Learn more about Microsoft SharePoint 2010 with PlexHosted

Microsoft SharePoint 2010 FAQ

Q: What is the difference between the three PlexHosted plans for SharePoint 2010?

A: The features for each SharePoint plan Foundation, Standard Server and Enterprise Server, offer increasing capabilities. You can find a complete description of SharePoint features by plan at the following link

http://plexhosted.com/services/hosted-sharepoint/compare-plans.html

Q: Can I change a hosted SharePoint 2010 plan?

A: Yes, you can do it at any time.

Q: I`m using SharePoint 2007. How can I migrate my site to SharePoint 2010.

A: We help you with site set-up and full migration.

Q: Can I add unlimited number of users to my SharePoint 2010 site?

A: Yes. With SharePoint 2010 Foundation you pay only for the disk space. So, you can add unlimited number of users to your SharePoint 2010 site.

Q: Do you support SSL sites?

A: Yes. For more additional information please contact our sales department at sales@plexhoted.com.

Q: Does hosted SharePoint Enterprise 2010 allow Anonymous access?

A: Such functionality is available in the SharePoint Enterprise 2010, but requires additional licensing.

For more additional information please contact our sales department at sales@plexhoted.com.

Q: Can I have an access to the SharePoint Central Administration?

A: The access to the Central Administration is available only in dedicated SharePoint 2010. To read more about dedicated SharePoint 2010 please visit

http://plexhosted.com/dedicated-sharepoint-2010/overview.html

Q: Can I integrate my Exchange 2010 with my SharePoint 2010 site collection?

A: Yes. You can add an OWA Web Part and see all your mails and OWA`s options at your SharePoint site. For more details please see following guide

http://plexhosted.com/billing/knowledgebase/212/How-to-integrate-Microsoft-SharePoint-Enterprise-2010-with-Exchange-2010-SharePoint-2010.html

Q: Can I to enable Anonymous access to a SharePoint 2010 site.

A: Go to the site you want to enable anonymous access. At the Site Permissions enable Anonymous access. For more details please see following guide

http://plexhosted.com/billing/knowledgebase/132/How-to-enable-Anonymous-access-to-a-SharePoint-site-SharePoint-2010-.html

Q: Can I to upload multiple document to the SharePoint 2010 library/list?

A: Yes. Please using Microsoft Internet Explorer with Active X to do this. See more details at the following guide

http://plexhosted.com/billing/knowledgebase/210/How-to-upload-multiple-documents-to-a-SharePoint-site-SharePoint-2010.html

Q: Can I to add YouTube or such other external video to the SharePoint 2010 site without uploading it?

A: Yes. It`s possible. Please see more details at the following guide

http://plexhosted.com/billing/knowledgebase/210/How-to-upload-multiple-documents-to-a-SharePoint-site-SharePoint-2010.html

Q: Can I to upload a video to the SharePoint 2010 site?

A: Yes. Note that it`s available only in the SharePoint Standard and Enterprise plan.

Q: Can I using custom workflows at the SharePoint 2010 site?

A: Yes.

It`s just a little Microsoft SharePoint FAQ.

More questions and answers please see at the PlexHosted site http://plexhosted.com

Thank you for your time!

How to clear the Windows SharePoint 2010 Services configuration cache

There were many common issues that could occur in WSS v3 and MOSS that would require you to clear the configuration cache on your servers. While less common, these issues can still turn up occasionally on SharePoint Server 2010 (And Foundation). While the resolution for these issues might be the same, the steps are a bit different. The main thing to note is that the Configuration Cache is located in a different directory on Windows Server 2008 then it was in Windows Server 2003. The new path for the Configuration Cache under Windows Server 2008 is: %SystemDrive%\ProgramData\Microsoft\SharePoint\Config\ The overall steps remain largely the same:

