.Net Tips and Tricks

Looking for a SVN client that integrates with #VS.Net 2010?

2012-01-27T09:55:00.004-05:00

AnkhSVN Subversion Support for #VS2010 is great...http://ankhsvn.open.collab.net/

Getting Session State in HttpHandlers (ASHX files)

2012-01-19T07:49:00.001-05:00

A reminder to myself and others, when you want to get access to your Session State from an ASHX or HttpHandler, you need to implement IReadOnlySessionState:

<% @ webhandler language="C#" class="DownloadHandler" %>
using System;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.SessionState;
public class DownloadHandler : IHttpHandler, IReadOnlySessionState
{
public bool IsReusable { get { return true; } }

public void ProcessRequest(HttpContext ctx)
{
ctx.Response.Write(ctx.Session["fred"]);
}
}

(http://www.hanselman.com/blog/GettingSessionStateInHttpHandlersASHXFiles.aspx)

Moving SharePoint Content Database Files To New Location

2012-01-19T07:43:00.001-05:00

Often you need to relocate your MOSS database files to a new partition, drive, or SAN, while leaving them attached to the same SQL Database Instance.

1. Prepare SQL Script

Alter the database file names using the scripts listed down below. Modify the scripts as appropriate for each database.

If the database has dashes in the name you have to put quotes around it.

2. Run the Script

Run the script in SQL Management Studio, or Management Studio Express. You should get a result indicating that the paths have been altered for the databases.

3. Stop SharePoint and SQL Server

Stop IIS, or the web applications your SharePoint site. Stop MSSQL Server through Management Studio or via the Windows Service.

4. Move the databases to the new location

Copy the mdf and log files to the new location (new drive, partition, etc).

Please copy and then delete, as opposed to trusting a cut+paste operation.

5. Start the SQL services

Start MSSQL either through Management Studio or via the Windows Service.

6. Verify access to each database

Verify the databases are working properly, you can just pull up the properties to the database in Management Studio.

7. Start SharePoint services

Start IIS, web apps, or whatever you disabled in step 3.

Go verify your SharePoint site is working.

8. You are Done.

Go get coffee, pat yourself on the back, etc.

The SQL Script:

ALTER DATABASE SP_WSS_SEARCH_DB

MODIFY FILE (NAME = SP_WSS_SEARCH_DB_log ,FILENAME = ‘D:\ Data\SP_WSS_SEARCH_DB_log.LDF’)

ALTER DATABASE SharePoint_Configuration_DB

MODIFY FILE (NAME = SharePoint_Configuration_DB_log ,FILENAME = ‘D: \Data\SharePoint_Configuration_DB_log.LDF’)

ALTER DATABASE “SharePoint_AdminContent_ce805cd0-0b6d-4ea1-8eaa-469b1ea0296a”

MODIFY FILE (NAME = ‘SharePoint_AdminContent_ce805cd0-0b6d-4ea1-8eaa-469b1ea0296a_log’ ,FILENAME = ‘D: Data\SharePoint_AdminContent_ce805cd0-0b6d-4ea1-8eaa-469b1ea0296a_log.LDF’)

Keep in mind that moving the database may cause SharePoint to perform a full crawl in place of a regularly scheduled incremental crawl at the next crawl interval.

Go here to get more information from MSDN.

(http://marcellotonarelli.wordpress.com/2010/06/03/moving-sharepoint-content-database-files-to-new-location)

Event log errors 6398, 7076, 6482 on Sharepoint Server

2010-04-05T08:06:00.002-04:00

Original blog entry: http://www.stationcomputing.com/scblogspace/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?List=ec6ce151-566a-499e-94a5-e153fafda404&ID=4

We have been researching the issues outlined in the above blog on our Sharepoint development server. We also requested the hotfix from MSFT. If the hotfix does not alleviate the issues, we will apply the steps outlined in the blog and let everyone know how it goes.

This morning came in following a good old weekend of madness and found the following errors in the Event View, repeated every 5 minutes and in the following sequence:

Error 6398 The Execute method of job definition Microsoft.Office.Server.Administration.ApplicationServerAdministrationServiceJob (ID 979c174b-76e3-4376-877c-c6740b35a7d4) threw an exception. More information is included below. Attempted to read or write protected memory. This is often an indication that other memory is corrupt.

Error 7076 An exception occurred while executing the Application Server Administration job. Message: Attempted to read or write protected memory. This is often an indication that other memory is corrupt.

Error 6482 Application Server Administration job failed for service instance Microsoft.Office.Excel.Server.ExcelServerSharedWebServiceInstance (a716c72c-13c3-4a94-a05e-9d166fb02402). Reason: Attempted to read or write protected memory. This is often an indication that other memory is corrupt.

