bobfox's blog

Last Post Here

Unclaimed Blog — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 09:08:00 GMT

Yep. I have attempted this before and came crawling back and I have also attempted to maintain 2 blogs which was a pain. Recently my site host WebHost4Life made the move to RTM bits and the environment is stable and im optimistic that I may actually stay there for a while... for those that have me in there lists (Thank you) and if you would lke to continue to subscribe you can find me at

Http://bobfox.net/blog <if you saw this earlier you will notice I changed this address. Sorry for the confusion

Looking forward to seeing you there. Dustin you da MAN!!!!

Want a better understanding of MOSS Search?

Unclaimed Blog — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 08:42:00 GMT

Microsoft recently released a number of great documents to go through. One being very detailed document related to MOSS 2007 Search.

You can get it HERE

Happy Reading

Got Codeplex? Follow up Post

Unclaimed Blog — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 09:03:00 GMT

Been to CodePlex lately? No? Well it's time to start checking back on a more regular basis. There are currently 20 Sharepoint related projects. Below is a list with links to each project but you can simply go to www.codeplex.com to see the other offereings.

Enjoy!

5 Things you dont know about me (Thanks Heather)

Unclaimed Blog — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 10:17:00 GMT

The epidemic is spreading... I have been tagged by my bud Heather

Happy New Year to all and here goes my list...

1. I almost became a cop in Atlantic City. I think the right decision was made that I should never be allowed to carry a weapon again after the military.

2. Most of you know me as a Jersey boy but... I was actually born in Philadelphia PA. Ok its not that big of a land crossing but for years I have disowned the state i was spawned in (that im sure will raise some eyebrows) Pennsylvania for years to me was called Pennsyltucky... im over it now :)

3. For those that have met me in person know im somewhat large..... Wanna see me run? Put a praying mantis in my face and watch me take off. Yes i have a fear... they look like little Aliens and shite... they bite the heads off their mates. Whats not to be afraid of.

4. I once ran a car into the side of a house and then got out and tried to physically push it out... the wheels were sideways so it was a lost effort but i kept trying. (My moms car... i was 18 and it was 4AM ... the cops found some ammusement with me in the office.. see this kinda ties into fact number 1)

5. I once was ranked the number 3 Surfer in my age division in the Eastern Surfing Association (ESA) Going back to item 3 most will find this hard to believe but way back then i wasnt this huge and scary looking guy :)

So there you have it....

I now am tagging

Sharepoint Orlando

Unclaimed Blog — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 23:51:00 GMT

So on the spur of the moment I decided to pack up my family and drive down to Florida from New Jersey to visit my folks that live in this sprawling retirement village reminiscent of Boca Vista (No I didn’t meet the Castanza’s but we there is always that chance in a place like this) So the drive… right I said the drive… almost 1050 miles worth of drive was shared between myself and my wife while the kids slept in the back of the truck. Things to note:

1. Triple Check everything before you leave and triple check your spouse 3 more times (we came home 2 times because of things forgotten and was once close to Philly on one turnaround)

2. Always drive at night if possible….. less police activity and more space for Bobby to push 90 MPH.

3. There is a Cracker Barrel at every rest stop. (EVERY REST STOP)

4. People down south talk funny and drive slow

a. The left passing lane is largely a myth down here in Gaterland. Everyone moves to the passing lane and sits there doing their normal 20 MPG on a highway ( Imagine the horror when then see my Jersey Plates rushing up behind them only to swoop past them while I throw an evil grin and hand gesture) Am I making friends down here? Uhmmm nope J

Passing Jacksonville I threw out a wave to Andrew Connell and Mr. Pattison but kept on going….. I will be seeing them soon enough J

So what’s this all got to do with SharePoint? Well I am in the Orlando area and knowing that there are so many events happening around here this year I wanted to do a little Recon.

Things noted:

· If you have a craving for a favorite restaurant chain HAVE no fear…. Every chain ends in Orlando.. EVERY one. There is a strip here that resembles Vegas but instead of Casinos there are chain restaurants. Amazing

· If you get to Epcot and you have the time and enjoy an occasional beer… do yourself a treat and do an around the world trip sampling each countries offerings…. Better yet…. Try it 2 or 3 times in the same day.

