SharePoint Comic

Verify SharePoint 2010 Upgrade localupgradestatus

SharePoint Comic — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 15:22:40 GMT

When upgrading to SharePoint 2010 from SharePoint 2007, there are lots of things you can before upgrading to resolve issues itself prior to upgrading. And there are things you can do after upgrade to verify upgrade went okay as well. Obviously, there needs to be involvement from the end users to check the sites and verify that things upgraded well.

As an administrator, you have things available to you after the upgrade such as the upgrade logs and the upgrade status page in Central Administration.

There is one additional method that a lot of people don’t know about and it’s the stsadm command localupgradestatus.

Things to know:

It’s going to dump out a lot of info, so it’s smart to make sure you output it into a txt file
It doesn’t take any parameters
It needs to be run on each server on the farm

To Run The Command:

stsadm –o localupgradestatus >upgradestatus_output.txt

Results

 <object>
    <name>demo2010a</name>
    <type>Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPServer</type>
    <level>1</level>
    <status>OK</status>
  </object>

So what we have listed are all of the objects for upgrade (example above), as well as the summary.

Name: the name of the object
Type: the type of object
Level: the upgrade priority of the object
Status: the upgrade status. OK means it’s upgraded. Needs Upgrade, obviously means that it’s not.

The summary will detail the content dbs and their status, site collections and their status, and a object count over all.

[19] content database(s) encountered.
[0] content database(s) still need upgrade or cannot be upgraded.
[90] site collection(s) are contained in the content databases.
[0] site collection(s) still need upgrade.
[173] other objects encountered, [2] of them still need upgrade or cannot be upgraded.

SharePoint Comic SPC 2012 Early Bird

SharePoint Comic — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 04:18:00 GMT

http://www.sharepointconference.com/Pages/default.aspx

SharePoint Comic SharePoint Circus

SharePoint Comic — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 14:21:07 GMT

Having a rough SharePoint Day? Cheer it up with the SharePoint Circus Chant (to the tune of Madagascar3) http://www.youtube.com/embed/_aELcXyjpts

Free Screen Recorder

SharePoint Comic — Thu, 24 May 2012 21:54:31 GMT

Yes my dear 7 readers, not only am I back to blogging but I come bearing free gifts.

There is a utility in Windows 7 that many users don’t know about, and it will probably become one of your favorites after reading this. It’s called the Problem Steps Recorder. It’s perfect for documenting quickly how a user is encountering an error, a family member having a PC issues, etc… To use this utility, and in most cases you will have someone else use it so you can understand what their problem may be, do the following:

1. Start PSR

a. Start > Search > ‘psr’

b. Select psr.exe from Programs

c. Select ‘Start Record’

2. Now have the user reproduce the steps that are causing the problem.

3. Stop Recording

a. Select ‘Stop Record’ (note – you could also pause recording, and then start recording some more)

4. PSR will output the files into a .zip file. Just give it a name and choose where you want to save it.

So what do you get?

The output is a .mht file, with a date and time stamp. For example: Problem_20120524_2347.mht. The review is actually quite helpful, broken down by steps and screen shots which can be viewed in a couple of different ways. Enjoy.

Mount ISO in Windows 8

SharePoint Comic — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 04:00:41 GMT

Windows 8 has a ton of great new features, but one my top 5 has to be the ability (and finally) to mount an ISO file to extract or install from.

You can do this in two ways.

1. Select the ISO file. From the ‘Actions’ tab in the Ribbon, select the ‘Mount’ button.

2. Or… Right click on the ISO file and select ‘Mount’.

Building a Windows 8 PC just got a whole lot easier.

SharePoint Learning Roadmap - on a Budget

SharePoint Comic — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 06:33:09 GMT

I’m asked regularly on what type of training is needed to start a career in SharePoint, and although I hate to say it… “it depends”. I put together a quick learning roadmap, that will lead an individual with some IT experience but zero SharePoint experience, to being certified on SharePoint. It doesn’t come with a stamp of approval, but in my opinion would work well for someone who has a limited budget and a desire to start working with SharePoint technologies.

1. Start to explore SharePoint

Getting Started with SharePoint Server 2010

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint-server-help/getting-started-with-sharepoint-server-2010-HA010371435.aspx

2. Start training

Online Training, at your desk:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint-server-help/take-sharepoint-server-2010-training-at-your-desk-HA101859255.aspx

Online Videos, at your desk:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint-server-help/CL100315293.aspx?CTT=5&origin=HA101859255

Microsoft SharePoint Training Portal (find courses, books, etc…)

http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/training/sharepoint.aspx

3. Ask Questions Along the way (and answer a few too)

TechNet Forums

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/category/sharepoint2010

4. Get Certified

SharePoint Certification

http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/certification/cert-sharepoint-server.aspx

Uninstall Project Server from SharePoint Farm

SharePoint Comic — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 21:05:29 GMT

The ability to uninstall Project Server or Remove Project Server from a SharePoint Farm is not supported, regardless if it’s 2007 or 2010.

