This post should also be titled “My Penalty for not Reading ALL the Instructions“.
As it turns out, when you install the Service Pack 1 for SharePoint Server (first Foundation, then Server) – you are required to run the configuration wizard on your own at the end of the process. I can only assume this is because a reboot is required after each patch application. Here is the error that first caught my attention in the Event Viewer (EventID 69):
The mount operation for the gatherer application 28c08c8b-2c00-408c-8572-87638068e335-crawl-0 has failed because the schema version of the search gatherer database is less than the minimum backwards compatibility schema version supported for this gatherer application. The database might not have been upgraded.
Big red flags in that error message.
Here is a link to all of the details on Microsoft’s WEB Site.
So, if you have applied your SP1 for SharePoint 2010 and can’t get a crawl (incremental or full) to complete – check to see if your farm requires updating:
- Launch an elevated (Run as Administrator) SharePoint 2010 Management shell from start, All Programs, Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Products, SharePoint 2010 Management Shell.
- Once the shell opens, type the following command followed by enter:
(get-spserver $env:computername).NeedsUpgrade
If this comes back with “TRUE” – then run the configuration wizard.
Also – note the link above points out that you also need to apply the June CU if you want to have the most current code-set running on your SharePoint farm.
Have a beautiful day -
Tags: 2010, Patching, SharePoint, SP1, Upgrading
I recently installed WPTouch for this blog which is a plugg-in for WordPress blogs which applies a mobile (iPhone) skin to your site when it’s viewed from a compatible device. Here is what it looks like:
Screenshot of this blog viewed through WPTouch
This brings up the question that if I am supposed to be a SharePoint professional, why don’t I use it to blog?
Great question.
My answer goes back to one of the main reasons why SharePoint is so successful in the enterprise. When a new app enters an enterprise it not only has to meet the primary functional requirements justifying it’s existence – but it has to fit into the larger enterprise framework of things like Security, Integration, and Compliance.
When I was an Enterprise Architect in my previous role I was constantly challenged to review SharePoint against it’s competitors. I was almost always able to find “single play” provides who had superior features to SharePoint in that one feature. I was never able to find one competitor who could compete with the breadth of what SharePoint can do out of the box.
When an enterprise considers a new application – it has to consider how that app will fit into the enterprise framework – not just the key features. When an enterprise brings SharePoint in – they can solve that problem once for the entire feature-set of SharePoint. Now there are other benefits to having “everything in one package” – and that lends to SharePoints global dominance.
For the purposes of this blog – I needed a blog. That’s all. I needed it to be easy. I get distracted enough and don’t need any additional roadblocks to getting a post posted
So for me – Worldpress won. Add to that the ease of adding WPTouch for mobile users – and you have another win.
So I will continue to post about how awesome SharePoint is and how to make it better using the WordPress platform.
Have a beautiful day-
Tags: Blogging, SharePoint, WPTouch
From time to time, deleting the Search Service Application can not be completed through the GUI or through powershell. Sometime you will get an error like this one:
The timer job completed, but failed on one or more machines in the farm.
And sometimes the PowerShell command runs indefinitely. In these circumstances it’s good old STSADM to the rescue:
stsadm -o deleteconfigurationobject -id “service app ID“
To get the service application ID, use the SharePoint Console (powershell)
Get-SPServiceApplication |?{$_.name -eq “Search Service Application”}
Happy deleting…
I would imaging that as this trip progresses, posts during the week will be dramatically shorter or non-existant on some days given the fact that – well – I’m just going to work.
What “post worthy” is my commute to work is now by train – for the first time in my life. I really like it! Total commute time is about 40-50 minutes depending how the timing is with the trains. I use an app on the iPhone to check daily train times and plan my arrivals and departures accordingly. Here are a few pics from the commute:
Michelle and the boys had a good day. Michelle was reminded that she is and can be quite resourceful! She made her way to the leasing office, the dry cleaner, a funky small hardware store, and a department store. All on foot and all on her own! Yea Michelle! (but sady, she took no pictures).
