Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 beta in two months

Invitation-only beta testing of SharePoint Server 2010 will start in July

Microsoft will launch an invitation-only SharePoint Server 2010 beta test in July with a select group of customers and then follow the program up with a public testing phase ahead of the Office 2010 release in the first half of next year.

Earlier this week at its annual TechEd conference, Microsoft said the Office 2010 beta slated for July will not include the SharePoint Server 2010 beta.

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The SharePoint 2010 beta/technology preview will be invitation-only and will focus on a number of its enterprise customers and target specific enterprise deployment scenarios.

Tom Rizzo, director of Microsoft SharePoint Server, told Network World at TechEd that those scenarios are the best way to gather feedback on SharePoint, which has become the fastest growing product ever released by Microsoft.Microsoft also plans to run a similar beta program for Project Server 2010.

The Office 2010 beta is begin run as a separate beta, or what Microsoft calls a technology preview, that is being opened up to TechEd attendees and select others. The Office 2010 beta will focus on client technologies: Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, OneNote, Access, InfoPath and Publisher.

Later this year, a public beta will launch for both SharePoint Server 2010 and Project Server 2010. A Microsoft spokesperson did not give a timeframe for the public beta.

Rizzo stressed during his presentation at TechEd that users will have to start thinking 64-bit when they think of the next version of SharePoint.

The 2010 edition will require a 64-bit version of SQL Server 2005 or 2008. In addition, the server will run on the 64-bit version of Windows Server 2008.

Rizzo also announced that SharePoint Server 2010 will not support Internet Explorer 6.

As far as the 64-bit support, Rizzo said as gently as he could, "You have been warned."

Small licensing problem with SP2

It seems that when you install SP2 on a SharePoint product that is licensed (MOSS, Forms Server, Project Server and Search Server) SP2 resets the license back to a trial license. Now, on the surface this might seem like a big deal, but I don't think it is. First, the trial is 180 days, so you have six months from the time you install SP2 to fix the issue. That's six months of everything working just fine. The other reason I don't think this is a big deal is because the fix is as simple as just reentering your non-trial license key. Overall, I don't think it's a big deal.

Remote list viewer Kwizcom na installatie niet te zien binnen SharePoint.

Als je de Remote list viewer van Kwizcom voor SharePoint installeert zet dan even de UAC uit in Windows Server 2008. Dit is omdat er op de achtergrond een stsadm commando word uitgevoerd om de webpart te deployen. De stsadm commando word uitgevoerd in de command prompt. Als je UAC niet uitzet moet je de command prompt draaien onder adminstrator rechten. Dit zal niet lukken omdat de installatie automatisch gaat. Zet UAC even uit en restart de server. Nu zul je de installatie zonder problemen kunnen draaien.

Het is maar dat je het weet!!!

Joining a WFE server to a Sharepoint Farm

When installing Sharepoint for the first time a very important decision needs to be made. Are you installing as a "Stand Alone Server" or are you installing into a "Farm" configuration. In a "Stand Alone" configuration all the elements that define Sharepoint are installed on the same server (Web, SSP, SQL) and it is very difficult to split them at a later stage. Therefore it is better practice to install into a farm configuration even though you might only start with a single server.

I have already written a blog about how to install the SQL server component remotely. In this blog I will explain how to add another web front end server (WFE) to a Sharepoint farm configuration. The configuration that I have in mind will include the following servers:

• Web front end server 1 - Web, Admin Console, SSP
• Web front end server 2 - Web , SSP
• SQL Server - all the Sharepoint databases

Assuming the Web front end server 1 and the SQL server have already been deployed, lets take a look the the steps involved to add web front end server 2 to the farm:

1. Install the binaries onto the server from the Sharepoint DVD.
2. Run the Configuration wizard on WFE 2
3. Confirm in the admin console that the server has joined the farm.

The steps to install the binaries onto the server I have already explained in a blog titled "Installation procedure for MOSS", therefore I will start with the configuration wizard.

The first dialogue box in any wizard is the welcome screen explaining the purpose behind the wizard.

Once you have confirmed that you know all the information required for the wizard, select next.

A dialogue box will warn you that the Sharepoint services will be stopped while the wizard configures the new server into the farm. Select "Yes" to stop the services and make sure that you are doing this after hours.

The next screen on the wizard asks a very important question. Are you joining an existing farm or are you creating a new one. In our case we will be joining the farm. Click next.

If you are joining an existing farm then the configuration database must already exist as the installation of the first WFE would have created it. The questions posed on this particular screen therefore pertain around the location of the configuration database:

• Name of the SQL Server
• Name of the Configuration Database
• User account with right on the SQL server
• Password for the user account selected

Once all these settings have been confirmed the next button will be enabled.

The next screen is used for confirmation that all the settings supplied are correct before the configuration will commence. There is an advanced button available that gives us some more options.

The advanced settings allow you to decide whether this server will be used as a web front end server with all the services or if you just want to use it to host an SSP configuration with services. In our case it will host the the web sites as we are creating an WFE. Select "OK" and then select "Next".

The wizard will not proceed and add this server into the farm configuration. This can take a while so go and make some coffee.

Once the wizard has completed the process it will end with a "Success" or "Failure" confirmation screen. Select "Finish" and navigate to the Sharepoint Admin Console.

On the "Home" tab in the Sharepoint Admin Console a summary will be displayed called "Farm Topology" If everything was successful then the new WFE should appear in the list.

You can now use the "Services on Server" option on the "Operations" tab to start as stop services on the different servers.

Sharepoint Server Topologies

Sharepoint can be installed in multiple configurations ranging from a "Single Server Deployment" all the way into a "Load balanced Farm". Many people are not aware of the fact that Microsoft has converted most of their web sites to Sharepoint. They are running approximately 800 servers in a farm supporting about 5 000 000 users.

The functionality to scale out the solution into a farm is done via the core WSS technology and MOSS just leverages from this. This means that a farm can be built with WSS alone and MOSS is not required.

The base Sharepoint topology consists of a load balanced web front end as well as application servers and back end databases. For Search specifically, Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server provides two application servers roles – indexer and query.

Base topology

• Web front-end servers
• App servers
• Database servers

App servers

• Indexer Service
• Query Service

Single Server Deployment

When installing Sharepoint on a server, you are prompted with the question to install Sharepoint either as a "Single" server or as a "Farm". If you select "Single" server, then all of the components are loaded on the same box and cannot be changed in the future without a re-install.

