SharePoint 2013 Distributed Cache service.

This post is meant to give SharePoint Administrators an deeper look into the Distributed Cache along with some links to other resources on the internet.

Background
SharePoint 2013 uses the AppFabric (Caching) by Microsoft. Read here for a background on AppFabric. AppFabric Caching stores serialized managed objects in a ‘cache cluster’. The cache cluster consists of one or more machines (Cache Hosts) that pool their available physical memory. This pooled memory is presented and used by SharePoint as a single source of caching memory.

To read completed article click here.

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Cannot browse to All People in SharePoint 2010

We used to normally visit All people in Sharepoint 2007 to Delete the user from the Site collection :)

Where is it in Sharepoint 2010 ?

The “All People” view is the best way to list out all the users having access to the SharePoint site.

When a admin navigates to the “People and Groups” section in a SharePoint 2007 site,

he sees a link called “All People” in the left hand navigation.

Clicking on this link brings up a view of all the users across all the groups in the site.

But this “All People” view is hidden in SharePoint 2010 and the link is also missing in the “People and Groups” section.

However one can still navigate to this view in a SharePoint 2010 by following the below mentioned steps :

 

• Navigate to the “People and Groups” section.
• Click on any of the groups.
• Locate the “MembershipGroupId” query string parameter from Url in the address bar
• Replace the value in the “MembershipGroupId” query string parameter with 0.
• Reload the page and it will populate the “All People” View.

Site menus are hidden behind content editor web part

Issue: Site menus are hidden behind content editor web part.

Background: User added .swf file into content editor web part using iframe.

Code: Client had used the following code in the CEWP.

 

Troubleshooting: We tried with different parameters like, visibility, position, z-index but none of them working but no success.

 

Resolution: You have to add the wmode attribute.

If you have any queries/questions regarding the above mentioned information then please let me know.

I would be more than happy to help you as well as resolves your issues, thank you.

Applies to: SharePoint Foundation / Server 2010.

 

Cannot upload files with Extension. Blocked file types

Need not get Panic if at all you are not able to upload a file with these extensions . There are some of them which are blocked by default . and changes can be made easily.

Why Are these files Blocked ?
Its nothing but security Threats to confidential Data .

By default, many file types are blocked, including file types that are treated as executable by Internet Explorer. Files, whose names include braces, (for example, filename.{doc}) are also blocked by default.

The following table shows the file types that are blocked by default and their corresponding file name extensions.

File name extension	File type
.ade	Microsoft Access project extension
.adp	Microsoft Access project
.app	Application file
.asa	ASP declarations file
.ashx	ASP.NET Web handler file. Web handlers are software modules that handle raw HTTP requests received by ASP.NET.
.asmx	ASP.NET Web Services source file
.asp	Active Server Pages
.bas	Microsoft Visual Basic class module
.bat	Batch file
.cdx	Compound index
.cer	Certificate file
.chm	Compiled HTML Help file
.class	Java class file
.cmd	Microsoft Windows NT command script
.com	Microsoft MS-DOS program
.config	Configuration file
.cpl	Control Panel extension
.crt	Security certificate
.csh	Script file
.dll	Windows dynamic-link library
.exe	Program
.fxp	Microsoft Visual FoxPro compiled program
.hlp	Help file
.hta	HTML program
.htr	Script file
.htw	HTML document
.ida	Internet Information Services file
.idc	Internet database connector file
.idq	Internet data query file
.ins	Internet Naming Service
.isp	Internet Communication settings
.its	Internet Document Set file
.jse	JScript Encoded script file
.ksh	Korn Shell script file
.lnk	Shortcut
.mad	Shortcut
.maf	Shortcut
.mag	Shortcut
.mam	Shortcut
.maq	Shortcut
.mar	Shortcut
.mas	Microsoft Access stored procedure
.mat	Shortcut
.mau	Shortcut
.mav	Shortcut
.maw	Shortcut
.mda	Microsoft Access add-in program
.mdb	Microsoft Access program
.mde	Microsoft Access MDE database
.mdt	Microsoft Access data file
.mdw	Microsoft Access workgroup
.mdz	Microsoft Access wizard program
.msc	Microsoft Common Console document
.msh	Microsoft Agent script helper
.msh1	Microsoft Agent script helper
.msh1xml	Microsoft Agent script helper
.msh2	Microsoft Agent script helper
.msh2xml	Microsoft Agent script helper
.mshxml	Microsoft Agent script helper
.msi	Microsoft Windows Installer package
.msp	Windows Installer patch package file
.mst	Visual Test source files
.ops	Microsoft Office profile settings file
.pcd	Photo CD image or Microsoft Visual Test compiled script
.pif	Shortcut to MS-DOS program
.prf	System file
.prg	Program source file
.printer	Printer file
.pst	Microsoft Outlook personal folder file
.reg	Registration entries
.rem	ACT! database maintenance file
.scf	Windows Explorer command file
.scr	Screen saver
.sct	Script file
.shb	Windows shortcut
.shs	Shell Scrap object
.shtm	HTML file that contains server-side directives
.shtml	HTML file that contains server-side directives
.soap	Simple Object Access Protocol file
.stm	HTML file that contains server-side directives
.url	Uniform Resource Locator (Internet shortcut)
.vb	Microsoft Visual Basic Scripting Edition file
.vbe	VBScript Encoded Script file
.vbs	VBScript file
.ws	Windows Script file
.wsc	Windows Script Component
.wsf	Windows Script file
.wsh	Windows Script Host settings file

