Installing Service Packs (WSS 3.0 SP1 and MOSS 2007 SP1)

Microsoft offers extensive information on the requirements and steps for installing. Unfortunately, in MS style, the information is all over the place and the "high points" are buried in 3000 word articles.

The Important Stuff:

• You must install the WSS 3.0 SP1 BEFORE the MOSS 07 SP1
• You must run the SPs on all web and application servers (if you have a seperate server for indexing, Excel, etc ... the SPs must also be ran on those).
  
• The SPs do not need to be ran on the DB server.
  
• You must use a configuration/installation account for the install of both Service Packs
• Suggestion: Use GOD for this installation ... SA of the DB server and Administrator rights on the front end web server(s) ... then back out permissions after installation

WSS 3.0 SP1 & MOSS 2007 SP1 Step-by-step (simplified):

1. Backup the Farm
   
2. Remove any orphaned objects using -databaserepair
3. Quiesce the Farm
   
4. Stop the WWW Publishing service
5. Run the WSS 3.0 SP1 installer
6. Agree to terms and click Continue
7. Once the installer is finished the SharePoint Products and Technologies Wizard will appear ... CANCEL THE WIZARD
8. RUN the MOSS 2007 SP1 installer
   
9. Agree to terms and click Continue
10. Once the installer is finished the SharePoint Products and Technologies Wizard will appear ... click Next
11. A dialog box will come up saying "You must run setup to install new binary files for every server ..." ... click OK
12. You will get a warning about services restarted ... click Yes
13. The Wizard runs and hopefully finishes without any errors

Microsoft Links:

• Download WSS 3.0 SP1
• Download MOSS 2007 SP1
• Download SharePoint Designer SP1
  
• A list of issues fixed by WSS 3.0 SP1
• A list of issuss fixed by MOSS 2007 SP1
  
• Deployment instructions for WSS 3.0 SP1
• Deployment instructions for MOSS 2007 SP1
  

Abosulte URLs in the Content Editor Web Part

Overview
For those of you that are unaware, the Content Editor Web Part (when using the Rich Text Editor) will change your image or link URLs to absolute paths (whether you like it or not). Obviously, this has a number of unfriendly consequences. If you are reading this post then you are suffering from one of those consequences ... I won't bore you with a list of the posssible issues this creates.

Solutions

Option 1 - Keep using the CEWP and manually remove the absolute paths on they images and links in the Content Editor Web Part.

Option 2 - Use Telerik's RadEditor Web Part

Option 3 - Use an event handler to remove the absolute path. Dan Attis' Blog

Option 4 - Use the Publishing Control RichHTML fields. You will have to have the Publishing Feature activated on your site for this to be an option. More details here.

6641 and 6482 errors ...

Overview
For starters, you should not have any local Administrators running a service or application pool for SharePoint 2007. As tempting as it may be to resolve errors by simply adding them to the Administrators group, it is simply not necessary.

Issue
When you start to back out/restrict permissions after installation/configuration ... you will most likely start to see a number of errors popping up (6641 and 6482). They are permissions related.

Event Type: Error
Event Source: Office SharePoint Server
Event Category: Office Server Shared Services
Event ID: 6641
Date: 12/15/2007
Time: 2:00:00 AM
User: N/A
Computer: COMPUTERNAME
Description:
The SSP Timer Job User Profile Change Job was not run.

Reason: Logon failure: the user has not been granted the requested logon type at this computer


Solution
For each of these steps I recommend restarting IIS and affected services ... or if you can (to eliminate any doubts) ... reboot the server.

Step 1 - Check to make sure your service accounts have "Log on as a Service" permissions.

• Go to Start > run > gpedit.msc ... to pull up group policies (shown right).
  
  
• Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Local Policies > User Rights Assignments
  
  
• Double click "Log on as service" and check to see if your service accounts are listed under the "Local Security Setting" tab
  
  
• If they are not there they will need to be added
  
  
• Double click "Log on as a batch job" and check to see if your service accounts are listed under the "Local Security Setting" tab
  
  
• If they are not there they will need to be added
  
  
• If you have updated your policies you will at least need to run gpupdate/force from the command line.

Step 2 - Add the service accounts to the Backup Operators local group.

• The Backup Operators have a few more policy permissions that can tackle some of those pesky errors.

Step 3 - Add the service accounts to the WSS_WPG group.

• There are a number of posts out there that tell you to go into component services and manually add the service accounts to IIS WAMREG or SPSEARCH. DO NOT add them individually. SharePoint has already populated the WSS_WPG group to these DCOM applications.

Worst case, you will need to add more permissions for the WSS_WPG group via component services (explained below):

1. Start > Programs > Admin Tools > Component Services
   
   
2. Computers > My Computer > DCOM Config > IIS WAMREG (and SPSearch)
   
   
3. Right click > Properties > Security tab
   
   
4. Under Launch and Activation Permissions click Edit
   
   
5. Check the checkbox for Remote Launch and Remote Activation
   
   
6. Click OK
   

Options for setting up a MOSS 2007 development environment ...

There are a number of ways to setup your SharePoint 2007 development environment. Below I will highlight the primary options that should be considered. Each option can make sense in the right set of circumstances.

Please keep in mind, I am not going into details about domain controllers, AD, Exchange, etc ... once you add those into the mix, there are easily 10 different ways to set it up ...

