IT Jack of All Trades

Business Process Management Notation Cheat Sheet Poster

2012-05-29T08:46:00.003+12:00

The latest version of the popular modeling language for business processes is in the final stages. There are new modeling constructs and two additional diagram types available in 2.0.

The new BPMN 2.0 Poster gives you a handy overview over the new constructs. It was created by the "Berliner BPM-Offensive" and is available for download for free.

http://www.bpmb.de/index.php/BPMNPoster

Scoped Site not being indexed or crawled in SharePoint 2010

2012-05-08T09:13:00.002+12:00

To resolve this:

Site Settings->Search and Offline Availability

Under Indexing Site Content select “Yes”

Related Error:

This item and all items under it will not be crawled because the owner has set the NoCrawl flag to prevent it from being searchable .

SharePoint 2010 Search Center Master Page with v4master look

2012-05-07T14:01:00.000+12:00

Thank God for this:

http://sharepointbrian.com/2011/04/sharepoint-2010-search-center-master-page-with-navigation/

Increase WebService call TimeOuts in Nintex Workflow 2010

2012-05-03T10:31:00.001+12:00

If the web service call times out you may be able to correct this by increasing the timeout value using the SetCallWebServiceTimeout NWAdmin operation. This operation is used to specify how long every call web service action should wait before causing an error due to a timeout. Note that having many workflows that remain processing in memory for a long time (for example, while waiting for a web service response) is not recommended.

Usage

NWAdmin.exe –o SetCallWebServiceTimeout –milliseconds numberOfMilliSeconds

Parameters

Name Description

- milliseconds The number of milliseconds the call web service action should wait before timing out. The default is 100,000 milliseconds (100 seconds).

Full details of the using NWAdmin can be found on Connect: http://connect.nintex.com/files/folders/technical_and_white_papers_nw2010/entry12004.aspx

Display Unique Permissions in a SharePoint 2010 Site

2012-05-03T10:29:00.001+12:00

http:///_layouts/uniqperm.aspx

Error 404 when browsing SharePoint 2010

2012-05-03T10:25:00.001+12:00

To troubleshoot further:

If a page element is missing—either a user control hasn’t been deployed or something else that needs to be in place for the page to compile dynamically is awol—you might be the proud owner of a 404 even though the page itself does exist.

HTTP 404. The resource you are looking for (or one of its dependencies) could have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable. Please review the following URL and make sure that it is spelled correctly.

After setting the SafeMode element’s CallStack element true in web.config, turning off CustomErrors, and setting the debug=”true” attribute on the compilation element, you’re possibly looking at a beautiful ASP.NET error message with no stack trace and not a lot to go on

NT AUTHORITY\authenticated users cannot be granted Permissions in SharePoint 2010

2012-05-03T10:23:00.001+12:00

When you want to add all authenticated users, you need to add 'NT AUTHORITY\authenticated users'.

But if you type it in and click Check Names, this will give you a strange name.

Solution:

You need to just type it in and press OK.

Session state can only be used when enableSessionState is set to true SharePoint 2010

2012-05-03T10:19:00.001+12:00

Session state can only be used when enableSessionState is set to true, either in a configuration file or in the Page directive. Please also make sure that System.Web.SessionStateModule or a custom session state module is included in the \\ section in the application configuration.

1. On all servers open the web.config of the web application then set enableSessionState to true and start the aspnet state service

Also comment out the following line

securitytoken.svc/actas is too busy SharePoint 2010

2012-05-03T10:17:00.001+12:00

An exception occurred when trying to issue security token: The HTTP service located at http://localhost:32843/SecurityTokenServiceApplication/securitytoken.svc/actas is too busy. .

An unexpected error occurred. Error 52068.

Exception details:

System.ServiceModel.ServerTooBusyException: The HTTP service located at http://localhost:32843/SecurityTokenServiceApplication/securitytoken.svc/actas is too busy. —> System.Net.WebException: The remote server returned an error: (503) Server Unavailable.

at System.Net.HttpWebRequest.GetResponse()

at System.ServiceModel.Channels.HttpChannelFactory.HttpRequestChannel.HttpChannelRequest.WaitForReply(TimeSpan timeout)

Resolution was re-provision the Security Token Service application.

