SharePoint Served

Compare files with SharePoint library after file server to SharePoint migration

2019-10-29T01:03:00.000-07:00

#This script compares the folder contents with SharePoint site. This can be used to find out the files that are not migrated to SharePoint from File server
# Input 1 variable $siteURL : Provide the SharePoint Site URL; Format: "https://sharepoint.domain.com/HEM"
# Input 2 variable $filePath : Shared Drive path where the contents need to be compared with; Format: K:\HES\MAIN RECORDS
# Input 3 variable $docLibURL : SharePoint Document library URL where the contents to be compared with; Format: https://sharepoint.domain.com/HEM/Docs
# Input 4 variable $siteName: Used to suffix the export file name

Add-PSSnapin Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell -EA silentlycontinue
$siteURL = "https://sharepoint.domain.com/HEM"
$filePath = "K:\HES\MAIN RECORDS"
$docLibURL = "https://sharepoint.domain.com/HEM/DOCS"
$siteName = "HEM_DOCS"

#Get all files from shared drive
$sFiles = get-childitem $filePath -Recurse | where {!$_.PSIsContainer} | select-object Name, FullName, LastWriteTime, Length

#Get SharePoint site object
$myweb = Get-SPSite $siteURL

#Create a CSV file to export compare results
Add-Content -Path .\CompareResults_$siteName.csv -Value 'FileName,Source,Destination'

Write-Host Comparing files, please wait...

$TotalFiles = $sFiles.Count;
$counter = 0

#Get all files under the path specified
ForEach ($file in $sFiles)
{

#Prepare the file path for SharePoint based on the source file
$spFilePath = $fileFullName.replace($filePath, $docLibURL ).replace('\','/')

#Get file from SharePoint
$f = $myweb.RootWeb.GetFile($spFilePath);

#Check if file exists
If (!($f.Exists)){
$counter++
#Export the file information to excel
$Data = [PSCustomObject]@{
'FileName' = $file.Name
'Source' = $file.FullName
'Destination' = $spFilePath}
$Data | Export-Csv -Path .\CompareResults_$siteName.csv -NoTypeInformation -append
}
}

Write-Host Total files are $TotalFiles and missing Files $counter

Add-DatabaseToAvailabilityGroup : Exclusive access could not be obtained because the database is in use. RESTORE DATABASE is terminating abnormally.

2019-09-06T04:46:00.000-07:00

Environment: SharePoint 2016 OnPremise Farm

Issue: Error when adding content database to SQL Always on Availability group using the following PowerShell command

Add-DatabaseToAvailabilityGroup -AGName AGSP1 -DatabaseName SPContentDB -FileShare \\UTI01\AlwaysOnShare

Error: Add-DatabaseToAvailabilityGroup : Exclusive access could not be obtained because the database is in use.
RESTORE DATABASE is terminating abnormally.

Fix: Make sure the content database in the secondary database has been removed before executing the above PowerShell command.

Remove user permission from all documents using powershell

2019-08-20T04:26:00.000-07:00

Environment: SharePoint Server 2016 On Premise

Requirement: To remove specific user permission from all folder, documents from a document library.

Code:

$myweb = Get-SPWeb "https://sharepoint.domain.com/SM"
$mylist = $myweb.Lists | Where-Object { $_.Title -eq 'Documents' }
#foreach ($item in $mylist.Items ){

$account = $myweb.EnsureUser("c:0+.w|s-1-5-21-790525478-117609710-839522115-1145")
$Folder = $mylist.RootFolder

foreach ($SubFolder in $mylist.Folders)
{

if ($SubFolder.HasUniqueRoleAssignments)
{
if($SubFolder.Name -ne "Forms")
{
write-host "Removing account" $user "from FOLDER " $SubFolder.Name
$SubFolder.RoleAssignments.RemoveById($account.ID)

$query = New-Object -Type 'Microsoft.SharePoint.SPQuery'
$query.Folder = $SubFolder.Folder
$folderItems = $mylist.GetItems($query)
foreach($item in $folderItems)
{
if ($item.HasUniqueRoleAssignments)
{
write-host "Removing account" $user "from FILE" $item.Url
$item.RoleAssignments.RemoveById($account.ID)
}
}
}

}
}

"#######################################################"
#}

File not found when sharing document in SharePoint

2019-08-04T19:07:00.000-07:00

Environment: SharePoint Server 2016 On Premise Farm

Issue: Users are getting file not found error when they try to share a document in a document library. The Share URL is similar to below

This issue is only for some of the documents in the library.

Multiple site collections having this issue

Recently we changed the web application site URL

ULS log with error as "Website with name http://oldhostname.domain.com/SC1 is not existing"

https://newhostname.domain.com/http://oldhostname.domain.com/SC1/_layouts/15/DocIdRedir.aspx?ID=VQ47HSUWTZ35-2043059275-2304

Error message: something when wrong file not found

Troubleshoot:

Fix:

Since the host name was recently renamed, the document properties were still referencing to the old URL, (not sure why). Following PowerShell code is to update affected documents with new host name.

$spSite = Get-SPSite -Identity https://newhostname.domain.com/LIT

$website = $spSite.OpenWeb()

$list = $website.Lists["Documents"]

$items = $list.GetItems()

foreach($item in $items)

{

if($item["_dlc_DocIdUrl"].Contains('oldhostname.domain.com') )

{

$item.File.CheckOut()

$item["_dlc_DocIdUrl"] = $item["_dlc_DocIdUrl"].Replace('http://oldhostname.domain.com','https://newhostname.domain.com')

$item.update()

$item.File.CheckIn("DocIdUrl updated")

write-host $item.Name " updated"

}

SharePoint site slow

2019-06-30T22:26:00.001-07:00

Using SharePoint 2016 on premise;

Issue: SharePoint sites does not load and stuck on loading.

Error in event viewer of DB server:
SQL Server is not ready to accept new client connections. Wait a few minutes before trying again. If you have access to the error log, look for the informational message that indicates that SQL Server is ready before trying to connect again.

Troubleshooting:

Noticed that the CPU is stuck at 99% in SharePoint database server.
Increased the CPU in database server since the utilization was more.
The CPU utilization still fluctuates even after we increased the CPU.
The CPU utilization decreases when we tried killing the SQL Services.

