How to Hide the Breadcrumb Navigation Links and the SharePoint Ribbon on a page

1) Browse to the page where the Breadcrumb Navigation Links and the SharePoint Ribbon needs to be hidden. Add a Content Editor webpart on the page. Add the below style code in a content editor web part.

<style type=”text/css”>

#ctl00_PlaceHolderTitleBreadcrumb_ContentMap {display=none;}

</style>

2) Edit the web part, click in the content zone, then on the ribbon, Editing Tools -> Format Text area, select the HTML drop down and click Edit HTML source. Paste the code in there, and save.

3) In the webpart properties, make the Chrome Type as None and under Layout, check Layout as Hidden.

4) Stop editing the page and save it. 

SharePoint 2013 Site Collection | HTTP 404 error intermittently

Problem Description

Recently I came across a weird issue, a site collection in the SharePoint farm was giving HTTP 404 intermittently. My initial thought was maybe the whole web application had the issue but didn’t see this happening with any other site collections on the same web application. And I got this error only 1 out of 10 times. But another user seemed to have got it from the first try itself. It really baffled me for couple of hours. So I did an IIS reset and even restarted the SharePoint timer service on the SharePoint web front ends. That didn’t seem to help either.

Resolution

At some point, I realized that this was a site collection specific issue. This site collection had its own dedicated database. I had to detach and attach the content database of this site collection from the web application using Powershell (read dismount and mount)to resolve this issue.

Few weeks back I had done a detach/attach of the same content database from Central Administration. I think performing dismount and mount from Central Administration console led to this behavior. I still find this weird though.

P.S.: Please make a note of the Content DB name before you start this operation

Dismount-SPContentDatabase "<ContentDBName>"

Mount-SPContentDatabase "< ContentDBName >" -DatabaseServer "<DBServerNAme>" -WebApplication http://SiteName

How to Minimize and Maximize Remote desktop screens

Ctrl + Alt + Break 

How to Change Password on Remote Desktop Session

Ctrl + Alt + End

Databases running in compatibility range, upgrade recommended (for BdcServiceDatabase)

The SharePoint Health Analyzer showed the below error after March 2013 PU Upgrade for SharePoint 2013.

Title:  Databases running in compatibility range, upgrade recommended. 

Severity: 2 - Warning 

Category: Configuration 

Explanation:

The following databases have versions that are older than the current SharePoint software, but are within the backwards compatible range:SP_BDC_DB

- When I browsed to the Upgrade and Migration -> Review database status

Resolution

Run the below command in SharePoint Management Shell

(Get-SPDatabase | ?{$_.type -match "BdcServiceDatabase"}).Provision()

Now if you try to open the BCS Service Application you get the below error.

To fix this give the BCS Service Applications’ App Pool Account SPDataAccess on the BCS database.

PowerPivot: Secondary Logon service (seclogon) is disabled

Title:  PowerPivot: Secondary Logon service (seclogon) is disabled 

Severity:  2 - Warning 

Category: Configuration 

Explanation: Secondary Logon service (seclogon) is disabled

Resolution

Enable secondary Logon service (seclogon).

1) Login to the servers in the farm.

2) Run -> services.msc -> Secondary Logon -> Start

InfoPath Forms Services forms cannot be filled out in a Web browser because no State Service connection is configured.

Title:  InfoPath Forms Services forms cannot be filled out in a Web browser because no State Service connection is configured. 

Severity:  2 - Warning 

Category: Configuration 

Explanation:

InfoPath Forms Services is not functional on the following Web applications because there is no service connection configured for the State Service: SharePoint - 80  

Resolution

If a State Service application doesn't exist, create one by using the new-SPStateServiceApplication Powershell commandlet.

$stateName = "State Service Application"

$stateDBName = "SP_DB_State_Service"

$stateDB = New-SPStateServiceDatabase -Name $stateDBName

$state = New-SPStateServiceApplication -Name $stateName -Database $stateDB

New-SPStateServiceApplicationProxy -Name "$stateName Proxy" -ServiceApplication $state

-DefaultProxyGroup

DisplayName                 TypeName                                Id

-----------                     --------                                      --

State Service App...        State Service Proxy                    3c******-****-****-a8c4-5****008****

PowerPivot: Usage data is not getting updated at the expected frequency

I was getting the below warning from Central Administration SharePoint Health Analyzer

Title:  PowerPivot: Usage data is not getting updated at the expected frequency. 

Severity:  2 - Warning 

Category:  Configuration 

Explanation:

The PowerPivot Management Data.xlsx file is not being updated. This workbook stores internal data used by the PowerPivot Management Dashboard. The current file for PowerPivot service application <0> was last updated 5 day(s) ago.

Resolution

1) Check under what account the PowerPivotUnattendedAccount is running.

