NZ MCT

Exchange 2003 and SharePoint--now play nice!

2009-01-27T23:13:00.002+13:00

I just saw a posting about this in the Microsoft public newsgroups, and I thought it might be handy to put a remind about how to set this up. I'm doing this from memory, and I'll try to put up a complete, illustrated set of instructions later this week.

The real issue is mainly about how to get the incoming email to flow properly. Most people can configure the outgoing email settins the the SharePoint Central Administration without too much problem. It's the incoming that messes with their heads.

The basic mistake that usually gets made is that the admins configure the incoming email domain name to match the live domain name. The followon from this usually means that someone adds that namespace to the SMTP connector on the Exhange server. This is where the loop comes in. The name in the connector means that the Exchange server will likely try to send it to the connector's partner which will then do the MX record lookup, and find it's own ip address. It will take the mail and then look at all the connectors to see what route it should take, and it tries to send it back out. So it does an MX lookup. Do you see where the loop comes in here?

The easiest fix: Make the sure the incoming email domain namespace in sharepoint is different than the domain namespace of your Exchange environment, and then configure the smtp connector in exhange with THAT namespace, rather than creating the loop.

There, that's the real quick and dirty solution. Like I said, I'll try to get a more detailed explanation in here later

Using the Multi-View Control

2009-01-23T12:23:00.003+13:00

I had a student the other day who had need of this, and I had to dig it out of the far reaches of my memory (I don't do a lot of individual page/report design work). But It's pretty useful, so I thought I'd toss it out there for everyone else.

There are times when you want to have a lot of information easily accessible on a page within your SharePoint site, but there's too much to put on a single page for whatever reason (not enough screen real estate, visual layout is too cluttered etc.).

There are quite a few ways of coping with this, ranging from creating separate pages to using filters and audience targeting and all sorts of other options. I have found using the MultiView control to be useful, especially when building reports and dashboards.

The MultiView control allows you to create multiple views, putting whatever information and web parts in those views you like and then use navigation controls to switch between them. One gotcha--at a bare minimum you will need to use SharePoint Designer to edit the page that use the controls. Below is a very basic primer on how to create a MultiView section, create the views inside it and use links/buttons to provide some navigation. Keep in mind there are other ways to provide the navigation, but I'm not trying to be comprehensive. I'm going for quick and easy here.

1. Open/create the .aspx page you want to put the control into with SharePoint Designer.

2. Locate the space where you want to put the views.

3. From the "Standard" group in the ASP.NET Controls in the Toolbox, add the MultiView control into that space you identified in Step 2.

4. In the properties for the MultiView control, locate the "ActiveViewIndex" property and set it to 0 (zero). This will display the first view you create. The default value is "-1" which makes all the views hidden.

5. In the white space of the MultiView control, add the number of View controls you need (1 for each view. You will find the View control in the same group as the MultiView control in the Toolbox. The only thing that can be put into the MultiView control are View controls.

6. Each View has an "ID" property that should be set, and will need to be unique with in the set of views for the MultiView control. The default will probably read something like "View1". A more informative name is probably useful.

7. Each View on your page should have some space to insert controls and web parts. This is where you will put your tables/web part zones/web parts/whatever you want in that view.

8. As part of each view you may choose to put your navigation buttons/links. By putting them inside the views, you can make easy use of the builtin properties and methods for navigation that are available to you. There are ways to manage the navigation from outside the MultiView control and the Views, but they are more complex to implement and will require more coding.

9. In each view a Button or LinkButton control for each view. (i.e if you have 3 views inside the MultiView, add three buttons). You may choose to do this once and then copy/paste from one view into the others.

10. For each button, adjust the following properties:
Text: Name of the View the button is going to switch to
CommandName: SwitchViewByID
CommandArgument: ID (the property you set) of the View the button is going to switch to

11. Once complete, save your work and preview the page.

A quick tip for lists and libraries

2009-01-16T16:00:00.002+13:00

A lot of people have never realized this, but it is possible to set up alerts for other people.

