint on a Windows Server 2008 R2 domain controller, you may encounter this error:

Application Event
Event ID: 1202
Source: SceCli
Security Policies were propagated with warning. 0x534 : No mapping between account names and security IDs was done.

I ran into this error when building a virtual machine to run a self contained SharePoint environment, which required that the VM also be a domain controller. This event will show up repeatedly every few minutes in the application event log. The error occurs because the domain controller doesn’t have a concept of “local” accounts and doesn’t know how to resolve some account names that are added by IIS and SQL Server to the domain controller security policy. Microsoft has released a hotfix 977695 to resolve the issue. Continue reading Windows Server 2008 R2 domain controller: Fixing SceCli Event 1202 →

SharePoint

Using PowerShell to Convert SharePoint 2007 List Templates (STP) for SharePoint 2010

2 Comments
This method of converting SharePoint 2007 list templates for use in SharePoint 2010 is not supported by Microsoft. Use at your own risk. Your mileage may vary.

SharePoint 2007 List Templates in SharePoint 2010

I recently needed to move a number of list templates from SharePoint 2007 to SharePoint 2010. Unfortunately, SharePoint 2010 just doesn’t support this. The only supported method to move these lists across is to upgrade the whole content database. That just wasn’t an option for me, so I needed to find another way.

Luckily, I discovered an excellent blog post by Tom (Belgium) that describes a method for getting SharePoint 2007 list templates working in SharePoint 2010.

Tom’s basic method is:

  1. Extract the contents of the STP file (it’s really just a CAB file)
  2. Edit the manifest.xml file, changing the ProductVersion element from 3 to 4
  3. Repackage the STP file

I have had success with this method for both templates for lists and document libraries. Continue reading Using PowerShell to Convert SharePoint 2007 List Templates (STP) for SharePoint 2010 →

IT, SharePoint

Using IE to Connect to a Keberos Enabled Non-Default Port SharePoint Site

So that title may be a bit to swallow…. Basically, Internet Explorer does not handle authenticating to a Kerberos enabled website running on a non-default port..

For example, I created the SharePoint central administration site on host computer MOSS (port 1000) to use Kerberos authentication. I add the service principle name (HTTP/MOSS:1000, HTTP/MOSS.domainname:1000), required for Kerberos authentication, to the central administration site’s application pool account in Active Directory. When I attempt to browse to the central admin site from another computer in the domain (my host running ie 8) I get an unauthorized message after several failed attempts to login to the site with the farm administrator’s credentials. If you go back to the the central admin site’s host (MOSS2007) and tweak the local security policy to audit failed logins then you should see Kerberos 529 events in the security log (if you attempt to reach the page again). Continue reading Using IE to Connect to a Keberos Enabled Non-Default Port SharePoint Site →