The following components will be installed and configured when doing a "Single" server deployment:

• The binary's (DLL's and Exe's) are installed into the 12 Hive.
• SQL Server embedded edition is installed if you do not have SQL server already installed.
• The Admin web site is created with all its databases.
• The SSP's will run on this box with their databases.
• All Web Applications with their content databases will run on this box.

This deployment is only functional in small company's with a limited amount of users. It is still a good idea to install a single server as a "Farm" configuration so that you can split the servers in the future if required.

Farm Deployment

The components that are installed for a "Farm" deployment are almost identical to that of a "Single" server deployment with one major difference. The components are scaled out over multiple servers thereby distributing load and allowing more concurrent users.

Components can be split in the following manner:

• User Interface - the client components are IE 6,7 and Office 2007 that also help and splitting the load.
• Web Front Ends - these are the web servers that can be bound together using a Network Load Balancing Cluster configuration.
• Application Servers - these are the back-end servers running the "Shared Service Provider" components. The SSP's control: Search , Indexing, BDC , Profiles, Forms Services, Excel Servers and any other components shipped by 3rd party vendors. You can spit out as many SSP servers as you like. For searching and indexing it is particularly important to do this.
• Database Servers - the admin console and SSP components will create a number of databases, but they will stay relatively small in size. Each web application has by default one content database and that is where all the information will be stored. In large configurations these databases can easily go into the terabyte range and therefore it might become a good option to split them across multiple databases servers.

Installation Procedure for MOSS

Unlike the other Microsoft products like Exchange, SQL Server or ISA, the installation of Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server is quite different. Like most technical people in IT the install procedure of most products is running the setup executable, leaving the defaults as they are and then selecting finish. We then go and look for the "Admin Console" and start studying the product form there. Unfortunately if you try this with MOSS, there is no admin console. There are also a number of other areas of the installation that people miss or do incorrectly.

During all of the training session that I have done on WSS and MOSS, there are a number of places that people make mistakes. I have therefore decided to create a quick step guide to help people through the process. The following steps will be explained in greater detail further in the document.

1: Install Binaries from CD

2: Run Configuration Wizard

3: Start Services

4: Create the first SSP

5: Create first Web Application

6: Create first Site Collection

1. Install Binaries from CD

The first step is to install the binaries from the installation CD. This is done quite simply by running the "setup.exe" from the CD, but you have to decide whether you are installing the 32 bit or 64 bit version. There are also different version of Sharepoint that you can choose from namely: WSS , MOSS Standard, MOSS Enterprise and MOSS for Search. I will not elaborate on the differences between these versions in this blog, this I will discuss in another blog.

After installation the binaries are copied into a directory called the "12 Hive". This is just an abbreviation, because the install path is quite lengthy ("C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12"). All of the files required to run Sharepoint are installed in this folder and no files are copied into the "Inetpub" directory at this stage.

2. Run Configuration Wizard

Immediately after installation the "Configuration Wizard" will launch. If not, a shortcut can be found on the "Programs" menu under the title "Office Server". This wizard is used to create the web admin console that is used to configure the rest of the components.

A number of things need to be in place before using the wizard:

1: IIS needs to be installed - Local

2: Service account needs to be created on Active Directory - Remote

3: SQL Server 2000 (sp 4) or SQL 2005 needs to be available - Local or Remote

4: Need to be logged in under an Local or Domain account with Admin Rights - Local or Remote

The wizard will prompt you with a number of questions that you need to provide answers for:

1: Are you creating a new farm or are you joining an existing farm.

2: Name of the SQL Server to be used.

3: Name of the Configuration database

4: Whether this machine will be a front end web server or SSP only

Once all the information is provided and you select finish, the wizard will create the admin console. This is achieved by creating a web site, application pool and configuration database. This process takes about 10 minutes and then you can use the admin web console.

3. Start Services on Server

The services used by MOSS can be configured by using the admin web console which can be found under "Administrative Tools". Open the admin console and select the "Operations" tab, then select the the link called "Services on Server".

There are a number of services that can be started on the server that do a number of different things, but there are only three that are critical to complete the install process successfully.

• Windows Sharepoint Services Web Application - this should already be started otherwise the admin console would not work.
• Windows Sharepoint Service Help Search - used to do searching at site collection level
• Office Sharepoint Server Search - required during the configuration of the SSP that will follow.

Each of the services will prompt you with configuration screens when started, but I will not be discussing those details in this blog.

4. Create the first SSP

The "Shared Service Provider" is the main differentiating between WSS and MOSS. It provides an additional management console that is required to configure and manage the additional services that are installed with MOSS. These services include the following:

1. Profile - Used to import information people information

2. Business Data Catalog - Connections to external database systems

3. Search and Indexing - Catalog all information in the Enterprise

4. Excel Services - Server side calculations of Excel Spreadsheets

5. Audiences - Targeting content to certain users

6. My Site - Private site for each user in Sharepoint

7. Usage Reporting - Usage analysis of user activity

To create an SSP select the "Application Management" tab and then select "Create and configure this farm's shared services". The following screen allows you to create a new SSP by selecting "New SSP" from the toolbar.

The creation of the SSP is probably the most complicated part of the MOSS installation and therefore I will be spending some time defining the various areas:

1. SSP Name
This section requires you to provided a logical name for the SSP and the ability to create a new web site. It is important to create a new web site! Do not install into the default web site as you will break anything else running there. I will discuss the process of creating a new web site in section 5 of this blog.

2. My Site Location
The "My Site" component will create a new "Profile" database in SQL server and a new web site. It is possible to create a virtual directory in one of the existing web sites, but it is a better practice to create a completely new web application.

3. SSP Service Credentials
The SSP consists of a number of sub systems that enhance the capabilities of MOSS. These sub systems have to run within a particular security context as determined by the service account. Normally the privileges of this service account needs to be quite high.

4. SSP Database
All the metadata and configuration data contained within the SSP needs to be stored somewhere. This will create the SSP database.

5. Search Database
The search service forms part of the SSP and is configured from here. The search service needs to store security information about what content is available to which users. This is stored in the search database that will be created.

6. Index Server
The Index service and search service does not have to exist on the same server. The drop down combo box therefore allows you to select another service. This will only be available if you created more that one SSP. The catalog file that the index services will use to store the data will by default end up on the C: drive. This is not a good idea, change it to a larger disk.

5. Create the First Web Application

Now that the main configuration has been done, we can start by building the infrastructure to host you first portal site. The explanation that follows will be the same procedure as referred to in the previous section when creating a new web site or application. Navigate to the "Application Management" tab and the select the hyperlink called "Create or Extend Web Application". This version of MOSS 2007 will create the complete web site and application for you. The previous version forced you to create it in IIS manually and the extend it from within Sharepoint.