1. Stop the Timer service. To do this, follow these steps:
• Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Services.
• Right-click SharePoint 2010 Timer, and then click Stop.
• Close the Services console.
2. On the computer that is running Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 and on which the Central Administration site is hosted, click Start, click Run, type explorer, and then press ENTER.
3. In Windows Explorer, locate and then double-click the following folder:
4. %SystemDrive%\ProgramData\Microsoft\SharePoint\Config\GUID
5. Notes
• The %SystemDrive% system variable specifies the letter of the drive on which Windows is installed. By default, Windows is installed on drive C.
• The GUID placeholder specifies the GUID folder. There may be more than one of these.
• The ProgramData folder may be hidden. To view the hidden folder, follow these steps:
• On the Tools menu, click Folder Options.
• Click the View tab.
• In the Advanced settings list, click Show hidden files and foldersunder Hidden files and folders, and then click OK.
• You can also simply type this directly in the path if you do not want to show hidden files and folders.
6. Back up the Cache.ini file. (Make a copy of it. DO NOT DELETE THIS FILE, Only the XML files in the next step)
7. Delete all the XML configuration files in the GUID folder (DO NOTE DELETE THE FOLDER). Do this so that you can verify that the GUID folders content is replaced by new XML configuration files when the cache is rebuilt.
   Note When you empty the configuration cache in the GUID folder, make sure that youdo NOT delete the GUID folder and the Cache.ini file that is located in the GUID folder.
8. Double-click the Cache.ini file.
9. On the Edit menu, click Select All.
10. On the Edit menu, click Delete.
11. Type 1, and then click Save on the File menu. (Basically when you are done, the only text in the config.ini file should be the number 1)
12. On the File menu, click Exit.
13. Start the Timer service. To do this, follow these steps:
• Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Services.
• Right-click SharePoint 2010 Timer, and then click Start.
• Close the Services console.
14. Note The file system cache is re-created after you perform this procedure. Make sure that you perform this procedure on all servers in the server farm.
15. Make sure that the Cache.ini file in the GUID folder now contains its previous value. For example, make sure that the value of the Cache.ini file is not 1.
16. Check in the GUID folder to make sure that the xml files are repopulating. This may take a bit of time.

How to configure PerformancePoint services in SharePoint 2010

The following are the configuration steps to get PerformancePoint up and running on SharePoint 2010 Enterprise edition.
As PerformancePoint service is integrated in SharePoint 2010 environment, we need to do some configurations in Sharepoint 2010 Central Administration tool.
It also explains what components are enabled with the Site Collection and what Site features are required for storing PPS dashboards, scorecards, and reports in SharePoint Lists and Document Libraries.
Starting the PerformancePoint service

1. Open the SharePoint 2010 central administration and click on System Settings then click on Manage services on server link under Servers category.
2. Click the start link for the PerformancePoint Service.

 Activating PerformancePoint Site Collection Feature

1. Open your Business Intelligence site and navigate to Site Actions and click on site settings option.
2. Click on Site Collection Features option from Site Collection Administration.
3. Activate the PerformancePoint service from the below list.

Setting up the Secure Store Account
Without secure store account you cannot access the performance points unattended service account to connect to data sources. PP 2007 uses application pool identity to connect to the data sources where as in 2010 it is domain account whose password is stored in the secure store.
In order to configure Secure Store for PPS, Follow these steps

1. Open SharePoint 2010 central administration toll
2. Click on Manage Service Applications under Application Management
3. Click on the Secure Store Proxy and click Manage in ribbon

You will get a message saying ‘Generate a new key’, Click Edit on the ribbon then say Generate a new key
Setting up an Unattended Service Account

1. Go to Central administration Home page
2. Click “Manage Service Applications” under application management
3. Click the PerformancePoint service application
4. Click on the first link PerformancePoint Service Application Settings
5. In the “Unattended Service Account” section, enter the username and password for querying the data sources

Testing the configuration of Performance Point Service, Open a Performance Point BI Center Site and Click on Run Dashboard Designer button
If you have successfully created a PerformancePoint site collection, you should be able to browse to the BI Center, launch Dashboard Designer, and connect to a data source using the unattended service account.