Root Cause:

On further analysis, noticed that the database server CPU usage was consumed by search service and crawling activity of a Portal site (1 TB).
The incremental search service that was scheduled on weekend did not complete because of the huge database size of the portal.

Fix:

Stopped the incremental crawl. Stopping the search reduced the CPU consumption is normal and the sites are back
The search performance level was set to maximum by default. To avoid maximum CPU consumption by Search service, the performance level value has been set to Reduced.

Get all web applications and its databases using PowerShell script

2019-03-28T18:57:00.001-07:00

Environment: SharePoint 2010/2013

Requirement: To get the list of all WebApplication, Site Collection and its Content databases details

Solution:

Using PowerShell Script

$Today = [string]::Format( "{0:dd-MM-yyyy}", [datetime]::Now.Date )
$TranscriptFileName = "C:\\iLink\\AllWeb_ContentDB_$Today.txt"
Start-Transcript -path $TranscriptFileName

[System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("Microsoft.SharePoint") > $null
$OFS = "`r`n"
$farm = [Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPFarm]::Local
$websvcs = $farm.Services | where -FilterScript {$_.GetType() -eq [Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPWebService]}
$webapps = @()

foreach ($websvc in $websvcs) {
#loop through each webapplication
foreach ($webapp in $websvc.WebApplications) {
#loop through each site collection
$sites=get-spsite -limit all -WebApplication $webapp.URL

foreach ($site in $webapp.Sites) {
$ContentDB = Get-SPContentDatabase -site $site.url
$webappurl = $webapp.URL;
Write-Host "Web Application URL:" $webappurl ""$OFS
$webappname=$webapp.DisplayName

Write-Host "Web Application Name" -value $webappname ""$OFS
Write-Host "Site URL" -value $site.url ""$OFS
Write-Host "Database Name" -value $ContentDB.Name ""$OFS
Write-Host "Database Size" -value $($ContentDB.DiskSizeRequired /1024/1024) ""$OFS
Write-Host "Date Created" -value $site.RootWeb.Created ""$OFS
Write-Host "OWner" -value $site.Owner ""$OFS ""$OFS ""$OFS
}
write-host ""$OFS
}
write-host ""$OFS
}
write-host "Request Completed" ""$OFS

Stop-Transcript

Could not start the SharePoint Server Search 16 service

2019-01-21T18:09:00.002-08:00

Environment: SharePoint 2016 Enterprise Farm

Issue: Could not start the SharePoint Server Search 16 service in new SharePoint 2016 farm environment. The logon credentials was a search service account (spsearchserv)

Error: Windows could not start the SharePoint Server Search 16 service on Local Computer. Error 5: Access is denied.

Resolution: The issue is because the service was not having enough permission to the local computer. Adding the service account (spsearchserv) to the local Administrators group resolved the issue.

Manage Web Application grayed out

2019-01-10T21:49:00.001-08:00

Environment: SharePoint Server 2016

Issue: After creating a farm, when opened the Central Administration to create a new Web Application, the page is blank and the menu options are grayed out

Resolution: To resolve this problem, enable the JavaScript feature in Internet Explorer. To do this, follow these steps:

Open Internet Explorer, go to the SharePoint Server 2013 site, press Alt to reveal the Menu bar, click Tools, and then click Internet Options.
On the Security tab, click Custom level.
Scroll down to the Active scripting section, and then select Enable.

Reference: https://support.microsoft.com/gl-es/help/2752584/please-enable-scripts-and-reload-this-page-error-message-when-you-try

Configure azure disk caching

2018-05-04T04:36:00.000-07:00

The disk that are attached to a VM has a option to set cache preference to manage local cache that are used for read or write operations. This settings can used to improve performance.

There are three cache options:

None
Read Only
Read/Write

Following are the steps to set the caching preference using portal

Navigate to the azure portal and click Virtual Machines

Select the VM and click Disk from the blade

Click Edit from the menu and select the appropriate Host Caching from the drop down.

Click Save to save the changes.

Following are the steps to set the preferences using powershell

Powershell commands to update the host caching preferences.

Following example sets the caching to None

$vm = Get-AzureRmVM -ResourceGroupName cprg -VMName cpvm

$vm.storageprofile.osdisk.Caching="None"

Other options

$vm.storageprofile.osdisk.Caching="ReadWrite"

$vm.storageprofile.osdisk.Caching="ReadOnly"

Filter object using ES6

2018-04-26T22:24:00.000-07:00

Scenario:

Assume we have the following object

ingredients = { 'pizza': false, 'basil': true, 'olives': false }

Requirement:

Filter object based on its values using ES6/JS. We need to get the filter the above object which has value set to true.

Solution:

The object can be filtered using filter and map functions.

let filteredIngredients = Object.keys(ingredients)
.filter((value) => {
return ingredients[value] == true;
}).map((ingredient, index) => {
return ingredient;
});

console.log(filteredIngredients);

Output:

["pizza", "basil"]

Move/Copy subsite to another site collection using PowerShell

2017-10-04T00:22:00.001-07:00

Using SharePoint Server 2010;

Requirement:

We have a requirement to migrate SharePoint 2010 to SharePoint 2016. The existing SharePoint server 2010 have a subsite which has more subsites on it and the size is huge. We want to copy or move this subsite to a new site collection before we migrate the entire content to SP2016.

Note: Make sure you backup the existing content database and delete the subsite manually after verify the copy.

Solution:

Following powershell script is used to copy the subsite to new site collection which:

Create a new content database
Create a new site collection and attach to the new content database
Export the subsite
Import the subsite to the new site collection

PowerShell Script:

param

(

$webApp = "http://sp2010-prasath:3333", #Web Application URL

$DBServer = "sp2010-prasath", #Database Server to create new content DB

$DBName = "WSS_Content_Projects", #Content DB Name

$subSiteURL = "http://sp2010-prasath:3333/Projects/", #Subsite URL

$backupPath = "C:\\Sub Site Backup\\SandboxSubsSite.cmp", #Backup file

$newSCURL = "http://sp2010-prasath:3333/sites/projects", #New site collection URL

$SCOwner = "sp2010-prasath\spadmin", #Site Collection Administrator Account

$errMessage = ""

)

Try

{

#Create new content database

$errMessage = "creating new Content Database"

$scGUID = New-SPContentDatabase $DBName -DatabaseServer $DBServer -WebApplication $webApp -ErrorAction Stop

Write-host "Content Database has been created successfully!"