· A round of Golf (at least here in this retirement village) takes a full day. Even with the golf carts these old buggers move slowly and take their game a little too seriously (I almost got into a fight with an 85 year old)

Seriously though its always good to get away and decompress a bit. Working in the quick paced NYC environment makes it somewhat difficult to change gears but the effort is worth it.

The good things?

Well yea there are a lot of good things about this area:

1. My parents are first on the list

2. Wally World is very close by and its fun to be a kid again

3. No Jersey jokes… it seems that 9 out of 10 people here are transplants so they kept their NJ pride.

4. Alligator Soup, Alligator meatballs, Alligator Chili, Alligator Stew, Cracker Barrel (it’s on every corner here)

I’m looking forward to (FLYING) down here for TechEd and the other events. Hope ya’ll enjoyed.

KN Takes a Powder?

Unclaimed Blog — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 06:49:00 GMT

No please don’t get too excited or inflamed by the title of this post. In reality this is far from the truth… Recently the KN Product team made the following announcement on their blog:

KN as a Technical Preview

We are announcing a change to the distribution and support model for KN. Our new plan is to release KN as a Technical Preview rather than as a supported product feature of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. As a Technical Preview, KN will still be available to customers as a web download at no additional cost and will include documentation and community support. However, Technical Previews are not supported or covered by standard product support services or warranties. We appreciate all the enthusiasm and interest in KN from so many of you. We’ve also heard feedback that KN should be integrated into the core Office Client and Server products rather than distributed as a separate component. Responding to this feedback, Microsoft has decided to distribute KN as a Technology Preview in this release and to review the KN feature set for inclusion in future releases of the Office system.

Ok so what more can be said here? Well simply put KN is an AWESOME TOOL that rests quietly and nicely inside of MOSS. I have been working with this product for the past 5 months and I just can’t say enough about it….. Well actually I can and will be publishing a chapter all about KN in an upcoming book. But let me not stray too far from the topic here. This will indeed live on and hopefully you will see this in a future release of the Office System.

Ok you ask me why I am so excited about this product…. Why Bob tell me why do you love this product so much. Well I will tell you…. I belong to LinkedIn yeah I admit it.. I am a member… and I have a lot of LinkedIn colleagues. What has LinkedIn ever really done for me… Not much…. I mean yeah its nice to have big name friends such as Shane Perran, Amanda, Heather and Jason and let’s not forget Mark and Simser baby…. But really who gives a crap about that…. (Did I drop enough names back there?) Seriously though… LinkedIn does nothing for me…. So how does this tie in to Knowledge Networks….. To me… KN is like LinkedIn on steroids. If say Shane or Amanda or Heather or the rest of my friends were in the same organization and we were spread out all over the world… which in our cases we really are…. And say I wanted to get some help with branding one of my portals… I am artistically challenged at times and hey we all need help here… So I type into my search Branding and up pops Heather and Shane and it also pops up Amanda… now I know Amanda very well and say I don’t really know Shane that well but I would like to hook up with him to share ideas and get some help. I can go to Amanda who can introduce me to Shane and *POOF* I have my expert there to assist me.

This is one scenario that I currently use on a daily basis at the organization I am consulting at. We have one of the largest KN implementations in the world and yes I do own this environment which is a nice and looks great on paper I am also seeing all the users that are benefiting from having this vast knowledge pool that they can draw on.

Am I worried about KN taking a true powder? Heck no and in fact I will push this to as many MOSS customers as I can the next couple years. I see big things for this product and having worked with the Product team from Microsoft I am along with them very excited about its future.

If you would like more information please feel free to ping me

Upgrading B2TR to RTM (Multi Server Farm )

Unclaimed Blog — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 06:19:00 GMT

A few weeks ago Joel Oleson, Shane Young and I provided some posts that walked you through updating your MOSS 2007 Beta2TR Farm to RTM. Because Joel and Shane did such a fine write up I’m not going to try and duplicate their efforts but what I do want to do is step into their steps and provide some clarity on Upgrading multiple servers in a farm.