2007
Removing either Office SharePoint Server 2007 or Office Project Server 2007 from a joint installation is not supported. Installing Office SharePoint Server 2007 with Office Project Server 2007 extends the farm schema, and it cannot be undone by uninstalling one of the applications.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc197677(office.12).aspx

2010
Once you install Project Server 2010, it cannot be uninstalled from the farm. If you want to remove Project Server 2010 functionality, you can turn off the Project Application Service and delete the Project Server 2010 Service Application.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee662109.aspx

SharePoint Comic Cloud

SharePoint Comic — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 18:48:40 GMT

Cloud - it's the latest buzz word. Even my non-technical girl friend has asked me “what is this cloud I keep hearing about?”.

SharePoint Online is not a new service, but with Office 365, SharePoint in the cloud is getting some new attention. Office 365 is currently in beta, and here are some things you may want to know to educate yourself on what ‘cloudy’ really is.

Sign up for the Office 365 to try it yourself:
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/online-software.aspx
Watch a video series on Office 365, giving you a head start on what Office 365 provides, how to deploy it, how to manage it, and more.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/office-365-jump-start-01-microsoft-office-365-overview-for-it-pros

Lost SharePoint Farm Passphrase

SharePoint Comic — Tue, 10 May 2011 21:28:58 GMT

It’s okay… it happens. You can’t retrieve it, but you can reset it using PowerShell. Make sure that the account you are logged in as is: (1) a farm admin and (2) local admin on server

$passphrase = ConvertTo-SecureString -asPlainText –Force

Set-SPPassPhrase -PassPhrase $passphrase –Confirm

More info on TechNet: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff607568.aspx

SharePoint Operational Governance Presentation

SharePoint Comic — Tue, 10 May 2011 04:35:31 GMT

Last week I gave a Webcast on SharePoint Operational Governance, on TechNet. Posting this as a follow-up.

Live Meeting Replay URL:
https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/mseventsbmo/view?id=1032485141&role=attend&pw=888894C0

Download for the Presentation slide deck:
SharePoint Operational Governance Presentation

Additional Key Resources:

TechNet: SharePoint Governance Resource Center
- http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/ff800826.aspx
Governance model for SharePoint Server 2010 (diagram)
- http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=33a8c9e0-57c2-4ae5-99e3-8826ab9dd701
Governance planning (white paper)
- http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff848257.aspx
Governance implementation (white paper)
- http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff969355.aspx
SharePoint Server 2010 operations framework and checklists (white paper)
- http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg277248.aspx

TechNet Webcast: SharePoint Operational Governance

SharePoint Comic — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 22:17:00 GMT

I will be holding a 60 minute Webcast on TechNet on May 6th, which will cover SharePoint Operational Governance. Details and sign up information is below:

TechNet Webcast: SharePoint Operational Governance (Level 200)

Event ID: 1032485141
Language(s): English.
Product(s): Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010.
Audience(s): IT Decision Maker, IT Generalist.

The unprecedented popularity and usage of Microsoft SharePoint Server has left many organizations with the daunting task of effectively managing and supporting SharePoint environments so they don't grow beyond control. In this webcast, you will learn how SharePoint operational governance is an integral component of deploying and maintaining a successful SharePoint Server environment. You will learn the components of a governance plan, including what organizations must typically think about to be effective--what should be governed, who should govern it, and how it should be implemented.

REGISTER: https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032485141&EventCategory=4&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US#

Presenter: Dan Lewis, Senior Consultant, Premier Consulting for IT Operations, Microsoft Corporation

Dan is a senior consultant who focuses on Microsoft SharePoint technology and process engagements. He has 12 years of experience working in information technology and has a wealth of experience working with enterprise customers. He uses a combination of advanced technical skills, business acumen, and the ability to work with stakeholders at all levels of an organization to ensure that customers' needs are met. As a Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) and Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP) in SharePoint, he helps Microsoft customers assess their SharePoint plans, environments, and operations to ensure their use of SharePoint is optimized and effective. Dan is a frequent speaker at SharePoint seminars in the United States. His popular SharePoint Comic series and blog posts about SharePoint can be found on TechNet at http://www.sharepointcomic.com or on twitter @sharepointcomic.

Secure PDFs with RMS in SharePoint

SharePoint Comic — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 23:28:00 GMT

I’m a big fan of utilizing Rights Management Server (RMS) integrated with SharePoint when you have documents that need policies enforced not only in SharePoint, but at the desktop as well once the documents are downloaded from SharePoint.