How to create an Enterprise wiki

An Enterprise wiki helps users capture and publish knowledge that can be shared across the enterprise. When an organization needs an easy content editing experience in a single location for co-authoring content, conducting discussions, and managing projects, consider creating an Enterprise wiki.

1. To create an Enterprise wiki by using Central Administration
Verify that you have the following administrative credentials: 
• To use Central Administration, the user account that is performing this procedure must be a member of the Farm Administrators group.
NOTE: You can also create an Enterprise wiki as a sub-site of another site by clicking New Site on the Site Actions menu.


• In the Web Application section, click the Web Application drop-down list to select the Web application where you want to create the Enterprise wiki.
• In the Title and Description section, type a title in the Title box and, optionally, type a description in the Descriptionbox.
• In the Web Site Address section, select / to create the Enterprise wiki at the root of the Web application, or select/sites/ to create the Enterprise wiki site at a specific path. If you select /sites/, you must also type the site name.
• In the Template Selection section, click the Publishing tab, and then click Enterprise Wiki.
• In the Primary Site Collection Administrator section, type the user name for the user who will be the site collection administrator.
• In the Secondary Site Collection Administrator section, type the user name for the secondary administrator of the site collection.
• Designating a secondary site collection administrator is a best practice to ensure that someone can manage the site collection when a primary site collection administrator is not present.
• If you are using quotas to manage storage for site collections, in the Quota Template section, click a template in the Select a quota template list.
• Click OK.
2. Create an Enterprise wiki by using Windows PowerShell
Verify that you meet the following minimum requirements:

• See Add-SPShellAdmin.
• On the Start menu, click All Programs.
• Click Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Products.
• Click SharePoint 2010 Management Shell.
• From the Windows PowerShell command prompt window (that is, PS C:\>), type the following commands:
  1. To display all the site templates, type the following command:
     
     Get-SPWebTemplate
  2. To create a variable that contains the name of the Enterprise wiki template, type the following command:
     
     $wikitemp = Get-SPWebTemplate "ENTERWIKI#0"
  3. To create an Enterprise wiki site, type the following command:
     
     
     New-SPSite http://yoursite.com/Wiki -OwnerAlias <domain\user> 
     -Template $wikitemp
     Where <domain\user> is the user name of the site owner.

Web Analytics: Monitors the health of the Report Consolidator component

The quick fix is via SharePoint PowerShell - open that and do the following step.

NOTE: You must be an Admin to do this. Run your SharePoint PowerShell as Administrator.

Step 1 - Get the GUID of the Service Application 

> Get-SPServiceApplication
...
Managed Metadata ... Managed Metadata ... 50f28d03-a89a-4cd0-a5ce-3fa95bf19ac7
Web Analytics Ser... Web Analytics Ser... ec65ee1c-f3d3-4bc7-9bb1-6cccb4705cdf
Excel Services Ap... Excel Services Ap... 4041c849-5ca9-48e1-93a6-1a7b4edac13f
...
Notice the Web Analytics service - copy the GUID in the ID Column.

Step 2 - Turn on Data Trimming on the Reporting Service

> Set-SPWebAnalyticsServiceApplication -Identity <GUID> -EnableDataTrimming

(replace <GUID> with the GUID you copied above - NOTE: if you only have one Analytics Service, you can omit the GUID)

for example:
> Set-SPWebAnalyticsServiceApplication -Identity ec65ee1c-f3d3-4bc7-9bb1-6cccb4705cdf -EnableDataTrimming

Give if a few minutes to let the SPTimer job kick then return to the Health Monitor, click the message and select Re-analyze Now - message should go away!

How to fix Sharepoint Foundation 2010 Search returns no results

SharePoint Foundation 2010 includes basic searching features. Despite all rumors and recommendations to upgrade to higher level searching packages, the basic SharePoint search works quite well ... and it's very useful.

