steve.clarke.weblog

Anyone who’s run the native SharePoint Backup and Restore utility knows that you have to install the SQL 2000 client tools on the server that the backup runs from. But what if the environment uses SQL Server 2005?

When I tried installing the client tools from the SQL Server 2005 install media, I kept getting an error on the install. So I went looking to see if Microsoft has any publicly available SQL 2005 client tools. Turns out a file from the Feature Pack for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 did the trick. Download the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Backward Compatibility Components on the Feature Pack page and install. You should be good to go. Worked for me anyway… YMMV. :)

Posted by Steve at 01:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I found out this week that two of my co-workers and employees have received the Microsoft MVP for SharePoint!

Congratulations Amanda and Shane!

These MVP awards could not have gone to two more deserving people in the world. Amanda and Shane have been two of the strongest proponents, supporters, and users of SharePoint since the product’s inception. They have been prime movers in putting Infotech on the SharePoint map.

I’m so proud you you both.

Posted by Steve at 12:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Until today, all my MOSS2007 installs have been using the simple SQL Express intalls. Today, while trying to install to a dedicated SQL Server 2005 box I kept getting an error when running the configuration wizard. There were a lot of different errors coming up: some about default collation, some about security, but the main error message was:

This access control list is not in canonical form and therefore cannot be modified.

I came across this entry on the Known Issues list for MOSS 2007:

This issue will occur if you are using Sysinternal’s Newsid utility to reset the SID of the machine or image.

To work around this issue do the following:

* Remove the Office Server Beta install.
* Join a workgroup.
* Remove machine account from domain.
* Run sysprep from Windows Support Tool's deploy.cab.
* Reboot and rejoin the domain.
* Install the Office Server Beta.

You can also build the server from scratch and not use NewSID.

Given that I have NewSID installed on all my base VS images to make quick deployment faster, I immediately recognized it as the source of my problem. I did as suggested and ran sysprep from deploy.cab. Deploy cab should be located on your Windows Server 2003 CD under the \SUPPORT\TOOLS folder.

Click on the “Reseal” button:

And select “OK” to regenerate the SIDs:

Make sure you have your install key available, plus your network settings, etc. because it’s going to take you through this part of the Windows install again.

I’ll re-run the setup again this afternoon and report back if it still doesn’t solve the problem.

Posted by Steve at 11:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I noticed this new operation for the STSADM command line and wondered what it was exactly. As I hoped, it seems to be a mechanism to make it easier to rename a server hosting WSS. I’ve never had to do this in the ‘wild’, but I think it may solve a major pain in my reams of Virtual PC WSS/SPS images. I’ll try it out and report on the results.

Server renaming: Windows SharePoint Services version 3 now has an Stsadm renameserver command that makes it easier to rename your front-end servers and your back-end database servers. When you run Stsadm renameserver, the configuration database for your farm is updated so that any URLs or references to the old server name are now mapped to the new server name.

Posted by Steve at 11:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

I haven’t seen the WSS Admin documentation appear on MS Downloads yet, but after installing WSSv3 Beta 2 I quickly did a comparison of the STSADM.EXE operations with v2. Here is a quick list of new operations:

activatefeature
addalternatedomain
addcontentdb
addpermissionpolicy
addsolution
addzoneurl
authentication
backuphistory
blockedfilelist
canceldeployment
changepermissionpolicy
copyappbincontent
creategroup
databaserepair
deactivatefeature
deletealternatedomain
deletecontentdb
deletegroup
deletepermissionpolicy
deletesolution
deletezoneurl
deploysolution
deploywppack
displaysolution
enumalternatedomains
enumcontentdbs
enumdeployments
enumgroups
enumservices
enumsolutions
enumzoneurls
execadmsvcjobs
export
getsitelock
geturlzone
import
installfeature
managepermissionpolicylevel
migrateuser
provisionservice
registerwsswriter
renameserver
retractsolution
retractwppack
scanforfeatures
setapppassword
setsearchserver
setsitelock
setworkflowconfig
spsearch
syncsolution
uninstallfeature
unregisterwsswriter
updateaccountpassword
updatealerttemplates
updatefarmcredentials
upgradesolution

It looks like the SMIGRATE.EXE util has been replaced with STSADM -o export|import.

I’ll be poking around a bit with the new version and report anything interesting that comes up.

Posted by Steve at 08:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I’ve just added my SharePoint Portal Server backup script to version control and started work on the next version. I’m planning on releasing one for Windows SharePoint Services as well.

I’ve grown tired of managing the batch script and want to switch to another scripting language. I’ve attempted to re-write it in VBScript, but I actually dislike VBScript more than plain ‘ol batch. Monad has been on my mind for a long time, but I won’t be able to target that for a while yet, seeing as it’s not even released.

Of course, the ideal would be to write it in Ruby, but that’s not even remotely possible right? Well… There’s this tool called rubyscript2exe that’ll take a .rb file and turn it into a stand-alone .exe. The cool thing is that it’ll look at your Ruby script and find all the dependencies and bundle those into the .exe. It doesn’t need to pack in the entire Ruby library — just what you use.

