Having problems installing the latest 20 sample SharePoint applications?
(UPDATED 2/23: Added -allowgacdeploy to step 2. I didn't need it, but more than one person posted/contacted me and said that they did, so there it is)
I bet you are! Something slipped by, and if you follow my help here, you should be back on the right track.
What, you haven't heard about these great sample applications? Lawrence blogged about them, and we're hosting working copies of them (you actually have contributor access on our hosted samples, so check it out!). It's a must-see!
Anyway, back to the topic and hand: Troubles with installation. Follow these instructions, and you should be golden. These steps assume that you've already opened a command prompt and navigated to the directory where your WSP files are (and that all of them are in the same directory). It also assumes that stsadm.exe is in your path. Finally, these steps assume you downloaded the package that contains all of the server admin templates, since there is a required WSP, applicationtemplatecore.wsp, that seems to be missing from some of the individual downloads. Unfortunately, you need to register to download the correct package (BOO!).
- stsadm -o addsolution -filename applicationtemplatecore.wsp
- stsadm -o deploysolution -immediate -allowgacdeployment -name applicationtemplatecore.wsp
- (I'm doing these first because they are dependencies, though honestly, you could probably get away with skipping down to step 7, and coming back to step 2 before you run step 9. If that's not clear, just move on to step 4.
) - Open your browser to Central Administration, click the Operations tab, and then click "Solution management" on the right site, under "Global Configuration"
- Verify that the "applicationtemplatecore.wsp" solution is marked as "Deployed". If it's not, wait ten more seconds or so, and refresh again to see if it's finished. Once it's "Deployed", move on.
- Back to the command prompt!
- for %f in (*.wsp) do stsadm -o addsolution -filename %f
- You'll see an error when it tries to add the applicationcoretemplate.wsp solution (since it's already there) -- ignore it. Once it's done, move on to step 9.
- for %f in (*.wsp) do stsadm -o deploysolution -allowgacdeployment -immediate -name %f
- And wait. Go get a cup of coffee. This can take anywhere from a minute or so with super-fast hardware to ten or more minutes with slower boxes. When you come back, go back to your browser and refresh that Solution Management page. Once the timers are finished running -- you might have to refresh a few times over a few minutes to verify this -- you may find some solutions that didn't deploy, or that had an error deploying. You can re-run the command line in step 9 if you want (you'll just get quick errors on the ones that are already deployed, it's safe to ignore them), or manually deploy the solutions using your browser.
That SHOULD get you rocking. If it doesn't, you can post back here, but please don't use the "Contact" link for tech support. 
I was tagged (over a month ago)
Last month, Mark Kruger tagged me to respond to that "five things you didn't know about me" meme. The task to respond to that post has been sitting in my task list since then, and I've finally gotten a breather, and have a moment to answer. And, since it's been a while since that meme passed around, I'll let this particular thread die with me.
1) I'm a musician. Mostly ambient and new age-y music, sequenced on keyboard and virtual instruments like Atmosphere, but a little techno action slips in every now and then, along with trance, tribal and downtempo.
2) Mark Kruger got me hooked on Texas Hold'em some years back, and I've been playing regularly ever since. My last trip to Vegas involved a sinus infection, though, so I've been missing live poker action for a while. (I wonder if having the word "poker" in this thread will get the spambots commenting faster than normal)
3) I have a robot lawn mower.
4) Running this site and SharePoint University take up, surprisingly, an average of 45 minutes a day.
5) Historically speaking, I stink at delegating tasks to other people. I built my company from the ground up years ago, and it's hard to let someone else take over for any part of it. I've focused considerable mental energy over the past few months to restructure my life (to simplify it) and my business (to delegate responsibilities more appropriately) in an effort to make the time to focus on the community and on training. I have high hopes for 2007!
Nothing too ground-shaking, I know.
And thus, this thread ends.
A Call for SharePoint Writers
Well, folks, with the new year comes a new opportunity for you writers out there. Do you want to write for Advisor Guide to Microsoft SharePoint? There's a need for some writers who want to focus on workflow -- maybe a high level piece on best practices for architecting workflow, followed by a case study covering a real-world successful implementation ... then some "get yer hands dirty!" how-tos.
Interested?
Of course you are! Get over to http://contact.advisor.com/ and let 'em know you're rarin' to write.
Whoops. :)
If you've been reading my articles in Advisor Guide to Microsoft SharePoint, you know how excited I am to share what I know about SharePoint Products and Technologies. Sometimes, in that excitement, I sometimes skip over an important detail. In the most recent issue of the magazine, one such mistake slipped in!