The above dialog box will be used to create the new web application, but once again there are a number of areas to look out for:

1. IIS Web site
Always create a new web application and specify a logical name that is descriptive of the purpose of the site. Each web application in IIS must have an unique port number in IIS unless you provide a proper domain name in the "Host Header" field. Remember to register the domain name with an DNS server either internal or external to you network. A directory will also be created under the "Inetpub" directory, but this is only to host extensions in the form of web parts as most of the content will be stored in the content database.

2. Security Configuration
Authentication for MOSS is done through IIS using either "Active Directory" , Anonymous or SSL. Please note that if you use anonymous, all access to the site is "Read Only" regardless of you network credentials. SSL will require a digital certificate issued by an CA either internal or external to your network.

3. Load Balanced URL
The URL is created based on the settings defined earlier when creating the web application, but if the DNS entry is different then you might want to change this.

4. Application Pool
Application pools is a new feature with IIS 6.0 that allows each web application to run in a different process. This allows each application to be started and stopped independently from one another. Another important aspect is the identity of the application pool that will be used to connect to external resource outside of IIS. Therefore the service account used here will used to connect to SQL Server. Ensure that this account has a valid logon in the SQL Server.

5. Restart IIS
This is where most people break the creation of the web application. Once all the settings are complete on this page and you select the "OK" button, IIS will start the creation process. Before you can see the web site, you will have to run an "IISreset" from the command line. Most people are impatient and run the "IISreset" before the creation process is complete and therefore the process fails. Rather run and "IISreset /noforce"  that will allow IIS to complete all IIS threads before initiating a restart.

6. Database Name
Each web application will have its own content database to store all its information. This section allows you to specify the server, database name and account with sufficient privileges to create the database.

7. Search Server
Each web application can be connected to a different search server depending on how many SSP's you created. Quite often this option is disabled. This is normally caused by not starting the search service or not configuring the SSP.

6. Create the first Site Collection

Even though we created the web application, we still have nothing to look at. This is because there is no content, features or web parts configured in any logical format. This is achieved by creating a site collection within the web application. It is important to note that one web application can have many site collections within it, each with a different template applied. Each site collection can have many sub-sites creating separate hierarchical structures within the web application. Navigate to the "Application Management" tab and select the option called "Create Site Collection".

Once again there are a number of things to take note of to do this successfully:

1. Web Application
You must select the web application in the drop down list that you created in section 5 of this blog. Most people leave the default and then they create the site collection under the admin web site.

2. Title and Description
This will appear on the home page of the site as a description of the purpose of the site.

3.  Web Site Address
Site collection are normally created in a virtual directory called "Sites" under the path of the web application. Give a name to your site collection and it will appear as a virtual directory under "Sites".

4. Template
Templates is a discussion by itself, but I will summarize it here. Sites consist of features, web parts and style sheets, Templates is a fast way of getting a site up and running without having to define it yourself. I prefer a "Blank Site" as it allows me to configure these things myself.

5. Administrator
Each site collection can have its own administrator that does not work in IT. This will give a "Power User" in a certain department complete control within this site collection. MOSS was designed with delegation of authority in mind.

6.
Quota
This allows you to limit the amount of disk space that can be consumed by this site collection. Additional templates can be define under the "Application Management" tab and then selecting "Quota Templates".

This is the bare bones version of getting MOSS up and running properly. The last tip that I will give you is to follow the task list in sequence as defined on the "Home" tab within administration console.

SQL databases used in Sharepoint

There are quite a number of databases generated during a Sharepoint install and depending on the "Farm" configuration there might be more or less. A lot of SQL DBA's get quite annoyed when all these databases suddenly appear in their system and they have no idea what each database does or why it is there.

I have therefore decided to explain what databases get created during a MOSS install and what the purpose is behind each. A WSS install generates less databases and therefore I decided to focus on a MOSS install as this generates the most.

Lets start by taking a look at a screen shots of the databases generated and then I will explain the purpose of each.

Below is a list of the databases generated by Sharepoint, the names may differ per deployment, but the purpose remains the same:

• Config Database for the Farm - Sharepoint_Config - stores configuration information about the servers deployed in the farm , their individual configurations settings and some security information. Without this database there is no Sharepoint.
• Content database for the Admin Console - Sharepoint_AdminContent_GUID - sharepoint uses its own technology to render the web based admin console for Sharepoint. Therefore it needs it's own content database to stored the configuration settings for the web parts used. The actual data configured using this console is stored in the config database for the farm. The name for this database is system generated and cannot be controlled during the installation process and therefore it ends with a GUID.
• Config database for the SSP (Shared Service Providers) - BPS_SharedServices_DB - during the configuration process a SPP is defined to configure all the Shared Services used by Sharepoint. All the Configuration settings for these services are stored in this database. The name of the database can be controlled during the creation process and should be descriptive of the purpose.
• Content database for the SSP Console - BPS_SSP_Content - just like the admin console the SSP also needs a web site to allow you to configure the shared services and these also use web parts and lists. Therefore the SSP also needs its own content database to store these settings.
• SSP Search database - BPS_SharedServices_Search_DB - this database is used by the Enterprise search service to store metadata about the information crawled including security information. This is typically used for information stored external from Sharepoint.
• WSS search database - WSS_Search_sps-dc1 - this database is used by the WSS core components to store metadata about content stored inside the Sharepoint web application content databases. This is created during the installation process.
• Web Application Content - Office_Content - this is the content database for the first user based web site in Sharepoint. Before the users can actually use Sharepoint a "Web Application", Site Collection and Site must be built. This database stores all the information generated within this web application.
• Additional content databases - Office_Content_2 - new content databases can be created to host additional "Site Collections" and "Web Applications" and there could be hundreds of these.

The other databases that are left over in the snapshot is used by other applications that do not have a direct influence on Sharepoint, but can be used in conjunction with the product.

• SQL Server system databases and sample databases
• Project Server 2007 databases
• Live Communication Server 2005 databases.
• Reporting Services databases.

SharePoint on SharePoint: Launch of new website

Microsoft a new SharePoint marketing website http://www.microsoft.com/sharepoint/

Installing MOSS with a remote SQL Server

A number of people have emailed me in the past requesting help on installing MOSS with a remote SQL Server. In many installations there seems to be a problem connecting to SQL Server when running the "Sharepoint configuration wizard", so I decided to make some time and run some simulations. To my surprise, I discovered a bit of a flaw from a Microsoft perspective and I will explain how to fix this.