Ok, so the search services are playing up again, and this time I reckoned it had to be the Office Search Server Search. So this is what I did to fix the problem:

1: Recycle Office Server Search (Operations / Services on Server / Stop), stsadm command line start on the lines of:

STSADM -o osearch -action start -role Index -farmcontactemail email@yourcompany.com -farmperformancelevel PartlyReduced -farmserviceaccount searchserviceaccount -farmservicepassword searchserviceaccountpassword -defaultindexlocation "locationoftheindexfiles"

Where:

email@yourcompany.com: This is the email address related to the farm administrator

searchserviceaccount: This is the account applied to Office Search Server Search

searchserviceaccountpassword: This is the password related to the Office Search Server Search account above

Locationoftheindexfiles: F:\Program Files\Microsoft Office Servers\12.0\Data\Office Server\Applications

2: Ensure the Tasks folder permissions (c:\windows\tasks) are set against the WSS_WPG (the search service account is a member of this group)

3: Reset the indexer to the index server (Central Admin, Shared Services Provider, Edit, Indexer)

4: Reset the crawl (Central Admin, Shared Services Provider, Search Settings, Reset all Crawled Content) – note you may have to wait whilst the indexer move is in progress though you will be informed.

5: Run a full crawl to update the index

Carried out the above, checked the event logs for the same errors after 10 minutes and no repeat of them.

Interesting though how these type of errors occur, since there doesn't appear to be any trigger for them. All other services appear to be ok. The only thing I can think of that may cause this is an error in the index itself, stopping certain data going to the index.

Set up a DHCP Server

2009-05-18T22:19:00.000-04:00

Original Post

Alright, in this walkthrough we are going to install a DHCP server on Windows 2003. Most of you may already have an DHCP server offered by a small router, or even a larger one, but you might want to use the one built into Windows 2003 because its easier to control one location (in a smaller Active Directory network) with most of the essential services. I am going to install DHCP services on the same system (I used in the other walkthroughs) as my Active Directory, DNS, and Certificate Services.

First things first, if you have any clients using DHCP on there computers and they are getting the addresses from the router, you will need to power off the clients (its easier to do it now, then clean them up later) and then login to your router (or device that is currently distributing DHCP addresses to clients) and disable the DHCP services.
Once you have the DHCP server disabled, we can work on the server.
Go to; Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> Add / Remove Programs
On the left click Add / Remove Windows Components and in the list of components select ‘Networking Services’ (do not check the checkbox next to it, just select it) and click on ‘Details’. In the new window check the box next to ‘Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)’ and click ‘Ok’ then click on ‘Next’ in the Windows Components Wizard dialog window. Windows 2003 will copy files, you may need your CD in the drive.

Now that DHCP is installed, lets configure it.

Go to; Start -> Programs -> Administrative Tools -> DHCP

You should be faced with the familiar tree view. On your left expand (server name). You may have an red arrow pointing down on the server box icon next to the (server name). This red arrow means the server has not yet been authorized in Active Directory. Lets do that now, right click on (server name) and choose ‘Authorize’. Give the server a few minutes and the DHCP server will be authorized in Active Directory. Close the DHCP Configuration Console and re-open it.

Go to; Start -> Programs -> Administrative Tools -> DHCP

To re-open the console, expand the (server name) and a green arrow should now appear next to the (server name).

Right click on (server name) and choose ‘New Scope’. Click ‘Next’ in the first window, and then you will be asked for a Name and Description for this DHCP Server. In the name you can put anything, but I will use ‘Testing Walkthrough DHCP Server’. I am going to leave the description blank and click ‘Next’.

Now you will need to enter your start IP Address and End IP Address. You can get these from the previous device that did DHCP on your network or enter some new ones. Just make sure that your server is in the same subnet as your new addresses. So, since my server is 192.168.100.2 I will use ‘192.168.100.100’ as the Start IP Address and ‘192.168.100.254’ as the End IP Address.

You can leave the ‘Length’ and ‘Subnet mask’ defaulted and click ‘Next’. You should now be presented with the ‘Add Exclusions’ since we should have none at this stage, choose the defaults (none) and click ‘Next’.

Lease Duration is our next page, leaving this at default is good, so just click ‘Next’. You should now be asked if you would like to Configure DHCP Options. We like options, so click ‘Yes’ I want to configure these options now’ (it’s the default) and click ‘Next’.

Router (Default Gateway) page; Enter the IP Address of your router to get out to the internet, im going to use 192.168.100.1 in this walkthrough. You can get your default gateway from the IP address properties on this server if you have internet access from this machine (you should if you did the other walkthroughs correctly).

You can get your gateway by going to; Start -> Run type in ‘cmd’ and click ‘Ok’. Then at the command line type in ‘ipconfig’ and read the line that says ‘Default Gateway’. Enter it in the Router (Default Gateway) part of the DHCP Options and click ‘Next’.

Now we get to configure our Domain Name and DNS Servers. In the ‘Parent Domain’ box type your domain suffix. We used this in the other walkthroughs about Active Directory and DNS.

Examples would be like…

Mycompany.work

Networkname.home

Now that you put your Parent Domain in the box, enter the DNS servers IP Address in the ‘IP Address’ box and click ‘Add’ or you can type the servers name and click ‘Add’. If you are installing this DHCP server on your Active Directory server we setup in the last walkthroughs then you can just use the servers IP Address as the DNS server to give to clients, since its what should be done anyway, so the clients find the Active Directory server using DNS.

Click ‘Next’ when your done with this page…

The next page contains WINS, we don’t use WINS anymore so just click ‘Next’. (WINS Sucks…..)