PS C:\Users\sowmyans> Get-SPServiceApplication

DisplayName TypeName Id

———– ——– –

Access Services Access Services W… 77562ca9-5c80-45f4-9a21-6d86c013eb75

Secure Store Service Secure Store Serv… 5eceb8dd-ef3d-4c7d-b900-59436e4743a1

State Service State Service 54dfbd6d-dc83-48e9-9b79-a52853aad23d

PerformancePoint … PerformancePoint … 7556e63a-4c50-400c-8788-de6724b64ab7

Visio Graphics Se… Visio Graphics Se… ac3ab2e0-3952-473d-9901-001b050ef945

Managed Metadata … Managed Metadata … 32eeb3d8-b710-4635-81d5-771701072593

Web Analytics Ser… Web Analytics Ser… 9cb8fdbb-c87c-4c11-9c91-d89e04aec703

Excel Services Ap… Excel Services Ap… 8918fc32-b6f2-49ad-9d60-f0d7a866d85d

Security Token Se… Security Token Se… 033b6266-261d-4318-9a9a-36f0e390d346

Application Disco… Application Disco… 80a9e9de-88d0-4ce1-8108-380117fc1c11

Usage and Health … Usage and Health … 746c7339-1e8c-47ae-8583-ea80faae5fac

Search Administra… Search Administra… 944cfcd9-155e-41c0-82b7-95386d737fcb

Word Automation S… Word Automation S… c2a414b6-dfb7-4974-8eb4-6c2c6da65af0

Application Regis… Application Regis… e1131c58-0242-4aab-9156-1de22c2be8a4

User Profile Serv… User Profile Serv… 24f623c3-d368-4901-aee0-aed2f8e3f129

Business Data Con… Business Data Con… 2d21dffe-a188-42d7-b46e-04850805bcde

Lotus Notes Conne… Lotus Notes Conne… 115431c5-80e7-40d4-bdd8-7a7254951714

Search Service Ap… Search Service Ap… 1f69450e-c835-4219-9b46-7f444c204059

PS C:\Users\macevi> $sts = Get-SPServiceApplication | ?{$_ -match “Security”}

PS C:\Users\macevi> $sts

DisplayName TypeName Id

———– ——– –

Security Token Se… Security Token Se… 033b6266-261d-4318-9a9a-36f0e390d346

PS C:\Users\macevi> $sts.Status
Online

PS C:\Users\macevi> $sts.Provision()

Solution stuck at deploying or retracting in SharePoint 2010

2012-05-03T10:09:00.002+12:00

The first steps in resolving this would be to ensure that the SharePoint Administration service is running correctly and potentially try to restart it as described in the forum post. Since the solution was successfully deployed the latest version is actually already applied in your environment only the live framework has not been installed.

Since leaving it for a while eventually allowed the solution to deploy we recommend reviewing the deployment again after some time. Apart from this you can try reviewing the SharePoint logs for any SharePoint errors that may suggest why the deployment became stuck. Please note that any solution you try to deploy at this point will become stuck, this will not only affect our latest version. The way we deploy the solution has not changed between versions and the deployment is controlled entirely by SharePoint.

For issues with the solution package being stuck in deployment.

Can you please try following these instructions. Basically, this will cancel the deployment that is stuck in progress allowing you to start again. Unfortunately, this issue is occasionally seen with SharePoint Solution Packages.

First run this command which will show you all in-progress deployments, there will probably be only the one.

stsadm -o enumdeployments

Look for the JobId string corresponding to the Nintex workflow deployment job

and then run:

stsadm -o canceldeployment -id “you job id string here”

This should cancel the deployment, and if you go to the solution management pages in Central Administration the solution should be listed as ‘not deployed’.

From this point you can try again. We have found that it usually just works the second time; if not the SharePoint logs will need to be analysed to try and determine what is causing the failure.

This stsadm command will do a deployment, the same as pressing the deploy button within the Central Administration UI.

stsadm.exe -o deploysolution -n nintexworkflow2007.wsp -allcontenturls -immediate -allowgacdeployment

Hopefully when you run this command (again, all these commands can be run on the one front end server) it will install correctly.