MOSS can be installed on either SQL 2000 (with sp4) or SQL 2005 (Express, Standard or Enterprise). In January we will have SQL 2008 available, but I have not verified that it works although it seems logical that it should. The scenarios and simulations that I will be using in this blog are all based on SQL 2005, but the same principals will apply to SQL 2000.

I created three virtual servers using "Virtual PC 2007" called AW-DC1, AW-SQL and AW-MOSS. The software installations were split as follows:

• AW-DC1 - Active Directory , DNS , Exchange 2007
• AW-SQL - SQL Server 2005 Enterprise edition with all components (SSAS, SSIS, SSRS)
• AW-MOSS - Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server 2007 Enterprise Edition

During the installations of these products I only used the default settings and did not configure anything specific. The problem occurred when I was busy installing MOSS. For more detailed information on how to do this read the blog "Installing MOSS 2007" on this site. During the configuration of the "Sharepoint Configuration Wizard" I encountered an error when attempting to create a new farm.

The error seems to indicate that the SQL Server cannot be contacted across the network, so in true diagnostics fashion I attempted to debug the network:

• The virtual PC network settings where set to "Local Only", as they should be.
• The IP addresses where valid on all the virtual PC's and in the same subnet mask. The DNS was also correct.
• I could ping the IP addresses of both the SQL server and the DC
• I could resolve the PC IP's remotely using DNS.
• The port number 1433 was not blocked on any firewalls
• I could map drives and copy files
• The SQL Server service was running on the SQL VPC.
• TCP/IP sockets was enabled on the SQL Server.
• ODBC from control panel allowed be to connect to the SQL server

After all of this, I still could not connect via the wizard. So in true fashion like all technical people I was forced to read the error log. Of course I should have done this in the first place, but we always know better. You will notice that on the error dialogue box there is a path to a log file. This file is located in the 12 hive and gives a detailed breakdown of each step that the wizard goes through to configure MOSS. After spending some time read the log I found a clue. There was an obscure entry that mentioned that "Named Pipes" might not be enabled on the SQL Server.

This came as quite a surprise to me, as Microsoft's strategy on SQL Server is to run all connections on TCP/IP sockets and get rid of "Named Pipes" due to it's legacy connotations and limitations as far as firewalls are concerned. Never the less, I switched to the SQL Server and enabled "Named Pipes".

"Named Pipes" can be configured on the SQL Server by launching the "SQL Server Configuration Manager" and following these steps:

1. Navigate the tree structure on the left by selecting "SQL Server 2005 Network Configuration"
2. Select the option called "Protocols for MSSQLSERVER"
3. Select the protocol on the right called "Named Pipes"
4. Right-click the selection and select "Enable" from the drop down menu.
5. Remember to re-start the SQLServer service. Do not do this is office hours as users will most likely be using this server.

After I completed these steps, I navigated back to the MOSS server and re-tried the configuration wizard. Success!!!!

As an additional experiment I tried the following:

1. I re-ran the wizard and removed the MOSS server from the farm.
2. I deleted all the databases created by the configuration wizard from SQL Server.
3. I disabled "Named Pipes" on the SQL Server.
4. I re-started the SQLServer service.
5. I ran the Sharepoint configuration wizard again and installed a new farm.

To my surprise, it worked the second time around without having to enabled "Named Pipes". The only conclusion that I could derive from this, is that this particular problem only occurs on new servers, that have never connected to a SQL Server before. It seems that once the server has connected to SQL Server once, it works purely on TCP/IP sockets.

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SharePoint: With Service Pack 2 (SP2) Forms Based Authentication and Client Integration Works!

Forms Based Authentication (FBA) now works with Office Integration! But only for Office 2007 Service Pack 2.

Here are my tests:

Tests were done on a VPC with SharePoint and Office on the same VPC.

The VPC started with Server 2003 Std Edition, MOSS Enterprise Edition SP1 and Office 2003 Std Edition

Installed WSS SP2 and MOSS SP2

SP2 install instructions: http://fabianwilliams.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!DC80CE4E9C963237!536.entry

Created a new application, site collection and configured FBA in a typical manner using the ASP.Net membership and role providers.

Client Integration was disabled by default! (in spite of what was said in the MSDN articles.)  In enabled Client Integration for these tests.

Tests with Office 2003

• Upload Multiple worked!
• Open in Microsoft Word - did not work, instead it opened login.aspx as a Word document!
• Export to Spreadsheet – did not work: "To export a list, you must have a Windows SharePoint Services-compatible application"
• Connect to Outlook – did not work: "error (0x8004110): 'An error occurred either in Outlook or Windows SharePoint Services...."

So, except for Upload Multiple, Client Integration does not work with Office 2003.

Office 2007 (Enterprise Edition) initial release 12.0.6213.1000

• Open in Microsoft Word - Word launched, but no errors, nothing, just empty word.
• Open from Word using full URL to document. ("Could not open "http://.....")
• Connect to Outlook - Displayed normal SharePoint to Outlook messages, but then displayed an emtpy calendar, so the calendar was created in Outlook, but the data was not linked. Clicking on calendar displays the "read only" message usually seen in Outlook 2003.
• Export to Spreadsheet - "You do not have adequate permissions to modify this list ..."

So, except for Upload Multiple, Client Integration does not work with Office 2007 (without SP2).

Office 2007 (Enterprise Edition) SP2

• It all works! (with one extra click)
• Open in Microsoft Word – displays a login page (looks just like login.aspx) and after logging in display the document (and saves it) just fine.
• Connect to Outlook, Export to Excel both fail… but….
• If you checkmark “Sign me in automatically” while logging in then every thing I have tested so far works.
  • Connect to Outlook works
  • Export to Excel works

So as long as you checkmark “Sign me in automatically” when you login FBA now supports Client Integration!

How does it work?

Cookies. Deleting cookies in the middle of a session will break Client Integration.

If you have written your own custom membership provider or your own custom login page then you will need to implement a “remember me” feature using an ASP cookie.

More tests needed…. Does Client Integration work with Office 2007 SP2 without WSS or MOSS SP2???  Don’t know yet…

Update on SharePoint forms based authentication(FBA) and Office client

I wanted to update everyone on some changes with the level of support and integration in the Microsoft Office client applications (hereafter referred to simply as “Office”) and SharePoint sites that are secured with forms based authentication (FBA). For those of you who have read part 3 of the FBA whitepapers (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb977430.aspx), you know that at the time Office and SharePoint 2007 was released, there was not a strong level of integration between the two. In fact, as some of you may have seen, if you had Enable Client Integration turned on for a zone secured with FBA, and then you tried to edit an item in that zone using the Edit in Microsoft Word command from the menu for example, instead of opening the document up, Word actually opened the login page for the site. It resulted in something that looks like this:

For the rest of this blog, I’m going to share with you a sneak of an update to part 3 of the FBA whitepaper that describes changes we’ve made to the Office client to enable much better integration with SharePoint sites secured with FBA. These changes allow Office applications to display whatever forms login page is being used for the site in a pop up dialog box. The Office application renders the HTML from that login page and allows the user to enter credentials. The credentials are sent back to the server and if the server returns a redirect response for the document that was originally requested, the Office application assumes that the identity has been successfully established. It is then able to use the authorization cookie it was given to retrieve the document and any associated metadata, and open the item up.