In the last issue's Advisor Answers column, I mistakenly suggested that Outlook 2007 could synchronize changes made to documents stored in Outlook 2007's offline copy of a synced SharePoint document library. That is incorrect: Outlook 2007 does not perform a 2-way synchronization with WSS 3.0 document libraries. You would be responsible for saving the document back to the SharePoint site from which it originally came. I apologize for any confusion this may have caused!
If you don't have the magazine yet -- get it! Todd Baginski and I can be seen on the very first page, in our regular column, "Advisor Answers". In each issue, we answer common questions about SharePoint Products and Technologies. Lately, we've focused on the new version, but fear not: We'll address existing technologies in our next column!
DCOM Errors in your Event log with MOSS 2007 B2/B2TR?
Yeah, me too. You might notice these alongside your "trial is expired" web site warnings. This post might help. It might not. It has worked for me, so if it works for you (or doesn't), I'd really love to hear about it in the comments.
Enough blabber, on with the fix:
- Make sure that all your application pool identities are running as domain user (or local user) accounts, not "NETWORK SERVICE". You might get away with using NETWORK SERVICE, but generally, it's best to use actual honest-to-goodness accounts. I can write up more reasons why in another post, but for now, take my word for it: use real local/domain accounts.
- On each WFE and App server in the farm, make sure that EVERY application pool user has the rights to activate the IIS WAMREG admin Service DCOM component. How do you do that, you ask?
- Start -> Run -> dcomcnfg.exe
- Expand Component Servers -> Computers -> My Computer -> DCOM Config
- Find IIS WAMREG admin Service, right click on it, and select "properties"
- Click the "security" tab
- Click the "edit" button in the "Launch and Activation Permissions" group
- Add your application pool identity accounts here, and make sure they have local launch and activation permissions (should be the first two checkboxes).
- Reset IIS (Start -> Run -> iisreset)
- Hope for the best
You might be able to simply add the application pool identities to the "Distributed COM Users" group and avoid the DCOM Config hoo-hah above, but that didn't work 100% of the time for me -- the above steps did. Not sure why; they should, technically, give the same permissions to the app pool ID, but hey, maybe the moon wasn't in Pisces when I tried it, and so it failed. But I digress...
If this helps, great! Let me know in the comments. If it doesn't, BOO! Still, let me know in the comments so I can try to track this down a bit more.
MOSS 2007 B2TR: "Slipstreamed" installer screencast (HOWTO)
UPDATED: Problem with Internet Explorer users opening the screencast has been fixed!
I know, it's been a while since I've posted, but hey -- MOSS 2007 keeps me busy! And today, Microsoft has released Beta 2 Technical Refresh patches for Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007, Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) V3, and 2007 Microsoft Office system.
Beta 2 Technical Refresh is a patch, not a full installer. To create a full installer for, say, MOSS 2007 Beta 2 Technical Refresh, you'd need to create a "slipstreamed" installer; in other words, patch the Beta 2 installer with the Beta 2 Technical Refresh bits. "How the heck do I do that?" I hear you cry...
A fellow MVP, Steve Smith, drafted a document outlining the procedure for creating a slipstreamed installer for MOSS 2007 B2TR (hosted here by permission of the author). Based on that document, I created a screencast to walk you through the slipstream procedure. It's quick and easy! First, you'll need the original MOSS Beta 2 installer files extracted to a folder on your hard drive. Then, download the B2TR patches for MOSS 2007 above. Finally, watch my screencast! Then you can see (and hear!) for yourself just how easy it is.
Go on, scoot. Get the beta.
What? Still reading?
(Please note: The above link, which came from here, keeps going up and down as of this post, but I think that's just growing pains. The link, however, allows you to register to download betas for the following apps -- product keys ARE included)
Microsoft® Office Professional Plus 2007
Microsoft® Office Visio® Professional 2007
Microsoft® Office Outlook® 2007 with Business Contact Manager
Microsoft® Office Project Server 2007
Microsoft® Office Project Professional 2007
Microsoft® Office Groove®
Microsoft® Office Groove®
Microsoft® Office OneNote® 2007
Microsoft® Office SharePoint® Designer 2007
Microsoft® Office SharePoint® Server 2007
Microsoft® Office SharePoint® Server 2007 - Enterprise(x64)
Microsoft® Office Forms Server 2007
Microsoft® Office Forms Server 2007 (x64)
Dive into Microsoft SharePoint XSLT DataView Web Part
Unknown to most developers because you have to use FrontPage 2003 to create the Data View Web Part, it lets you display data from any SharePoint site to which you can connect, from any database with a functional OLEDB provider; parse and display XML files; and connect to SOAP Web Services. Using Web Part Connections, the Data View can pass parameters to Web sites that return XML, and even pass parameters to SOAP Web Services. All this without writing a single line of code. Find out how to put the Data View Web Part to use.
