Service Pack 2 Update.

The public update for the Service Pack 2 expiration date issue is now available for download. 

The update can be applied before or after Service Pack 2 installation.  If the update is applied prior to installing Service Pack 2 it will prevent the expiration date from being improperly activated during installation of Service Pack 2, if it is applied after Service Pack 2 it will remove the expiration date incorrectly set during installation of Service Pack 2.

The update is applicable to all of the products that this issue affected (see the list in the KB linked below).

Installation instructions and download links for x86 and x64 are available in this KB: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971620

The direct download link for x86 is: http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/F/5/2F51AB71-1325-49D2-9CB9-18DEC4780E99/office2007-kb971620-fullfile-x86-glb.exe

And for x64: http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/B/B/5BBD34A9-C528-42B0-8A5F-9A8997B25C32/office2007-kb971620-fullfile-x64-glb.exe

We will be updating the existing Service Pack 2 download package with a new package that includes this fix within the next 4-6 weeks.

Thank you for your patience.

SharePoint search and anonymous users

If you have a public Sharepoint site (MOSS 2007 or WSS 3.0) that is accessible to anonymous users and you’re not using custom scopes, you probably already noticed that every time users try to search they get a user prompt. To get pass this prompt you must enter valid username, otherwise you’ll get famous “Access Denied” page. So much for anonymous access, right?

Anyway, the problem is with OSSSearchResults.aspx page, specifically with one of the inheritance reference that ASPX page. I’m talking about the part of the code that sets the inheritance of the page from the generic application page base class, which is not really required for this page to function properly.

To allow anonymous users to search your publicly available sites you need to remove that inheritance from the code, so find part of the code inside the <Page> tag that states “Inherits="Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls.LayoutsPageBase" and remove that part of the code (not the whole line, just the part that inhertis the application page base.) OSSSearchResults.aspx page is usually stored at C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS on your SharePoint server. Make sure you backup the file before making any changes!

Making those changes will not only allow anonymous users to search the SharePoint content, but also will keep the SharePoint search secure, meaning that anonymous users will only be able to search the part of the SharePoint they have permissions to view.

Slipstreaming SP2 into SharePoint Server 2007

If you are performing a greenfield or clean install of SharePoint, it is a good idea to install the latest version (which as of today would be Service Pack 2 with the April Cumulative Update).  The latest install media for SharePoint, however, only has SP1 integrated, so today I will show you how to slipstream the latest updates into your install media.

To get started, you will need a copy of the SharePoint 2007 install media, the SP2 installers for both Windows SharePoint Services and Office SharePoint Server, and the latest Cumulative Updates for both WSS and MOSS.  You can download them all here:

• SharePoint Server Install Media (Note… you will be able to use your own product key, so don’t worry about the fact that this is the “Trial Version”.  You will want to download the OfficeServer.exe file and not OfficeServerwithSP1.exe  file, or else you will have the additional step of deleting the SP1 files that were slipstreamed in).
• Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Service Pack 2 (SP2)
• The 2007 Microsoft Office Servers Service Pack 2 (SP2)
• Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 cumulative update package: April 30, 2009
• SharePoint Server 2007 cumulative update package (MOSS server package): April 30, 2009

First, create a folder that will hold the slipstreamed installer.  In my case I’ll call it c:\SP2Slipstream.

Next, extract the install media into that folder as follows:

OfficeServer.exe /extract:c:\SP2Slipstream (there are no spaces after the /extract switch).  You will end up with the folder structure below. 

The Updates folder is where we are going to extract all up the SP2 and Cumulative Update files, and setup.exe will be smart enough to integrate the updates at install time.

Next, extract the four update files as follows:

wssv3sp2-kb953338-x64-fullfile-en-us.exe /extract:c:\sp2slipstream\updates

officeserver2007sp2-kb953334-x64-fullfile-en-us.exe /extract:c:\sp2slipstream\updates

wss-kb968850-fullfile-x64-glb.exe /extract:c:\sp2slipstream\updates

office-kb968851-fullfile-x64-glb.exe /extract:c:\sp2slipstream\updates

When you are done, the Updates folder will be full of msp files. 

One last step before you burn the SP2Slipstream folder to a CD… Delete Wsssetup.dll from the updates folder because it conflicts with Svrsetup.dll. Having both Wsssetup.dll and Svrsetup.dll in the updates folder for a slipstreamed installation source is not supported.

Burn your SP2Slipstream folder to a CD and you are all set to go!

TechNet Launches New Interactive Silverlight Application for STSADM Technical Reference

The vision was to plan, design, develop, test and publish a high quality SilverLight application that would improve the overall customer experience with the current downloadable Visio diagram for the Stsadm SharePoint command line admin tool. We have delivered; our application provides a fully browsable interface, in-depth information from the TechNet TOC and library, and links to specific topics for each Stsadm command line operation and property. By using separate XML data files, the SilverLight application is instantly updatable and localizable!

To view our Stsadm SilverLight application on TechNet:

• Stsadm Technical Reference for SharePoint Server 2007:
  • http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/office/sharepointserver/cc948709.aspx
• Stsadm Technical Reference for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0:
  • http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsserver/sharepoint/dd418924.aspx