#Create new site collection in the new content database

$errMessage = "creating new Site Collection"

$template = Get-SPWebTemplate "STS#0" -ErrorAction Stop

$newSite = New-SPSite -Url $newSCURL -OwnerAlias $SCOwner -Template $template -ContentDatabase $scGUID.Id -ErrorAction Stop

Write-host "Site Collection has been created successfully!"

#Export/Backup existing subsite

$errMessage = "exporting subsite"

$export = Export-SPWeb -Identity $subSiteURL -Path $backupPath -IncludeUserSecurity -IncludeVersions all -HaltOnError -Force -ErrorAction Stop

Write-host "Subsite export successful"

#Import subsite to new site collection

$errMessage = "importing subsite to new Site Collection"

Import-SPWeb $newSCURL -Path $backupPath -ErrorAction Stop

Write-host "Import successful"

}

Catch

{

Write-host "Error occurred while" $errMessage

Write-host "Error Message:" $_.Exception.Message

}

Run the script in PowerShell

Storage Metrics using PowerShell

2017-09-22T05:15:00.000-07:00

Using SharePoint Server 2010, 2013;

Introduction

Storage Metrics in the Site Collection Administration page can be used to access the storage consumed by all your sub-sites and libraries. The same can also be retrieved using Power Shell cmdlet. The following script retrieves storage information of each subsites as the default feature has no option to filter the metrics data. Additional information like node level of the subsite, last modified date, Percentage consumed from total content size and storage size in KB/MB/GB is displayed. All these information are exported to a CSV format file which can be used to filter the data through excel. The script is tested in both SharePoint Server 2010 and 2013. This would be helpful in case if we are planning for a migration from SharePoint 2010 or SharePoint 2013 and we want to know the size of each subsites in a site collection. We used this to report to list down all the subsites with size as we want to do the migration after splitting the subsites to different site collection as the overall size of site collection went up beyond recommended size.

Code

#Get Size of sites and subsite in a SharePoint Site Collection

[void][System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("Microsoft.SharePoint")

#Get the size of a site

function GetWebSize($Web)

{

[long]$subtotal = 0

$subtotal = GetFolderSize -Folder $Web.RootFolder

$RecyclebinSize=0

foreach($RecycleBinItem in $Web.RecycleBin)

{

$RecyclebinSize += $RecycleBinItem.Size

}

return $subtotal + $RecyclebinSize

}

#Get the size of subsites of a site

function GetSubWebSizes($Web)

{

[long]$subtotal = 0

[long]$RecyclebinSize = 0

foreach ($subweb in $Web.GetSubwebsForCurrentUser())

{

[long]$webtotal = 0

$webtotal += GetFolderSize -Folder $subweb.RootFolder

foreach($RecycleBinItem in $subweb.RecycleBin)

{

$RecyclebinSize += $RecycleBinItem.Size

}

$subtotal += $RecyclebinSize

$subtotal += $webtotal

$subtotal += GetSubWebSizes -Web $subweb

}

return $subtotal+$RecyclebinSize

}

#Get the size of the folder

Function GetFolderSize($folder)

{

[long]$filesize = 0;

foreach ($file in $folder.Files)

{

$filesize += $file.TotalLength;

foreach ($fileVersion in $file.Versions)

{

$filesize += $fileVersion.Size;

}

foreach ($subfolder in $folder.SubFolders)

{

$filesize += GetFolderSize $subfolder

}

return $filesize;

}

#Gobal variable to storage the node level of a site/subsite.

$global:nodelevel = 1

#Function to get the node level of a subsite/site

Function GetNodeLevel($web)

{

if($web.ParentWeb -ne $null)

{

[int]$global:nodelevel++

GetNodeLevel $web.ParentWeb

}

$web.Dispose()

}

# Function to format in KB/MB/GB

function FormatBytes ($bytes)

{

switch ($bytes)

{

{$bytes -ge 1TB} {"{0:n$sigDigits}" -f ($bytes/1TB) + " TB" ; break}

{$bytes -ge 1GB} {"{0:n$sigDigits}" -f ($bytes/1GB) + " GB" ; break}

{$bytes -ge 1MB} {"{0:n$sigDigits}" -f ($bytes/1MB) + " MB" ; break}

{$bytes -ge 1KB} {"{0:n$sigDigits}" -f ($bytes/1KB) + " KB" ; break}

Default { "{0:n$sigDigits}" -f $bytes + " Bytes" }

}

#Set Site URL variable

$siteURL = Read-Host "Enter the Site Collection URL "

#Get the Site instance

$site = Get-SPSite $siteURL

#Get the total storage size of the size collection

$totalSize = $site.Usage.Storage

#Array to hold Storage data for all sites and subsites

$StorageDataCollection = @()

foreach($web in $site.AllWebs)

{

if($web -ne $null)

{

#Create an object to hold storage data

$StorageDataResult = New-Object PSObject

#Get the size of site and subsites.

$size = GetWebSize($web)

$size+= GetSubWebSizes($web)

#initialize the level variable

$global:nodelevel = 1

#Get the percentage of storage used by a specific web

$percentage = ($size/$totalSize).tostring("P0")

#Format the size in to KB/MB/GB

$formatSize = FormatBytes $size;

#To get the node level

$val = GetNodeLevel $web;

[string] $level = "" + $global:nodelevel

#Add the properties to show in the excel file.

$StorageDataResult | Add-Member -type NoteProperty -name "Site Name" -value $web.Title

$StorageDataResult | Add-Member -type NoteProperty -name "URL" -value $web.Url

$StorageDataResult | Add-Member -type NoteProperty -name "Size" -value $formatSize

$StorageDataResult | Add-Member -type NoteProperty -name "Last Modified Date" -value $web.LastItemModifiedDate

$StorageDataResult | Add-Member -type NoteProperty -name "Percentage" -value $percentage

$StorageDataResult | Add-Member -type NoteProperty -name "Node Level" -value $level

$StorageDataCollection += $StorageDataResult

}

$web.Dispose()

}

#export the detailed storage information to a CSV file

$StorageDataCollection | sort-object "URL" | Export-csv "StorageMetricsReport.csv" -notypeinformation

Write-host "Site Storage Report has been generated!"