If the solution package is listed as Error.

Can you please ensure the Windows SharePoint Administrative service is running. To do this please open the services management console (start->run then services.msc) and ensure the service is listed as Started.

Once this has been done you will have to execute the stsadm command:

stsadm.exe –o execadmsvcjobs

Please also check the solution information page by clicking on the solution package link in Central Administration -> Operations. There may also be additional information about the cause of your error.

Testing other simple solution packages in your environment.

There are two simple solutions that will help determine the scope of any issues you are experiencing with solution deployment. They can be used to confirm the issue is global to the environment.

The commands to add the solutions to the solution store is:

stsadm.exe -o addsolution -filename

You can use the Central Administration UI to actually deploy them.

WSP 1:

http://download.nintex.com/sl/supportfiles/TestingSolutionGlobal.zip

This solution deploys globally, it does not require a url to be specified.

It will create a file at C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\12\TEMPLATE called TestingSolutionGlobal.txt

If Solution 1 does deploy correctly, then please also try WSP 2 as well, which is slightly more advanced.

WSP 2:

http://download.nintex.com/sl/supportfiles/TestingSolutionForWebApps.zip

This solution does require a web application to be selected.

It will create a file at C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\12\TEMPLATE called TestingSolutionForWebApps.txt, deploy a file called SimpleSolution.dll to the GAC and add an entry to the web.config file for the web application as follows:

Note that the SimpleSolution.dll contains no code that will execute.

Using the 2 solution packages listed above can help determine if the issue is with the nintexsolutionpackage or all solution packages in general. If these solutions also do not deploy we suggest you contact microsoft for addictional support as this indicates an issue with your SharePoint envrionment, which we are not able to troubleshoot.

Possible causes of your deployement issue / log files to investigate.

Please check your SharePoint logs for the time the solution was schedule to be deployed. The logs are found by default at c:\program files\common files\microsoft shared\web server extensions\12\Logs.

A sample error from a log where we have previously seen this issue:

“The Execute method of job definition Microsoft.Office.Server.Search.Administration.IndexingScheduleJobDefinition (ID xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx) threw an exception. More information is included below. An update conflict has occurred, and you must re-try this action. The object IndexingScheduleJobDefinition Name=Indexing Schedule Manager on servername Parent=SearchService Name=OSearch is being updated by DOMAIN\username, in the OWSTIMER process, on machine SERVERNAME. View the tracing log for more information about the conflict.”

these errors suggest a critical timer job error relating to internal SharePoint problems persisting object to the database. These errors also mention ‘update conflict’ as experienced when attempting solution deployment. We believe this underlying issue could be preventing solution deployment and must be resolved.

When seeing errors of these kind you should be able to contact Microsoft directly for additional support as we are not equipped to resolve sharepoint deployement issues.

Cannot retract a solution. Solution stuck at retracting

Other symptoms: Cannot uninstall the LanguagePack 0 because it is not deployed

work around would be to cancel retraction and execute the following command:

stsadm.exe -o deletesolution -name testingsolutionforwebapps.wsp -override

Additional Things to Check:

Have you installed SP1 with/without June 2011 CU? Maybe that’s the problem. Try installing December 2011 CU.

"Access denied" to Site Collection administrator / Site Actions not showing

2012-05-03T09:47:00.001+12:00

One morning I kept getting "Access denied".

• I got access denied when I accessed that root of the site. http://site/

• I got access denied when I accessed the settings page http://site/_layouts/settings.aspx

• I got access denied when I tried to modify any file in SharePoint designer.

I was defiantly a site collection administrator.

Then the sun started to shine. It turns out that the site collection had been locked when I checked in "Site collection Quotas and Locks". Now why didn't I think of this sooner. I should have known better.