If your SharePoint server is not returning search results, the following may help you resolve the issue. It's important to create the right accounts, enable the right services, assign the accounts to these services and finally attach the search server to your web applications.

Let's begin ...

1. You need to create domain accounts for Searching and Crawling. Using the Farm Account (or default accounts) is not recommended. In our example we will use "spSearch" and "spCrawl". Use complex passwords! These domains accounts should only be standard users, no administrative privileges should be applied.
2. Log into the SharePoint Central Administration Page
3. CA > Security > General Security > Configure Managed Accounts > Register Managed Account.
• Enter in "domain\spSearch" and the password you chose
• Click "OK".
• You should now see this account in the Managed Account list
4. CA > System Settings > Servers > Manage Services on Server > SharePoint Foundation Search > Start.
• Service Account -> "Domain\spSearch"
• Content Access Account (Crawl) -> "Domain\spCrawl" and the password you chose
• Leave everything else as defaults (you can change the Database Name if you are having issues)
5. CA > Security > General Security > Configure service accounts
• Choose "Windows Service -> SharePoint Foundation Service"
• Choose "Domain\spSearch" for the account selection
• Click "OK"
6. CA > Application Management > Manage Content Databases
• This is important! For each site you want automatically crawled, you must assign the search server.
• In the top right corner under "Web Application", choose the web applications to be crawled, one at a time followed by a click on the "database name" column once they are loaded.
• In the profile page, change the "Search Server" and "Preferred Server for Timer Jobs" to your server.
• Click "OK"
• Repeat for any other Website Applications you wish crawled
7. CA > Monitoring > Timer Jobs > Review Timer Jobs > SharePoint Foundation Search Refresh
• Choose "Run Now" to begin indexing your web applications (sites)
• This can take several hours depending on the size of your database(s). Please be patient.
8. If you're feeling eager and have a background in SQL, you can use the SQL Management Studio to check the progress. If you are not familiar with SQL, don't be a hero ... this can cause major damage.


• Load the SQL Management Studio
• Expand the search database created in the earlier steps (typically WSS_Search_%hostname%)
• Right click the database -> new query
• Enter in the following Query:select * from msscrawlhostlist (execute)

You will be presented with a table of results including a column for Hostname and SuccessCount. SuccessCount increases as it indexes each page.

• You can also lookup the crawl summary with:select * from MSSCrawlURLLog
• And should there be any error codes in the MSSCrawlURLog, they can be referenced with:select * from MSSCrawlErrorList where ErrorID = '<ERRORID>'

If you run into issues where things are still not being crawled, i would suggest deleting the spCrawl and spSearch from SharePoint and Active Directory, re-creating them from scratch, repeating this entire process, and changing the "database" value in step "3". This will re-create the crawling database from scratch.

I hope it helpful to you!

How to configure SharePoint Foundation 2010 for SharePoint Workspace 2010

SharePoint Workspace 2010 is the new version that will give you an offline copy of a SharePoint website and also allow you to work with a SharePoint site outside of a browser.  SharePoint Workspace 2010 is especially nice for editing documents in a SharePoint Document library.  SharePoint Workspace makes the SharePoint Document Library work just like a folder on your computer and will handle the synchronization of the documents back to the SharePoint server for you. If you try connecting SharePoint Workspace 2010 to a default SharePoint Foundation 2010 installation you may get an error like this one:

--------------------------- 
Sync to SharePoint Workspace 
--------------------------- 
SharePoint Workspace was unable to interpret the SharePoint location. Please check and ensure the location contains no typing errors. 
--------------------------- 
OK Help 
---------------------------

This is because the default configuration of SharePoint Foundation 2010 requires two configuration changes to allow SharePoint Workspace 2010 to work.

The first is to enable the Remote Differential Compression feature on the server that is hosting SharePoint. This is used by SharePoint Workspace 2010 to send and receive the files for synchronization.
To enable Remote Differential Compression:

1. Go to the Server Manager > Features and choose Add Features.
2. Check the box for the Remote Differential Compression feature and then click Install to enable this feature.