#dispose object

$site.dispose()

Result

Run the script in PowerShell

CSV file will be created at the location where the script file has been executed from.

Use of SharePoint Designer 2013

2017-03-20T06:04:00.000-07:00

Following are the high level list of features and functionality that we can do using SharePoint Designer 2013

Edit Site

a.      Create list/libraries/Sites
b.      Create site pages
c.      Create Web Part Pages
d.      Create/edit Master pages
e.      Create custom new form
f.       Copy/move/delete items
g.      Create content types/columns/external content types/site assets
h.      Site Groups

2. Create Workflows

a. Workflow Actions

Dictionary actions

Coordination actions

Task Actions

Eventing Actions

b.    List Workflow
b.      Reusable Workflow
c.      Site Workflow
d.      Package workflows
e.      Loops in Workflow

3. Create external Data sources

a.      Connect to external database server and insert data into database
b.      Create SOAP Service connection
c.      Create Linked data source
d.      Rest Service connection
e.      XML file connection

4. Integrate the Visio designer into SharePoint

5. Call REST Web Services

Personalize this page menu is missing

2017-03-03T02:54:00.001-08:00

Version: SharePoint Server 2013

Issue: Personalize this page menu is missing on some pages.

Resolution:

If page is enabled with approval workflow, make sure that the approval status is 'approved'. Personalize this page menu will not show up if the Approval status of the page is in draft or pending status.

Programmatically creating a field from the Custom field type

2017-03-02T02:10:00.001-08:00

Environment: SharePoint Server 2013

Requirement: Programmatically create a field/column from a custom field type.

Following is a simple example with sample code to create a field from custom field type. In this example we are creating a custom field type (derived from SPFieldNumber) and add it to document library.

Note: I would recommend to refer to this MSDN post before this post to understand the entire steps involved to create a custom field type.

Creating the Custom Field Class.

The following example defines a custom control for displaying the custom field of type SPFieldNumber. The example overrides the OnAdded method to contain the logic while adding the custom field type in library/list.

using Microsoft.SharePoint;

using System;

using System.Collections.Generic;

using System.Linq;

using System.Text;

namespace Prasath.SP

{

class SampleHitCountField: SPFieldNumber

{

public SampleHitCountField(SPFieldCollection fields, string fieldName)

: base(fields, fieldName)

{

}

public SampleHitCountField(SPFieldCollection fields, string typeName, string displayName)

: base(fields, typeName, displayName)

{

}

//Event triggered when new field is added to the document library

public override void OnAdded(SPAddFieldOptions op)

{

base.OnAdded(op);

Update();

//Hide the field from new and edit form

this.ShowInEditForm = false;

this.ShowInNewForm = false;

this.DefaultValue = "0";

this.EnforceUniqueValues = false;

this.Required = false;

this.Update();

}

Creating the Field Type Definition

The following example registers the custom field type. This file must be named in the format fldtypes*.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>

<Field Name="TypeName">SampleHitCountField</Field>

<Field Name="TypeDisplayName">Total View Count</Field>

<Field Name="InternalType">SampleHitCountField</Field>

<Field Name="TypeShortDescription">Total View Count</Field>

<Field Name="FieldTypeClass">Prasath.SP.SampleHitCountField, $SharePoint.Project.AssemblyFullName$</Field>

<Field Name="ParentType">Number</Field>

<Field Name="ShowOnListCreate">FALSE</Field>

<Field Name="ShowOnSurveyCreate">FALSE</Field>

</FieldType>

</FieldTypes>

Creating a Field from custom Field Type

Following is the method to create field from custom type

/// <summary>

/// Create custom field as XML

/// </summary>

/// <param name="oId">Field GUID</param>

/// <param name="strDisplayName">Unique Display Name of field</param>

/// <param name="Required">Field required property</param>

/// <param name="strFieldType">Custom field type</param>

/// <param name="strFieldName">Custom field display name</param>

/// <returns>string</returns>

internal static string GetCreateFieldAsXml(Guid oId, string strDisplayName, bool Required, string strFieldType, string strFieldName)

{

XmlElement element = new XmlDocument().CreateElement("Field"); // Creating the “Field” element for the Inner XML schema

element.SetAttribute("ID", oId.ToString()); // Setting the GUID of the field from value passed

element.SetAttribute("Type", strFieldType); // Setting the Parent Type name of custom type registered in the “Fldtypes*.xml” file

element.SetAttribute("Name", strFieldName); // Setting the Type Display Name registered in the “Fldtypes*.xml” file

element.SetAttribute("DisplayName", strDisplayName); // Any unique Display Name

element.SetAttribute("Required", Required.ToString().ToUpper());

return element.OuterXml; // Returning the OuterXML to create the field as XML

}

//Code to custom field as XML from custom field type

String strFieldasXML = GetCreateFieldAsXml(Guid.NewGuid(), “Hit Count Field”, false, "SampleHitCountField", “SampleHitCountField”);

web.Fields.AddFieldAsXml(strFieldasXML); //here 'web' is a SPWeb object

Retrieve SharePoint Document Icons programmatically

2017-03-01T23:36:00.002-08:00

Environment: SharePoint Server 2013

Requirement: Retrieve SharePoint Document library icon based on the document type (extension).

Solution: Use SPUtility.GetCurrentGenericSetupPath to obtain the file path for sharepoint 2013 location and use System.IO.File.Exists() method to check if the file exists in the location.

Following method returns the file name and relative URL of the icon file location based on the extension parameter passed.

       /// <summary>
       /// Method to get the document icon path
       /// </summary>
       /// <param name="extn">document type</param>
       /// <returns>relative URL of the icon image file</returns>

public static string GetDocumentIconPath(string extn)

{

try

{

if (File.Exists(SPUtility.GetCurrentGenericSetupPath("template\\images\\ic" + extn + ".png")))

return "_layouts/15/images/ic" + extn + ".png";

else if (File.Exists(SPUtility.GetCurrentGenericSetupPath("template\\images\\ic" + extn + ".gif")))

return "_layouts/15/images/ic" + extn + ".gif";

else

return "_layouts/15/images/icgen.gif";

}

catch (Exception ex)

{

//Handle Exception

}

//Call the above method by passing the File Type column value of a document library item.