 Add or remove blocked file types

Use this procedure when you want to prohibit files of a specific type from being saved or retrieved from any Web application on a server.

To add or remove blocked file types by using Central Administration

1. Verify that you have the following administrative credentials.
   
   • You must be a farm administrator on the server.
     
2. In Central Administration, click Security.
   
3. On the Security page, in the General Security section, click Define blocked file types.
   
4. On the Blocked File Types page, if you want to change the selected Web application, on the Web Application menu, click Change Web Application. Use the Select Web Application page to select a Web application.
   
5. Do one of the following:
   
   • To block an additional file type, scroll to the bottom of the Type each file extension on a separate line text box, type the file extension you want to block, and then click OK.
     
     
     
   • To stop blocking a file type, select a file type from the list, press the Delete key, and then click OK.
     
     
     Note : You do not have to type a file extension in the list in alphabetical order. The next time you open the list, the file extension you added will be correctly sorted in alphabetical order.
     
     Reference : http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc287701%28v=office.14%29.aspx 

Time card list template in SharePoint 2010

Time card list template is available in SharePoint 2010 .But it is hidden by default .

You need to activate the Group Work Lists feature of the site .

Choose Site Settings =>Manage site features =>Activate Group Work Lists feature. After activating this feature ,you can create a Time Card list in SharePoint Designer :

    Open the site in SharePoint Designer .
    

Choose File => Add Item => More Lists =>Time Card .
  

  The Time Card list will be created with a default view called My Time Card .This is the MyTCard.aspx page .You can edit it in SharePoint Designer or in browser .

Or you can use Timecard Management Template:

http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/office/SharePoint-Server-2010-63fd8b62#content

Instructions for trying out the Timecard Management Template solution:

Download and build the solution

1. Insure you have your SharePoint 2010 Development environment setup.
2. Download the Visual Studio solution and unzip it.
3. Specify the URL to the SharePoint site you would like to debug with in the project properties.
4. Click build to the Visual Studio solution.

Install and activate the sandbox solution

1. From a page in the site collection, click Site Actions, and then select Site Settings.
2. On the Site Settings page, click Solutions under the Galleries heading.
3. On the Solutions tab of the Server ribbon, click Upload Solution.
4. In the Upload Solution dialog box, click Browse, and browse to the sandboxed solution package (.wsp file). Click Open.
5. The solution package is now in the site collection's solution gallery, but it is not yet deployed.
6. In the Activate Solution dialog box, click Activate to activate the solution.

To deactivate and delete the sandbox solution

1. From a page in the site collection, click Site Actions, and then select Site Settings.
2. On the Site Settings page, click Solutions under the Galleries heading.
3. Select the solution to deactivate and then select Deactivate.
4. If you would like to Delete the solution then, click Delete after deactivation.