Couple of no contest items:

1. VMware performs better than Microsoft Virtual Server (at least for now)
2. Installing and running SQL Server and IIS on the same networked machine is a security risk

What each option should have installed:

• Windows Server 2k3 SP2 +
• SQL Server 2005 (should always be installed on its own machine/virtual)
• .Net Framework 3.0
• SharePoint 2007 (MOSS 07, WSS 3.0)
  
• Visual Studio .Net 2005
• SharePoint Designer
  

OPTION 1 - DESKTOP VIRTUALIZATION

Hardware: Desktop PC (with min 2GB RAM, running at least XP Pro SP2)
Software: Virtual PC or Virtual Server

When to consider: Virtual PC and Virtual Server are 100% free. If cost is a consideration, this is the cheapest solution. If your developers are competent enough in server administration and knowledge of how to lock down a box, the "up and running" time should be quick.

Pros:
- Cheap solution
- Quick setup if you have competent developers
- Allows developers to have a fully emulated environment at their disposal
- Developers do not affect other as much (IIS restarts, errors, and debugging happen in isolation)
Cons:
- Developers are responsible for their own install ... ie, they can create a security risk with their virtual, they can screw it up to a point where they have to reinstall/reconfigure often ...
- If you have a lot of developer turnover, it would be better to set it up using server virtualization
- Desktop PCs need to be high performance machines


OPTION 2 - SERVER VIRTUALIZATION

Hardware: ESX, VMware Server
Software: VMware Server requires a base OS ... ESX does not

When to consider: If there is a strong separation between server administrators and developers in you organization, you have a lot of developer turnover, you can afford the biggest and best.

Note: In larger companies, I usually see the server setup/administering/maintenance by a server administrator ... not developers.

Pros:
- Allows developers to have a fully emulated environment at their disposal
- Developers do not (always) have complete control so they can't screw up installation or get the server out of wack with production
- Developers do not affect other as much (IIS restarts, errors, and debugging happen in isolation)
Cons:
- Cost for the hardware
- Setup time can be longer than other options
- Learning curve on the VMware tools


OPTION 3 - WORKING DIRECTLY ON THE SERVER (via remote desktop)

When to consider: If you have a small company or only 2 people that need to be on the server at one time developing and server administering, you cannot afford the time and software costs of using server virutalization, you do not want developers to have their own server.

• Note: With Win 2k3 you can only have 2 people working on the server at once (really 3 if you sit someone at the console). You would have to purchase Terminal Services licenses to have more folks login. After 2 people in the box, you will see performance fall of a cliff anyway ...

Pros:
- Developers work directly on the server ... less doubt about their code working when deployed
- Developers do not have to install and maintain Windows 2k3, SQL Server on their PC
- PCs do not have to be supermachines
- Quick setup ... only one installation for development
Cons:
- Can put other developers out of commission with IIS restarts, errors, or debugging
- Performance of the development server will decrease with each developer
- Development tools are installed on server
- Must almost always have an idea what other developers are doing

A Collection of Questions and SOLID Answers:

Q: What is the easiest way to get started with SharePoint 2007?
A: There is no substitute for hands on experience. Microsoft now offers VHDs (Virtual Hard Disk) that work with Virtual PC or Virtual Server. They are nothing more than a preinstalled version of Windows Server 2003 R2 (for example).

If you are an administrator I recommend using the Windows 2k3 R2 VHD and installing SharePoint from scratch.

If you are a developer I recommend the SharePoint 2007 VHD.

Q: What accounts do I need to setup/create for WSS 3.0 and MOSS 2007?
A: 1) MSDN, 2) CJ's Blog, 3) harbar

Q: How should I setup my development environment?
A: MVN solution

Q: How do I migrate or backup and restore from one server to another?
A: 1) MSDN, MSDN (STSADM), More STSADM

Q: How do I change Database Servers?
A: 1) STSADM: stsadm -o renameserver -oldservername -newservername

• Do not expect this to work flawlessly. I recommend extensive testing through CA, backups, deployment, and the site collection.
  

2) GUI

Q: How do I install SharePoint 2007?
A: Stand Alone OR Complete

Q: How do I install and configure Reporting Services?
A: 1) MDSN, 2) Mike's Blog

Q: How do I setup content deployment from one server to another?
A: 1) Content Deployment Topology, 2) Content Deployment Explained, 3) Jackie Bodine's Blog - Step by Step instructions

Q: Why do I receive a "Failed to compare two elements in the array" error message when running a content deployment?
A: It's all about the features ... 1) Steven Van de Craen's Blog, 2) Soren Nielsen's Blog

Q: How do I turn off MySites?
A: Aaron Sailkovski's Blog

Q: Why are my RSS feeds not showing up?
A: Tales From The Field

Q: How do I create and deploy a custom web part?
A: Lee Dale's Blog

Q: How do I hide elements of the Document Library toolbar?
A: 1) Dipper Park's Blog

Q: How do I uninstall a feature?
A: stsadm -o uninstallfeature id=[GUID or ID of feature]

Q: How do I create and deploy a custom user control?
A: Eric Stallworth

Q: How do I create an application inside the SharePoint site?
A: MSDN

Q: How do I create a customize styles and themes?
A: (Short answer) I would highly recommend using some type of skinner like this one. Heather Solomon also has a fantastic reference chart.

Q: How do I customize the Application.Master page?
A: Sridhar's Blog, MSDN

Q: How do I customize the Quick Launch menu?
A: MS Team Blog

For the Record ...

My experience with SharePoint started with 2007 and WSS 3.0 in early 2007. Before that I was using MS Content Management Server for roughly 5 years.

I have my MCTS on the following:

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, Configuring (70-630)
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, Application Development(70-542)

I have read several SharePoint books from cover to cover but I find that 80% of my customization and out-of-the-box knowledge has come from blogs and forums.

This blog will highlight the some of the best posts out there as well as my own work with SharePoint 2007 and WSS 3.0.

I make no guarantees about any of the information provided on this blog.

Cheers!