Now you will be asked if you want to activate this scope, choose ‘Yes’ and click ‘Next’ and then ‘Finish’.

You may now turn your clients back on, they should now get addresses from the DHCP server running on your Windows 2003 Box.

(You may also need to run ‘ipconfig /renew’ on some clients if they don’t get an address from the server after the reboot.)

Installing a certificate server

2009-05-18T22:17:00.000-04:00

Original post

In this tutorial we will setup Certificate Services on a Windows 2003 server. I am going to use the same server as I did with the Active Directory; Windows 2003 walkthrough, so my installation will be with an already completed Active Directory Domain. If you do not have Active Directory, I recommend you do before using Certificate Services, as they do like working hand-in-hand.

First, let’s load up our server and login as the Administrator. When we are at the desktop, let’s to go Start -> Settings -> Control Panel then open ‘Add / Remove Programs’. On you’re left click on ‘Add / Remove Windows Components’. When it is fully loaded, find ‘Certificate Services’ in the list and check the checkbox next to it. A pop-up dialog will come up informing you that you cannot change the name of the machine and such when you have become an Certificate Authority, so click ‘Yes’ then click ‘Next’.

Now we are given the opportunity to choose what type of CA (Certificate Authority) we want to setup. Since this is a clean install of Windows 2003 and we don’t have any certificate servers I am going to choose the default, ‘Enterprise root CA’ and click ‘Next’.

We now have to enter Identifying Information for this CA. In the Common Name box, put a short name to describe your network or a company name, for my purposes in this document I will use Testing Walkthrough as the ‘Common name for this CA’, and click ‘Next’.

The next area you will have to configure is the Certificate Database Settings, since these are just places to store files; the defaults are good for us. Let’s continue, click ‘Next’.

Windows should start copying files, and you will probably need your Windows 2003 CD in the drive to continue.

During the copy, you may come to a popup stating that Internet Information Services is not installed on this computer, and that we will need it for Web Enrollment Support. Since I think this is usually a good system to use (Web Enrollment) lets do just that.

Click ‘Ok’ on this dialog and let Windows finish the install of Certificate Services, when it is complete you will be able to click ‘Finish’ to close the Windows Components Wizard.

You should now be back at the Add / Remove Programs window and you can once again click on ‘Add / Remove Windows Components’. In the list select Application Server (do not click the checkbox next to it) and click ‘Details’. In this second box choose ‘Internet Information Services (IIS) and it will choose ‘Enable network COM+ access’ for you. Click ‘Ok’ then click ‘Next’ on the Windows Component Wizard. Windows will now copy files from the CD and finish that installation.

Once the Window that is installing the components disappears you can close any other windows that are open, and return to the Desktop.

Let’s check our settings now…

Open; Start -> Programs -> Administrative Tools

You should have some new items! Internet Information Services and Certification Authority.

Open Certification Authority. On the left you will have the normal tree view, click on the item you named your CA when setting up the CA. Mine was ‘Testing Walkthrough’ under here you should have a ‘folder’ called ‘Issued Certificates’, click on it and on the right you should have at least one issued to the CA itself.

Most of what the Certificate Server does it automated through IIS and Active Directory. So, your job is done. Close all Windows and logout.

Enjoy.

Links from SQL PASS Community Summit 2008

2009-05-13T07:38:00.003-04:00

Check out the links Lukasz has complied from SQL Pass 08....

It has been a while

2009-04-21T08:36:00.002-04:00

I just wanted every one to know I am still around...just been busy with another project. Sharepoint is still on my mind but a co-worker and brilliant programmer introduced me to NHibernate and it really altered my thinking. I hope to have some new posts for SharePoint in the coming months but I will also be adding other content to this blog that I hope readers will appreciate and learn from .

Error message in Bug Track Template: An error occurred during the processing of . The resource object with key 'ResolveBugPageTitle' was not found.

2008-10-07T13:01:00.002-04:00

When you use the Bug Tracking Template from the WSS 3.0 40 templates, you would receive the following error when you go to resolve a bug: "An error occurred during the processing of . The resource object with key 'ResolveBugPageTitle' was not found." This error is caused by missing locale resource files starting with the filename "tsa.*" in the web directory "{wwwroot}\wss\VirtualDirectories\{your website port number}\App_GlobalResources".

Resolution:
1) Browse the directory in 12 hive.
2) Copy all the "tsa.*" files into your website directory "{wwwroot}\wss\VirtualDirectories\{your website port number}\App_GlobalResources"

The bug tracking tempate should now be working again. The tsa files are locale resource files.

Global.asax in VS.NET 2005 not allowing breakpoints

2008-08-01T08:31:00.004-04:00

I have spent the last 2 days trouble shooting my VS.NET IDE. When I opened it up the other day my project was displaying strange errors in the global.asax. I searched Google and MSFT Support looking for why global might not debug but came up empty. Then I created a brand new website and added a global file through the IDE...same issue. Hmmm...now I am thinking it is the IDE being flaky.
I opened a MSFT support case after uninstalling and reinstalling the IDE also did not help. 2 hours later, the MSFT tech still was not able to help me and escalated my issue to the next level. I am still waiting on that call. Being a bit persistent, I did not want to sit idle so this morning, with fresh eyes and a good deal of sleep under my belt, I resumed my quest for the answer.