So following the prescribed process you already ran all the steps that lead you to the reinstallation of MOSS 2007 and that is where we begin. In my Farm I am set up with the following topology:

Web Front Ends

Server1

Central Admin

KN Application Service

Windows Sharepoint Incoming Email

Windows Sharepoint Web Application

Server 2

Central Admin

KN Application Service

Windows Sharepoint Incoming Email

Windows Sharepoint Web Application

Server 3 (Index and Search Queries)

Central Admin

KN Application Service

Windows Sharepoint Incoming Email

Windows Sharepoint Web Application

Office Sharepoint Server Search

APPLICATION Servers

Server 4

KN Search Service

Incoming Mail

Web Services Web Application

Server 5

Excel Calculation Services

Windows Sharepoint Services Help Search

Incoming Email

Web application

Stepping into the procedure we will pick up after Task 2 has completed

1. Run Setup for the release version of Office SharePoint Server 2007.

2. Follow the steps to install the product. Be sure to select the same server type previously used for this server, and to enter a PID key corresponding to the same license type (Standard or Enterprise) that you selected when you installed Beta 2 Technical Refresh (you noted this information under "Record current server information," earlier in this article). Cancel the SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard when it opens.

It’s at this point where you would want to run the Installation Package on your other Servers in the farm. I know this sounds obvious but I have received a couple emails regarding this and I want to clarify that you will do this at this point.

3. Install any Office SharePoint Server 2007 Language Packages. At the end of every language pack installation, cancel the SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard when it opens.

4. Run the SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard. Use the Central Administration account and password that you noted under "Record current server information," earlier in this article.

Personally I was never prompted for a password during this entire process. It could be that the account that I was logged in as has the necessary rights both on the local server as well as the Content Database where I was connecting to. In any case it is at this point that you would run the Sharepoint Products and Configuration Wizard on a Front End Server that hosts Central Administration… In my case I will always run this on the initial box I originally ran the install (Server1)

A message box appears to remind you that services will be started; click Yes.

A message box appears to remind you to run the wizard on each server in the farm; click OK.

Note Upgrade may only be run on one server computer in the farm at a time.

Ignore the warning displayed in the wizard that reads Failed to start search service SPSearchServinceInstance on this server after completing upgrade. Please start it manually. You will start this service in step 7.

5. Wait until upgrade has been completed successfully on this server computer.

So the Server has completed its upgrade and is now rejoined to the Configuration Database. Its at this point I want to start to upgrade the other boxes in my Farm. As a note I am not sure if the order of this upgrade really matters but I decided to Upgrade Server 3 next which is used to Index Content, Servers Search Queries and also runs the Office Search Service.

At this point you can log onto the other boxes in your farm (Do this one server at a time) and run the configuration Wizard. When you do run this on the additional farm servers you will simply need to select Next to complete the install…. The Database information is already set.

Once this is complete you can move onto the rest of the steps outlined by Joel and Shane and you should be in good shape.

Issues Encountered during my upgrade:

I ran into 2 strange issues and one I can’t explain.

Issue 1

When I ran the Configuration Wizard on one of the Application Servers (Server 4) It failed soon into the upgrade with a warning that it could not locate the HOSTS file in the _\System32\Etc folder. I simply copied the HOSTS file from one of the other servers to this box and reran the install which solved that issues

Issue 2

On that same server (Server 4) it was stuck on Task 8 of 9 and the event log was generating an Event ID 3351 and it claims the SQL Database Login Failed. “ Login failed for user ‘NT Authority\Anonymous Login’”. This seemed odd and after further investigation I took a look at the NT Services and found that the SP Timer service was set to run under the local account… I changed this to the Domain\SPService Account and reran the Configuration Wizard. It ran with no issue.

The bottom line here is I that if this were going to be a production environment I would never go through all of this…. I would obviously choose a fresh install all the way but….. For those of you out there running Pilots that will need to remain Pilots this should help you sort your way through the upgrade process on a multi server environment.

Hope this helps and feel free to ping me with any questions.

Creating Workflows with Visual Studio 2005 (Walkthrough)

Unclaimed Blog — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 23:27:00 GMT

Im not sure how many have found this yet but Eileen Hao has put together a Seven Part walkthrough with creating workflows with Visual Studio 2005. You can find the modules here:

These are a great read.