2) Open SQL Management Studio and browse to Security -> Logins

3) Give db_datareader permission to PowerPivotUnattendedAccount for the PowerPivot Service Application database

Checked out and editable

If you see the above message in any of you SharePoint pages, it is because publishing feature has been enabled on your site. Whenever you make a change, you will see this yellow bar on top of the page.

Fix

After you are done making changes on the page, go to the Publish tab on the page and Publish

STSADM for Starting and Stopping Sharepoint services on a farm

Today a colleague wanted to stop some SharePoint services using PowerShell. I tried doing the same in STSADM.This is how you do the same using STSADM

To list out all Sharepoint services

stsadm -o enumservices [I am listing only some of them below]

<Services>

  <Service>

    <Type>Microsoft.Office.Access.Server.MossHost.AccessServerWebService, Microsoft.Office.Access.Server, Version=15.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c</Type>

    <Name />

    <DisplayName>Access Services 2010</DisplayName>

    <Status>Disabled</Status>

  </Service>

  <Service>

    <Type>Microsoft.Office.SecureStoreService.Server.SecureStoreService, Microsoft.Office.SecureStoreService, Version=15.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c</Type>

    <Name />

    <DisplayName>Secure Store Service</DisplayName>

    <Status>Disabled</Status>

  </Service>

  <Service>

    <Type>Microsoft.Office.Server.PowerPoint.Administration.PowerPointConversionService, Microsoft.Office.Server.PowerPoint, Version=15.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c</Type>

    <Name />

    <DisplayName>Microsoft.Office.Server.PowerPoint.Administration.PowerPointConversionService</DisplayName>

    <Status>Disabled</Status>

  </Service>

<Service>

  <Type>Microsoft.SharePoint.BusinessData.SharedService.BdcService, Microsoft.SharePoint, Version=15.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c</Type>

  <Name />

  <DisplayName>Business Data Connectivity Service</DisplayName>

  <Status>Disabled</Status>

</Service>

<Services>

To start a service

stsadm -o provisionservice -action start -servicetype Microsoft.SharePoint.BusinessData.SharedService.BdcService

To stop a service

stsadm -o provisionservice -action stop -servicetype Microsoft.SharePoint.BusinessData.SharedService.BdcService

If this is a Web service, IIS must be restarted for the change to take effect.  To restart IIS, open a command prompt window and type "iisreset /noforce".

Running SharePoint Configuration Wizard

Whenever a change is made on a SharePoint farm (like adding or removing a server from the farm), it is advisable to run the configuration wizard to sync the servers in the farm. Or when you do a Cumulative Update. Below is how you do it.

1. Login to the servers in the farm as setup account.

2. Start -> SharePoint 2010 Products Configuration wizard

3. Click Next (on the Welcome page of configuration wizard)

 

4. Choose Yes (for restarting the service)

5 .Select Do not disconnect from this server farm (on the Modify server farm Settings page)

 6. Choose the default option (on the Modify SharePoint Central Administration Web Application Settings page)

7. On the Summary page, verify the displayed information and select Next

8. The configuration wizard runs and click Finish once the wizard completes

 

 

9. If the farm configuration wizard opens, cancel it.

 

 

Removing a Server from the SharePoint farm

1. Login to the servers in the farm as setup account.

2. Start -> SharePoint 2010 Products Configuration wizard

3. Click Next (on the Welcome page of configuration wizard)
 

4. Choose Yes (for restarting the service)

 

5 .Select Disconnect from this server farm (on the Modify server farm Settings page)

 

6. Choose Yes and proceed to remove the server from the SharePoint farm

 

7. The configuration wizard runs and click Finish once the wizard completes

 

The object was not found. (Error from SharePoint site: HttpStatusCode NotFound The request failed with HTTP status 404: Not Found.)

I was checking the crawl logs for my Search Service application and was seeing the below error many times

The object was not found. (Error from SharePoint site: HttpStatusCode NotFound The request failed with HTTP status 404: Not Found.)

Cause

This because a file that was previously stored in Sharepoint and the crawler couldn’t find the object anymore. This could have been because the file was deleted or the access was denied. So the crawler would keep on trying to crawl the object for 30 times or 720 hours.

When the crawler encounters an access denied or a file not found error, the item is deleted from the index if the error was encountered in more than ErrorDeleteCountAllowed (the value for this is 30) consecutive crawls AND the duration since the first error is greater than ErrorDeleteIntervalAllowed (the value for this is 720 hours or 30 days). If both conditions are not met, the item is retried.

We can manage this deletion policy at the service application level to specify how many times and how long an item will be retried in consecutive crawls. This policy existed in Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, but you could not view them nor change their values.

Resolution

Either you wait for 30 days for the errors to go away or you modify the default values.