Do you subscribe to Advisor Guide to Microsoft SharePoint? If not, you're missing out on the first in a series of articles I'm writing -- each focused on my favorite web part, the XSLT Data View Web Part. This part is a hacker's dream, and makes it trivial to create high impact (and, if you're the AJAX type, heavily scripted) user experiences on the SharePoint platform. Get the subscription, go to the Advisor Summit in Phoenix this August, and come to our classes to get all the Data View knowledge you can!
Another First for SharePoint Experts
Attendees of next week's SharePoint Bootcamps (regular and developer flavors) will be privy to another “premier”, brought to you by your favorite training company, SharePoint Experts. From what we can tell from scanning the web sites of “those others guys“, they will be the first students to receive training on Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 / Windows SharePoint Services V3 from any US-based training company (Ascend materials notwithstanding). I'm proud of the effort put into this exciting new development. Hats off especially to Todd Baginski for his tireless contributions to this new material.
Why are we waiting to teach full-week courses on the next version of SharePoint? Well, a little perspective is in order. And a clarification. First, the clarification: If you're looking for on-site training on V3, we're ready now. In fact, we've been delivering V3 content since the NDA was lifted. This “wait and see“ approach only affects our public classes.
MOSS 2007 and WSS V3 won't be released until, last I saw published, end of this year. Corporations who are choosing to jump to the next release will probably begin that process this summer (supported, of course, by our on-site training if they'd like!). Once those people have had a chance to work through their migration issues, and learn a bit of the new UI, they'll be hungry for some serious V3 development and customization training. Cue our SharePoint Bootcamp “2007” and the SharePoint Development Bootcamp “2007”. And we're going to begin our full-featured V3 classes with a big entrance: Las Vegas, with multiple instructors in each classroom to support up to 50 students. Each of the two 2007 courses will have five days of brand-spanking-new material, tons of prizes, and special surprises for alumni of previous classes who come back for more.
This is going to be a big year for the SharePoint Bootcamp, folks. Stay tuned...
Want more information on WSS v3?
Updated: For a comprehensive list of new features, along with links to the original source, check out my new article about WSS v3.0 features. Thanks, Gene, for compiling this exhaustive list!
Some people have written in to Gene Kraybill and to me wondering “where did you get that information about WSS v3? Aren't you under NDA?” Well, of course, I am under NDA, just like every other MVP and beta tester out there. Microsoft recently released testers from their NDAs as that NDA pertains to the client-side applications of Office 2007, but the NDA still stands on server products. So I can't talk about something that isn't already public (so don't even ask!). Lucky for Gene and me, there's a HUGE body of information about WSS v3 that IS public. Just waiting for you to read! It may seem like the SharePoint Show interview was revelatory, but when it gets down to it, we basically paraphrased existing material (of course, my commentary on Outlook 2007 was my own, but hey, that's allowed now. Who doesn't love Outlook 2007, I ask!). If you want the REAL dirt on what's coming, you can refer to my post on the subject (made over six months ago, during PDC) -- this post contains just about everything mentioned in the interview. There were a few bits of new news in that interview, so rather than leave you guessing, here's a link to the original sources. Gene has the exhaustive list (with links!) on the SharePoint Show site, this is just a summary of the sources.
PDC 2005, Arpan Shah, David Gainer, Channel 9 (Robert Scoble's video interview with PJ Hough and company), Maurice Prather, Mike Fitz, MS Press Pass, MS article on ECM, PJ Hough, the SharePoint Team Blog, and Tudor Toma.
If you're not reading those sites, you're missing out! My interview with Gene was only a brief recap of the stories on these sites. For the REAL meat of the matter, go directly to the source. Don't bookmark this for later, do it now. There's so much information out there for you to read, so much to learn! When you're done, come back here and talk about the features that are most exciting to you! Personally, I'm excited about the navigation enhancements in WSS v3. That, and the fact that all lists and libraries have event handlers. What new feature makes you excited to upgrade? (Be aware: If you're going to comment on a feature, and the source isn't obvious, quote it. We take NDAs seriously around here, we've already asked bloggers to remove posts that were covered under NDA).
dustin