Microsoft SharePoint Designer 2010 Download

SharePoint Designer 2010 is the tool of choice for the rapid development of SharePoint applications. Using SharePoint Designer, advanced users and developers alike can rapidly create SharePoint solutions in response to business needs. Advanced users can compose no-code solutions that encompass a variety of common scenarios, from collaborative sites and web publishing to Line-Of-Business data integration, business intelligence solutions, and human workflows, leveraging the building blocks available in SharePoint in an easy to use environment. In addition, developers can use SharePoint Designer 2010 to get a quick start on SharePoint development projects.​

This is the 32-bit edition of SharePoint Designer 2010. It is the recommended configuration for most users

http://www.microsoft.com/en-in/download/details.aspx?id=16573


This download is the 64-bit edition of SharePoint Designer 2010. The 32-bit edition is suggested for most users

http://www.microsoft.com/en-in/download/details.aspx?id=24309

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Hide the quick launch bar in SharePoint 2010

Today one of our clients asked a query if we can hide the quick launch bar from the site or sub-site. Informed him that he can hide the quick launch options (like Documents/Lists etc.) in SharePoint 2010 for site/subsite by going to

Site Actions - Site Settings - Tree View

Uncheck the box for “Enable Quick Launch”

But he says he wants to hide it and completely and would like to shift the page to the left to utilize the space of quick launch?

Add following script to the content editor webpart in HTML editor on the page:

If you have any queries/questions regarding the above mentioned information then please let me know.

I would be more than happy to help you as well as resolves your issues, thank you.

Finding site template names and ID’s in SharePoint 2010

Every now and then we talks about sites, site templates, more technically- the site ID’s etc…

There might be a requirement that you have deployed any solution package with respect to site definition and that will be available under custom tab while creating the site by means of central administration. 

We all know that every site template contains a specific ID associated with it and has multiple benefits with respect to requirement arises.

If you wanna find out the site template ID of all the templates which are installed in your farm then it might be a hectic task.

It’s quite easy if we follow the following article and Million Thanks to Phil Childs who has published this article for the SharePoint Community.

Very useful article and valuable too as its saving tons of efforts. Thank you Phil :)

http://get-spscripts.com/2011/02/finding-site-template-names-and-ids-in.html

How to restore Site Collection, Site or list from Unattached Content database in Sharepoint 2010?

SharePoint 2010 offers some new backup and restore features for content data. Almost anything can be backed up and restored, from the whole farm to site collections, services, and search indexes. In this article, we will take a look at how to perform recovery from an unattached content database.

Challenge:
How can I restore a single item or list from a SharePoint backup?
In SharePoint 2007, employing the SQL database backup is a popular method for backing up SharePoint content. It is easier to manage, and requires less administrative work than the out-of-the-box SharePoint backup/restore feature. However, if we just want to recover a single site, list, or document, the process is quite painful and inefficient in SharePoint 2007. We would need to recover the entire farm before we could get to the individual file.

Solution:
SharePoint 2010 provides a new feature called Unattached Content Database Recovery. Using this method, we can browse the SQL database backup and select just the content we want to recover. For full detailed steps with screenshots refer below link:

http://community.bamboosolutions.com/blogs/sharepoint-2010/archive/2010/10/18/sharepoint-2010-cookbook-how-to-recover-data-from-an-unattached-content-database.aspx

Article orignally posted by Duo Dy.

Logparser: Calculate No. of hits for different Browser type from IIS Logs

In our organization we had a request to know how many requests are coming to our SharePoint webservers form different browsers.

While working on this, I got a nice post form Mr. Jaskis 
Why you need to know this:

To figure out what kind of browser(IE, Firefox, Safari) requests are coming for your application.So that you can make sure your application is compatible with that browser type.

To read complete article, please follow http://blogs.msdn.com/b/jaskis/archive/2008/11/13/logparser-calculate-no-of-hits-for-different-browser-type-from-iis-logs.aspx

Known issues when you install Office 2010 SP1 and SharePoint 2010 SP1

Found this KB should be easily available for all my users .

This article lists the known issues and behavior changes that you may experience when you install Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Microsoft Office 2010, Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010, Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010, and Office server products.

Resolution:

The following are issues that you may experience when you install these service packs:

• SharePoint Server 2010 SP1 has an issue that causes workflow tasks to become locked and unrecoverable, as follows. Assume that you have a running out-of-box (OOB) workflow task (for example, an "Approval – SharePoint 2010," "Collect Feedback – SharePoint 2010," or "Publishing Approval" task). When a task assignee edits the workflow task (for example, by approving or rejecting the trial), the task is locked and cannot be recovered. For more information about this issue, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
  2737435 "In Progress" Workflow tasks are locked after updating to SharePoint 2010 SP1
  