The second configuration change to allow SharePoint Workspace 2010 to work with your SharePoint Foundation 2010 server is to add an Alternate Access Mapping of the public facing DNS name (or IP address) to SharePoint using the SharePoint CA.  If you are connecting to your SharePoint site using the computer name then this is not necessary, but if you are connecting over the Internet through either an IP address or DNS name then you will need to add this alternate access mapping.

The reason is that when SharePoint is first installed, the only way it thinks users are connecting to the server is through the computer name: http://computer_name (as if on a local intranet).  Since most likely v Workspace 2010 users will be connecting through a public facing DNS name (or IP address), you will need to add this DNS name (or IP address) as an alternate access mapping (indicating that this DNS name is the same as the computer_name and should map to the SharePoint site).
To add an Alternate Access Mapping to SharePoint Foundation 2010:

1. Visit the SharePoint Central Administration on the SharePoint Foundation 2010 server.
2. Once in the SharePoint Central Administration website, click on the Application Management link.
3. Configure alternate access mappings
4. Choose Edit Public URLs.
5. And then select the public facing SharePoint website that you want to add an access mapping to.  You do this by changing the Alternate Access Mapping Collection (clicking on the “No selection” drop down button) to the website that is running on Port 80. The  default name of the public facing SharePoint site is “SharePoint – 80” but you may have changed that when you configured your SharePoint site. Once you have switched the Alternate Access Mapping Collection to the public SharePoint website (SharePoint – 80) then you can specify the Public URL by adding the publically accessible IP Address or DNS name to the Internet field.
6. Click Save to apply the alternate access mapping and now you should be able to connect to your SharePoint Foundation 2010 site with SharePoint Workspace 2010.

SharePoint Foundation 2010 is the free version of SharePoint that installs on top of Windows Server 2008.  With SharePoint Workspace 2010 you can get an offline copy of your SharePoint team site allowing you to add/edit your documents in any SharePoint document library easily and allow SharePoint Workspace 2010 to handle the file synchronization for you. 

How to configure SharePoint Foundation Search

This is a guide which will help you to configure SharePoint Foundation Search.
Firstly you need to turn on the Foundation Search Service.  You do that with the following:

1. Open Central Administration
2. Go to System Settings -> Manage services on server
3. Click on SharePoint Foundation Search
4. Assign a service account to start the service (this is a managed account, so select on or add a new one)
5. Assign a content access account (more on that below)
6. Enter a database server and database name (or accept the defaults)
7. Choose an indexing schedule
8. Click Ok
9. When you return to the Manage services on server page, click Start next to SharePoint Foundation Search

That’s only the first part, however.  You’ve got the Search service running and the indexer on a schedule, but you actually have not yet identified what to index. The next thing that you need to do grant the content access account (that you entered above) read access to your applications.  Do next steps:

1. Go to Central Administration
2. Go to Application Management -> Manage web applications
3. Highlight the web application that you want foundation search to index
4. Click User Policy in the ribbon
5. In the Policy for Web Application box that appears, click Add Users
6. Leave the Zone selection at (All zones), click Next
7. In the Choose Users box, enter the username of the Content Access Account you used above when you configured SharePoint Foundation Search
8. Check Full Read for permissions
9. Click Finish

Now you have the indexer running and the content access account has privileges to read all of the content in your web application.  But you still haven’t identified the content to crawl.  That’s done at the content database level. Do this:

1. Go to Central Administration
2. Go to Application Management -> Manage Content Database Settings
3. Click on the content database that contains the site(s)/site collection(s) that you want to index
4. In the settings for that content database, in the section Search Server, use the drop down list to select the server with SharePoint Foundation Search service running
5. Click OK.

You have turned on and set a schedule for indexing, granted permissions for the crawl account, and identified content to crawl.  More than likely for configure SharePoint Foundation Search, you’re done.  Based on the schedule that you created in the first part, and the amount of data that you need to crawl, you may need to wait a little while to check to see if everything is working.