Windows Server: Enable Execution of PowerShell Scripts

This post describes the steps to enable execution of PowerShell scripts on the Windows Server operating system.

1. Click Start, All Programs, and click "Administrative Tools"

2. Right-Click Windows Powershell Modules, Select "Run as Administrator"

3. At the command prompt (PS C:\Windows\system32>), type the following:
Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned

4. The Execution Policy Change prompt will display. Respond with "Y":

Execution Policy Change
The execution policy helps protect you from scripts that you do not trust. Changing the execution policy might exposeyou to the security risks described in the about_Execution_Policies help topic.
Do you want to change the executionpolicy?
[Y] Yes [N] No [S] Suspend [?] Help (default is "Y"): Y

Windows Server 2008: MSInfo32 and Winver

System Information - To locate OS version, edition, and many details about hardware and software components.

Start > Run > Type "MSInfo32" and press Enter



About Windows - To locate OS version, edition, service pack level, and memory.

Start > Run > Type "Winver" and press Enter

Microsoft Word 2010: Hanging Indent

This post explains the steps to format a list with a hanging indent, using Microsoft Word 2010. In this example, I am starting out with a list of references which are indented to the left.

1. Highlight the text to be formatted.
2. On the Ribbon, next to the word "Paragraph" click the chevron to open the paragraph formatting window.
3. Beneath the Indentation heading, set the "Special" field to "Hanging" and set the "By" field to "0.5."
4. Click OK

5. At that point, the list should be reformatted with a hanging indent.

SharePoint 4.0: Locating or Verifying Farm Version Number

This post explains how to tell the version of a SharePoint 2010 server farm. In order to verify the complete farm, it is necessary to verify the version of DLLs as well as the Configuration Database.

A. Verify the version of DLLs.
Steps:
On each server where SharePoint 2010 is installed:
1. Open Windows Explorer.
2. Navigate to \Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\ISAPI
3. For each of the following DLLs, locate the file. Right-click the file > Properties > Details.
4. Note the version

OWSSVR.DLL (SharePoint Foundation)



Microsoft.SharePoint.dll (SharePoint Foundation)

Microsoft.SharePoint.Portal.dll (SharePoint Server)

B. Verify the version of the Configuration Database

Steps:

From SharePoint 2010 Central Administration:

1. Navigate to SharePoint 2010 Central Administration > System Settings > Manage servers in this farm.

2. Note the "Configuration database version."

SharePoint 4.0: Records Center Behaviors? or Bugs!

I have been busy developing a proof-of-concept (POC) environment based on some design patterns involving SharePoint 2010 Records Center and Search. In this POC, Records Center is acting as a top level site collection and is storing quite a bit of content. There are numerous content types and site columns, carefully planned and configured on the site collection, to support tagging Records Center documents with lots of metadata.

In this POC environment, I have dedicated a Web application to Records Center and for discussion purposes, the URL of the site collection can be http://recordscenter.domain.com. As I write this blog post, it is December 13, 2010. My SharePoint 2010 environment is running at version 14.0.5128.5000, which reflects RTM with the October 2010 Cumulative Updates. The SharePoint Foundation and SharePoint Server DLLs, and SharePoint Database are all current with the same version. I have tested with Site Collection Publishing and Site Publishing features enabled and disabled.

During the testing process, I have discovered some unexpected behaviors related to Records Center. Microsoft Support may stamp these with the trusty "By Design" label, but since I am currently in the process of pushing these issues through the Microsoft Support channels, I cannot speak to their response at this time. I do know that these behaviors are inconvenient and troublesome. Below is a list.

A. Cannot template a sub-site beneath a Records Center site collection.
To recreate the issue, follow these steps:
1. Start from a Records Center site collection.
2. Create a sub-site using the blank site template.
3. Attempt to save the site as a template.


Problem: Error: An unexpected error has occurred.

B. Cannot export a document library and then import it as a different name, in a Records Center site collection.
To recreate the issue, follow these steps:
1. Start from a Records Center site collection.
2. Create a sub-site using the blank site template.
3. Create a document library in the blank sub-site.
4. Using STSADM, export the document library to a .cmp file.
E.g.
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\BIN>
stsadm.exe -o export -url http://webapplication/subsite/library -filename \\server\fileshare\templatelibrary.cmp -includeusersecurity -nologfile

5. Using STSADM, import the document library .cmp file, as a different name.
E.g.
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\BIN>
stsadm.exe -o export -url http://webapplication/subsite/library -filename file://server/fileshare/templatelibrary.cmp -includeusersecurity -nologfile...
Finished with 15 errors.A list, survey, discussion board, or document library with the specified title already exists in this Web site. Please choose another title.

Problem: Error: The .cmp file cannot be imported because an existing document library having the same title (different than name, which affects the document library URL) already exists.
This behavior might make sense in a Records Center given the Content Organizer and its functionality which routes documents, based on content type, to appropriate document libraries using the Title of the document library. Still, templating document libraries in a Records Center is especially important, since Records Center typically have well defined site columns. It is only natural that we will want to template document libraries efficiently in a Records Center.

References
Microsoft SharePoint Team Blog (2010, December). October 2010 Cumulative Updates for SharePoint & Project Server 2010 Republished. Retrieved December 13, 2010 from http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/blog/Pages/BlogPost.aspx?pID=957.

Microsoft Support (2010, October). Description of the SharePoint Server 2010 Cumulative Update Server Hotfix Package (MOSS server-package): October 26, 2010. Retrieved December 13, 2010 from http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;2394320.

Microsoft Support (2010, December). Hotfix Request. Retrieved December 13, 2010 from http://support.microsoft.com/hotfix/KBHotfix.aspx?kbln=en-us&kbnum=2394320.

SharePoint 4.0: Where to Locate Details for Errors with Correlation ID

The Correlation ID error seemed to be especially common in Beta versions of SharePoint Server 2010. However, I have managed to surface this one a few times in RTM. The screen print below illustrates what the error looks like on the Web page.

The error doesn't provide much information about the root cause. So, to uncover the details, it makes sense to investigate further by examining the log files. Here is how to do that:

1. Note the date and time of the error message.
2. Open a local console or RDP session to a SharePoint server in the farm.
3. From Windows Explorer, navigate to Program Files > Common Files > Microsoft Shared > Web Server Extensions > 14 > Logs.
4. Sort the log files by Date Modified, Descending. Then, open the file containing the event using a text editor, such as Notepad.
5. CTRL +F to locate instances of the word "Error." Then match the date/time stamp.

It isn't likely that this information will provide a direct answer, but at least you have more words to work with while researching.

SQL Server 2008: Edit Top 200 Rows

SQL Server 2005 and earlier versions had an Open Table command available when you right-click a table. This allows you to open the table and make edits to fields. In SQL Server 2008, the Open Table command is replaced with the Edit Top Rows command. The default for this is 200, which of course, is obnoxious.

To change this setting, follow these steps from SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS):

• Tools > Options (This opens the General Scripting Options Dialog Box)
• SQL Server Object Explorer > Commands
• Table and View Options: Value for Edit Top Rows command (Change this value)

After modifying the setting, you will see that the menu is updated accordingly.

Reference

Microsoft (2010). Options (SQL Server Object Explorer/Commands). Retrieved December 2, 2010 from http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc280381.aspx.