  To resolve this issue, install the hotfixes that are provided in the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
  2687614 Description of the SharePoint Server 2010 hotfix package (Coreservermui-xx-xx.msp): October 30, 2012
  2687557 Description of the SharePoint Foundation 2010 hotfix package (Wss-x-none.msp): October 30, 2012
  Note You must install these hotfixes after you install SharePoint 2010 SP1.
• Before you install the SP1 packages, make sure that you have sufficient disk space. For caching, the packages may require up to four times their file size in remaining disk space during installation.
• You must restart the computer at the end of the installation process.
• If Office Web Apps will be used in a mixed version environment, where Office Web Apps has SP1-or-later applied while SharePoint Server 2010 remains on the RTM version, you must install the following two updates before you install SP1 for Office Web Apps:
  • 2510639 Description of the SharePoint Server 2010 update: April 12, 2011
  • 2510648 Description of the Office Web Apps update: April 12, 2011
• Install the service packs in the following order on every server in the farm:
  1. Service Pack 1 for SharePoint Foundation 2010
  2. Service Pack 1 for SharePoint Foundation 2010 Language Pack (if applicable)
  3. Service Pack 1 for SharePoint Server 2010
  4. Service Pack 1 for SharePoint Server 2010 Language Pack (if applicable)
• After you install Service Pack 1 you must run the SharePoint 2010 Products Configuration Wizard or the psconfig –cmd upgrade –inplace b2b -wait command one time on every server in the farm. This step updates the farm to the latest version and is required in order to have full SharePoint functionality. If you do not run the wizard, the farm will run with reduced capacity. For example, Search will not be able to index content.
• You must restart the User Profile Synchronization service after installing Service Pack 1. For more information about how to start the service, see the "Start the User Profile Synchronization service" section of the following Microsoft website:
  Configure profile synchronization
• After SharePoint Server 2010 SP1 is installed, the Workflow feature is disabled when a new site collection is created. To use the Workflow feature in a new site collection, enable it in the Site Collection Settings page.
• After you install SharePoint Foundation 2010 SP1 and SharePoint Server 2010 SP1, we strongly recommend that you install the install the June 2011 Cumulative Update refresh package. The June Cumulative Update includes several important security and bug fixes that are not included Service Pack 1. For more information about these updates, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
  2536601 Description of the SharePoint Foundation 2010 cumulative update package (SharePoint Foundation server-package): June 30, 2011
  
  2536599 Description of the SharePoint Server 2010 cumulative update package (SharePoint server-package): June 30, 2011

  Applies to

  • Microsoft Office Home and Student 2010
  • Microsoft Office Home and Business 2010
  • Microsoft Office Professional 2010
  • Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010
  • Microsoft Office Standard 2010
  • Microsoft Office Starter 2010
  • Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010
  • Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010

  
  Reference : http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2532126

Kerberos configuration known issues (SharePoint Server 2010)

Kerberos authentication and non-default ports

There is a known issue where some Kerberos clients (.NET Framework, Internet Explorer 7 and 8 included) do not correctly form service principal names when attempting to authenticate with Kerberos enabled web applications that are configured on non-default ports (ports other than 80 and 443). The root of the problem is the client does not properly form the SPN in the TGS request by specifying it without the port number (as seen in the Sname of the TGS request).
Example:
If the web application is running at http://intranet.contoso.com:1234, the client will request a ticket for a service with a SPN equal to http/intranet.contoso.com instead of http/intranet.contoso.com:1234.
Details regarding the issue can be found in the following articles:

• Internet Explorer 6 cannot use the Kerberos authentication protocol to connect to a Web site that uses a non-standard port in Windows XP and in Windows Server 2003 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/908209/en-us)
• Configure Kerberos authentication (Office SharePoint Server 2007) (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=196987)

To work around this issue, register SPNs with and without port number. Example:

• http://intranet.contoso.com:12345

• http/intranet
• http/intranet.contoso.com
• http/intranet:12345
• http/intranet.contoso.com:12345

We recommend that you register the non-default port to ensure that if the issue is resolved in some future service pack or hot fix, the applications using the workaround will still continue to function.
Note that this workaround will not work if the following conditions are true:

• There is more than one web application running on a non-default port
• The web applications either bind to the host name of the server or bind to the same host header (on different ports)
• The web application IIS application pools use different service accounts

• http://server.contoso.com:5000 AppPool Id: contoso\svcA
• http://server.contoso.com:5001 AppPool Id: contoso\svcB

If these conditions are true, following the recommendation in this workaround will yield duplicate SPNs registered to different service accounts which will break Kerberos authentication.
If you have multiple web sites sharing a common host name running on multiple ports, and you use different IIS application pool identities for the web applications, then you cannot use Kerberos authentication on all web sites. (One application can use Kerberos, the rest will require another authentication protocol.) To use Kerberos on all applications in this scenario, you would need to either:

1. Run all web applications under 1 shared service account
2. Run each site with its own host header
   
   
   Reference : http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg502606%28v=office.14%29.aspx

SharePoint 2010 - Browser Compatibility

 This article explains known limitations of some browsers with SharePoint 2010.

