SharepointFlyHigh

Saturday, 6 December 2014

Configuring Alerts in SharePoint 2010

Introduction:

SharePoint 2010 provides the capability to subscribe the content through a feature called "Alerts". Alerts can be subscribed for at the four different levels of list, document library, list item and a document. In this article we will be seeing how to create an alert for a particular user subscribed for a document library.

Create an alert for Document Library:

Click on the login credential which is visible in the top right corner; go to My Settings.
Click on My Alerts.
You can click on "Add Alert" to create a new alert.
Choose a document library or list for which the alert should be subscribed.
Click on Next.
Modify the properties according to your requirement.
Click on Ok.
A new Alert is successfully added.

Alternative method:

I am going to add an alert for the document library.
Go to "Shared Documents".
In the ribbon interface, Select Library Tools => Library => Alert Me
Click on "Set alert on this library" to create a new alert.

Create an alert for Document:

I am going to add an alert for the document.
Go to "Shared Documents"; select the document for which the alert is to be set.
In the ribbon interface , Select Library Tools => Library => Alert Me
Click on "Set alert on this document" to create a new alert for the document.

User Alerts:

Go to Site Actions => Site Settings => Site Administration =>User Alerts.
Select the user from the drop down to show all the alerts created by that user and click on "Update".
You will able to see all the alerts created by the user.
To delete a particular alert, select the alert and click on "Delete Selected Alerts".

Reference:

http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/uploadfile/anavijai/configuring-alerts-in-sharepoint-2010/

SharePoint 2010 - How Do Alerts Work?

In this article we can explore the underlying infrastructure of SharePoint Alerts. Let us analyze step-by-step what is happening in the background when we create an alert, an alert is triggered, email is sent etc.

What are Alerts?

SharePoint provides an excellent feature that notifies the users of changes of an item/library.

Uses can set alerts on:

Library / List
Document / Item

You can set alerts through the SharePoint user interface as in the following:

In order to see the preceding button, you need to set your Email Server in "Central Administration" > "System Settings" > "Configure outgoing e-mail settings".

Note: For receiving the emails triggered you can use a SharePoint Email Notification Tool like smtp4dev.

Create Alert

Now you are ready to create an alert & we can examine what happens in the database.

Open the database & you will see the following records in the ImmedSubscriptions table.

You will see that the ListId column is assigned a List GUID.

The table structure is as follows:

Note: You will see the database server & name through "Central Administration" > "Manage content databases" link.

If you have created a Summary Alert (daily or weekly) you will see the record was created inside SchedSubscriptions table.

The structure of the SchedSubscriptions table is:

Timer Job

Timer Jobs are responsible for building the Alert using a template & sending the Emails. We can see the timer job status through "Central Administration" > "Monitoring" > "Check job status" link.

Scrolling down, you will see the Timer Job for Immediate Alert.

You will see the Status of last execution there. In my case it has succeeded. Click on the link to see the settings as in the following:

In the preceding case the Timer Job is scheduled to run every 5 minutes. You can try clicking the Run Now button to trigger execution.

Alert Templates

The Timer Job creates the email content of the Alert Template file. We can modify the file, but copying & modifying is recommended. We can define a template in the list & library level.

The Alert template can be found in "14 hive" > "TEMPLATE" > "XML folder".

By default there are 2 templates - one for email & another for SMS. The alerttemplates.xml file contains around 10 thousand lines.

We can change the alert template through PowerShell & the STSADM commands.

References
http://bit.ly/10uiVpB

Summary

In this article we have explored the activities & tables involved when working with SharePoint Alerts.
Reference:

http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/UploadFile/40e97e/sharepoint-2010-how-alerts-works/

Configure web analytics and health data collection in SharePoint 2010

SharePoint 2010 comes with rich features in logging, health monitoring and we analytics. These features need to be configured properly to get maximum benefits from it. First we need to identify what information /Data should be collected to configure it properly.

Log file location and Size
Log Schedule
Log Database Server

Once the basic information is ready its time for the configuration.

1. Go To SharePoint Central Admin
2. Go To Monitoring Section

3. Click on the Monitoring Link
4. In the Monitoring Page Go to Reporting Section

5. Click on Configure Usage and health data collection link

6. In the configuration Page Check Enable Usage Collection

Usage data collection will log events whenever various events occur in your SharePoint deployment. Usage Logging enables analysis and reporting, but also uses system resources and can impact performance and disk usage.

7. Select Events need to be logged

Here the selection criteria for enabling the event log should be taken with some analyses of the needy events. By default all are enabled but prefer to use Feature Use, Search Query Usage and Site Inventory usage. The rest you can enable if required.

