19 February, 2013

Windows could not start the SharePoint Server Search 14 service on Local Computer

Problem Description:
Recently we faced the problem in reference to search and while doing some deployment activities, we need to pause the running crawl. As soon as I clicked on Pause, it switched into “Pausing” mode and we waiting to see the idle status.

Farm details:
SQL SERVER2008-R2
WINDOWS 2008-R2
SHAREPOINT 2010- SP1 (Along with latest patches updated)

What was the status when we started facing issue?
In "Manage Services on Server" (Central Administration):
SharePoint Foundation Search was "Stopped"
SharePoint Server Search is "Stopped"

In "Manage Services Application" (Central Administration):
Search Administration Web Service for Search Service Application was "Started"
Search Service Application was "Started"

In Windows Services MMC
SharePoint Foundation Search V4 is "Disabled"
SharePoint Server Search 14 is "Disabled"
SharePoint Server Search 14 is "Automatic" but status is not "Started"

Attempting to start "SharePoint Server Search 14” via the Services MMC results in the error:
Windows could not start the SharePoint Server Search 14 service on Local Computer.
Error 6: The handle is invalid.

Troubleshooting Done:
1.    Restarted the search services – by means of services.msc console
2.    Checked the ‘manage services on server’—by means of Central Administration
3.    Net stop commands as follows:

stsadm -o osearch -action stop

then

stsadm -o osearch -action start

4.    Start-stop PowerShell commands
5.    Checked the windows application as well as SP logs
6.    Restarted the timer services

net stop SPTimerv4

net start SPTimerv4

Resolution:

I have resolved it by using the following command:

Stop-SPServiceInstance -Identity <ServiceGUID>
Note: Where <ServiceGUID> is the GUID of the service. If you do not know the service GUID, you can retrieve a list of all services in the farm together with their GUIDs by using the Get-SPServiceInstance cmdlet.

Product Applies To:
SharePoint Server 2010
SharePoint Foundation 2010

If you have any queries/questions regarding the above mentioned information then please let me know. I would be more than happy to help you as well as resolves your issue…

Thank you.

18 February, 2013

Your client does not support opening this list with windows explorer windows 2008

Error message
“Your client does not support opening this list with Windows Explorer" when you try to "Open with Explorer" on a SharePoint document library
Troubleshooting:
-          Treid to open in Windows  XP. Works fine.
-          Treid to open in Windows Server 2003, gives error messsage.
-          Treid to open in Windows Server 2008, gives above error message.
-          Removed the ‘s’ from the http protocol.
-          Supplied the correct user name and password.
-          Started the ‘webclient’ service and installed desktop support expirence as a features in Windows server 2008. Still does’t work.
Resolution:
Add https://*.sharepoint.com to Local intranet site
To configure Web browser, open “Internet Options” menu, navigate to the “Security Tab”, and add https://*.sharepoint.com to Local intranet site.
Steps Featuring artcile:
Applied to:
-          Windows Server 2008
-          SharePoint Server 2010.

Disabled accounts in AD show up in SharePoint as active profiles

Problem Description:
If the proper filer is not applied in import connections then it can lead to hundreds of unwanted / disabled profile in ssp database. Sometimes due to IT audits we want to get rid of those profiles from SharePoint.

Product Applies:
1.    MOSS2007 (Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007)
2.    WSS3.0 Windows SharePoint Services 3.0)

Error Message: N/A

What exactly I did? How exactly I configured and came to know about the issue?
1.    In AD, I have created lots of user and disabled few of them.

2.    Configured SSP to import user profile by using the default filter
(&(objectCategory=person)(objectClass=user).

3.    That’s it-Problem started and found lots of profiles in view user profile.

Resolution:
·         At first apply filter (&(objectCategory=person)(objectClass=user)(
!(userAccountControl:1.2.840.113556.1.4.803:=2))) to just import active profiles in
connection.

·         Run full profile import three times back to back.

·         After that you will find users in view user profile > Profile Missing from import.

·         You can manually delete these unwanted profile or wait till clean up job delete them.

If you have any queries/questions regarding the above mentioned information then please let me know, Thank you.

Your current Contributor Settings prevent you from creating, editing and deleting workflows


Guys, we are well are aware about SharePoint Designer and how it can be very useful for the site customizations. One of my user got this error.

Error Message:
Your current Contributor Settings prevent you from creating, editing and deleting workflows

Probable Cause: 
By Default the Contributor Settings will be enabled on your site. You will notice this in the SharePoint Designer task pane.