FINALLY - THE ANSWER - I ran across an article on MSDN: Visual Studio 2005 IDE Tips and Tricks...bingo:

devenv /resetuserdata

"You can use this switch to reset Visual Studio to its out-of-box state if Visual Studio ever runs into a damaged state that you cannot recover from. Examples of these problems may be a corrupted window layout file, corrupted menu customization file, or corrupted keyboard shortcuts file. Disclaimer: you will lose all your environment settings and customizations if you use this switch. It is for this reason that this switch is not officially supported and Microsoft does not advertise this switch to the public (you won't see this switch if you type devenv.exe /? in the command prompt). You should only use this switch as the last resort if you are experiencing an environment problem, and make sure you back up your environment settings by exporting them before using this switch."

And it is fixed! Now to convince MSFT to return my suppport incident since I figured it out before the tech did.

Below is a screen shot of what the issue looked like in a pristine web application.

Heather Solomon: Branding SharePoint

2008-07-16T08:23:00.002-04:00

Heather Solomon has created a great series on her blog titled "Branding SharePoint". This is definitely a required reading for developers and GAs serious about giving their corporate SharePoint instances an identity.

Branding SharePoint - Part 1: Designing your SharePoint Site
Branding SharePoint - Part 2: Creating the Design in SharePoint
Branding SharePoint - Part 3: Changing the look and feel of SharePoint components - Intro and Web Parts

Watch for more articles in this series via her RSS feed

Enhanced Rich Text Field Extended

2008-07-16T08:20:00.002-04:00

Check out the CodePlex project to create the Enhanced Rich Text Field that includes not only the normal rich text options but the ability to include HTML code snippets and the ability to use the EMBED tag (for flash).

http://www.codeplex.com/erte

Creating Re-usable Email Templates for SharePoint Designer 2007 Workflows

2008-07-16T08:18:00.001-04:00

Jordan Hull has a great article on creating reusable email templates for SPD workflows.

Check it out

6/19/2008 Sites and Blogs I Am Reading

2008-06-19T08:45:00.004-04:00

Virtualization-Lite: A Small Step and Giant Leap
Firefox 2 and 3 side by side
Prefix-casting versus as-casting in C#
SproutCore: A Javascript Framework
Walk on AIR: Create a To-do List in Five Minutes
Gears 0.3 Released, and Google I/O videos on Ajax related content available
Vista-like Ajax Calendar version 2
Obsurvey: Ajax-heavy Survey Engine
Pingdom checks on JavaScript usage on top sites
SQL Server 2005 & Visual Studio 2008
SharePoint To Run Enterprise 2.0?
SharePoint Document libraries: Specify which items users can edit/delete - explained - Part 1
MS Sharepoint developer site
SharePoint Debugging and Logging Tips and Tricks
Top 25 SharePoint Focused Projects on CodePlex for Download
Office SharePoint 2009 - give me a break - i just got ramped up for 2007...its like the Microsoft .NET Framework and SharePoint have the lifespan of an ant. We barely got SPS SP1 installed and now there is work of a completely new version on the horizon. I sure hope MSFT has a solid upgrade path from 2007 to 2009!

6/11/2008 SharePoint Links

2008-06-11T08:02:00.003-04:00

Adjusting SharePoint Search for Large Files
SharePoint Branding
Calculating an Aging Column in SharePoint 2007
Managing the Code when Customizing SharePoint
How to start as a SharePoint developer

Memory Read/Write Errors on a 64-Bit SharePoint System

2008-05-14T11:38:00.002-04:00

KBAlertz is a valuable tool for administrators and developers. We were experiencing strange errors on our 64-bit SharePoint farm. We were receiving seemingly random memory read/write errors. Of course we chased our tails for a couple of days by ordering replacement memory sticks for our server...but it still kept throwing the errors.

Check out http://support.microsoft.com/kb/946517 - this fixed our issues.

SharePoint 2007 Permissions Matrix

2008-05-12T10:01:00.002-04:00

Mark Arend has created matrix showing the out of the box permissions in SharePoint 2007.

This matrix will help administrators better organize their users permissions as to what they can see in the Site Actions and Site Settings menu.

Download Matrix Here.

Automating the install of the SharePoint Application Templates

2008-04-30T08:59:00.003-04:00

One of the things we do for our site administrators is load all the Microsoft SharePoint and WSS application templates. This gives them a broad range of templates to suite their needs. Installing these templates is time consuming so I created a batch file that automates this process and I just wanted to share it with my readers.

Copy the following code into a text file and rename the file extension to .bat.