8. Set the Log File Location and Size

Here you could set the log file location and size to adhere to the organization standard.

9. Enable the health data collection

Health reports are built by taking snap shots of various resources, data, and processes at specific points in time.

Each element of the health logging system can be individualy scheduled.

10. Set the Health Logging Schedule

11. Set Log collection schedule

The same as the health logging schedule, you can schedule those according to your needs.

12. Set the Database server, DB Name and Authentication

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Reference:

http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/uploadfile/shyjumohan/configure-web-analytics-and-health-data-collection-in-sharepoint-2010/

How to publish a Service Application in SharePoint 2010

In this article we will be seeing how to publish a Service Application in SharePoint 2010.

In MOSS 2007 we had SSP that cannot be shared across farm levels. But in SharePoint 2010 a new feature have been introduced "Service Applications" which can be shared across farm levels, for that we need to create a Service Application and that has to be published so that it can be used by other farms. In this we will be seeing how to publish a Managed Metadata Service.

Publish a Service Application:

I. Go to the Central Administration->Application Management->Manage Service Applications.

ii. Select Managed Metadata Service.

iii. In the Ribbon click on Publish.

iv. Publish Service application model popup will be opened.

v. Select the Connection Type that you want from the drop-down list.

vi. If you want the service application to be available to remote farms, select the check box for Publish this Service Application to other farms.

vii. In the Trusted farms column click the link you could see the trust relationship between farms that you have created(How to create Trust relationship go to this article)

viii. Copy the Published URL which should be provided by the consuming farm when connecting to the publishing farm.

ix. The Publisher farm is the farm in which the Service application is running and the Consumer farm is the farm which will consume data from the publishing farm.

x. Click OK.

Set permission to the published service application for a consuming farm:

I. In the publishing farm go to Start menu.

ii. Go to SharePoint 2010 Management Shell and select Run as Administrator.

iii. In the command prompt, type each of the following commands.

iv. The above command is used to get the farm id.

v. Save the farm id.

vi. Go to the Central Administration->Application Management->Manage Service Applications.

vii. Click on Managed Metadata Service.

viii. In the Ribbon select Permissions.

ix. Enter the farm id that you got from step 3 and click Add.

x. In Permissions for Local Farm, select the Full Access to Term Store.

xi. Click OK.

Thus we have published a Managed Metadata Service Application; the other farms can connect to this Service Application. This is one of the best features in SharePoint 2010 so that we no need to create the same service application in another farm.

Reference:

http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/UploadFile/anavijai/how-to-publish-a-service-application-in-sharepoint-2010/

Connecting a Service Between Publishing SharePoint 2013 and Consuming SharePoint 2010 Farm

This article defines how to connect a service between publishing a SharePoint 2013 and consuming a SharePoint 2010 Farm.
The first step: You need to establish a trust relationship between the two farms:

On SharePoint 2010 Farm Application Server
Export the Farm and STS certificates from the SharePoint 2010 farm:

$rootCertificate = (Get-SPCertificateAuthority).RootCertificate

$rootCertificate.Export("Cert") | Set-Content C:\Certificates\2010FarmRoot.cer -Encodingbyte

$stsCertificate = (Get-SPSecurityTokenServiceConfig).LocalLoginProvider.SigningCertificate

$stsCertificate.Export("Cert") | Set-Content C:\Certificates\2010FarmSTS.cer -Encodingbyte
On SharePoint 2013 Application Server
Export the Farm certificate from the SharePoint 2013 Farm:

$rootCertificate = (Get-SPCertificateAuthority).RootCertificate

$rootCertificate.Export("Cert") | Set-Content C:\Certificates\2013FarmRoot.cer -Encodingbyte
Import the SharePoint 2013 certificate into the SharePoint 2010 Farm:
On the SharePoint 2010 Farm Application Server execute the following commands:

$trustCertificate = Get-PfxCertificate C:\Certificates\2013FarmRoot.cer

New-SPTrustedRootAuthority"2013 Trust"-Certificate $trustCertificate
Import the SharePoint 2010 into the SharePoint 2013 Farm:
On the SharePoint 2013 Farm Application server execute the following commands:

$trustCertificate = Get-PfxCertificate C:\Certificates\2010FarmRoot.cer

New-SPTrustedRootAuthority"2013 Trust" -Certificate $trustCertificate

$stsCertificate = Get-PfxCertificate C:\Certificates\2010FarmSTS.cer

New-SPTrustedServiceTokenIssuer"2013 Trust" -Certificate $stsCertificate

Second Step: You need to publish the Search Service Application and set the permissions:
Publishing a Service Application