String iconURL = GetDocumentIconPath(document.Item["File Type"].ToString();

Force update analytics components timer job

2016-11-24T21:23:00.003-08:00

Issue: The popular items report for the document library are updated every 24 hrs and we cannot get the recent hits updated immediately.

Workaround: Following is the workaround to get the recent hits updated in the most popular items report for a document library

Prerequisite: Make sure that Reporting feature and Popularity Trends/usage analytics is enabled for the site

1. Make sure that the Search Analytics timer job is started.

$analyticsJob = Get-SPTimerJob -Type Microsoft.Office.Server.Search.Analytics.AnalyticsJobDefinition

$searchanalytics = $analyticsJob.GetAnalysis("Microsoft.Office.Server.Search.Analytics.SearchAnalyticsJob")

$searchanalytics.StartAnalysis()

Trigger the events by opening and downloading some files from document library

Make sure that the usage files @ C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\15\LOGS\RequestUsage are updated with the event details.

Events can be imported from usage to Event store by running the Timer Job manually using following PowerShell script

$usagejob = Get-SPTimerJob -Identity ("job-usage-log-file-import")

$usagejob.RunNow()

Make sure that the event store (C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office Servers\15.0\Data\Office Server\Analytics_<GUID>\EventStore) is updated with the event

Copy the current data event store logs to a custom folder location. In this example we have copied the logs to following location

15 Hive\Data\Office Server\Analytics_<GUID>\EventStore\20161124\MyEvents

Run the following PowerShell script to start the usage analytics

$uajob = get-sptimerjob -type microsoft.office.server.search.analytics.usageanalyticsjobdefinition

$uajob.DisableTimerJobSchedule()

$uajob.StartAnalysis("\\ilinksys-121\Office Server\Analytics_abce7b74-9002-404b-92b2-126bcddf451e\EventStore\20161124\MyEvents")

$uajob.EnableTimerJobSchedule()

Check the most popular items report once the job state is complete and you notice that the recent events are updated.

Retrieve Popular items Programmatically In SharePoint using SOM

2016-11-17T06:44:00.000-08:00

Introduction

In this article, we’ll see how to retrieve popular items based on view counts programmatically using SOM.

Prerequisite

Make sure that you have enabled the reporting feature under site collection features in the site to see the popular documents.

Code

The following lines of code retrieve the data and update the results in a Data table.

using System;

using System.Linq;

using Microsoft.SharePoint;

using Microsoft.Office.Server.Search.Query;

using System.Data;

namespace GetPopularItems

{

class Program

{

static void Main(string[] args)

{

DataTable table = new DataTable();
table.Columns.Add("ItemID", typeof(Int32));

table.Columns.Add("Name", typeof(String));

table.Columns.Add("Recent", typeof(Int32));

table.Columns.Add("Views", typeof(Int32));

string siteurl = "http://SiteURL/";

string docLibURL = "http://SiteURL/Shared%20Documents";

using (SPSite siteCollection = new SPSite(siteurl))

{

using (SPWeb rootWeb = siteCollection.OpenWeb())

{

KeywordQuery keywordQuery = new KeywordQuery(siteCollection);
var properties = keywordQuery.SelectProperties; properties.Add("ListItemID");

keywordQuery.QueryText = "Path:"+ docLibURL;

SearchExecutor searchExecutor = new SearchExecutor();

ResultTableCollection resultTableCollection = searchExecutor.ExecuteQuery(keywordQuery);

var resultTables = resultTableCollection.Filter("TableType", KnownTableTypes.RelevantResults);

ResultTable resultTable = resultTables.FirstOrDefault();

DataRowCollection dataTable = resultTable.Table.Rows;

for (var i = 1; i < dataTable.Count; i++)

{

DataRow datarowObj = table.NewRow();
datarowObj["ItemID"] = resultTable.Table.Rows[i][(resultTable.Table.Columns["ListItemID"]).Ordinal];

datarowObj["Name"] = resultTable.Table.Rows[i][(resultTable.Table.Columns["Path"]).Ordinal];

datarowObj["Recent"] = resultTable.Table.Rows[i][(resultTable.Table.Columns["ViewsRecent"]).Ordinal];

datarowObj["Views"] = resultTable.Table.Rows[i][(resultTable.Table.Columns["ViewsLifeTime"]).Ordinal];

table.Rows.Add(datarowObj);

}

The administration service is running so all administration jobs will be run in the timer service.

2016-11-14T21:37:00.000-08:00

Environment: SharePoint 2013

Scenario: Tried to run the following powershell cmdlet to execute all administrative timer jobs immediately rather than waiting for the timer job to run.

Start-SPAdminJob

Issue: Command failed and got following error message

Error: Start-SPAdminJob : The administration service is running so all administration jobs will be run in the timer service.

Resolution:

Go to Services.msc and stop the SharePoint Administration service and try again. Start the service once the command is completed executing.

Alternatively use net stop SPAdminV4 and net start SPAdminV4 cmdlet to stop and start the SharePoint Administration service

we don't have data for this item right now. Please try again later.

2016-11-11T00:45:00.000-08:00

Environment: SharePoint 2013 Enterprise On-Premise

Scenario: Trying to check the Popularity Trends report and most popular item in the document libraries.

Issue: we got the below error message when tried to export the popularity report or most popular item report by clicking the Usage under Usage Reports section.

Error: we don't have data for this item right now. Please try again later.

Resolution: Check if the SharePoint Timer job is running and Search Service Application is started. Create and configure Search Service application if not started already.

Refer to the following blog post for configuring Popularity trends.

https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/tothesharepoint/2014/01/23/view-and-configure-usage-analytics-reports-in-sharepoint-server-2013/

The required version of SharePoint Foundation or SharePoint Server is not installed on this system. The target version of the SharePoint project is 16.1.