REM **********************BEGIN BAT FILE**********************
ECHO ON
REM AllTemplates.exe has to be on the logged-in users desktop

%USERPROFILE%\Desktop\AllTemplates.exe /T:%TEMP% /C /Q

set SPAdminTool=%CommonProgramFiles%\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe

"%SPAdminTool%" -o addsolution -filename "%TEMP%\ApplicationTemplateCore.wsp"
"%SPAdminTool%" -o addsolution -filename "%TEMP%\AbsenceVacationSchedule.wsp"
"%SPAdminTool%" -o addsolution -filename "%TEMP%\BudgetingTrackingMultipleProjects.wsp"
"%SPAdminTool%" -o addsolution -filename "%TEMP%\BugDatabase.wsp"
"%SPAdminTool%" -o addsolution -filename "%TEMP%\CallCenter.wsp"
"%SPAdminTool%" -o addsolution -filename "%TEMP%\ChangeRequest.wsp"
"%SPAdminTool%" -o addsolution -filename "%TEMP%\ComplianceProcessSupport.wsp"
"%SPAdminTool%" -o addsolution -filename "%TEMP%\ContactsManagement.wsp"
"%SPAdminTool%" -o addsolution -filename "%TEMP%\DocumentLibraryReview.wsp"
"%SPAdminTool%" -o addsolution -filename "%TEMP%\EventPlanning.wsp"
"%SPAdminTool%" -o addsolution -filename "%TEMP%\ExpenseReimbursementApproval.wsp"
"%SPAdminTool%" -o addsolution -filename "%TEMP%\HelpDesk.wsp"
"%SPAdminTool%" -o addsolution -filename "%TEMP%\InventoryTracking.wsp"
"%SPAdminTool%" -o addsolution -filename "%TEMP%\ITTeamWorkspace.wsp"
"%SPAdminTool%" -o addsolution -filename "%TEMP%\JobRequisition.wsp"
"%SPAdminTool%" -o addsolution -filename "%TEMP%\KnowledgeBase.wsp"
"%SPAdminTool%" -o addsolution -filename "%TEMP%\LendingLibrary.wsp"
"%SPAdminTool%" -o addsolution -filename "%TEMP%\PhysicalAssetTracking.wsp"
"%SPAdminTool%" -o addsolution -filename "%TEMP%\ProjectTrackingWorkspace.wsp"
"%SPAdminTool%" -o addsolution -filename "%TEMP%\RoomEquipmentReservations.wsp"
"%SPAdminTool%" -o addsolution -filename "%TEMP%\SalesLeadPipeline.wsp"

"%SPAdminTool%" -o deploysolution -name "ApplicationTemplateCore.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate
"%SPAdminTool%" -o deploysolution -name "AbsenceVacationSchedule.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate
"%SPAdminTool%" -o deploysolution -name "BudgetingTrackingMultipleProjects.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate
"%SPAdminTool%" -o deploysolution -name "BugDatabase.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate
"%SPAdminTool%" -o deploysolution -name "CallCenter.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate
"%SPAdminTool%" -o deploysolution -name "ChangeRequest.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate
"%SPAdminTool%" -o deploysolution -name "ComplianceProcessSupport.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate
"%SPAdminTool%" -o deploysolution -name "ContactsManagement.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate
"%SPAdminTool%" -o deploysolution -name "DocumentLibraryReview.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate
"%SPAdminTool%" -o deploysolution -name "EventPlanning.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate
"%SPAdminTool%" -o deploysolution -name "ExpenseReimbursementApproval.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate
"%SPAdminTool%" -o deploysolution -name "HelpDesk.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate
"%SPAdminTool%" -o deploysolution -name "InventoryTracking.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate
"%SPAdminTool%" -o deploysolution -name "ITTeamWorkspace.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate
"%SPAdminTool%" -o deploysolution -name "JobRequisition.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate
"%SPAdminTool%" -o deploysolution -name "KnowledgeBase.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate
"%SPAdminTool%" -o deploysolution -name "LendingLibrary.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate
"%SPAdminTool%" -o deploysolution -name "PhysicalAssetTracking.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate
"%SPAdminTool%" -o deploysolution -name "ProjectTrackingWorkspace.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate
"%SPAdminTool%" -o deploysolution -name "RoomEquipmentReservations.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate
"%SPAdminTool%" -o deploysolution -name "SalesLeadPipeline.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate

"%SPAdminTool%" -o addtemplate -filename "%TEMP%\BoardDirectors.stp" -title "BoardDirectors.stp"
"%SPAdminTool%" -o addtemplate -filename "%TEMP%\BusinessPerformance.stp" -title "BusinessPerformance.stp"
"%SPAdminTool%" -o addtemplate -filename "%TEMP%\CaseManagement.stp" -title "CaseManagement.stp"
"%SPAdminTool%" -o addtemplate -filename "%TEMP%\ClassroomManagement.stp" -title "ClassroomManagement.stp"
"%SPAdminTool%" -o addtemplate -filename "%TEMP%\ClinicalTrial.stp" -title "ClinicalTrial.stp"
"%SPAdminTool%" -o addtemplate -filename "%TEMP%\CompetitiveAnalysis.stp" -title "CompetitiveAnalysis.stp"
"%SPAdminTool%" -o addtemplate -filename "%TEMP%\DiscussionDatabase.stp" -title "DiscussionDatabase.stp"
"%SPAdminTool%" -o addtemplate -filename "%TEMP%\DisputedInvoice.stp" -title "DisputedInvoice.stp"
"%SPAdminTool%" -o addtemplate -filename "%TEMP%\EmployeeActivities.stp" -title "EmployeeActivities.stp"
"%SPAdminTool%" -o addtemplate -filename "%TEMP%\EmployeeBenefits.stp" -title "EmployeeBenefits.stp"
"%SPAdminTool%" -o addtemplate -filename "%TEMP%\EmployeeTraining.stp" -title "EmployeeTraining.stp"
"%SPAdminTool%" -o addtemplate -filename "%TEMP%\EquityResearch.stp" -title "EquityResearch.stp"
"%SPAdminTool%" -o addtemplate -filename "%TEMP%\ManufacturingProcess.stp" -title "ManufacturingProcess.stp"
"%SPAdminTool%" -o addtemplate -filename "%TEMP%\MarketingCampaign.stp" -title "MarketingCampaign.stp"
"%SPAdminTool%" -o addtemplate -filename "%TEMP%\NewStoreOpening.stp" -title "NewStoreOpening.stp"
"%SPAdminTool%" -o addtemplate -filename "%TEMP%\ProductPlanning.stp" -title "ProductPlanning.stp"
"%SPAdminTool%" -o addtemplate -filename "%TEMP%\RequestForProposal.stp" -title "RequestForProposal.stp"
"%SPAdminTool%" -o addtemplate -filename "%TEMP%\SportsLeague.stp" -title "SportsLeague.stp"
"%SPAdminTool%" -o addtemplate -filename "%TEMP%\TeamWorkSite.stp" -title "TeamWorkSite.stp"
"%SPAdminTool%" -o addtemplate -filename "%TEMP%\TimecardManagement.stp" -title "TimecardManagement.stp"

"%SPAdminTool%" -o execadmsvcjobs

PAUSE
REM **********************END BAT FILE**********************

Escape Characters in SharePoint

2008-04-24T09:14:00.010-04:00

This is more for my own information...

The format SharePoint expects is:

_x00[the sharepoint escape code from below]_

Character	SharePoint Escape Code
underscore	2d
dash	27_
[space]	20
<	3c
>	3E
#	23
%	25
{	7B
}	7D
\|	7C
\	5C
^	5E
~	7E
[	5B
]	5D
`	60
;	3B
/	2F
?	3F
:	3A
@	40
=	3D
&	26
$	24

Five Ways to Manage a SharePoint Site Collection with SharePoint

2008-04-09T09:09:00.003-04:00

EndUserSharePoint.com has a very interesting article on managing SharePoint site collections within the enterprise. My employer is currently in the initial stages of creating the topology of our SharePoint portal and this is an interesting take on governance. Definitely a good read.

Check out the article here...

Creating Custom SharePoint Timer Jobs

2008-04-07T14:51:00.002-04:00

Andrew Connell does a great job laying out in detail the steps to create a SharePoint time job. Classic .Net developers can equate this to a service we would have created to act on a business rule at a specified increment in time. Our shop implemented this sort of functionality for daily reports, email alerts and other admin alerts.

Check out his article...

SharePoint 2007 Link List 4/6/2008

2008-04-06T20:23:00.005-04:00

Style up your Best Bets results in SharePoint
http://clintcherry.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!AEC0DCBC460E45B9!563.entry

Creating custom Views on Surveyshttp://www.sharepointblogs.com/ggill1970/archive/2008/04/02/creating-custom-views-on-surveys.aspx

Hidden Content Types and Site Columns in SharePoint
http://clintcherry.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!AEC0DCBC460E45B9!566.entry

How to create a custom e-mail alert alert handler in Microsoft Office SharePoint Server
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/948321/en-us

SPSite security context and the SPUser
http://daniellarson.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!D3543C5837291E93!1774.entry

SharePoint Products and Technologies Customization Best Practices
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb861954.aspx

Applying unique constraints to SharePoint list columns

2008-04-03T09:24:00.001-04:00

This is a much needed solution in SharePoint. Next up, foreign keys...
Nice job Scott.
http://scothillier.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!8F5DEA8AEA9E6FBB!293.entry

Question: STSADM CreateWeb Does not Add to QuickLaunch

2008-04-01T13:58:00.002-04:00

We have been in the process of creating scripts for deploying our SharePoint portal. We first scripted out the Site Collection using "stsadm -o createsiteinnewdb" so we can keep our organizations in their own content database. Nested with deach createsiteinnewdb call were multiple "stsadm -o createweb" calls for each organizations divisions to have their own subsite. Here is the kicker. Using stsadm to create subsites does not add the subsite to the quick launch under Sites.

Does anyone know how to script this out...it works using the GUI but that means we will have to create 30+ subsites using the GUI...I'd rather script it out.

Installing Active Directory

2008-03-27T21:59:00.006-04:00

This is a well-written, concise article on the details to install Active Directory. I used this tutorial for creating a VM with SharePoint...a no-no according to MSFT but necessity for our organization so i would replicate what production like. Full text below:

================================

In this guide, we will begin with a non-existent domain and end with a new Active Directory installation, in its own forest. Along with Active Directory we will also configure DNS (Which is required by Active Directory) on the same machine.