Go to a publishing server whose service you want to publish and use in other farms, open Central Administration. (here SharePoint 2013)
Go to Application Management and then move to Manage Service Applications.
Click to the right of the service application that you want to publish, clicking on the application will open its features; be sure to click on it right.
On the SharePoint Ribbon, click on the Publish. Feature.
On the next page check the option "Publish this Service Application to other farms" .
Now we must copy the entire URL: It will begin with "urn:" and end with ".svc".
urn:schemas-microsoft-com:sharepoint:service:ff3af89454dd41c1bb484a393e008d61#authority=
urn:uuid:2ea153147ceb4afa86104ff5f8f1b6a1&authority=https://xxxxx:32844/Topology/topology.svc
Make it ok and proceed.
Again do the same step as step C.
On the SharePoint Ribbon, click on Permission.
Provide the Farm Id of the consuming farm, you can find it as: In Powershell type. (Here in the SharePoint 2010 farm.)

Get-SPFarm | Select Id
Result :- xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxxxx
Add the same into the SharePoint 2013 farm.
Click the farm id you entered, for the permission.
Add the same into the SharePoint 2013 Farm.
Click the farm id you entered, for the permission.

Now the part of publishing farm is over, we must enter the URL in the consuming farm to use the service:

Go to a Consuming server where the publishing service needs to be used, open Central Administration.
Go to Application Management and then move to Manage Service Applications.
On the SharePoint Ribbon, click on Connect.
Pass the URL for the service application you have taken in Step (f) of the publishing server and press OK.
Highlight the service application by clicking on it.
Here you have an option to choose, whether or not to include this service application in the default service application group. Click OK once done.

Now when all the stuff is over you can use the service application of a farm just as a locally hosted service application of your farm.

Now, go into your 2013 SSA, add a SharePoint 2010 content source and run a full crawl. Once the crawl is completed, you will be able to search the content using your 2010 Search Center.

To edit a service connection group using Central Administration (on the consuming farm) (in our case the SharePoint 2010 Farm):

Verify that the user account that is performing this procedure is a member of the Farm Administrators SharePoint group.
On the Central Administration Home page, click Application Management.
On the Application Management page, in the Service Applications section, click Configure service application associations.
On the Service Application Associations page, select Web Applications from the View drop-down menu.
In the list of Web applications, in the Application Proxy Group column, click the name of the service application connection group that you want to change.
To add a service connection to the group, select the check box that is next to the service application that you want to add to the connection group. To remove a service application connection from the connection group, clear the check box next to the service application that you want to remove from the connection group. When you have made the changes that you want, click OK.

Search result in SharePoint 2010 site using SharePoint 2013 Farm Search Service application

Reference:

http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/UploadFile/0d4a67/connecting-a-service-between-publishing-sharepoint-2013-and/

Configuring SharePoint High Availability

Reference:

http://windowsitpro.com/high-availability/configuring-sharepoint-high-availability

SharePoint 2010 - How to Move and Copy Site Without PowerShell?

In the lifetime of a SharePoint deployment, we need to restructure sites like:

Copy one site to another parent
Move one site to another parent

Surely there are PowerShell, STSADM, and Server Object Model ways of doing it. But here I describe the SharePoint Web Interface way of doing it.

The advantage is that we can do it without the help of SharePoint Administrator & Central Administration.

Content Database

Each site collection resides in a content database. In the case of a web application, there could be multiple content databases.

Copying Site

Now let us see how to copy a site from one location to another. Open your SharePoint site & choose "Site Actions" > "Site Settings".

Choose "Site Administration" > "Content and Structure". In the page that appears, choose the sub site & context menu, then "Copy item".

You will get the following dialog to choose the destination site.

We are copying the site from one parent to another parent.

Choose your Destination Parent & click the "Ok" button. Your copy operation should begin now.

Wait for a few minutes until the contents are copied. You can see the new site created.

You can try accessing it using the URL.

The site appears as in the following:

Moving Site

For moving a site, you can use the Move context menu item & then choose the destination parent site.

Note: If you cannot see the Site Content and Structure link then you need to activate the SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure feature from "Site Settings" > "Site Collection" command.

References
http://bit.ly/102VB0C

Summary
In this article we have seen how to move/copy a site without using PowerShell.
Reference:

http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/UploadFile/40e97e/sharepoint-2010-how-to-move-and-copy-site-without-powershe/