This approach allows you to use whatever forms authentication login page the site uses – whether it’s the login page that comes with SharePoint, a custom login page, or even a multi-factor login page. Below is an example of what the login dialog looks like when opening an item on a SharePoint site that uses the standard forms login page:

The steps necessary to implement this support are as follows:

On the Client

1. Download the hotfix for KB 960499 from the December 2008 Cumulative Update for the Office client applications; you can find this download at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/960499/. Please note that even though the documentation primarily describes fixes for the InfoPath client, this is the correct patch to enable support in Microsoft Office applications for FBA.

IMPORTANT: This patch can only be used with Office 2007 running on the Windows XP operating system. A patch that enables this support for Office 2007 running on the Windows Vista operating system is available in the April 2009 cumulative update for the Microsoft Office client. It also requires that Service Pack 2 for Vista be applied.

2. Install this patch on each client computer running Windows XP and Office 2007 from which you wish to use the Office client to open documents in an FBA-secured site.

3. Configure the appropriate set of registry values on each client computer to enable the Office client applications to use the FBA integration features. At a minimum, the FormsAuthEnabled value needs to be created and set 1. More details on the registry values, their location and function are described below.

NOTE: If you are using Internet Explorer, these new features require at least version 7.0 or higher.

On the SharePoint Farm

1. Go to Central Administration, click on the Application Management tab, then click on the Authentication Providers link.

2. In the Web Applications drop down, select the web application that contains an FBA zone and then click on the link for the zone that is configured to use FBA.

3. On the settings page for the zone, check the Enable anonymous access checkbox, and change the Enable Client Integration? setting to Yes.

NOTE: Checking the Enable anonymous access checkbox does not, by itself, grant anonymous access to any content in the web application. It is however, necessary to enable the Office client applications to gather enough information about the site to display the login dialog window.

The authentication settings for the web application should appear like this:

Registry Values

There are several registry values that can be used to help control how and when the Office client applications will attempt to use the FBA to authenticate a request. All registry values are stored under the key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Common\Internet\FormsBasedAuthSettings.

As described above, the FormsAuthEnabled value is required at a minimum for these new features to work. It is a DWORD value and must be set to 1 in order for the Office client to utilize these new FBA features. There are other registry values available for further fine-tuning your implementation that will be explained more fully in the update to the FBA whitepaper. They include settings for things like not allowing cross domain redirects for login, require SSL with the login page, enabling scripts, behaviors, and ActiveX in the login page, etc.

Other Things To Know

There are a few other things to know about the support described here. First, not every Office application will be able to take advantage of these new features. More may come online over time, but for now you should count on the core Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook) to support this. Second, adding this feature to the Office client enables some other scenarios that weren’t previously possible. For example, we can also potentially integrate with SharePoint sites secured with ADFS much better than we have previously. After all, ADFS is just FBA with a remote login page. We hope to address the ADFS scenario more specifically in the update to part 3 of the FBA whitepaper, so make sure you download it and take a look when it’s released.

April Cumulative Update Packages Ready for Download

You may already read from blogs about April Cumulative Update for separate components in SharePoint. Now, the server-packages (also known as “Uber” packages) of April Cumulative Update for Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 are ready for download.

Download Information

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 April cumulative update package
http://support.microsoft.com/hotfix/KBHotfix.aspx?kbnum=968850

Office SharePoint Server 2007 April cumulative update package
http://support.microsoft.com/hotfix/KBHotfix.aspx?kbnum=968851

Detail Description

Description of the Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 April cumulative update package
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/968850

Description of the Office SharePoint Server 2007 April cumulative update package
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/968851 (Link not live yet)

Installation Recommendation for a fresh SharePoint Server

To keep all files in a SharePoint installation up-to-date, the following sequence is recommended.

1. Service Pack 2 for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0
2. Service Pack 2 for Office SharePoint Server 2007
3. April Cumulative Update package for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0
4. April Cumulative Update package for Office SharePoint Server 2007

Please note: Start from April Cumulative Update, the packages will no longer install on a farm without a service pack installed. You must have installed either Service Pack 1 (SP1) or SP2 prior to the installation of the cumulative updates.

After applying the preceding updates, run the SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard or “psconfig –cmd upgrade –inplace b2b -wait” in command line. This needs to be done on every server in the farm with SharePoint installed.

The version of content databases should be 12.0.6504.5000 after successfully applying these updates.

For more in-depth guidance for the update process, we recommend that customers refer to the following articles. These articles provide a correct way to deploy updates, identify known issues (and resolutions), and provide information about creating slipstream builds.

Deploy software updates for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc288269.aspx

Deploy software updates for Office SharePoint Server 2007
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc263467.aspx

Create an installation source that includes software updates (Windows SharePoint Services 3.0)
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc287882.aspx

Create an installation source that includes software updates (Office SharePoint Server 2007)
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc261890.aspx

FAQ

Q: What’s the difference between April CU and SP2?
A: Office Sustained Engineering team explained the difference on their blog: FAQ concerning Service Pack 2 and the Cumulative Updates for April 2009 for the 2007 Microsoft® Office System and Microsoft Office Servers. To be simple: April CU contains fixes that are not part of SP2. But it includes only a subset of all the files. So if you want to get everything in your farm up-to-date, you need to apply SP2 first, then apply April CU.

Q: Do you have a timeline on the updates? I’m confused.
A: Here’s an example timeline to help you understand the update schedule during 2007~2009. Cumulative Updates are released every two months. Start from April 2009, cumulative updates cannot be applied directly on RTM version of SharePoint installations. SP1 is the minimum requirement, while SP2 is recommended.

Makeover for Groove: SharePoint Workspace 2010!

Heads up – Groove is getting a new name as of the coming release of Office 2010.  Please welcome SharePoint Workspace 2010! 

The name makeover is in concert with the direction the product is going.  SharePoint Workspace will provide easy access to SharePoint content (or content from any server that implements the publicly documented protocols) in an effort to provide a seamless online/offline experience.