If you have the Manage List permission on a list and library, you can set up alerts that go to others.

This is especially handy if you are setting up a list/library that is using content approval and you don't want to use a workflow.

The process is identical to setting up an alert for yourself, with the exception that you can select other people (you can include yourself, but you don't have to) to be the recipients of the email.

Nothing earthshattering here, but something I've found handy along the way.

Happy New Year

2009-01-04T19:29:00.001+13:00

I didn't have too many New Year's resolutions this year--

Really, only three:
1. Write the book I've been meaning to write.
2. Be disciplined about my exercise (I've been totally slack and I can feel it).
3. Keep my blogs up to date (defined as at least one post per week).

It's really only number three that's relevant here--so this is post 1.

I don't start work until the 12th, so I'm not even thinking about anything technical at the moment. See you next week!

I hope anyone who stumbles across this had a Happy New Year, and I wish you all the best in the upcoming year.

Cheers,
James

Mastering WSS 3.0 is here

2008-01-29T15:23:00.000+13:00

C A Callahan's book on WSS has finally dropped. Woohoo!!

Those of you who know me might remember that contributed to that effort. I'm really thrilled to be a part of it, and thrilled for Callahan.

If you want to know anything about WSS 3.0 go check it out here.

And if you want any supporting information, check out Callahan's WSS 3.0 blog, complete with podcasts here.

I hope everyone is having a good January.

Cheers,
James

Stop the Presses! Or at least, pause the internet!

2007-11-07T10:19:00.000+13:00

Microsoft has finally announced their new Enterprise Search products, going head to head with Google and Google Mini.

In addition to the search capabilities found in MOSS, you can now purchase/acquire just the search without the rest of MOSS (although the rest of MOSS can be extremely useful!).

They are offering two products, Microsoft Search Service 2008 (MSS) and Microsoft Search Service 2008 Express (MSSE). Here's the best part--the MSSE is FREE!

To see a full announcement, click Here.

I'll post more on this later.

It's Movember Time!

2007-11-02T09:26:00.000+13:00

I'm taking part in the "Movember" challenge to raise funds to help fight Prostate Cancer, by growing my "Mo" all this month.

Please support me and this cause by going to the Movember website and sponsoring me and my mo.

Thanks in advance your all of your support and pledges!

cheers,
James

SharePoint Planning docs in one place

2007-10-31T17:07:00.000+13:00

http://itfootprint.wordpress.com/2007/10/05/sharepoint-planning-worksheets-in-one-place/

Great blog that has links to the most useful planning worksheets for SharePoint installs nicely organized and summarized.

Awesome!

MCT Dinner in Auckland

2007-08-14T10:21:00.000+12:00

Thanks to Marie, Mark, Kyle and Greg for coming out last night. I had a good time catching up with Marie, Mark and Kyle. It was great to meet you Greg.

I hope you all have a great rest of TechEd!

Craig--where were you?

Ta
jf

Arrggghhh!

2007-08-10T23:31:00.000+12:00

I suspect that an update/patch/sp somewhere along the line has broken SharePoint somehow. I've been fighting all week trying to figure out why certain site settings pages work for a little while and then stop loading, throwing a 403 error (forbidden). If they never worked, then I'd assume that the permissions somewhere needed fixing. But if I do an IISReset, the pages execute fine.

For a little while.

And then they stop. For no obvious reason.

Arrrrggggghhhh!

Finally my boss Ignacio (who was also looking into the problem) found a reference to this MS kb article that doesn't mention this issue specifically but seems to fix the problem. (See here.)

If I get any better information, I'll share ASAP.

Cheers,
James

Browser me this . . .

2007-08-06T11:22:00.000+12:00

Not a question I run across a lot, but I do run across it from time to time: What browser can I use with SharePoint?

This link is about a year old and based around betas, but it at least gives a rough indication as to which browsers you can/cannot expect a reasonable experience with.

Thanks to Chris Randall for bringing this to the attention of readers of an MCT newsgroup.