However, PDFs have always been a bit of a challenge, as natively these are not supported. There have been some commercial versions of software out there for some time that extend RMS functionality to PDFs in SharePoint. Recently, a code source has been released on Code Project for a free version that is designed to work with SharePoint Server 2007 and SharePoint Server 2010.

Use at your own risk, etc… but it’s definitely worth taking a look at. http://pdfirmprotector.codeplex.com/ by Adam Buenz.

SharePoint Wallpaper for Windows Phone 7

SharePoint Comic — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 04:26:00 GMT

I purchased a Windows Phone 7 device this past weekend… and well it just felt empty without SharePoint Wallpaper.

Download Dark SharePoint Wallpaper

Download Light SharePoint Wallpaper

I created these two for the Samsung Focus, but I’m sure it works on others as well. If not, someone just let me know and I’ll resize, etc.…

SharePoint Comic Error GUID

SharePoint Comic — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 18:36:00 GMT

We’ve all been in the situation where we are expected to know why SharePoint is acting up. Majority of the time, it takes a little bit of looking into the problem. And the ULS Logs are the first place you should start looking.

Spencer Harbar has a great post about the ULSViewer, which greatly expedites the troubleshooting process for SharePoint 2010. It’s certainly something every ‘SharePoint Guru’ should be using. Be sure to check it out.

http://www.harbar.net/archive/2010/10/06/ulsviewer-ndash-the-tool-that-no-sharepoint-practitioner-should-be.aspx

Thanks Spencer for the comic idea!

Free Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 E-Book

SharePoint Comic — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 19:24:00 GMT

Microsoft Learning is offering a free E-Book on the latest release of SQL Server. You only have to register to download it (quick registration I might add).

https://profile.microsoft.com/RegSysProfileCenter/wizard.aspx?wizid=bd9adb0f-cca3-4096-96f1-f834754d1b0b&lcid=1033%20

Book Excerpt: “This book is for anyone who has an interest in SQL Server 2008 R2 and wants to understand its capabilities. In a book of this size, we cannot cover every feature that distinguishes SQL Server from other databases, and consequently we assume that you have some familiarity with SQL Server already. You might be a database
administrator (DBA), an application developer, a power user, or a technical decision maker. Regardless of your role, we hope that you can use this book to discover the features in SQL Server 2008 R2 that are most beneficial to you.”

Plan for SharePoint Online

SharePoint Comic — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 00:41:00 GMT

TechNet recently launched a new section for SharePoint Online, bringing together all of the content that is needed for the successful planning and administration of SharePoint in the cloud. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/gg144571.aspx

Check it out for information on:

Planning
Operations
Customizations
Developing
End-User Help

If you aren’t sure if SharePoint in the cloud is right for you, you can learn more about it and Office 365 here:

Office 365 & SharePoint Online
http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/en-us/SharePoint-Online/Pages/default.aspx
http://office365.microsoft.com/en-US/sharepoint-online.aspx

SharePoint Comic is now on TechNet

SharePoint Comic — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 17:39:00 GMT

Dear 7 Readers,

I hope you have been well. The second half of this year has been pretty busy, so I apologize for the lack of posts and comics. One obstacle that I have been needing to move past was migrating this blog off of a SharePoint server and over to TechNet. The migration is now complete! I migrated the majority of the posts; however, the comments weren’t migrated over.

Before migrating I took note of the most popular post and the most popular comic, so here they are for easy reference.

SharePoint Comic – Chuck Norris and SharePoint: http://blogs.technet.com/b/sharepointcomic/archive/2009/09/23/sharecomic-chuck-norris-and-sharepoint.aspx

Create a Custom Theme for WSS 3.0 or MOSS 2007: http://blogs.technet.com/b/sharepointcomic/archive/2008/06/12/create-a-custom-theme-for-wss-3-0-or-moss-2007.aspx

All of the comics can be viewed using the Tag feature: http://blogs.technet.com/b/sharepointcomic/archive/tags/sharepoint+comic/

Thanks for being one of the loyal 7 readers. Now that it’s on the new platform, I will slowly but surely be returning to a more regular posting schedule. You know, like once a month.

PS: You should be fine on your RSS feed, as I was using a feed service. However, in the case you subscribed directly from SharePoint’s RSS feed, please update accordingly. Thanks!

Compare SharePoint 2010 Editions

SharePoint Comic — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 23:29:00 GMT

It’s pretty often on any version of SharePoint that someone asks the difference between the versions of SharePoint (ex: free vs. server vs. standard vs. enterprise). On Microsoft’s website for SharePoint, there is a page that displays all the features for SharePoint 2010 as they relate to each version (Foundation, Standard, Enterprise).

http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/en-us/buy/Pages/Editions-Comparison.aspx

It’s interactive, so you can highlight each feature for further information or filter according to the realm of SharePoint that it’s in.