How Enable Audit Log Reports Option in SharePoint 2010

2012-05-03T09:42:00.001+12:00

STSADM.EXE -o activatefeature -name Reporting -url http://sitecollectionurl/ -force

How to Trim Audit Log in SharePoint 2010

2012-05-03T09:38:00.001+12:00

Please use the power shell below:

$site = Get-SPSite -Identity http://

$date = Get-Date

$date = $date.AddMilliseconds(1)

$site.Audit.TrimAuditLog($date)

or

$site.Audit.DeleteEntries($date)

Running large complex workflow randomly fails

2011-12-05T15:10:00.000+13:00

This problem might be caused by the large number of Types that are created during workflow compilation, for workflows with many local workflow variables. It is more common for workflows with multiple Approval Process actions, as each preconfigured Approval Process Action comes with a large set of local variables, for the different configurable property of the Approval Process.

RESOLUTION:

By installing a CU that includes the February 2011 CU or service Pack 1 which is the ideal solution, SharePoint administrators are able to prevent compilation of workflows whose compilation would affect the performance of the farm. The default value of the property "UserDefinedWorkflowMaximumComplexity" is 7000, but can be changed based on the needs and profile of the SharePoint farm. Try setting this property to a higher value using PowerShell:

$app = get-spwebapplication "[web app url]"
$app.UserDefinedWorkflowMaximumComplexity = 8000
$app.Update()

SPContext.Current.Web.Groups.GetByID() returns Unable to evaluate expression because the code is optimized or a native frame is on top of the call stack.

2011-12-05T15:03:00.000+13:00

If you get this error, this is probably a permission problem and should return Access Denied. Try running the code
under SPSecurity.RunWithElevatedPrivileges.

Also check the group's property as by default it is set to be read by members only. Set it to everyone and you'll be sorted.

JQuery to Open Links in a New Window

2011-10-11T14:43:00.000+13:00

The code below is very useful when displaying a SharePoint page using a minimalistic masterpage in an IFrame of CRM 2011 dashboards. So instead of the page opening inside the IFrame of CRM 2011, it will open a new page. Add code in the script tag:

$(document).ready(function() {
$('a').attr('target', '_blank')
});

Increasing Debug Time in Sharepoint 2010

2011-10-11T10:10:00.001+13:00

If you’re developing for SharePoint 2010 the Application Pool has a setting called Ping Maximum Response Time with a default value of 90 seconds. In effect, this means that debugging your Web Part, Page, etc. in SharePoint 2010 will only work for 90 seconds and then you get this:

"The web server process that was being debugged has been terminated by Internet Information Services(IIS). This can be avoided by configuring Application Pool ping settings in IIS. See help for further details."

The error is really self explanatory and very helpful. To resolve this:

- Click on Start->run->inetmgr

- Locate your application pool and select Advanced Settings on the menu on the right

- Modify the value of Ping Maximum Response Time (Seconds)

You can also increase the value for future Application Pools via Set Application Pool Defaults by selecting the root node of Application Pools in IIS.

Accessing Workflow Status in a List

2011-10-11T09:53:00.001+13:00

I have a CAML Query below that queries a list where the workflow for an item is not cancelled. There's an extra column in the list called Recruitment Workflow which is of type WorkflowStatus. This column is somehow automatically added by SharePoint. I tried to query using CAML using the query below:
Note That I'm using the Internal Name for Recruitment Workflow Column in this query.
<Query>
       <Where>
                  <Neq>
                          <FieldRef Name="Recruitm" />
                          <Value Type="WorkflowStatus">Canceled</Value>
                 </Neq>
         </Where>
</Query>

Weird thing is I'm not getting any results.
I also tried to query everything to test my insanity and query and test if the column exsist:

foreach (SPListItem item in recruitmentrequests)

{

item[“Recruitment Workflow”] = …

….

}

It fails on the underlined code and I got the error

item["Recruitment Workflow"]' threw an exception of type 'System.ArgumentException'

base {System.SystemException}: {"Value does not fall within the expected range."}

Message: "Value does not fall within the expected range."

ParamName: null

I also replaced the code with item[“Recruitm”] =

and I still got the error above. I also tried item["Recruitment_x0020_ Workflow"];

and it generates an error saying that column does not exist.

I also checked via code if that column exists using item.Fields["Recruitment Workflow"] and it can retrieve it.

So this is really puzzling me. The column is there but I cannot query it to get its value using CAML or .NET code.