2016-10-21T06:20:00.000-07:00

Scenario: To create and deploy a provided hosted app for SharePoint online.

Issue: Error occurred in Visual Studio 2015 on deploying solution

Error: The required version of SharePoint Foundation or SharePoint Server is not installed on this system. The target version of the SharePoint project is 16.1.

Resolution: Since this solution is targeted to SharePoint online, make sure that the host SharePoint site is provided with SharePoint online URL. This issue might occur when the site URL is pointed to SharePoint 2013 on-premise environment.

Architectural Style

2016-10-04T21:51:00.001-07:00

Architecture styles and patterns as sets of principles that shape an application. This following table describes and discusses architecture styles and principles commonly used for applications today. For each style, you will find an overview, with example and information that will help you choose the appropriate architectural styles for your application

Category	Architecture styles	Description	Example
Deployment	Client/Server	Segregates the system into two applications, where the client makes requests to the server. In many cases, the server is a database with application logic represented as stored procedures.	When a bank customer accesses online banking services with a web browser (the client), the client initiates a request to the bank's web server. The customer's login credentials may be stored in a database, and the web server accesses the database server as a client. An application server interprets the returned data by applying the bank's business logic, and provides the output to the web server. Finally, the web server returns the result to the client web browser for display. In each step of this sequence of client–server message exchanges, a computer processes a request and returns data. This is the request-response messaging pattern. When all the requests are met, the sequence is complete and the web browser presents the data to the customer. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Client%E2%80%93server_model Consider the client/server architectural style if: Your application is server-based and will support many clients. You are creating Web-based applications exposed through a Web browser. You are implementing business processes that will be used by people throughout the organization. You are creating services for other applications to consume. You want to centralize data storage, backup, and management functions. Your application must support different client types and different devices.
Deployment	N-Tier / 3-Tier	Segregates functionality into separate segments in much the same way as the layered style, but with each segment being a tier located on a physically separate computer.	In the web development field, three-tier is often used to refer to websites, commonly electronic commerce websites, which are built using three tiers: A front-end web server serving static content, and potentially some cached dynamic content. In web based application, Front End is the content rendered by the browser. The content may be static or generated dynamically. A middle dynamic content processing and generation level application server (e.g., ASP.NET, Ruby on Rails, Django (web framework), Laravel, Spring Framework, CodeIgniter, Symfony, Flask (web framework)) A back-end database or data store, comprising both data sets and the database management system software that manages and provides access to the data. Consider the 3-tier architectural style if: You are developing an intranet application where all servers are located within the private network. You are developing an Internet application, and security requirements do not restrict implementing business logic within the public-facing Web or application server. Consider using more than three tiers if: Security requirements dictate that business logic cannot be deployed to the perimeter network. The application makes heavy use of resources and you want to offload that functionality to another server
Structure	Component-Based Architecture	Decomposes application design into reusable functional or logical components that expose well-defined communication interfaces.	An individual software component is a software package, a web service, a web resource, or a module that encapsulates a set of related functions (or data). You already have suitable components, or can obtain suitable components from third-party suppliers. Pluggable architecture e.g., financial applications or business software, Salesforce’s Lightning Design System. Consider the component-based architectural style if: You already have suitable components, or can obtain suitable components from third-party suppliers. Your application will predominantly execute procedural-style functions, perhaps with little or no data input. You want to be able to combine components written in different code languages. You want to create a pluggable architecture that allows you to easily replace and update individual components.
	Object-Oriented	A design paradigm based on division of responsibilities for an application or system into individual reusable and self-sufficient objects, each containing the data and the behaviour relevant to the object.	E.g. system of the automatic teller machine, an order processing application Consider the object-oriented architectural style if: You want to model the application based on real-world objects and actions. You already have suitable objects and classes that match the design and operational requirements. You need to encapsulate logic and data together in reusable components. You have complex business logic that requires abstraction and dynamic behaviour.
	Layered Architecture	Partitions the concerns of the application into stacked groups (layers).	E.g. 1. Line of business (LOB) applications, such as accounting and customer-management systems. 2. Enterprise Web-based applications and Web sites. 3. Application for restaurant The main actors are: the customer, the waiter and the Chef They all have different responsibilities. It is good idea to build your site / application using Layered architecture if following principles are met Have clear separation of responsibilities — each layer being only responsible for itself Exposed workflow — as opposed to the spaghetti code we’ve all see way too many times Ability to replace one or several layers implementation with minimum effort and side effects. Your application is complex, and the high-level design demands separation so that teams can focus on different areas of functionality. You want to implement complex and/or configurable business rules and processes. Your application must support different client types and different devices.
Communication	Message Bus	An architecture style that prescribes use of a software system that can receive and send messages using one or more communication channels, so that applications can interact without needing to know specific details about each other.	D-Bus is an open source unix-based tool for inter process communication (IPC) that utilizes the message bus architecture. D-Bus was designed to address communication between applications in the same desktop session, and between a desktop session and the operating system. D-Bus uses both the call-and-return and event-based varieties of message passing [19] between applications to facilitate these concerns Consider the message-bus architectural style if: You have existing applications that interoperate with each other to perform tasks. You are implementing a task that requires interaction with external applications. You are implementing a task that requires interaction with applications hosted in different environments. You have existing applications that perform specific tasks, and you want to combine those tasks into a single operation.
Communication	Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA)	Refers to applications that expose and consume functionality as a service using contracts and messages.	E.g. Amazon's code base API (Amazon Web Service) which respond to web requests. Reservation system (Starwood Hotels and Resorts) Sharing of medical data (Harvard Medical School) Consider the SOA style if: You have access to suitable services, or can purchase suitable services exposed by a hosting company. You want to build applications that compose a variety of services into a single UI. You are creating Software plus Services (S+S), Software as a Service (SaaS), or cloud-based applications. You need to support message-based communication between segments of the application. You need to expose functionality in a platform-independent way. You want to take advantage of federated services, such as authentication. You want to expose services that are discoverable through directories and can be used by clients that have no prior knowledge of the interfaces. You want to support interoperability and integration.
Domain	Domain Driven Design	An object-oriented architectural style focused on modelling a business domain and defining business objects based on entities within the business domain.	E.g. Project Silk, Home loan processing system Consider the DDD style if: You are developing software of extremely high essential complexity (with a lot of correlated business rules). And/or software with clear future, where the Domain Model can outlast the infrastructure where the business requirements change fast