Additional Clocks for Multiple Time Zones

SharePoint Comic — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 23:28:00 GMT

I’m not sure how long this feature has existed in Windows, but I just discovered it on Windows 7 and felt foolish for not finding it sooner. My customers are National, so I often have meetings in a time zone that I’m not physically located in. Sometimes, it helps to visually see the clock for different zones at the same time. Luckily, you can configure additional clocks in Windows 7!

By default, if I hover my mouse over the time in the task bar it will show me today’s date.

To configure additional clocks:

Single click on the clock
Click on ‘Change date and time settings…’
In the Date and Time properties window, select the tab ‘Additional Clocks’
Configure your additional time zones and give them a descriptive name. Click ‘OK’.

Now when you hover over the time in the task bar, it will show you the times in your additional zones.

Single clicking the time, will show you the clocks for each zone.

Edit the Start Menu folders in Windows 7

SharePoint Comic — Fri, 28 May 2010 23:27:00 GMT

I don’t know about you, but the first thing I like to do on a new machine after installing all of my programs is to organize the start menu. A bunch of icons just ercks me when they can be logically organized. For example, all of the Windows applications could go in a folder called ‘Windows’.

To do this in Windows 7, click your Start button, then type in the search box ‘shell:start menu’

That will open your User’s start menu, where you can hop in the Programs folder to create folders, move shortcuts, etc…

To adjust the menu for All Users, type in the search box: ‘shell:common start menu’

update 05.30.12: Fixed the typo...

Happy Organizing!

I wrote a SharePoint book

SharePoint Comic — Thu, 27 May 2010 23:26:00 GMT

Okay, well not really. I have always joked that if I wrote a book on SharePoint, it would be a comic book. Right, well I didn’t really do that either.

However! Joel Oleson has written a book on Upgrading and Migrating to SharePoint 2010. Featured in it are many of my previous comics, along with several new ones created just for this book release. Publish date is August, and it can be pre-ordered now. For more details, read Joel’s post on it: http://www.sharepointjoel.com/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=341

Since you are one of my 7 readers, here’s one of the comics that will be in the eBook. Enjoy!

SharePoint Comic Launch Party

SharePoint Comic — Thu, 13 May 2010 23:25:00 GMT

Today was the official launch day of SharePoint 2010 along with Office 2010. Exciting times! If you happened to miss a Launch Party (how could you have, there were real parties and virtual parties!), you can watch some recorded videos here: http://the2010event.com/. Also, my friend Dux was up to his typical recording mania today, at the Launch event in NY. Check out some of his interviews – great stuff: http://sp.meetdux.com/archive/2010/05/12/live-from-new-york-office-sharepoint-2010.aspx

If you still missed a launch party, don’t worry! They are having a Launch 2010 Highlights events around the nation. These are live half-day sessions, so be sure to check the schedule to see if there is going to be one in a city near you. http://www.microsoft.com/business/2010events/Highlights.aspx

SharePoint Comic ShareTax

SharePoint Comic — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 23:24:00 GMT

SharePoint Comic The SharePointGuy

SharePoint Comic — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 23:24:00 GMT

As SharePoint 2010 (version 4) is close to hitting a release date, I think its safe to assume that SharePoint is now a mature server product. However, more often than not, companies are still failing to properly staff their departments to support and leverage their SharePoint farm.

Bill English recently conducted a survey to see how companies are staffing their SharePoint teams. There’s some really great info in there. If you are struggling with what headcount or the skill sets you need in your company from a FTE perspective, you may find some indicators of what others are doing with their SharePoint teams.

http://sharepoint.mindsharpblogs.com/Bill/archive/2010/03/06/SharePoint-Survey[coln]-How-Organizations-are-Staffing-Their-SharePoint-Teams.aspx

Show me the File Extensions!

SharePoint Comic — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 23:23:00 GMT

Hey there 7 readers… sometimes there are just the littlest things that probably shouldn’t bother us, but they do anyway. Take not being able to see a file extension. It bothers me… This has to be one of the most annoying default settings for anyone who edits files often on a desktop or server (maybe I'm just easily annoyed?).

Example, let’s say you are looking for a .config file. Now, since we are super geeky intelligent people, we know that web file is our .config. But let’s just assume we don’t for the sake of this post.

With default installations of the OS, you can't see the file extension of files. Here's how you get those extensions to show:

On the Folder Options dialog, select the View tab. Then deselect the option "Hide extensions for known file types". Then select the Apply button.

Yay! We now have our extensions.