Where is the FAST Search Community?

I am truly excited about Microsoft's acquisition of FAST Search as well as the recent news about Microsoft's new Enterprise Search road map. Anyone who has deployed Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) as an Enterprise Search solution or internet facing solution probably can appreciate all of the considerations that go into planning and implementing as well as some of the limitations that force you to think outside the box.

Prior to becoming proficient in MOSS Search, and prior to doing numerous Search Proof of Concepts on behalf of Microsoft, I spent quite a bit of time locked inside of a small office in the North End of Boston, researching, building and testing MOSS Search on a Microsoft VM. My primary sources of information included TechNet webcasts, blogs, Codeplex, MSDN articles, and the Microsoft Partner Support contacts. I've come to really appreciate the abundance of free flowing ideas and information that exists on the Web related to MOSS. The community is fantastic.

As I embark on new and exciting adventures working with FAST ESP, I am certain that the MOSS community will continue to contribute high quality information and will eventually expand to cover more topics related to FAST ESP. As of now, I don't see the same level of knowledge sharing occurring with FAST as I have seen with MOSS. I only hope that in response to Microsoft's acquisition of FAST as well as their reasonable product licensing model, that FAST will become more widely adopted and that a FAST Search community will flourish on the Web.

Firefox Automatic Logon

Description:

Configuring automatic logon for Firefox, for Microft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) URLs


Solution:

1.
Open Firefox

2.
Address Bar: Type about:config
When prompted for a warning, click "I'll be careful I promise"

3.
About:config > Preference Name > network.automatic-ntlm-auth.trusted-uris
Right-click and "Modify"

4.
Entering String Value Dialog Box
Type the URL addresses of the SharePoint web applications (use comma to separate multiple addresses)
E.g. https://portal.domain.com, https://search.domain.com
Click "OK"


For information about more advanced Firefox/MOSS integration, read Mauro's recent blog post:
SharePoint/Office Integration with Firefox

SQL Server: How to Change the Default Database Location

Description:

Instructions for changing the default Database locations.


Solution:

1. Open SQL Server Management Studio

2. Right Click on the SQL Server Instance node > Properties

3. Navigate to the "Database Settings" menu

4. Modify the "Database default locations"

5. Restart the following Windows Service:

SQL Server (MSSQLSERVER)

6. Create a new test database to verify that it is being created in the new, default location

SharePoint 3.0: How to Move SQL Database Files, Transaction Log Files to Different Disk Location

Description:

Instructions for moving database files (mdf) and transaction log files (ldf) to a different disk drive on the database server, in a MOSS 2007 server farm.


Solution:

1. Perform the necessary capacity planning analyses and tasks to ensure that the future configuration will perform and scale for growth.

2. Schedule a maintenance window to allow for enough time to perform the configuration changes and test the SharePoint portal after the changes are complete. Communicate the maintenance window appropriately to the business users.

3. Create folders on the destination disk drive for storing the files. If the servers are physical, consider storing the transaction log files on a separate physical disk from the database files, to maximize performance. If the servers are virtual, understand the disk configuration of the underlying servers to ensure considerations including disk performance, contention, scalability, and snapshots.

In this example, D:\MSSQL_Data is the destination of data files, and D:\MSSQL_TLogs is the destination of transaction log files.

4. On the MOSS web front end servers and the Index server, stop the following Windows Services:

WWW Publishing Service
Windows SharePoint Administration
Windows SharePoint Search
Windows SharePoint Timer
Windows SharePoint Tracing
Windows SharePoint VSS Writer
Office SharePoint Search

5. For each database that is being moved, run the SQL Commands below to take the database offline

SQL Server Management Studio > New Query
--------------------
ALTER DATABASE MOSS_ContentDatabase SET OFFLINE;
GO
--------------------

6. Using Windows Explorer, physically copy the mdf and ldf files of the databases to their new location.

7. Run the SQL Commands below to update the physical location of the database files

SQL Server Management Studio > New Query
--------------------
USE master;
GO
ALTER DATABASE MOSS_ContentDatabaseMODIFY FILE (NAME = MOSS_ContentDatabase, FILENAME = 'D:\MSSQL_Data\MOSS_ContentDatabase.mdf');
GO
ALTER DATABASE MOSS_ContentDatabaseMODIFY FILE (NAME = MOSS_ContentDatabase_log, FILENAME = 'D:\MSSQL_TLogs\MOSS_ContentDatabase_log.ldf');
GO
ALTER DATABASE MOSS_ContentDatabase
SET ONLINE
GO
--------------------

8. Verify that the updated location has been properly set for each database by running the command below:

SQL Server Management Studio > New Query
--------------------
USE master;
GO
SELECT name, physical_name
FROM sys.master_files
WHERE database_id = DB_ID('MOSS_ContentDatabase');
GO
--------------------

SharePoint 3.0: Is the Installation 32 bit or 64 bit?