References/Sources:

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-in/library/ee658117.aspx?f=255&MSPPError=-2147217396

http://apparchguide.codeplex.com/wikipage?title=Chapter%206%20-%20Architectural%20Styles&referringTitle=Home

http://fewagainstmany.com/blog/introduction-to-layered-architecture-part-one

Windows Live ID as an Authentication Provider for SharePoint On Premise

2016-09-29T10:28:00.000-07:00

This article discusses the steps that enable the Microsoft Live ID as an authentication provider for SharePoint 2013 On Premise using Microsoft Azure Active Directory

Environment: SharePoint 2013 Enterprise (on premise), Visual Studio 2012, Microsoft Azure

SharePoint does not have a build in option to configure Windows Live ID as Identity Provider, so we need to Setup ACS (Access Control Service) and add Windows Live ID as identity provider. Azure Access Control Service can be used to authenticate your SharePoint 2013 users with Azure AD. In this configuration Azure AD becomes a trusted identity provider for SharePoint 2013.

The following figure shows how authentication works for SharePoint 2013 users in this configuration.

References:

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-in/library/dn635311.aspx

Following are the steps to setup Azure ACS.

Create a new Azure AD tenant

Create new namespace

Click Manage to navigate to Azure ACS Management Portal

To add a WS-Federation identity provider to the namespace, Click on Identity Providers link under Trust relationships section, click Add, select Windows Live ID and click Next button

To add SharePoint as a relying party application, click on Relying party applications link under Trust relationships section, click Add and provide details about your SharePoint web application.

Create a rule group for claims-based authentication

Click Add to create a new Rule Group, click Generate and make sure that a rule is created to the group to pass nameidentifier as nameidentifier, as illustrated by the following figure.

Map the new Rule group to the replying party application

Click on Add under Certificates and Keys section to configure the X.509 certificate.

Execute the PowerShell script provided in the Add Token-Signing Certificate or Key page to create a certificate.

MakeCert.exe -r -pe -n "CN=cpazureacs.accesscontrol.windows.net" -sky exchange -ss my -len 2048 -e 09/23/2017

Navigate to MMC > File > Add/Remove Snap-in > select Certificates > click Next > Select My User Account > click Finish to add Certificates in Selected Snap-ins > click Ok.

MMC > Expand Certificates - Current User > Personal > Certificates > select the appropriate namespace > select Export > click Next > select Yes, export the private key > select Personal Information Exchange > click Next > provide password and click Next > Provide Path to export the certificate and click Next > click Finish

Upload the certificate and Save

Reference: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg185932.aspx

Execute the following line of PowerShell script to create a trusted identity provider and add in to SharePoint.

$realm = http://ilinksys121.abc:3333/

#the sign in URL can be copied from Application Integration > Login Page Integration

$signinurl=https://cpazureacs.accesscontrol.windows.net:443/v2/wsfederation?wa=wsignin1.0&wtrealm=http%3a%2f%2filinksys121.abc%3a3333%2f

#Certificate location

$certloc = "D:\cpazureacs.cer"

$rootcert = Get-PfxCertificate $certloc

New-SPTrustedRootAuthority "Windows Azure ACS" -Certificate $rootcert

$cert = New-Object System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.X509Certificate2($certloc)

$NameIdentifier = New-SPClaimTypeMapping -IncomingClaimType "http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2005/05/identity/claims/nameidentifier" -IncomingClaimTypeDisplayName "UPN" -LocalClaimType http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2005/05/identity/claims/upn

$Email = New-SPClaimTypeMapping -IncomingClaimType "http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2005/05/identity/claims/emailaddress" -IncomingClaimTypeDisplayName "Email" -SameAsIncoming

New-SPTrustedIdentityTokenIssuer -Name "Live ID" -Description " Live ID" -Realm $realm -ImportTrustCertificate $cert -ClaimsMappings $NameIdentifier, $Email, -SignInUrl $signinurl -IdentifierClaim "http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2005/05/identity/claims/nameidentifier"

$sts = Get-SPTrustedIdentityTokenIssuer

$sts | Set-SPTrustedIdentityTokenIssuer -ImportTrustCertificate $cert

Set Windows Live ID as trusted Identity Provider for the Web Application

Grant permission to access the Web Application

Note that the user name is showing some characters and not the user name or email address. This is because the Windows Live ID does not provide user details and send only name identifier in the SAML Assertion/Response. You can check the SAML Assertion sent in the response using Fiddler tool.

In order to get the user name and email address, we can use the Live Connect API. We need to create an ‘application’ on Live Connect and get the client Id of your application. This client Id is used to get the user data with the help of Live SDK.

Following is the URL of the blog post by Martin Laukkanen, which has a sample code and steps that can be used to get the user name and email address of a Live ID user. You can extend the sample as per your requirement.

http://nearbaseline.com/2013/03/sharepoint-and-windows-live-id/

Screen shots after adding the sample web part to update the user details.

SharePoint 2013: Multi-level Approval workflow with custom code activity using Visual Studio 2013

2016-09-19T23:20:00.000-07:00

Learn how to use a sequential-style workflow to route a workflow to multiple level depending on the course the workflow takes.

Download Source Code

Summary

Demonstrates how to use a sequential -style workflow to route a workflow to multiple levels depending on the approval status. It also creates a subsite using a custom activity after approval by all level.

This basic workflow scenario supports a review and approval/reject process. The workflow starts when a list item is submitted. The workflow assigns a task to first level user group, who review the request, makes comments as necessary, and then concludes the task by either approving or rejecting the request. The workflow ends when the request is rejected. Additional tasks are assigned to the second level user group after approval from first level. On rejection, the workflow ends and on approval, a new subsite is created using the custom code activity added in the workflow.