However, as always, mileage may vary.

If anyone has a more current/up-to-date link, let me know and I will happily update this post.

jf

Folder specific search scopes in MOSS

2007-07-31T01:38:00.000+12:00

You may have noticed that MOSS automatically generates some dynamic scopes out of the box, what I like to call the context scopes, "This Site:" and "This List:". And these are really really useful.

But what if you want/need to limit a search to a specific folder inside a library?
Unfortunately, MOSS doesn't do that on the fly for you. However, it can be done manually.

Scopes can be set either at a farm or shared service level, or at a site collection level. If you are creating a scope for a single folder in a single library, the site collection level might be most appropriate.

Open the Top Level Site Settings for a site in your site collection (Site Actions, Site Settings, Go to Top Level Site Settings) or from your top level site (Site Actions, Site Settings, Modify all Site Settings).
Find the column labelled "Site Collection Administration" and click on the "Search Scopes" link.
Click on the button labelled "New Scope" to create your new scope.
Give your new scope a Title (and description if you so desire), and make sure you tick the box so it is added to the "Search Dropdown" display group (at a minimum, you can put in more if you like). This will make the scope appear in the dropdown lists for the search ribbons that show up on your SharePoint pages. In this scenario, you probably won't require a different results page, so leave that setting alone. Click on "OK".
This takes you back to the Search Scope pages. Now you will see your new scope listed in the display groups you made it a part of. You will also note that in the "Update Status" column it says "Empty - Add rules". You will need to define what is included in the scope. Click on the "Add rules" link in that column.

This brings up the Add Scope Rule page. On this page you will want to set the Scope Rule Type to "Web Address" and then put the url for the folder you want to search. See below for an example. When you are done, click on "OK".

This will take you back to the View Scopes page, and now in the Update Status column for your scope, you will see a message that the scope will be ready after the next update. After that update runs, your scope will now show up in the drop-down boxes for searches in that Site Collection.

Cheers,

James

Calling all NZ MCT's

2007-07-30T09:41:00.000+12:00

I'm trying to organize an MCT dinner for any MCTs who are either Auckland based or will be in Auckland for TechEd. If you fit either of those categories, can you please go the .Teched.Anz MCT newsgroup, and reply to the thread "Any NZ MCTs going to TechEd NZ".

Details, as far as we have them are there.

Cheers!
Tell you friends (at least those friends that are MCTs!)

James

WSS 3.0 Book

2007-07-23T22:54:00.000+12:00

Check out Mastering Windows SharePoint Services 3.0. This book could be the comprehensive WSS 3.0 reference guide. And it will be an interesting read.

C.A. Callahan (the author) is a friend of mine and she has been working her a** off to get this thing done and do it well. And she didn't have a very big a** to start with. (Sorry C.A.--couldn't resist). If there is something in there, you can bet your sweet bippy that it's in there for good reason and what she says will be right.

In the interest of full disclosure, I should probably mention that I wrote one of the chapters for the book. Nowhere near enough to get my name on the cover, but I think I get mentioned in the credits somewhere. Despite that, this is an awesome book that will be incredibly useful for anyone who has to work with WSS.

BTW--check out her blog for more useful info. It's in my links list on the right hand side, or you can get to it Here.

Fun with Content Types

2007-07-23T22:19:00.000+12:00

Here's a little tip for all of you SharePoint fans out there--

Remember that you can reduce the time and effort involved in creating and managing your custom content types by using a custom content type as the parent.

In other words, put all of your common metadata in a single content type, and then create document or task specific content types that are based upon the one you created before.

Also make sure you put your custom content types at a high enough level so you can use your content types everywhere you wish.

Here's a link to a good overview of how to create content types.

Searching MOSS from Office

2007-07-13T16:28:00.000+12:00

To add a SharePoint Search Centre service to the list of sources to be searched via Office, you will need to do the following:

1. Open up the Office Application, and then open up the research pane.
2. At the bottom of the Research Pane there will be an option labelled "Research Options". Click on it.
3. In the "Research Options" dialog box, click onthe button labelled "Add Services"
4. This will open another diallog box named "Add Services". In the "Address" text box enter in the URL of your search service.