If you have an installation of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and you are trying to determine whether it is 32 bit or 64 bit, here are a couple ways you can do it:

* Task Manager; OWSTIMER.EXE
64 bit: OWSTIMER.EXE if it is 64 bit
32 bit: OWSTIMER32.EXE if it is 32 bit

* Windows Explorer; Program Files
64 bit: Installation directory is \Program files\common files\microsoft shared\web server extensions\12\
32 bit: Installation directory is \Program files (x86)\common files\microsoft shared\web server extensions\12\

Event: Focus On Series: Optimize Your SharePoint Investment

On Tuesday, Feburary 24, 2009 I will be presenting at an event sponsored by Vitale Caturano. For more information or to register, please follow this link: http://www.vitale.com/sharepoint

SharePoint 3.0: Search Results: How to Add a Document Properties Hyperlink

Introduction

As for a document appearing in SharePoint 3.0 search results; the standard formatting includes a hyperlink to open the document. However, you may want your search results to also include a link to open the display form or edit form of the document's associated list item. This way users have the options of opening a document as well as viewing and editing document properties all from the search results page.


Step 1. Crawl the Item ID Crawled Property

* SharePoint Shared Services Administration > Search Settings > Metadata Property Mappings > Crawled Properties
* Search for ows_ID(Integer)
* Edit/Map Property: ows_ID
* Mappings to managed properties: Check to "Include values for this property in the search index"
* Click OK


Step 2. Create a Managed Property for the Document's List Item ID

* SharePoint Shared Services Administration > Search Settings > Metadata Property Mappings > Managed Properties
* New Managed Property
Name and type
Property Name: OWSIDInteger
Description:
The type of information in this property: Integer
Mappings to crawled properties: Select - Include values from a single crawled property based on the order specified
Crawled properties mapped to this managed property: OWS_ID(Integer)
Use in scopes: No - Do not allow this property to be used in scopes

Step 3. Run a Full Crawl

* SharePoint Shared Services Administration > Search Settings > Content sources and crawl schedules > For each applicable content source, invoke the context menu and Start Full Crawl


Step 4. Make the New Managed Property Part of the Search Query

* Search Center site collection > search results page > search results web part > edit web part > Modify Shared Web Part
* Web part tool pane > Results Query Options > Selected Columns:
Modify the XML of Selected Columns to include the new managed property, OWSIDInteger

Reference:
How to: Change the Properties Returned in the Core Search Results
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms560074.aspx

Step 6. Test the Search Query to Ensure the New Managed Property is Returning Values

* Search Center site collection > search results page > search results web part > edit web part > Modify Shared Web Part
* Web part tool pane >Miscellaneous > XSL Editor:
Modify the XML so it returns raw XML results

Reference:
How to: View Search Results XML Data
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms546985.aspx


Step 5. Make the Managed Property Display in the Search Results

5A. Create an XML File Containing the Raw XML Representation of the Search Results
* Open an XML editor such as Visual Studio
* File > New > File > XML File
* Search Center > Perform a search (the results should still be coming back as raw XML)
* Copy the search results into the XML file
* Save the XML file to be used in Step 5B

5B. Create a new XSL Stylesheet
* Create a test site
* Add a Data View Web Part (DVWP) to the Test Site
* SharePoint Designer > Open test site > Open default.aspx
* Split View
* Menu > Insert > SharePoint Controls > Data View
* Data Source Library > XML Files > Add an XML file:
Upload the XML file from Step 5A
* Drag the content from the new data source to the DVWP
* Format the DVWP accoding to the desired look and feel for search results
* When look and feel is complete, open the XML editor and create a new XML file:
Visual Studio > File > New > File > XML File
* SharePoint Designer > Highlight the DVWP in the Design window
* Copy the code for the DVWP from the Code view
* Paste the XML into the new XML file
* Identify the XSL Stylesheet portion of the XML
* Cut away any unnecessary XML from the file, leaving only the XSL Stylesheet
* Save the XML file to be used in Step 5C

5C. Apply the new XSL Stylesheet to the Search Results Web Part
* Visual Studio > Open file:
Open the XML file created in Step 5B
* Search Center site collection > search results page > search results web part > edit web part > Modify Shared Web Part
* Web part tool pane >Miscellaneous > XSL Editor:
Open the XSL Editor
* Paste the XML from Visual Studio into the XSL Stylesheet, overwriting the existing stylesheet
* Click OK

SharePoint 3.0: New AD Group Unavailable for Audience Rules

Description:

When creating a new audience rule...

