Index for Stsadm operations and properties + Poster!

by Andy on August 26th, 2008

So you want to know what all of those Stsadm operations and properties mean? It’s explained well on this Microsoft TechNet article, found here.

Also, Microsoft have made a printable poster available of all of the Stsadm operations and properties grouped by functionality, found here.

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MOSS 2007 & WSS 3.0 Resource Books & eLearning

by Andy on August 23rd, 2008

I’m regularly being asked (especially by my friend Yomi!) about good training books for MOSS & WSS 3.0, so here’s an excellent and extensive list from Mike Walsh that should help.

I highly recommend the following two books (currently sat on my desk!):

MCTS - Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Configuration Study Guide: Exam 70-630
Published March 2008 / ISBN-10: 0470226633 / ISBN-13: 978-0470226636
&
Microsoft® Office SharePoint® Server 2007 Administrator’s Companion
Published January 2007 / ISBN-10: 0735622825 / ISBN-13: 978-0735622821

I also recommend Microsoft eLearning. Here you will find two of my favourite courses:

Collection 5403: Implementing Microsoft® Windows® SharePoint® Services 3.0 - the courses in the collection will help you prepare you for certification exam 70-631
&
Collection 5404: Implementing Microsoft® Office SharePoint® Server 2007 - the courses in the collection will help you prepare you for certification exam 70-630

Pass either of these exams and you become a Microsoft® Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) for that subject! What’s a Microsoft® Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) you may ask? Learn more about it on the Microsoft SharePoint Team Blog!

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How different versions of Office work together with 2003 and 2007 versions of SharePoint

by Andy on August 21st, 2008

A recomended read for understanding how different versions of Microsoft Office work together with SharePoint 2003 & 2007.

Microsoft Office and SharePoint Integration White Paper:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=E0D05A69-F67B-4D37-961E-2DB3C4065CB9&displaylang=en

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MOSS Permissions Ignored?

by Andy on August 20th, 2008

While trawling the SUGUK site (http://suguk.org/) I came across a post (http://suguk.org/forums/ShowThread.aspx?PostID=13192#13192) that triggered my memory about an issue someone once had a while ago, with MOSS permissions being ignored (this isn’t the case for the aforementioned SUGUK post). Basically what had happened is the Admin had allowed all domain users (e.g. Domain\Domain Users) ‘Full Control’ in the ‘Policy for Web Application’ (Central Administration > Application Management > Policy for Web Application).

This now allowed all users of the domain to access everything in the new Corporate Portal, overriding the security settings within the Portal. Perhaps this is worth checking before you go LIVE? Also check that you’ve not assigned ‘Full Read’ either for the above example.

If nothing else it’s a good check to make sure you’ve not left anything behind from testing (but you’d know this already because you audit all of your changes, don’t you?!!!)

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How to Disable/Enable SharePoint Alerts

by Andy on August 20th, 2008

I noticed someone came across my blog via google looking for ‘How to Disable SharePoint Alerts’. I didn’t (until now!) have an article on this matter, so in-case that person comes back or you arrived here looking for the same thing, here’s how disable alerts for the web application, enable them again and create a timer job set to run every 5 minutes. This is done via STSADM (these commands also come in handy when you need to add the timer job and kick start alerts if they’ve stopped post 2003 to 2007 migration):

Disable Alerts
stsadm -o setproperty -propertyname alerts-enabled -propertyvalue false -url http://Web_App-URL

Enable Alerts
stsadm -o setproperty -propertyname alerts-enabled -propertyvalue true -url http://Web_App-URL

Set the Timer Job
stsadm -o setproperty -propertyname job-immediate-alerts -propertyvalue “every 5 minutes” -url http://Web_App-URL

NOTE: you can also use -pn in place of -propertyname & -pv inplace of -propertyvalue. e.g.
stsadm -o setproperty -propertyname alerts-enabled -propertyvalue false -url http://Web_App-URL
can aslo be written as
stsadm -o setproperty -pn alerts-enabled -pv false -url http://Web_App-URL

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Importing Files into SharePoint (and SharePoint URL Restrictions)

by Andy on August 20th, 2008

Restrictions on uploading content from the file system and into MOSS/WSS 3.0, specifically in terms of special characters and URL length, are a regular pain factor for many admins. The following links makes excellent reading in order to gain a better understanding of ‘why’ and ‘what’ you can do about it.

I particularly recommend the ‘Importing files into a SharePoint document library using regular expressions and WebDAV‘ blog post as this contains C# source code for manipulating and exporting content from the file system into SharePoint.

Importing files into a SharePoint document library using regular expressions and WebDAV - by Tim Jones (http://www.simplyaprogrammer.com)
http://simplyaprogrammer.com/2008/05/importing-files-into-sharepoint.html

You receive a “The specified file or folder name is too long” error message…. - Microsoft KB
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/894630

Information about the characters that you cannot use in sites, folders, and files in SharePoint Portal Server 2003 or in SharePoint Server 2007 - Microsoft KB
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;905231

File Name, Length, Size and Invalid Character Restrictions and Recommendations - by Joel Oleson (http://www.sharepointjoel.com/)
http://blogs.msdn.com/joelo/archive/2007/06/27/file-name-length-size-and-invalid-character-restrictions-and-recommendations.aspx

Windows File Share Migration to SharePoint Guide - by Roberto Ortega, ributary (http://www.tributarysoft.com), LLC
http://tributarysoft.wordpress.com/2008/08/18/windows-file-share-migration-to-sharepoint-nyc/

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SQL Server 2008 Support for SharePoint Products and Technologies

by Andy on August 18th, 2008

SQL Server 2008 is now offically supported for MOSS/WSS 3.0. Read more here - http://blogs.msdn.com/sharepoint/archive/2008/08/15/sql-server-2008-support-for-sharepoint-products-and-technologies.aspx

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U2U Caml Query Builder

by Andy on August 15th, 2008

Another really cool tool for building CAML queries - more here: http://www.u2u.info/Blogs/karine/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=30

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InfoPath Forms in Office SharePoint Server 2007

by Andy on August 15th, 2008

I thought it might be helpful to provide a handful of quick links to some very useful InfoPath form tutorials, if you’re new to the use of them in MOSS:

How to: Create a simple InfoPath Form (with some light hearted humour):
http://blah.winsmarts.com/2006-10-InfoPath_2007_Forms_Server_MOSS_2007.aspx

InfoPath Forms for Workflows:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/ms573938.aspx

How to: Design an InfoPath Form for a Workflow in Office SharePoint Server 2007:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/ms548723.aspx

How to: Create or Edit a Custom Document Information Panel from within Office SharePoint Server 2007:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/ms568568.aspx

How to: Create a Custom Document Information Panel from InfoPath:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/ms563688.aspx

Document Information Panel Overview:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/ms550037.aspx

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