In SharePoint 2007,this url is http://yoursitenamehere/_vti_bin/Search.asmx

Now users can search MOSS's indexes straight from their Office Application

Just a little something for those of you using Virtual Server

2006-07-26T11:36:00.000+12:00

I got this from MCPMag online. I can’t say I read it faithfully every day, but I get lots of good tips and tricks from here.

http://mcpmag.com/columns/article.asp?EditorialsID=1413

Finding e-mail addresses in AD

2006-07-07T12:45:00.000+12:00

This is a great tip from another Exchange trainer.

All hail to the conquering Barat!

http://www.exchangepedia.com/blog/2006/03/how-to-find-email-address-in-active.html

Vista Delayed, SQL Server 2005 and other things

2006-03-23T21:43:00.000+12:00

Just in case you missed it--Windows Vista is being delayed, with an estimated release of January 2007. MS is taking a fair amount of heat about this. I don't know their full reasoning, but I'd rather have them take the time to get the OS right rather than rush it just to make the Christmas sales cycle. Not that an OS makes a very good gift anyway.

How big/used/important is SQL Server 2005 for you? MS seems to be pushing it quite a bit, but how many people/companies are actually using it? Does it seem worth all the fuss?

What are your thoughts around ISA 2006 and Exchange 12 and Office 12? What do you know? What have you heard? Drop a line to the NZMCT.

Windows 2003 R2 has gone RTM!

2005-12-07T16:47:00.000+13:00

R2 Press Release

Whoo-hooo!

This is a great upgrade/release. The DFS and replication improvements rock, and the File Server, Print Server and quota management are finally worthy of use.

If you haven’t had a look at this, definitely go to the Windows R2 website and have a look around.

You won’t be disappointed.

James

Removing VMs

2005-12-01T22:34:00.000+13:00

Did you ever notice how there is a "registervm" switch for Virtual PC but no removal equivalent?

Quick way to remove the registered vms:

del "%userprofile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Virtual PC\Virtual Machines\*.lnk"

enjoy!

James

Registering VPCs

2005-12-01T22:25:00.000+13:00

Here's a quick and easy script to register all the vpcs in a given folder.

Caveats: For this to work, it must be in the same folder as the virtual pc settings files (xxx.vmc). It also works better if VirtualPC has already been started.

Option Explicit
Dim oFSO, oShellDim sVPCPath, sImage, sVM, sVPC, sCmd, sExtDim f, f1, fc

'Get Absolute Path
Set oFSO = Createobject("scripting.FilesystemObject")
sVPCPath = oFSO.GetAbsolutePathName("")

'Start Virtual PC
Set oShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
sVPC = Chr(34) & "c:\program files\microsoft virtual pc\virtual pc.exe" & Chr(34)
oShell.Run (sVPC & " -quiet")

'Build list of vmc files and register them
Set f = ofso.GetFolder(sVPCPath)
Set fc = f.Files
For Each f1 in fc
sExt = oFSO.GetExtensionName(f1)
If sExt = "vmc" Then
sCmd = sVPC & "-registervm " & Chr(34) & sVPCPath & "\" & f1.Name & Chr(34) oShell.Run (sCMD)
sCmd = ""
End If
Next

WScript.Echo ("All vpcs registered")

Welcome

2005-12-01T22:05:00.000+13:00

to the NZ MCT blog of James Finley.

I work primarily as an MCT for Auldhouse Computer Training. I specialize in Windows Servers, Exchange and ISA. I also spend time with scripting, MOM and Virtual Server/Virtual PC.

Over time I'd like to turn this into a resource for the IT community in NZ. Please send me your links, recommendations, questions etc.

I can't promise that I'll have all the answers, but as the community grows, hopefully we'll gain the benefits of collective knowledge.

Cheers!
James