...a new Active Directory security group is unavailable.

Solution:

* Run a full import of user profiles:

Shared Services Administration > User Profiles and My Sites > User profiles and properties > Start full import

St. Thomas

Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas

SharePoint 3.0: Error: Crawl Log "The object was not found."

Description:

Unable to crawl a web site content source.

Error: "The object was not found. (The item was deleted because it was either not found or the crawler was denied access to it.)"

Solution:

Determine if the web site is case sensitive. If so, implement the configuration changes described in the following KB article:

You cannot crawl case-sensitive Web content in SharePoint Server 2007
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932619


Keywords:
Crawling case sensitive web sites; MOSS 2007; Crawl jsp pages; How to crawl .jsp pages with SharePoint; Case-Sensitive; sharepoint search jsp; sharepoint search .jsp

Links: Microsoft Windows Server 2008

Windows Server 2008: System Requirements
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/system-requirements.aspx

Windows Server 2008: Overview of Editions
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/editions-overview.aspx

Windows Server 2008: Compare Features
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/compare-features.aspx

Windows Server 2008: Compare Server Roles
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/compare-roles.aspx

Links: Microsoft SQL Server 2008

MSDN: SQL Server 2008 Books Online: Product Specifications for SQL Server 2008
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms143287.aspx

MSDN: SQL Server 2008 Books Online: Hardware and Software Requirements for Installing SQL Server 2008
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms143506.aspx

MSDN: SQL Server 2008 Books Online: Maximum Number of Processors Supported by the Editions of SQL Server 2008
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms143760.aspx

MSDN: SQL Server 2008 Books Online: SQL Server 2008 Books Online: Memory Supported by the Editions of SQL Server 2008
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms143685.aspx

MSDN: SQL Server 2008 Books Online: Maximum Capacity Specifications for SQL Server 2008
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms143432.aspx

MSDN: SQL Server 2008 Books Online: Editions and Components of SQL Server 2008
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms144275.aspx

MSDN: SQL Server 2008 Books Online: Features Supported by the Editions of SQL Server 2008
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc645993.aspx

MSDN: SQL Server 2008 Books Online: Using Upgrade Advisor to Prepare for Upgrades
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms144256.aspx

MSDN: SQL Server 2008 Books Online: Getting SQL Server Assistance
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms166016.aspx

MSDN: SQL Server 2008 Books Online: Planning a SQL Server Installation
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb500442.aspx

MSDN: SQL Server 2008 Books Online: Overview of SQL Server Installation
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb500438.aspx

MSDN: SQL Server 2008 Books Online: How to: Install SQL Server 2008 (Setup)
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms143219.aspx

MSDN: SQL Server 2008 Books Online: How to: Upgrade to SQL Server 2008 (Setup)
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms144267.aspx

MSDN: SQL Server 2008 Books Online: Migrating to SQL Server 2008
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb677619.aspx

MSDN: SQL Server 2008 Books Online: Backward Compatibility
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc280407.aspx

SharePoint 3.0: Site Users Web Part

The Site Users Web Part can be used to enhance the appearance of a SharePoint site by displaying a list of users who belong to the site. This web part works well on collaborative sites such as project sites or team sites, when the site permissions have been configured with either SharePoint groups or where users are added directly to site permissions access control list of the site.

Environments that also have Live Communication Server have an opportunity to promote IM to their users since the users' precense information is displayed and the context menu allows users to easily spawn IM sessions.

The Site Users Web Part is less useful on sites that have lots of users or when Active Directory groups are being used to provision access to the site. Since the Site Users Web Part does not enumerate user names who are members of Active Directory groups, these display only as group names.

Site Users Web Part Configuration Options:

Show people and groups with direct permissions on this site.
This displays a list of users who have been added directly to site permissions for the site. The person's full name with presence information is shown.

Show people in this site's members groupThis lets you display the names of people who belong to the Site Members, default SharePoint group.
The person's full name with presence information is shown.