SharePoint Workspace 2010 will be easier to deploy and easier to manage, and it supports a new set of scenarios to help Office and SharePoint users be more productive.  It will also make it easier for IT folks to implement a consistent information strategy based on SharePoint technology throughout the organization.

There will be changes in the way the product is delivered, as well – e.g. SharePoint Workspace (and OneNote, for that matter) will be added to the Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010 release.  Keep an eye peeled for further announcements from Microsoft on new product plans for Office.

Announcing SharePoint Server 2010 Preliminary System Requirements

We’ve heard loud and clear that you want system requirements information as early as possible to assist in your budgeting and planning, so today we’re happy to announce (and confirm) some preliminary system requirements for SharePoint Server 2010:

1. SharePoint Server 2010 will be 64-bit only.
2. SharePoint Server 2010 will require 64-bit Windows Server 2008 or 64-bit Windows Server 2008 R2.
3. SharePoint Server 2010 will require 64-bit SQL Server 2008 or 64-bit SQL Server 2005.

In addition to the requirements listed above we also wanted to share with you some preliminary detail about SharePoint Server 2010 browser compatibility. 

To ensure the best possible experience across multiple browsers we’re focusing our SharePoint 2010 engineering efforts on targeting standards based browsers (XHTML 1.0 compliant) including Internet Explorer 7, Internet Explorer 8 and Firefox 3.x. running on Windows Operating Systems.  In addition we’re planning on an increased level of compatibility with Firefox 3.x and Safari 3.x on non-Windows Operating Systems.  Due to this focus Internet Explorer 6 will not be a supported browser for SharePoint Server 2010.

So, what can you do today to get into the best shape for SharePoint Server 2010?

1. Start by ensuring new hardware is 64-bit.  Deploying 64-bit is our current best practice recommendation for SharePoint 2007.
2. Deploy Service Pack 2 and take a good look at the SharePoint 2010 Upgrade Checker that’s shipped as part of the update.  The Upgrade Checker will scan your SharePoint Server 2007 deployment for many issues that could affect a future upgrade to SharePoint 2010.
3. Get to know Windows Server 2008 with SharePoint 2007, this post is a great starting point.
4. Consider your desktop browser strategy if you have large population of Internet Explorer 6 users.
5. Continue to follow the Best Practices guidance for SharePoint Server 2007.
6. Keep an eye on this blog for updates and more details in the coming months.

Below are a few common Q&A’s (which we’ll add to as required)

Q: What about Internet Explorer 6 and SharePoint 2010 publishing sites?
A: The Web Content Management features built into SharePoint 2010 will provide a deep level of control over the markup and styling of the reader experience.  These features will enable customers to design pages that are compatible with additional browsers for viewing content, including Internet Explorer 6.  A standards based browser such as Internet Explorer 7, Internet Explorer 8 or Firefox 3.x will be required to author content.

Q: Is Internet Explorer 6 officially supported by Microsoft?
A: Official Microsoft Product Support for Internet Explorer 6 will expire in July 2010. You can find additional information on Microsoft’s Support Lifecycle Policy including specific dates, product information and support offerings here: http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifepolicy.

Q: Why are you only supporting the 64-bit versions of SQL Server 2005 or 2008 for SharePoint Server 2010?
A: This decision was based on our current test data for SharePoint Server 2010 and real world experience from customers running SharePoint Server 2007 with 32-bit SQL Server.  SharePoint performance and scalability can benefit significantly from 64-bit SQL Server and the throughput increases are significant enough for us to make the difficult decision to only support SharePoint Server 2010 on 64-bit SQL Server 2005 or 2008.  It has been our strong recommendation for some time that SharePoint Server 2007 customers take advantage of 64-bit SQL Server due to the inherent performance and scale benefits it can provide.

New SharePoint Training Company: Critical Path Training

As with any typical day, this afternoon I checked my Twitter feed to see Andrew Connell's big announcement that he and Ted Pattison have launched a new company called Critical Path Training.

I'm excited about this for multiple reasons.  First, take a look at their site...It's all SharePoint 2007 WCM and it's smoking fast!  Nice work on the site guys!  It's good to see another successful WCM implementation on SharePoint!

Here is what makes me really excited about the launch of this new company.  If you have never seen Ted or Andrew teach, give a seminar or conference session then you are truly missing out.  These guys are the best out there, period.  Every time that I see either of them up on stage or in a classroom, I learn something.  If it's not the content it's their stage presence.  If it's not the stage presence, it's the flow of the content and demos.  You get the idea. 

There is a lot of value added to your experience to take the classes offered by these guys.  You can really learn and understand the SharePoint platform quickly by sitting with these guys in a classroom for a week (or two). 

FAQ concerning Service Pack 2 and the Cumulative Updates for April 2009 for the 2007 Microsoft® Office System and Microsoft Office servers

Many of our customers have questions on the relationship between the set of hotfixes released in the Cumulative Updates (CU) for April 2009 and Service Pack 2 (SP2) for the 2007 Microsoft Office System and Microsoft Office servers. This post will aim at answering those questions.

Cumulative Updates are accumulated sets of hotfixes that the Microsoft Office Sustained Engineering team releases to customers approximately every two months.

If you do not use Cumulative Updates, this blog will probably not be interesting to you. If you are only using SP2, please refer to the following blog post for more details.
Throughout this post, we will use the term "April CU" to refer to the set of hotfixes released in the 2007 Office Cumulative Updates for April 2009.

1. When was SP2 for the 2007 Microsoft Office System and Microsoft Office servers released?  When were the 2007 Office Cumulative Updates for April 2009 released?
SP2 was released on Tuesday April 28th, 2009. Majority of the 2007 Office Cumulative Updates for April 2009 were released on Thursday April 30th, 2009.

2. Where can I obtain SP2 for the 2007 Microsoft Office System and Microsoft Office servers?
Please refer to the following blog post on how to obtain SP2. The corresponding KB article is KB968170.

3. Where can I obtain the 2007 Office Cumulative Updates for April 2009?
Please refer to KB968765 on how to obtain these.

4. What should we install to get the latest updates for all Office products?
For our general customer base, we recommend installing SP2. If you have needed updates in the April CU, we recommend installing both SP2 and the April CU. 

5. What hotfixes are included in SP2?
SP2 will contain every hotfix, security update, infrastructure update, service pack or any other update that was released for Office 2007 through February 2009.  Therefore, all hotfixes that were released in CUs prior to the April CU will be included in SP2.
Please refer to KB968170 for a list of all SP2 packages.
6. Will we get the latest updates for an Office product if we install only the April CU and not SP2?

