SharePoint 2010/2013: Trim audit Logs with Powershell

In case that your storage or MSSQL filegroup is full, because  you didn't implement a proper housekeeping of your Audit logs, you can use this PowerShell command to delete them fast:


$site = Get-SPSite https://yoursite.yourdomain.com
$date = Get-Date "20/04/2015"
$site.Audit.DeleteEntries($date)

As the deletion in SQL Server LL happen on a Transaction base it might take a while. Moke sure you have enough free space on your log drive, as the log LL grow and please don't truncate table or apply any operations directly in SQL Server - SharePoint LL not be your friend anymore after such operations! ;-)

SharePoint 2016: InfoPath is still alive!

It' looks like Microsft changed it's strategy when it comes to the support of InfoPath in SharePoint 2016 on prem.

According to latest Microsoft news, good old InfoPath 2013 is still supported in the new SharePoint version. For now it ll be the last release of InfoPath and it could help to migrate the masses of enterprise customers, which are still on SharePoint 2010. Maybe we ll see a direct upgrade path for such customers and InfoPath is one cruzial point, when it comes to migration of workfows or customized list forms,

See detailed Information here: http://blogs.office.com/2014/01/31/update-on-infopath-and-sharepoint-forms/

There are good 3rd Party products on the market, but in my opinion lists and related activities are one of the core functions in SharePoint and  therefore should be massively optimized by Microsoft itself. Also I don't really see Word and structured documents as a nice way to optimize this use case.

At the same time, efforts in FoSL (Forms on SharePoint List) were stopped and there is no clear Roadmap right now. Maybe we ll see smth totally new...

SharePoint 2013: Configure Search Topology with Powershell

The best and the only tool to configure a SharePoint 2013 Search Topology is PowerShell. in my case i had to reconfigure a midsize Server farm with one wfe and an one application Server based classical farm architecture. The script below can also be used to configure a streamlined farm architecture.

 #Define topology variables and assign servernames:

$SPApplication1 = Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceInstance -Identity "SEARCHSERVER/APPLICATION"
$SPWFE1 = Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceInstance -Identity "WFE"

#Start Search Service Instances on both servers

Start-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceInstance -Identity $SPApplication1
Start-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceInstance -Identity $SPWFE1

#Get services Status / Make sure thate Service is in started state, otherwise don't proceed with configuration and fix issue first.

#Get Search Service Instance status (started or stopped) after running the above commands
Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceInstance -Identity $SPApplication1
Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceInstance -Identity $hostWF1
#Setting up the topology
$ssa = Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceApplication
$newTopology = New-SPEnterpriseSearchTopology -SearchApplication $ssa

#SEARCHSERVER
New-SPEnterpriseSearchAdminComponent -SearchTopology $newTopology -SearchServiceInstance $hostApp1
New-SPEnterpriseSearchCrawlComponent -SearchTopology $newTopology -SearchServiceInstance $hostApp1
New-SPEnterpriseSearchContentProcessingComponent -SearchTopology $newTopology -SearchServiceInstance $hostApp1
New-SPEnterpriseSearchAnalyticsProcessingComponent -SearchTopology $newTopology -SearchServiceInstance $hostApp1
New-SPEnterpriseSearchIndexComponent -SearchTopology $newTopology -SearchServiceInstance $hostApp1 -IndexPartition 0

#WFE
New-SPEnterpriseSearchQueryProcessingComponent -SearchTopology $newTopology -SearchServiceInstance $hostWF1
#Activate the Topology
Set-SPEnterpriseSearchTopology -Identity $newTopology
# Verify the Topology
Get-SPEnterpriseSearchTopology -SearchApplication $ssa

Update Center for Microsoft SQL Server

The Microsoft Update Center for SQL Server provides you with the latest Service Packs and CU's for your deployment. Stay updated!

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sqlserver/ff803383.aspx

SharePoint 2013: Standalone installation with local accounts

If u try to install SharePoint without a Domain, u might face the Problem, that SharePoint Products and Configuration Wizard stops with the following error after passing database Access account:

"The specified user MACHINENAME\Username" is a local account. Local accounts should only be used in stand alone mode."

Are we unable to install SharePoint 2013 with local accounts for real? I mean in production this would def. make no sense, but for a development or test Environment it can make sense in certain cases.

The trick here is to precreate the SharePoint_Config database with Power Shell. Use the following command:

> New-SPConfigurationDatabase

This creates all necessary databases and u can run Configuration Manager after with the option “Connect to existing farm”, sure u can successfully setup SharePoint then with local accounts on a single machine.

As this is one of the most time consuming parts of the Setup, u can go for a coffe now. it will take some time...

Windows Server 2012: Akamai Download Manager

If you have a new Installation of Windows Server 2012 and you want to download stuff to install from Microsoft Download Center, u might experience Problems with Akamai Download Manager.

Akamai Download Manager is activated as ActiveX in IE, but first needs to be downloaded. The download is linked to an Akamai Url, without trusting this Url, your unable to download Binaries.

Add the following Url to trusted site and your happy again without using Chrome or FF, or any other strange Browser:


> http://dlm.Tools.akamai.com

Windows Azure: Trial - VM's deleted after expiration

Today I wanted to reactivate an expired Trial of a Windows Azure hosted VM. As I’m motivated to pay for this Service, I thought I can just go to the account Management, add my credit Card data and would be ready to reactivate my SharePoint Installation.

I checked my available Services and discovered, that my VM was deleted somehow. I checked then if my Image is still in the Gallery, by luck it was. I decided to set up a new VM and attach the existing disk. I was able to create the new VM and attach existing disk. While provisioning the following error appeared:

 “A lease conflict occurred with the blob <blob url>” 

It seems that in the service configuration, my machine is still registered and based on the naming convections my VM could not be recreated. So how to recreate a new machine with the same disk?

There is a Manual how to redeploy a deleted machine, but it didn’t help in my Case.

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/windowsazure/en-US/a00b2e34-be7b-4f05-af75-f239613c5599/how-to-redeploy-a-deleted-windows-azure-virtual-machine

I found another article which involves power shell to delete the existing lease, unfortunately this didn’t work for me also.

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/windowsazure/en-US/cc9bacfc-2c11-4010-b535-f1b0a141d317/error-when-reusing-existing-disk-for-new-vm-a-lease-conflict-occurred-with-the-blob

The error I received after running this script was, that my storage account is not properly linked to my account.

If all of the above steps didn’t help, only Microsoft Azure Support can help u. But remember, u need to buy the technical support option. The billing guys won’t help you… welcome in the cloud ;-)

Summary: Add payment Details before your Trial expires, or u might loose ur work.