I’ll leave you today with a pic from the Rackspace parking lot (or: Car Park as they are referred to over her)
My phone rings more often to explain licensing for SharePoint than any other single category of calls. While I agree that it can be confusing – it’s not as bad as you might thing (or some other products).
Before I give my $.02 on licensing, I need to make the disclaimer that I do not work for Microsoft nor am I a licensing expert in all Microsoft products. I also want to state that Microsoft should be the authority in all financial decisions related to actual pricing for your licenses. The information I am providing here (which will probably be less than this disclaimer) is meant for planning while working with your business users.
First of all, here is a link to the authoritative information on SharePoint licensing:
http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/en-us/buy/Pages/Licensing-Details.aspx
When deciding what you licensing exposure is, first look at the feature you are either using or planning on using. If any one of those features fall inside of either SharePoint Server Standard Edition or SharePoint Server Enterprise Edition – then that is the license you need for ALL users of your farm. If you are not sure what features come is certain version, refer to this link:
http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/en-us/buy/Pages/Editions-Comparison.aspx
Now here is the secret sauce. When purchasing either CAL’s (client access licenses) or SAL’s (subscriber access licenses) – one unique license has to be bought for each unique (named) user.
You can use the FIS (For Internet Sites) license in scenarios outside of the traditional WWW site. That license can be used for “Non-Employees”. I define an Employee as someone who received a W2 (here in the States) from their employer. IF your company has a large amount of “non-employees” (contractors, business partners, anonymous users) then this license can be used to license them without having to buy a CAL or SAL. This can help you save a significant amount on licensing fees.
I hope this helps- please use this information for good and not for evil.
Tags: Client Access License, Licensing, SharePoint, Subscriber Access Licensing
In this video, SharePoint Server MVP Eric Shupps and I talk about having a plan for “Day 2″. In other words – it is equally important to have a plan to monitor and manage growth as it is to deploy SharePoint in the first place.
Eric Shupps, SharePoint Server MVP
Having a defined “Managed Service” for SharePoint defined inside of your business is a “must-have” in advance of it’s roll-out. Weather you provide these services internally or outsource them – have a plan! We also spend some time talking about the greater SharePoint Community and the benefit it can be.
In this first installment of “SharePoint:TALKS” Microsoft Certified Master in SharePoint, Tom Resing and I talk about the evolution of SharePoint development tools. BTW: I had to rename the video series as I ran out of videos from TechEd 
Tom Resing, SharePoint MCM
A lot has evolved in the native development tools and documentation from Microsoft even since SharePoint 2007 RTM’d back in November of 2006. Tom also shares some very interesting information around upgrading SharePoint farms from 2007 to 2010 and the impact that has on your custom code.
In this video Grant Paisley (SQL MVP) of Angy Koala and I talk about PowerPivot inside of SharePoint 2010. Grant has been doing some great work in this space. Grant is also coming off his first year to present at TechEd – Contrats to Grant!
PS: Sorry about the audio quality – we didn’t chose the best place in the convention center to talk.
If you’ve been following me for any amount of time or heard me speak at an event, then you know that I work for Rackspace Hosting. While I do my best to not “sell” any specific product (other than SharePoint of course) I wanted to post this video for you to watch. The reason: “Support” means something. It doesn’t matter if your buying tires or SharePoint Servers – support matters.
This video tells the story of how and why Rackspace pursues Support as their primary product. I hope it inspires you to “serve your customer” today.
The Rackspace Mission from Rackspace Hosting on Vimeo.
Ted Pattison at TechEd 2011SharePoint MVP Ted Pattison of Critical Path Training and I visit at TechEd 2011 about the evolution of SharePoint as a programming platform. We discuss development for on-premise SharePoint installations as well as Hosted “Private Cloud” as well as for Office365.