The short answer is no. If you want the latest updates for an Office product we recommend installing both SP2 and the April CU.
To explain further, the April CU includes only a subset of SP2 files, those that were updated due to a hotfix request. On the other hand, the service pack contains product improvements and updates to many other files that are not impacted by a hotfix request. The volume and diversity of fixes in SP2 is much greater than in the April CU. If you install only the April CU, you will not get all the latest updates and the benefit of the service pack.

7. What service packs are required to install the April CU?
To install the April CU, you must have installed either Service Pack 1 (SP1) or SP2. Cumulative updates released in April 2009 and beyond will no longer install on an Office 2007 system without a service pack installed.

8. Which one should we install first between SP2 and the April CU? Do they overwrite each other?
You can install SP2 and the April CU in any order. 
The installer checks to see if the environment already has a newer version of the file it is attempting to replace. If not, it replaces the old file with the newer version; otherwise it skips the install and retains the newer version. The April CU version of a file is newer than the SP2 version of the same file and always takes precedence during an install. Therefore, if you install SP2 followed by April CU, the April CU version of the file replaces the SP2 version. On the other hand, if you install April CU first and then SP2, the April CU version of the file is retained in the environment. The April CU version of a file contains all updates to that file that were in SP2 as well. Hence, installation order does not matter.
Below is an example table for a file (microsoft.sharepoint.portal.dll), in various installation scenarios.

For a list of files and file versions in April CU packages, please refer to KB968765 and browse to the KB article for a specific product. 
For a list of files and file versions in SP2 packages, please refer to KB970357 (2007 Microsoft Office System SP2), KB970358 (MOSS SP2) and KB970359 (WSS SP2). 

9. Will server-packages be released for Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 (WSS) and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) in the April CU? How different will they be from SP2?
Yes, the Microsoft Office Sustained Engineering team began the trend of releasing consolidated packages for server products due to a high volume of customer requests for this type of package. This was first done in the December CU.
In the April CU too, there are 2 cumulative server-packages:
(1) WSS server-package - that contains updates for WSS
(2) MOSS server-package - that contains updates for ECM, Project Server, Search, Excel Services, InfoPath Server and MOSS
The server-packages include all hotfixes for server products that the Microsoft Office Sustained Engineering team has ever released. However, there are files updated in the service pack that have never been updated in a hotfix. In order to get all the latest updates, you need to install SP2 and the April CU server-packages.

10. What do I need to install in my environment to get the latest updates for all server products?
You need to install both SP2 and the April CU server-packages (WSS server-package, MOSS server-package) to get the latest updates for all server products. In general, install the latest service pack and the latest CU server-packages to get the latest updates for server products.

11. If I install both SP2 and the April CU and then uninstall SP2, will I lose updates from the April CU, previous CUs or previous service packs?
The 2007 Microsoft Office suite SP2 is the first service pack to support uninstalling updates for the 2007 Office desktop products. Note you cannot uninstall SP2 for Microsoft Office server products.
No, you will not lose updates from the April CU, previous CUs or previous service packs if you uninstall SP2 for desktop products. For example, there are patches from SP1, December CU and February CU installed in your environment. You install SP2 and the April CU and then decide to uninstall SP2. The installer will uninstall everything that is superseded by SP1 and then reinstall patches from the December, February and April CUs (since applying these patches on top of SP1 is a supported scenario).
Please refer to KB954914 for more detailed information on uninstall for SP2.

12. Is it a supported scenario to install a patch from an older CU on top of a patch from a newer CU?
If you attempt to install a patch from an older CU after applying a patch (for the same set of files) from the newer CU, the installer will prevent installation and give an error that says: "This patch or one that supersedes it is already installed." This holds true for both desktop and server products.
Note that since the updates are cumulative in nature, the newer CU patch always contains the latest version of the set of files and encompasses fixes in those files from the older CU as well.

13. Where can I find a list of all fixes in SP2?
KB968170 includes a list of all SP2 packages and the Knowledge Base (KB) articles corresponding to them. Each KB contains a link to an Excel spreadsheet that lists the issues fixed in that package.

Lek Eredivisie Live

Met een simpel foefje is het mogelijk om wedstrijden in de eredivisie gratis te bekijken via internet. Eredivisie Live ontkent het probleem. Het enige wat je nodig hebt is een lege bankrekeningnummer.

http://www.zie.nl/videos/lek-eredivisie-live/m1dz8wgfine0

Backup/Restore Now Supported Between Farms (via April CU)

I just saw a very exciting blog post from Stefan Goßner regarding the April 2009 Cumulative Update (CU) - with this update you can now use backup and restore to move site collections between farms: http://blogs.technet.com/stefan_gossner/archive/2009/05/01/red-is-green-up-is-down-and-the-unsupported-suddenly-becomes-supported.aspx. 

So first off, yes there is an April CU even though SP2 just came out a couple of days ago (think about it - SP2 has been cooked for a while but they’ve been testing, writing SDK docs, etc., etc., - in the meantime the team has continued working on new updates).  I strongly recommend that you install SP2 before you install this update! 

So what’s the change that makes it supported now?  Anyone ever have to use my gl-fixpublishingpagespagelayouturl command to fix page layouts that were absolute and pointing to the wrong server?  Well, this is the primary fix that Microsoft has made so that site collections (specifically those that use the publishing features) can be moved across farms.  Note that I suspect that my command will still have lots of uses (I need to do some disassembling to figure out the specific change - good chance my command won’t be needed anymore but I doubt it).

Some more information about the April CU can be found here: http://blogs.msdn.com/joerg_sinemus/archive/2009/05/01/should-i-install-sp2-and-or-april-cu.aspx

New In SP2 Changes in Backup Operations

New additions that come with Service Pack 2 for SharePoint (WSS and MOSS) is a new function built into the stsadm.exe –o backup tool that allows you to set your databases to read only.  If you run this command on a working environment there will always be a chance for the job to fail if users are adding content to the sites.  To prevent this we now have a new feature that allows us to lock the DB and make it read only.

I want you to notice in the above screenshot that I'm running a very basic command that is no different than you have normally done.  Nothing additional was added to the command but notice the output.  By default now when you run stsadm.exe –o backup your sites that are being backed up are set to read-only.  Once the operation completes it will return the state to normal.

Lets dive a bit deeper and see how you can leverage the additional commands related to backups

Lets first go over some of the command run above.  In the second command I want to evaluate the site I want to back up to see its status (locked or unlocked)   Running the command

stsadm.exe –o getsitelock –url http//blahblahblah   returns a value of none…. not alot to get excited about yet.