Initial testing has been positive so far with just a couple of base library packages. I’ve just installed the Win32-EventLog library so I can test how it handles non-standard modules.

Here’s hoping that I can go forward using Ruby. :)

Posted by Steve at 09:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Just saw this appear on my Microsoft Downloads RSS feed:

MSDN TV: Introduction to Upcoming SharePoint Products and Technologies: Mike Fitzmaurice gives an overview of the technologies that will release within Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services (version 3) and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007.

Posted by Steve at 09:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We recently had a problem with automated SharePoint Portal Server backups bailing. Thankfully an error was dropped to the event log:

Event Type: Error
Event Source:   SharePoint Portal Server Backup
Event Category: None
Event ID:   0
Date:       1/28/2006
Time:       2:10:32 AM
User:       N/A
Computer:   NEXUS
Description:
The operatin described below currently has exclusive write-access to
the SharePoint central database, therefore the task you're attempting
cannot run at this time.

Operation:          Backing Up SharePoint Portal Server Components
Current Action:     Backup in Progress
Start Time:         1/26/2006 9:42:38 AM
Percent Completed: 40%

A quick search of EventID.net turned up the solution. Apparently a previous backup had bailed and held a lock on the SQL database. The solution is to manually run the SPS Backup and Restore GUI and initiate a backup. When you start the backup you’ll be warned of a previously stalled backup and given the option to abort it. Upon which you should be back in business.

Posted by Steve at 11:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sweet mother of pearl! I knew it would happen eventually.

I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on this one!

Posted by Steve at 06:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

People are talking about “Web 2.0”. There’s plenty of debate about what exactly it encompasses. All I can say is that I think it’s primarily about having your information freed from any single system or physical application. It’s about information anywhere with ease of use rivaling or better than a traditional app.

At home I use a variety of systems, depending on what I’m doing and where, physically, I am in the house. For example:

• In my bedroom (yes, my bedroom… long story… the basement office isn’t done yet) I have a Mac and a PC
• At the kitchen table on the main floor I have a Janice’s Windows laptop
• When Janice is using her laptop, I can use Christopher’s PC in the playroom if he’s not using it (rare)
• In the basement I have a Windows 2003 server that I access via Remote Desktop
• In the basement I have a FreeBSD 5.4 server that I access via SSH and remotely via the web.
• At work and home I have a Tablet PC
• I have a Samsung i700 Pocket PC phone with Internet access

The dream scenario was supposed to be that I put everything on my Tablet PC / laptop and use that for everything. The problem is, I don’t always have the laptop around — say at lunch-time, when the battery is re-charging (or like, never because I hate my Toshiba M200 Tablet PC), but I still want access to my information. The dream scenario before the tablet was supposed to be that I accessed everthing via the web. Problem was, the web sucked for apps.

Now with the rise of some new technologies that make web apps much more friendly (a.k.a. Web 2.0, AJAX, etc.) I’m finally moving toward the true dream of information anywhere.

Here is an example of some “Web 2.0” applications that I”m using to supplant applications that tie me to a particular computer or operating system:

Gmail - Replaces Outlook for all my non work-related email.

Backpack / Tracks - Both are web apps written in Ruby on Rails. Backpack is a hosted app — a great place to take general notes and share pages with other users. I can also access it on my Pocket PC phone. Tracks is a “Getting Things Done” task manager that’s installed on my FreeBSD server so I can access it from anywhere. The only thing it’s missing is the ability to email myself a task, but I’ll add it myself if the devs don’t scratch it off their own todo list soon. Both replace Outlook for tracking tasks.

Instiki - Another Ruby on Rails app. This one is a wiki that I use as a general catch-all notebook. Wikis are a great way to manage a pile of ad-hoc information. It has supplanted OneNote as my catch-all organizer and is installed on my FreeBSD server.

Subversion - I use this to keep track of all my programming code and various shell scripts that I use for backup, etc. I have it front-ended by Apache on my FreeBSD server and available remotely over the Internet.

Trac - I use this to track development of various projects. It includes a wiki, web-based subversion repository, and ticket tracking system.

BlogLines - This is a web-based RSS aggregator. It replaced Newsgator in Outlook. Now I only have one place to keep my RSS feeds in sync. I can even read my feeds on my Pocket PC through the mobile version.

Flickr - I use this to manage my photo collection. Replaces Picasa, iPhoto, etc.

Delicious - One place to store all my bookmarks. Replaces Firefox / Internet Explorer bookmarks (as if I ever actually used them).

Grocs - This is my own home-grown Ruby on Rails app that I use to manage my shopping list. I can access it via the web from anywhere, and I can email items directly to the list. Rails makes it super-easy to create AJAX web apps with email integration. Janice can access it as well, and since she’s the primary grocery-getter she can simply print off the list at any time and I don’t have to bother her with my requests.

Of course, I access all of these using Firefox with a complement of plugins. Maybe I’ll post that list some day soon.

That’s my list so far, but I’m sure I’ll be adding more over time. Let me know if you have any recommendations.

Posted by Steve at 01:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)