Monday, January 26, 2009

SharePoint Certification Resources

Sample questions:http://qmoss.blogspot.com/http://sharepointtests.blogspot.com/ For exam 70-630 (Configuring MOSS 2007) - http://drop.io/70630QsFor exam 70-631 (Configuring WSS v3) - http://drop.io/70631Qs http://www.sharepointforum.com/en-US/Blog/archive/2007/11/20/the-sharepoint-2007-exams-tips.aspx
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Friday, January 23, 2009

Integrating Reporting Services 2008 with SharePoint 2007 Step 2 - SharePoint Installation




Step 2 - Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Installation and Configuration



Introduction



This post is the second of a group showing how to use SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services with SharePoint 2007.


The previous step is:




The next steps are:





I have chosen a Simple Farm Topology with SQL Server 2008 and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 on the same Virtual Machine. This machine has just Application Server role and not Domain Controller role, so the Service Accounts for both, SharePoint and SQL will be machine local accounts.


The VM runs Windows 2003 Server OS




The goal is to quickly allow someone to create reports and to discover SharePoint Integrated Mode features: deployment, Web Parts dashboards, subscription, snapshotings, etc.

Even planning for further deployments in a Farm environment with several servers and Active Directory, it may be usefull to have been familiarized with involved products installation, configuration and use, by having tested it in a Simple Farm Topology with one computer and local accounts.





1 - Environment Configuration





























Number of Virtual machines:

1

Operating System:

Windows 2003 Server

Server Roles:

Application Server

Topology:

Simple Farm

Service Accounts:

SQL Server Service Account: Local Administrator


Setup user account: Local Administrator


Server farm account/Database access account: Local Administrator







2 - Referred Documentation



For the current step, you can refer to these Microsoft TechNet articles:



3 - Prerequisites





4 - Installation Overview






  • This installation is compliant with both MOSS 2007 and Windows SharePoint Services.




  • I will deploy Windows SharePoint Services using DBA-Created Databases mode in order to be allowed to choose the name of the SharePoint content database for Central Administration. If you deploy using SharePoint Technology Wizard, you cannot choose this database name and it will be automatically generated by SharePoint with a GUID in a form like

    SharePoint_AdminContent_5add1efb-2795-4f80-8bc2-f87f8482d8698





  • Regarding compatibility of WSS or MOSS and SQL Server 2008, there is only one warning:




    SQL Server 2008 requires that Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 SP1 be installed BEFORE installing MOSS or making use of SQL Server 2008 with WSS 3.0


    for more information see this TechNet article:
    Determine hardware and software requirements (Windows SharePoint Services)





This installation includes the following steps:


  • Step 1: Create SharePoint Configuration Databases


  • Step 2: Create SharePoint Administration Content Database


  • Step 3: Launching Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Installation


  • Step 4: "Microsoft Software License Terms" page

  • Step 5: "Choose the installation you want" page


  • Step 6: "Server Type" Tab


  • Step 7: Installation Progress


  • Step 8: Close the "Complete the Configuration" dialog box and check Installation


  • Step 9: Open a Prompt Command


  • Step 10: PSCONFIG.EXE instruction


  • Step 11: Run the SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard


  • Step 12: "services might need to be restarted" dialog box


  • Step 13: "Modify Server farm Settings" page


  • Step 14: "Configure SharePoint Central Administration Web Application" page


  • Step 15: "Completing the SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard" page


  • Step 16: "Configuring SharePoint Products and Technologies" page


  • Step 17: "Configuration Successful" page


  • Step 18: Launching SharePoint central administration homepage


  • Step 19: Performing optional additional settings









5 - Installation



5.1 Step 1: Create SharePoint Configuration Databases

Open SQL Server Management studio






























Right click the Database node and select New Database









Type the SharePoint Configuration database name : SharePoint_Config


Click OK. Your database is created.










5.2 Step 2: Create SharePoint Administration Content Database

Replay the same operations in order to create the Central Admin Content Database with a friendlier name: SharePoint_AdminContent.



The next figure shows the state of your database server at the end of this step.











5.3 Step 3: Launching Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Installation

Open the file where you have stored the downloaded executable for WSS 3.0 + SP1 Installation














Run Setup










5.4 Step 4: Microsoft Software License Terms page

On the Read the Microsoft Software License Terms page, review the terms, select the "I accept the terms of this agreement" check box, and then click Continue.












5.5 Step 5: Choose the installation you want page












On the Choose the installation you want page, click Advanced in order to access to the Server Type Tab











5.6 Step 6: Server Type Tab

The Sever Type Tab let us to choose between Web Front End type and Stand-Alone type.