In the third command I want to see my available options

stsadm.exe –o setsitelock –url (url) –lock | –noadditions |-readonly | –noaccess

• None: Sets the site collection to unlock.

• Noadditions: Permits changes that reduce the size of the data.

  For example, if you had an announcement list item whose body consisted of 50 characters, you could successfully edit the list item so that the body was reduced to 25 characters. However, if you tried to edit the list item so that they body was increased to 100 characters, that would be blocked.

• Readonly: Sets the site collection to read-only.

• Noaccess: Sets the site collection unavailable to all users.

* Above explanations of parameters copied from Technet  http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc262811.aspx

In the forth command I'm simply setting the collection I'm backing up to read-only and running the 5th command shows the status.

So say you don’t want to be bothered with this and you are going to be backing up your system during off hours.  Well as you have to make it known to the backup operation.   Refer to the first screenshot. Remember by default with nothing added it will set it to read-only.   I want to just toss caution to the wind and remove the site lock altogether.

Notice in the above command i added the –nositelock tag at the end of my command.  Run this at your own risk leaving the site open to write backs.    

Cool stuff.  Enjoy

The April cumulative update for WSS V3 and MOSS 2007 has been released yesterday

Should I install SP2 and or April CU

In short words SP2 based on the Feb CU but not contains April CU fixes.

We highly recommend to install SP2. In case you need April CU please also install SP2 first.

Suggested steps to upgrade:

• Have a test environment similar to your productive.
• Create a complete backup for all SharePoint data and a system backup of all WFE’s.
• Install SP2.
• Test briefly the functionality.
• Install April CU.
• Test the functionality as deep as possible.
• With that experience do same steps in the production environment.

April CU KB articles

For WSS we can offer an uber package with the KB number 968850. This package contains the two KB 968857 (Global) and KB 969421 (Language specific) hotfix packages.

The KB articles are not yet finished and I will post the URL’s when these are available.

For MOSS we cannot offer the uber package yet because of a similar problem we had with Feb CU.

April CU downloads

WSS the uber package
http://support.microsoft.com/hotfix/KBHotfix.aspx?kbnum=968850&kbln=en-us

MOSS the current available packages
http://support.microsoft.com/hotfix/KBHotfix.aspx?kbnum=968859&kbln=en-us
http://support.microsoft.com/hotfix/KBHotfix.aspx?kbnum=969414&kbln=en-us
http://support.microsoft.com/hotfix/KBHotfix.aspx?kbnum=969959&kbln=en-us Only Greek
http://support.microsoft.com/hotfix/KBHotfix.aspx?kbnum=969420&kbln=en-us Only Hungarian
http://support.microsoft.com/hotfix/KBHotfix.aspx?kbnum=968862&kbln=en-us

What to install now?
- SP2 in any case
- WSS April CU uber package on WSS only environments

- You had a hotfix request with us and needs a MOSS fix? The escalation engineer will update you which package is the right one.

Later when the uber package for MOSS will be available we also recommend to install WSS and MOSS uber after SP2 on all SharePoint environments.

Top 6 new STSADM operations in SharePoint 2007 SP2

By now you've had a couple of days to play with SP2. Hopefully the install went well. There's some new stuff in it that I want to show you. In this post I'll tell you about the new STSADM operations that are introduced. I did an "STSADM" on a box running SP1 and the Infrastructure Update (build 12.0.0.6318) and on a box running the hot off the presses SP2 (12.0.0.6421). There are six STSADM operations in SP2 that aren't there before. To make it fun, I'm going to list them in order of how excited I am about them.

#6 – variationsfixuptool

This operation alerts you to problems you might have with any variations like orphaned pages. It'll also force a variations timer job to run. You can find out more about it in this article on TechNet. I don't use variations much, so this operation while much needed, doesn't really get my motor running.

#5 – exportipfsadminobjects

Do you use Infopath a lot? Then this operation might be for you. It stands for EXPORT InfoPath Form Server ADMIN OBJECTS. I'm not entirely sure what this does, but it appears to backup forms and configuration that is uploaded to your farm. Unfortunately there isn't an associated IMPORTipfsadminobjects operation, so I'm not sure what to do with it. It sounds cool though. I'm an admin, I like backing stuff up.

#4 and #3 – setqueryprocessoroptions and listqueryprocessoroptions

I couldn't really split these two up, so they share an entry. These two options let you list and set five parameters of your search environment. The following settings are exposed: (blatantly stolen from 'stsadm –help setqueryprocessoroptions)

securitytrimmingcachesize <security trimming cache size>

securitytrimmingmultiplier <security trimming overfetch multiplier>

nearduplicatemultiplier <duplicate removal overfetch multiplier>

joinmultiplier <join discard overfetch multiplier>

sdidjoinmultiplier <missing security descriptor overfetch multiplier>

These settings are per SSP. Use listqueryprocessoroptions to see what your current settings are and use setqueryprocessoroptions to change them. Now that search is heavily integrated in WSS as well as MOSS, this is really handy. Descriptions of the settings can be found on TechNet.

#2 – enumallwebs

This little number is pretty cool. We already have an "enumwebs" operation. Why in the world would we need an "enumALLwebs" function, you might ask? Well, I'll tell you why. Before SP2 came around if we wanted a list of webs for a particular parent all we had was the enumwebs operation. Its major failing was that it didn't recurse. It only showed you the webs directly under the URL you gave it. It would not show you the subwebs of those webs. You only got one level. Enumallwebs gives you ALL the webs a given site collection. Heck, it gives you all the webs in a given database. It also gives you tasty nuggests like SiteIDs and WebIDs, Language and Site Template. I can't count the number of times I've gotten the question "How can I tell what template was used for a site?" Now I can answer with confidence "stsadm –o enumallwebs." You can find out more from TechNet.

Drum roll please…

#1 – preupgradecheck

The one we admins have all been waiting for, preupgradecheck. The one is worth the price of admission alone. Like its predecessor, prescan.exe, this operation walks through your farm and databases and alerts you to any problems you might encounter when it comes time to upgrade to SharePoint 2010. It supports external rule files, so you can tell it about any 3^rd party software you've installed. It comes with a default rule file, so all you need to do is run "stsadm –o preupgradecheck" to see what it does. I have been assured that it makes no changes to your databases, so it's completely safe to run. I've run it on several of my systems and haven't found any indication otherwise. The official TechNet article gives a little more information. Hopefully time will permit me to write a whole blog post on it. There's a lot of cool things to see.

That's it. Those are the six new STSADM operations in SharePoint 2007 SP2. I'll be talking a little more in depth about SP2 in 8^th weekly netcast. Be sure to check it out.

tk