$ssa = Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceApplication

To view the current value of a property:

$ssa.GetProperty("<PropertyName>")

To change the value of a property:

$ssa.SetProperty("<PropertyName>", <NewValue>)

The Property Name here would be ErrorDeleteCountAllowed and ErrorDeleteIntervalAllowed 

Read this article in TechNet to know more about the other deletion policies in SharePoint 2010 Search

Windows files opening on single click and underlined

Problem Description

Recently Ii had an issue with my Windows 7 desktop. All my files were opening on single click rather than double.Also I noticed that all filenames in my system was underlined

Fix

1. Browse to Control Panel -> Folder Options.

2. In the General Tab -> Click items as follows section, select Double click to open an item (Single click to select) option -> Click OK.

[Server Name or IP Address],[Port] is an invalid or loopback access. Specify a valid server address.

Recently I was installing SharePoint 2010 and the Configuration wizard failed giving me the below error

Failed to create the configuration database.

An exception of type System.ArgumentException was thrown. Additional exception information: [Server Name or IP Address], [Port] is an invalid or loopback access. Specify a valid server address.

We had a hardened environment where only a specific SQL port was made available.

On the Specify Configuration Database Settings screen, I entered the Database server in the below format (Database Server Name followed by a coma and the port number that was made available)

Database server: DATABASE-SERVERNAME,1581

Database name: SharePoint_Config_test

The fix

Enter in the below format(if there is only one instance of SQL in the database server) (append '\MSSQLSERVER' after the Database Server Name followed by the coma and the port number)

Database server: DATABASE-SERVERNAME\MSSQLSERVER,1581

Database name: SharePoint_Config_test

PivotTable Operation Failed: We cannot locate a server to load the workbook Data Model

While creating a demo with PowerPivot (Excel Services) on SharePoint 2013, I came across this error.

PivotTable Operation Failed: We cannot locate a server to load the workbook Data Model

Cause

The Analysis Services instance has not been configured in the Central Administration site or Analysis Services needs to be restarted

Resolution

Solution 1

You can also make sure that the steps displayed here are followed. In my case this was already done. But I am still listing it down.To work around this issue, configure the Excel Services service application on the SharePoint server. To do this, follow these steps:

1. In the Application Management section of the Central Administration home page, click Manage service applications.

2. On the Manage Service Applications page, click the Excel Services service application that you want to configure.

3. On the Manage Excel Services page, click Data Model.

4. Click Add Server.

5. In the Server Name box, type the name of the Analysis Services instance that you want to add.

6. Click Ok.

Solution 2

I restarted the SQL Server Analysis Services (POWERPIVOT) service on SQL Server Configuration Manager. That fixed the issue for me. If that didn’t help try an IISRESET.

SQL Server Configuration Manager - Connection to target machine could not be made in a timely fashion

Yesterday I had to stop the SQL Server Analysis Services (POWERPIVOT) service on SQL Server Configuration Manager (the idea was to restart the service). After this, I was getting the below error when I tried to open the SQL Server Configuration Manager.

---------------------------

SQL Server Configuration Manager

---------------------------

Connection to target machine could not be made in a timely fashion.

---------------------------

OK  

---------------------------

I waited for 30 minutes and the error was not going off. After 30 minutes, the status showed Stopped (Pending Changes) in SQL Server Configuration Manager. But when I opened Service page (services.msc) ,the same service SQL Server Analysis Services (POWERPIVOT) was still in Stopping state

Resolution

I restarted the server and things changed back to normal

Error 0x800700DF: The file size exceeds the limit allowed and cannot be saved.

Problem Description

I was trying to copy items from SharePoint Windows explorer view to my local drive and I got this error message. All files were pretty big. (More than 50 MB).

Copy Folder

An unexpected error is keeping you from copying the folder. If you continue to receive this error, you can use the error code to search for help with this problem.

Error 0x800700DF: The file size exceeds the limit allowed and cannot be saved.

<file name>

Try again Cancel

Cause

You receive a folder copy error message when you try to download a file that is larger than 50000000 bytes from a Web folder. I was using Windows 7 Operating System

Resolution

Follow this KB article and run the Fix IT by downloading and running the executable.

P.S.: When you run the Fix it wizard, you need to enter a FileSizeLimitInBytes (I changed it to 500MB by adding an additional zero) value that is larger than the size of the file that you want to download.

SharePoint 2007 compatibility with SQLServer

Office SharePoint Server 2007 is compatible with

- SQL Server 2000 with the latest service pack (which is SQL Server 2000 Service Pack 4)

- Microsoft SQL Server 2005 SP1 or later

Office SharePoint Server 2007 SP1 is compatible with

- SQL Server 2008

Office SharePoint Server 2007 SP2 is compatible with

- SQL Server 2008 R2

 But Office SharePoint Server 2007 is not compatible with SQL Server 2012. 

Key Excerpts

Office SharePoint Server 2007 also supports SQL Server 2008 R2. Ensure that you have installed Office SharePoint Server 2007 with Service Pack 2 (SP2) or later.

Office SharePoint Server 2007 does not support SQL Server 2012 or later versions of SQL Server.

Reference