Show people in the group:
This lets you select a SharePoint group to display the names of people who belong to that group. The person's full name with presence information is shown.

SharePoint 3.0: Manage Access Requests

Access Requests are a feature of SharePoint that allow users to submit an email, to a SharePoint administrator, requesting access to a resource (site or list) that they are denied access to.

The email to the administrator provides the username, the URL of the resource, and comments directly from the user. The email looks like this:



Resources that inherit security from their parent will automatically inherit the parent's Access Request setting. If you break inheritance at a list, then the list permissions, settings menu will appear and an Access Request menu item will be available. This allows you to set an Access Request email address, different from the parent site. This behavior is not true for list items. If you break security inheritance at a list item, an Access Request menu option does not appear on the list item security settings menu.


Here are some best practices for configuring Access Requests:

* Use a dedicated distribution group for this purpose
* Since each unique site collection can have its own Access Request email address, give the distribution group a generic name so that it can be used accross many site collections
* Definitely don't use a service account's email address because no real person is on the other end to receive the request
* Don't use an individual user's email address, doing so would result in a single point of failure
* If you are maintaining instruction documentation that describes the steps to configure a new site collection in your environment, then add "configure access requests email address" as a step..doing so will be a good reminder to do it.


How to configure Manage Access Requests email address:

* Site Collection > Site Actions > Site Settings > Modify All Site Settings > Advanced Permissions
* Settings > Access Requests



* Set email address, click OK

SharePoint 3.0: Error: Calculated Site Column, Formula Contains a Syntax Error

Description:

When attempting to create a new calculated site column...



...inside the formula, you reference a column name in brackets, such as Year[created]...




...and you are unable to save the new site column, instead you receive an error.

Error:
The formula contains a syntax error or is not supported.
Troubleshoot issues with Windows SharePoint Services.

Solution:

Use parentheses around the brackets. E.g. Year([Created])

SharePoint 3.0: Error: The specified name is already in use

Description:

Site Collection > Site Settings > Site Collection Features

When attempting to activate the following:
Office SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure
Provides centralized libraries, content types, master pages and page layouts and enables page scheduling and other publishing functionality for a site collection.

Error:
The specified name is already in use. Please try again with a new name. Troubleshoot issues with Windows SharePoint Services.



Solution:

When publishing features are enabled, SharePoint automatically creates a bunch of objects on the site. It is possible that before you attempted to activate publishing on your site, you had already created an object, such as a library, list, site column, or content type using a name that SharePoint uses. With publishing deactivated, SharePoint does not enforce naming contstraints on these names so it is possible for you to create, for example, a library called Pages (creating a future conflict) not knowing that SharePoint will automatically create a Pages library when you activate publishing.

If you can, audit the SharePoint site comparing it with another site that already has publishing enabled to see if you can find a conflict.

If you are unable to locate the conflict, and you need to activate publishing features, you can force the activation by running the following command:

stsadm.exe -o activatefeature -filename publishing\feature.xml -url http://%URL% -force
stsadm.exe -o activatefeature -filename publishingresources\feature.xml -url http://%URL% -force
stsadm.exe -o activatefeature -filename publishingsite\feature.xml -url http://%URL% -force
stsadm.exe -o activatefeature -filename publishingweb\feature.xml -url http://%URL% -force
stsadm.exe -o activatefeature -filename publishinglayouts\feature.xml -url http://%URL% -force
stsadm.exe -o activatefeature -filename navigation\feature.xml -url http://%URL% -force

Links: Foxit PDF IFilter 64 Bit

Foxit PDF IFilter 64 Bit
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/ifilter/

SharePoint Magazine

SharePoint V3: Error: Failed to activate feature 'PublishingPrerequisites'

Description:

Receiving error when attempting to activate the Office SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure, site collection feature:

Error: Failed to activate feature 'PublishingPrerequisites'





Solution:

- Run IISReset on the front end web servers
Start > Run > CMD > iisreset /noforce

- Activate the feature
Site Actions > Site Settings > Site Collection Features > Office SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure > Activate

SharePoint V3: Search: “The search request was unable to connect to the Search Service”

Description:

Error: “The search request was unable to connect to the Search Service”

Event Log has errors referencing a corrupt index.


Solution:

* Reset index
SSP Administration > Search Settings > Reset all crawled content

* Perform a full crawl
SSP Administration > Search Settings > Content Sources > Perform a full crawl