Resolution:
This is because your account is present in the Content Authors group, which may “Restrict the use of some features” as the task pane mentions. This behavior can be modified if you turn off the "Contributor Settings" in SPD.

1. Open the site in SharePoint Designer
2. Site Menu
3. Choose Contributor Settings.
4. Click on Disable Contributor settings
5. Refresh the page you should not see the message. 

Important Information:
If you are a site manager or administrator, you are probably working with various groups such as Web designers or content authors who are working on different aspects of a Web site. With so many groups working simultaneously, you are probably worried that somebody might inadvertently break a site — for example, by changing the design of the home page, modifying the style sheet, saving files in a wrong location, or breaking the site navigation or search functionality. If you are concerned, the good news is that you can avoid these scenarios by using Contributor Settings to turn on and configure Contributor mode in Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007.


17 February, 2013

How to hide "Respond to this Survey"



Survey Purpose:
We use surveys to ask team members what they think about issues, how to improve your processes, and many other topics. You can collect the results by using several different types of questions, such as multiple choice, fill-in fields, and even ratings.

Problem Description:
How to hide "Respond to this Survey" when a user has already responded to the Survey

It’s simple but little bit tricky to implement as it involves user controls also.

Imp point to note:
·         The Rendering Template for the Survey List is in the defaulttemplates.ascx
Control under 12/Template/Control template.

·         The rendering template ID is ‘ViewToolBar. This template renders the "Respond
to this Survey", Actions menu and Settings menu in the toolbar.

·         This template is a generic template which is used by other lists as well.

·         "Respond to this Survey" is rendered by <SharePoint:NewMenu
AccessKey="<%$Resources:wss,tb_NewMenu_AK%>" runat="server" />.

How exactly it looks like:
<SharePoint:RenderingTemplate ID="ViewToolBar" runat="server">
<Template>
<wssuc:ToolBar CssClass="ms-menutoolbar" EnableViewState="false" id="toolBarTbl"
ButtonSeparator="<img src='/_layouts/images/blank.gif' alt=''>"
RightButtonSeparator="&nbsp;&nbsp;" runat="server">
<Template_Buttons>
<SharePoint:NewMenu
AccessKey="<%$Resources:wss,tb_NewMenu_AK%>" runat="server" />
<SharePoint:ActionsMenu
AccessKey="<%$Resources:wss,tb_ActionsMenu_AK%>" runat="server" />
<SharePoint:SettingsMenu
AccessKey="<%$Resources:wss,tb_SettingsMenu_AK%>" runat="server" />
</Template_Buttons>
<Template_RightButtons>
<SharePoint:PagingButton runat="server"/>
<SharePoint:ListViewSelector runat="server"/>
</Template_RightButtons>
</wssuc:ToolBar>
</Template>
</SharePoint:RenderingTemplate>

Microsoft Recommendation:
1.    We cannot modify OOB defaulttemplates.ascx as this would be unsupported
2.    Make a copy of defaulttemplates.ascx under CONTROL TEMPLATES FOLDER of 12 hive
and rename it to CustomDefaultTemplates.ascx
What exactly needs to done/Resolution:
1.    To hide “Respond to this Survey” if a user has already responded to the survey,
Create a class which inherits from the Microsoft.Sharepoint.WebControls.NewMenu.

2.    In this override CreateChildControls and have your logic to hide unhide "Respond
to this Survey" based on your need.

3.    Build the class library and install the dll to the GAC.

4.    Modify the “ViewToolBar” in the custom ascx such that to render your custom
"Respond to this Survey" menu from the class library you created.

(Note: You need to add your assembly reference and register the tag prefix in the
Custom ascx control.)

5.    Next step is to render the custom rendering template to the "Survey List" so
     that the custom "Respond to this Survey" menu will be rendered in the toolbar.

6.    For this the "ToolbarTemplate" property of the View should be changed in the
schema.xml file of the Survey List definition.

7.    As modifying the OOB files are not supported, Copy the “SurveyList” folder from
12/Template/Features and paste in the same place as “CustomSurveysList”.
Change the feature ID of the “CustomSurveyList”

8.    Open the schema.xml file available under survey folder of “CustomSurveysList”
and add the “ToolbarTemplate=CustomViewToolBar” attribute to the “View BaseID=0”.

Example attached:
<View BaseViewID="0" FreeForm="TRUE" ReadOnly="TRUE" Type="HTML" ToolBarTemplate=" CustomViewToolBar ">

9.    Install and activate "CustomSurveysList"

10. Create a Survey List using CustomSurveyList template and we should be able to
achieve the functionality as required.

If you have any queries/questions regarding the above mentioned information then please let me know, Thank you.