Enjoy!!

Capacity Planning for MOSS2007 and WSS 3.0

Unclaimed Blog — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 23:34:00 GMT

Finally the document many have been wating for has been published. Joel Oleson has placed the links on his blog for this and you can also just find them here

WSS Capacity Planning

MOSS Capacity Planning

Ok get reading.

Enjoy!!

B2TR to RTM Screenscast

Unclaimed Blog — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 04:30:00 GMT

I have created a Screencast to accompany Joel Oleson and Shane Youngs great posts. I hope this helps someone out there

Here is a link to the Screencast To View this file you will need to right click and select Save Target As and download this locally to your disk.

Enjoy

Announcing the RTW of WSS and Office SharePoint Server 2007 Standard and Enterprise Evaluation!

Unclaimed Blog — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 00:01:00 GMT

WooooHOOOOooooo !!! we are a go....

Please pay a visit to Joel Olsons latest post on this. Congratulations to all the testers and to the Product Team... WELL DONE!!!

Enjoy!!

Vegas Ends Part 1

Unclaimed Blog — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 07:49:00 GMT

Ok I had planned to post a bunch of pictures and stuff from this week Dev Connections shows but the one day where all the photo opportunities came up I found a camera in my pocket with no SD card.... I do have a couple that I will post shortly though...

Ok to wrap up the week.... ALong with meeting many many people stopping by the Microsoft Booth interested in the MOSS2007 and WSS V3 ( It was great meeting all of you ) I also had the pleasure of meeting some fellow MVP's in person for the first time, Among them was the incredibly talented Heather Solomon, Andrew Connell (one of the nicest guys you will ever meet) Bil Simser (Bil enjoys when I give him bear hugs) Todd Baginski and his fiance (Todd gave some of the best sessions... funny and laid back and a gifted developer) Daniel Larson ( another gifted Developer) Dustin Miller (Dustin is going for the grizzly Adams look and took me by suprise when we met... great guy) Bob Mixon and his wife. I also hung out with my fellow Jersey bud Jason Medero and Chris Regan and Mr Darrin Bishop.... what a great presenter and all around good guy.

I will give a wrap up of the sessions I attended in the next posting

Vegas Bound

Unclaimed Blog — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 01:48:00 GMT

I will be in Vegas at DevConnections next week so feel free to stop up and see me. I will be working the Microsoft Demo booths on Wednesday from 3:30 to 5:30 and on Thursday from 10AM till 11:30 AM so stop up and say hi.

MySites Recovery in 2007

Unclaimed Blog — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 01:43:00 GMT

Ok I have gone back to using my WSS site blog as it is easier for me to load my blog postings with the screenshots. I just posted one on simple recovery steps for Mysites in MOSS2007 so have a look and let me know what you think.

Enjoy!!

Im a Blog Flip Flopper

Unclaimed Blog — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 05:54:00 GMT

For those that visit my site at http://bobfox.net and my other blog at http://bobfox.net/spblog I do apologize for the speedy page launches. Yes im being sarcastic and the fact that I have to apologize for a hosting companies inability to provide a stable and for my part fairly plain and vanilla site pisses me off. The standard response I receive is that WSS v3 is highly unstable and problematic. Yeah I have this on record… The truth is that the company is incapable of providing a decent service. I am looking for another host as we speak. I will not divulge the name of the hosting company that is based out of Southern California nor will I mention that the company approached me to do the WSS installation after they botched it. Backups? Not available. Documentation read? Not !

Ok im a little biter as I am not the only one that has been made to suffer here. Other MVP’s that I have been in contact with have also had their sites suddenly disappear on them also.

For now I am going to continue posting to this Community Blog and when I get a new site up and running I will provide a link or provide some other way to aggregate this information.

SPS2003 to MOSS 2007B2TR Upgade

Unclaimed Blog — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 16:45:00 GMT

One of my new goals is to refrain from adding any gibberish to an already mature and well thought out posting by someone else so to keep this short I found a posting from fellow MVP Shane Young and the article is outstanding... For those of you looking to do this type of upgrade this is a must read.

Enjoy