For most interactions with SharePoint an internet browser is required and the choice of browser will affect the experience. Most functionality is available in all browsers, however there are exceptions where certain features require Active X technology which is only available in Internet Explorer and means that some of SharePoint's functionality is lost when using non-IE browsers.

Browser support for SharePoint Server 2010 can be divided into three different levels, as follows:

• Supported - A supported Web browser is a Web browser that is supported to work with SharePoint Server 2010, and all features and functionality work.
• Supported with known limitations - These are non-Internet Explorer browsers such as FireFox, Safari and Chrome. They are supported for use with SharePoint but some functionality is missing in these browsers such as opening documents directly in Office applications (although viewing and editing office documents within the browser is fully supported, as is downloading and editing). Documentation on how to resolve these issues is readily available from Microsoft.
• Not tested - A Web browser that is not tested means that its compatibility with SharePoint Server 2010 is untested, and there may be issues with using the particular Web browser. SharePoint Server 2010 works best with up-to-date, standards-based Web browsers.

 

Courtesy : https://answers.uchicago.edu/page.php?id=24860

Thanks Brent for sharing this

Unable to process the request. Wait a few minutes and try performing this operation again.

Issue: Most of our clients were having issue while opening the Excel files from their SharePoint sites using Excel web access web part after an upgrade from MOSS 2007 to SharePoint 2010.

Error: Unable to process the request. Wait a few minutes and try performing this operation again

 

Troubleshooting done:

- Adding the URL in trusted file location.

- Change the settings to open the document with client application form document library. .

Resolution:

After some investigation we found this Blog from the technet , which talks about the same problem:

- Rebooting the server will remedy this, but that is not realistic.

- You can run IISReset /noforce that too should remedy the issue.

- To avoid a complete IISReset, you can manually recycle the Application Pool Running Excel Services. (Please check the blog for additional info)

http://blogs.technet.com/b/excel_services__powerpivot_for_sharepoint_support_blog/archive/2013/01/24/excel-services-2010-quot-unable-to-process-the-request-quot-maximum-private-bytes-size-exceeded-unable-to-complete-the-operation.aspx

How to overwrite or disable the List View Threshold value for particular list in Sharepoint 2010 Using Powershell?

If you want to overwrite or disable the threshold limit of List View items for particular list then execute the following cmdlets in Powershell.

$WebApplication = Get-SPWeb http://<SiteCollectionName>

$List = $WebApplication.Lists["List Name"]

$List.EnableThrottling = $false

$List.Update()

There is one property of SPList called "Enable Throttling" which has to be set to false to overwrite the threshold limit set on Web Application for all the lists.

I hope this is helpful and do let me know if you have any questions.

Applies to Sharepoint Server 2010.

Error while opening excel files after upgrade your SharePoint site to 2010

Error Message: The workbook cannot be opened because it is not stored in an excel services.

Cause: By default the setting in the library is set to "open the file in browser".

Resolution: Change the Library settings to open files in Client application.

Steps: 

-Open your document Library

-Click on "Library" under "Library tools" (See screenshot)

 

-To the extreme right on the ribbon, please click on "Library settings".

-Click on Advanced settings under General settings.

-In the settings for "Opening Documents in the Browser"

-Change the radio button and select Open in the client application.

-Click OK

You must change this setting in all the document libraries.

 

Applies to: SharePoint Foundation 2010/SharePoint Server 2010.

 

 

Attachments doesn’t open when attached with a discussion boards.

The lists can be configured to open documents in client mode but this doesn’t happen with discussion boards and other collaborative lists which do not have a special provision for attachments.

 

Error messages may say that the features included in the files are not supported by web browser.

 

Reason: Uploaded excel files may contain macros or other calculations which needs an excel client. In SP 2010 all the office documents open in client by default so ether make the settings suggested below or turn on a feature to open all documents in client by default.

 

Steps to do this:

 

Go to Site Actions &gt; Site settings &gt; Site collection Features &gt; Open documents in Client Applications by default

 

Applies to: SharePoint Server 2007/2010.

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