Get a machine that is somewhat powerful, when I say somewhat, it can be a lonely PIII 800MHz if you so wish it. I would have at least 512MB of memory in it, a 10/100 Network card, CD-ROM, and I would give it at least a 30GB hard drive. The more features you add (different walkthroughs) the more space you will need.

Grab your copy of Windows 2003 and boot from the CD, install Windows 2003 like any other version of Windows XP you have installed before. When Windows is installed, load all your necessary drivers (video, LAN, motherboard, and others if needed).

Close the Configure Your Server Wizard. We will be doing this the manual way, so we have more options.

First, assign this server a static IP address. This can be found by going to Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> Network Connections. Inside ‘Network Connections’ you should (by default) have a connection called ‘Local Area Connection’. Right click on ‘Local Area Connection’ and choose ‘Properties’. In the middle of the dialog box there will be a list of protocols, from here choose ‘Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)’ and click on the ‘Properties’ button.

Choose the radio button labeled; ‘Use the following IP Address’ and in the boxes provided type in the IP Address you wish to assign this server to.

If you are unsure, you can use ‘192.168.100.2′ as I am going to refer to as the IP Address used throughout this walkthrough or you can check another computer and find out what IP Address it has (Start -> Run -> cmd (enter)) and type ‘ipconfig’ at the command line.

Most routers will probably give you 192.168.1.100+ as an IP Address and 192.168.1.1 as an Default Gateway, so if you have this, I would recommend you use 192.168.1.2 for the IP Address on your server, for the Subnet Mask type in: ‘255.255.255.0′ and for Default Gateway type in the IP Address of the router for access to the Internet (If you are unsure of what the Gateway IP Address is, then go to another machine that has Internet access and drop to a console (Start -> Run -> cmd (enter)) and type ‘ipconfig’ at the command line and read the line that says Default Gateway).

Now, choose the radio button labeled; ‘Use the following DNS server addresses’ and in the boxes provided type in the SAME IP Address you choose for the IP Address of this machine (Yes, the DNS Server this machine will use is ITSELF!). You do NOT need to fill in the ‘Alternate DNS Server’ address boxes.

Okay, for this test setup I’m going to use these as my settings (remember that your settings may vary and don’t forget to adjust mine when I make future references to them in this walkthrough).

IP Address = 192.168.100.2
Subnet Mask = 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway = 192.168.100.1
DNS Servers = 192.168.100.2

Click ‘Ok’ on the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) dialog window, and another ‘Ok’ on the Local Area Connection dialog window. You can close any other windows you may have open on the server so you are back at a nice clean Desktop.

Reboot the server now, just to make sure everything was saved. When it comes back on, we will continue installing the Windows 2003 DNS Server.

Second, now that your server has rebooted, go to Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> Add / Remove Programs. Inside Add / Remove Programs click on the button to the left that is labeled ‘Add / Remove Windows Components’ when it’s done loading, you should be presented with a box of components you can remove and add.

Click on ‘Network Services’ (don’t check the box, just select the item) and click the ‘Details’ button. In this new dialog check the box next to the item labeled ‘Domain Name Server (DNS)’ and click ‘Ok’. Back at the Windows Components click ‘Next’ and let it finish its job (you may need the Windows 2003 disc to complete this step).

When it’s all done, click ‘Finish’ close all windows again so you are back at the Desktop.

Go to Start -> Settings -> Control Panel in Control Panel open ‘System’. Click on the ‘Computer name’ tab at the top of this dialog and then click the ‘Change’ button near the bottom. Now click on the ‘More’ button near the middle, in the text box labeled ‘Primary DNS suffix of this computer’ type your DNS suffix here…

Example:

myhome.home

companyname.work

myhome.com

It does not matter, but if you choose a ‘Standard Convention’ by that I mean, if you choose .net, .com, .org, or another top level domain suffix then you should make sure It’s not in use, or you may run into problems getting to the website owned by that real domain. Say if I choose google.com as my Zone Name, I would have a slight problem going to the REAL google.com now wouldn’t I? This is why I choose .home or .work and such.

When you have chosen your Suffix, click ‘Ok’ then ‘Ok’ again, and another ‘Ok’ going through all the dialog boxes. You will then need to reboot!

When your server has come back up…

Click on Start -> Programs -> Administrative Tools -> then click on ‘DNS’.

When the window has loaded you should have some items on the left side in a tree view. The top most items should be DNS and should fall in like a tree.

Example:

DNS
(server name)
Event Viewer
Forward Lookup Zones
Reverse Lookup Zones

(You many need to expand the (server name))

Left click, then Right click on ‘Forward Lookup Zones’ and choose ‘New Zone…’ when the dialog comes up click the ‘Next’ button, then choose the radio button labeled ‘Primary Zone’ and click ‘Next’. You will now be presented with a Zone Name box, in this box type the name you choose above for the DNS suffix of this computer, and click ‘Next’ The next page will ask you what to name the file, you can just click ‘Next’ here, as the defaults are fine.

Now, you should be on the Dynamic Update page. Choose ‘Allow both nonsecure and secure dynamic updates’ radio button; (This is not secure I KNOW, but we will change this after Active Directory is installed.) and then click ‘Next’, then ‘Finish’.