It looks like accessing a workflow status is a special case and cannot be accessed via SPListItem["WorkflowStatusColumnName"]. You can access it using the snippet below:

using System;
using Microsoft.SharePoint;
using Microsoft.SharePoint.Workflow;
// This is Console Application //
SPSite site = new SPSite("http://sharepoint-site/");
SPWeb web = site.OpenWeb();
foreach (SPList list in web.Lists)
{
    foreach (SPListItem item in list.Items)
    {
        foreach (SPWorkflow workflow in item.Workflows)
        {
            try
            {
                Console.WriteLine("item url : " + item.Url);
                Console.WriteLine("workflow name : " + list.WorkflowAssociations[workflow.AssociationId].Name);
                Console.WriteLine("workflow status : " + item[list.WorkflowAssociations[workflow.AssociationId].Name]);
                Console.WriteLine();
            }
            catch (ArgumentException)
            {
                //ArgumentException is throwed if the workflow is not exist in the list column.
                Console.WriteLine("Workflow name : {0} is already not exist in List title : {1}.",
                    list.WorkflowAssociations[workflow.AssociationId].Name, list.Title);
            }
        }
    }
}

.NET Reflector Alternative

2011-06-29T07:53:00.000+12:00

Since Redgate charges for a tool which was free for years, an alternative was born:

http://wiki.sharpdevelop.net/ILSpy.ashx

Microsoft One Code

2011-06-23T19:42:00.002+12:00

Are you frustrated by the lack of code samples for a certain programming task?
Have you ever struggled to quickly get started with a technique?
Have you expected someone to write code samples for you based on your requests for free?
Is a one-stop code sample library for all Microsoft development technologies attractive to you?

If your answer is YES to any of these questions, the Microsoft All-In-One Code Framework is for you!

The Microsoft All-In-One Code Framework is a free, centralized code sample library driven by developers' needs. Our goal is to provide typical code samples for all Microsoft development technologies, and reduce developers' efforts in solving typical programming tasks.

http://1code.codeplex.com/

Enabling Wifi in Dell XPS 15 running Windows Server 2008

2011-06-06T18:48:00.000+12:00

If you got a Dell XPS 15 and you installed Windows Server 2008 because you want to use your beast to do some VM or development and you later found out that you cannot surf the web using your wifi here is the solution to solve this issue:

1.) Install the the drivers for Windows 7 for your card. You can download this from the Dell website

2.) In your computer, press windows key + R

3.) Enter appwiz.cpl

4.) Click on Add Windows Feature

5.) Enable Wireless Lan Service

6.) The icon for the wireless will still be grayed out but if you click it you will see your router

7.) Connect as normal

Get Free Exam vouchers with 20% discount with Free Secondshot

2010-09-28T09:01:00.001+13:00

Get Free Exam vouchers with 20% discount with Free Secondshot. This can be used for MCP/MCTS/Dynamics exams. Simply email the following details to vmaceda at hotmail dot com:

Country:
Number of Exam Vouchers:

Remap user permissions to objects in the database

2010-09-21T10:27:00.000+12:00

There's a time where you need to restore a prod database over a test database. Then all permissions in the stored procedures were gone. To fix this execute the following command:

EXEC sp_change_users_login 'Auto_Fix', ''

This will remap the database users login to the right objects.

**This must be done to all database user

Serious ASP.NET exploit

2010-09-21T08:51:00.001+12:00

A serious ASP.NET exploit has been discovered. It can be used to decrypt viewstate, remotely log in as any user and potentially gain control over a server.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yghiC_U2RaM

The exploit works by firing thousands of requests at a website, examining the returned error messages for information and eventually collecting enough information to derive the server's encryption key. Any ASP.NET website that doesn't return a static error page can be hacked using this method.

http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2010/09/18/important-asp-net-security-vulnerability.aspx

Free Defensive Database Programming E-Book from Red Gate

2010-06-18T17:15:00.000+12:00

"This is not a 'should have' book; it is a 'must have' book". Joe Celko. This book contains dozens of practical, defensive programming techniques.

http://www.red-gate.com/specials/Ebooks/Defensive_Database_Programming.pdf