Prerequisites

This sample requires the following:

SharePoint 2013 installation that is connected to a configured Workflow Manager 1.0 farm.
Workflow Manager 1.0 that has the March 2013 cumulative update applied.
Service Bus 1.0, with the Mach 2013 cumulative update applied.
Visual Studio 2013 and Office Developer Tools for Visual Studio 2013
Start following services

Service Bus Gateway
Service Bus Message Broker
Workflow Service Backend

Key components of the sample

CPApprovalWorkflow.sln contains the entire workflow.
CodeActivityLibrary.csproj contains the solution to add custom workflow activity that is used by the workflow
The feature folder contains the feature that adds workflow to the list.

Configure and build the sample

Follow these steps to configure the sample.

Make sure that you have a site collection created using the Developer Site template.
Create two SharePoint user groups named Legal Dept Members and Managers
Open the solution Visual Studio 2013.
Change the Site URL property on the project to be the URL of the developer site.
Build CodeActivityLibrary.csproj and copy the CodeActivityLibrary.dll and AllowedTypes.xml to following locations

C:\Program Files\Workflow Manager\1.0\Workflow\Artifacts
C:\Program Files\Workflow Manager\1.0\Workflow\WFWebRoot\bin
GAC

Build ApprovalWorkflowApp.sln.

Run and test the sample

Open CPApprovalWorkflow.sln, set the library/list GUID in the Elements.xml file for the list to which the workflow need to be added along with Workflow History List ID and Task List ID.

Build and deploy the solution to a developer site.
When the solution is deployed, open the site and list to which the workflow is added to.
Make entry in the list and submit.
Navigate to the Task list and edit the newly created item to approve the request. (1st level)
Check the Workflow log list to view the status of workflow
Navigate again to the Task list and edit the item to approve (2nd level)
Navigate to the Site Contents page to verify if the subsite is created successfully after approval of workflow
If there is any change in the CodeActivityLibrary.csproj project, make the changes, move the CodeActivityLibrary.dll and AllowedTypes.xml to following locations, reopen the Visual Studio and add the activity again in the workflow.

C:\Program Files\Workflow Manager\1.0\Workflow\Artifacts
C:\Program Files\Workflow Manager\1.0\Workflow\WFWebRoot\bin
GAC

It’s recommended to change the Assembly version each time when there is a change in code activity library to make sure that the latest change is updated.

Troubleshooting

If the workflow fails, it is likely due to following reasons:

1. Prerequisites are not installed properly

2. GUID is not correct

3. User groups are not created

Go to workflow page to check the error message.

Screen shots

New Site Request List (where the Workflow is added to)

Workflow page of New Site Request list. Workflow started after the list form is submitted.

New task has been created and task is assigned to Legal Dept Members group

Edit the task and approve/reject the request.

Workflow History with status logged in.

New Tasks has been created and assigned to Managers group

Edit and approve/reject the request (2nd level)

Workflow History with status logged in.

Subsite created after 2 level of approvals

Download Source Code

SharePoint 2013 Workflow error: Specified value is not supported for the |0 parameter

2016-09-19T00:27:00.000-07:00

Environment: SharePoint 2013, Visual Studio 2013 Professional, SharePoint Visual Studio workflow

Issue: The workflow activities are completed and the workflow is running fine, however, the internal status of the workflow shows as cancelled and shows the following error in workflow page

“Specified value is not supported for the |0 parameter in SharePoint Workflow”

Troubleshooting: Following is the error messages in the SharePoint log

System.NotSupportedException: Do not know how to create outbound claims for app only identity at Microsoft.SharePoint.IdentityModel.SPIdentityContext.<GetOutboundS2SClaims>d__6.MoveNext() at System.Collections.Generic.List`1..ctor(IEnumerable`1 collection) at Microsoft.SharePoint.IdentityModel.OAuth2.SPOAuth2SecurityTokenManager.IssueBearerTokenString(SPServiceContext serviceContext, SPSecurityTokenServiceConnectionInformation stsInfo, OAuth2EndpointIdentity endpointIdentity, SPOAuth2SecurityTokenType tokenType, IEnumerable`1 claims) StackTrace: at onetnative.dll: (sig=6aba1f5f-ccc4-4590-af00-b8ffe7fe99a0|2|onetnative.pdb, offset=28BE6) at onetnative.dll: (offset=152A9)

Watson bucket parameters: Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 4, ULSException14, 269cd32d "sharepoint foundation", 0f001144 "15.0.4420.0", 1f65804a "microsoft.sharepoint", 0f001144 "15.0.4420.0", 506723c5 "sat sep 29 22:07:25 2012", 00017b0d "00017b0d", 0000004c "0000004c", 760a1423 "notsupportedexception", 0018c5cc "agmxm"

Fix:

Looks like the issue is because of the insufficient permission to write to event/trace log.

Go to Central Admin>Monitoring>Configure diagnostic logging
Select "Reset to default" from the drop down of "Least critical event to report to the event log" and "Least critical event to report to the trace log" fields.
Click Ok to save

SharePoint Served

Compare files with SharePoint library after file server to SharePoint migration

Add-DatabaseToAvailabilityGroup : Exclusive access could not be obtained because the database is in use. RESTORE DATABASE is terminating abnormally.

Remove user permission from all documents using powershell

File not found when sharing document in SharePoint

SharePoint site slow

Get all web applications and its databases using PowerShell script

Could not start the SharePoint Server Search 16 service

Manage Web Application grayed out

Configure azure disk caching

Filter object using ES6

Move/Copy subsite to another site collection using PowerShell

Storage Metrics using PowerShell

Use of SharePoint Designer 2013

Personalize this page menu is missing

Programmatically creating a field from the Custom field type

Retrieve SharePoint Document Icons programmatically

Force update analytics components timer job

Retrieve Popular items Programmatically In SharePoint using SOM

Introduction

The administration service is running so all administration jobs will be run in the timer service.

we don't have data for this item right now. Please try again later.

The required version of SharePoint Foundation or SharePoint Server is not installed on this system. The target version of the SharePoint project is 16.1.

Architectural Style

Category

Architecture styles

Description

Example

Windows Live ID as an Authentication Provider for SharePoint On Premise

SharePoint 2013: Multi-level Approval workflow with custom code activity using Visual Studio 2013

Summary

Prerequisites

Key components of the sample

Configure and build the sample

Run and test the sample

Troubleshooting

Screen shots

SharePoint 2013 Workflow error: Specified value is not supported for the |0 parameter