You should now be back at the DNS Management console screen with the options on your left in a tree view. Left, then Right click on ‘Reverse Lookup Zones’ and choose ‘New Zone…’. Click ‘Next’ make sure ‘Primary Zone’ is selected and then click ‘Next’ again. Now we are presented with a new screen, Network ID. In the boxes type in the first three portions of the servers IP Address. (Remember that from above?) If your server IP Address was 192.168.100.2 then in the boxes put 192.168.100 and click ‘Next’. Next page should be your Zone File, clicking ‘Next’ will be fine, since defaults are good enough. Again, click ‘Allow both nonsecure and secure dynamic updates’ radio button and then ‘Next’ then ‘Finish’.

Now you should be back at the DNS Management console screen. Close this console screen and you should be back at the Desktop.

Let’s reboot the server to make sure everything gets restarted correctly. (Yes, Windows likes reboots during its setup)

Back at the desktop now, let’s test to make sure DNS is working correctly… Go to Start -> Run and type ‘cmd’ and click ‘Ok’. In the black command console type ‘nslookup’ you should be presented with a few lines that resemble…

Default Server: (server name).(dns suffix you choose)
Address: (ip address you choose for server)

If this shows your doing well thus far, if this does not show, you may have skipped the part of adding your DNS suffix in the ‘System’ part of Control Panel. Type ‘exit’ then ‘exit’ again to close nslookup and the command console and return to the Desktop.

Third, now that you have DNS working correctly, we can now install Active Directory and create our domain.

Go to Start -> Run and type ‘dcpromo’ then click ‘Ok’. The Active Directory Wizard will start; click ‘Next’ then ‘Next’ again after you have read some security information for older versions of Windows. Now you will be able to choose what type of Domain Controller. This walkthrough is for a brand-spanking new domain and such, so we will leave it defaulted for ‘Domain controller for a new domain’ and click ‘Next’. Now we see some choices for Forests. Again for this walkthrough we choose the default ‘Domain in a new forest’ and click ‘Next’. We are now asked for our Full DNS name, in this text box type in the suffix that you choose a while back when setting up DNS, the one that was exampled as:

Example:

myhome.home

companyname.work

myhome.com

and click ‘Next’. On the next dialog we will choose the default recommended Domain NETBIOS name and click ‘Next’. Here we can choose where to save the database for Active Directory, for our purposes, the defaults are good and we will click ‘Next’. Then ‘Next’ again when we are asked where to save the SYSVOL files. The next page is sort of important if you have any servers running Windows NT 4 and such (Anything below Windows 2000) when it comes to the Server Operating System, Clients are not affected. But within scope of this Walkthrough we will do the default for permissions which is ‘Permissions compatible only with Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003 operating systems’, and then click ‘Next’.

Now Windows will ask for a Directory Services Restore Mode Administrator Password, you can choose any password you wish, this password is needed incase you have some sort of disaster and need to do a recovery of the Active Directory. When you have your password entered twice for verification, click ‘Next’. A brief summary of what you have done thus far is shown on this dialog, and you can click ‘Next’ to start the installation of Active Directory.

When the installation has completed, you will be asked to restart the computer, so go ahead and reboot now.

Let’s go back and secure DNS shall we…

Click on Start -> Programs -> Administrative Tools -> DNS

Inside the DNS Management Console left then right click on the + next to Forward Lookup Zones to expand it and then right click on (dns suffix you choose) and choose ‘Properties’ . There should be a button labeled ‘Change’ next to Type: Primary. Click ‘Change’ check the box labeled ‘Store the zone in Active Directory (available only if DNS server is a domain controller)’ and click ‘Ok’. When it warns you, Click ‘Ok’ again.

Now back at the suffix properties click on the drop down list labeled; ‘Dynamic Updates’ and choose ‘Secure Only’. Then click ‘Ok’.

Inside the DNS Management Console left then right click on the + next to Reverse Lookup Zones to expand it and then right click on ((IP Address) (Subnet)) and choose ‘Properties’. There should be a button labeled ‘Change’ next to Type: Primary. Click ‘Change’ check the box labeled ‘Store the zone in Active Directory (available only if DNS server is a domain controller)’ and click ‘Ok’. When it warns you, Click ‘Ok’ again.

Now back at the suffix properties click on the drop down list labeled; ‘Dynamic Updates’ and choose ‘Secure Only’. Then click ‘Ok’.

Active Directory is now installed and DNS is working and secured. You can manage your users in Start -> Programs -> Administrative Tools -> Active Directory Users and Computers

You should have a tree on the left that resembles…

Active Directory Users and Computers
Saved Queries
(dns suffix you choose)
Builtin
Computers
Domain Controllers
ForeignSecurityPrincipals
Users

I recommend that you create an new Organizational Unit under your (dns suffix you choose) just right click on (dns suffix you choose) and click on ‘New’ then ‘Organizational Unit’ and name it. I usually choose a company name, or workgroup name here. Like ‘Archaic Binary’ :-)

You can then add new users to that OU or create more OUs below that and add users to different OUs and create a more refined structure.

Hope this helps some people install and slightly configure Active Directory on Windows 2003.