As it was precised in this document introduction, even if all our deployments (SQL, SharePoint, Add-in, etc.) will be done one a single machine, we can deploy SharePoint in a Simple Farm Topology, that will allow us to configure the Farm, for example choose the SharePoint Configuration database name, and to add more Web Front End Server later if we want to.



On the Server Type Tab choose Web Front End, and click "Install Now".











5.7 Step 7: Installation Progress

Wait while installation is running. It is generally quite quick, one minute or two.










5.8 Step 8: Close the "Complete the Configuration" dialog box and check Installation

When Setup finishes, a dialog box prompts you to complete the configuration of your server. Be sure that the Run the SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard now check box IS NOT selected.


We don't want to use the wizard because we want to be able to choose the name of the SharePoint Central Administration Content database, and we will do it by a Command Line instruction.


Click "Close".









You can check installation by going to the 12 directory.





C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12




and check directory was well created : TEMPLATE, LOGS, CONFIG, etc.

5.9 Step 9: Open a Prompt Command

Navigate from Start Menu to open a Command Prompt















5.10 Step 10: PSCONFIG.EXE instruction

In the Command Prompt, type the following instruction:


Psconfig –cmd configdb –create –server yourMachineName –database SharePoint_Config –user yourMachineName\yourLogin –password yourPassword –admincontentdatabase SharePoint_AdminContent







Wait while SharePoint Products and Technologies Wizard is filling the previously created databases in command line mode.



This operation can last 3 at 10 minutes depending on you system configuration.



While performing configuration, some messages are displayed on the Command Prompt.




At the end of the process you will have a Command Prompt looking like next figure.











5.11 Step 11: Run the SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard

On the Start menu, point to All Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard








On the Welcome to SharePoint Products and Technologies page, click Next.










5.12 Step 12: "services might need to be restarted" dialog box

Click Yes in the dialog box that notifies you that some services might need to be restarted during configuration.










5.13 Step 13: Modify Server farm Settings

On the "Modify Server farm Settings" page, select "do not disconnect from this server farm".


Notice that the wizard has retrieved your SharePoint configuration database: SharePoint_Config.











5.14 Step 14: "Configure SharePoint Central Administration Web Application" page

On "Configure SharePoint Central Administration Web Application" page, you can specify the port number for your central administration Web Application. I strongly advice you to specify it and to use always the same number in all your virtual machines and severs, so that the URL to the central administration will be always based on the same pattern everywhere for your virtual and physical environments:



http://hostheader:centralAdminPortNumber/.





I personally use always 55555.





If you want to use Kerberos Security settings, this is the place and moment to choose it. Kerberos authentication requires you to configure your network for Kerberos, so let the default option to NTLM.













5.15 Step 15: "Completing the SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard" page

The "Completing the SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard" page summarize your choices before launching configuration process.










5.16 Step 16: "Configuring SharePoint Products and Technologies" page

Wait while SharePoint Products and Technologies is configured.
It will last between 5 to 15 minutes depending on your system configuration.










5.17 Step 17: "Configuration Successful" page

When SharePoint is configured, a summary page displays your configuration settings.



Click finish to close the wizard and launch the SharePoint central administration homepage.










5.18 Step 18: Launching SharePoint central administration homepage

The SharePoint central administration homepage is automatically launched by the SharePoint Products and Technologies wizard when you close it.













5.19 Step 19: Performing optionnal additional settings

Your SharePoint installation is done.



You can perform additional configuration tasks like:


  • Start the Windows SharePoint Services Search service


  • Configure incoming e-mail settings


  • Configure outgoing e-mail settings


  • Configure diagnostic logging settings


  • Configure antivirus protection settings


  • Configure workflow settings



For more information, see:



    Deploy in a simple server farm (Windows SharePoint Services)



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Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Integrating Reporting Services 2008 with SharePoint 2007 Step 1 - SQL Server 2008 Installation


Step 1 - SQL Server 2008 Installation and Configuration



Introduction



This post is the first of a group showing how to use SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services with SharePoint 2007.


The next steps are:





I have chosen a Simple Farm Topology with SQL Server 2008 and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 on the same Virtual Machine. This machine has just Application Server role and not Domain Controller role, so the Service Accounts for both, SharePoint and SQL will be machine local accounts.



The goal is to quickly allow someone to create reports and to discover SharePoint Integrated Mode features: deployment, Web Parts dashboards, subscription, snapshotings, etc..

Even planning for further deployments in a Farm environment with several servers and Active Directory, it may be usefull to have been familiarized with involved products installation, configuration and use, by having tested it in a Simple Farm Topology with one computer and local accounts.




For the current step, you can refer to this MSDN article: How to: Install SQL Server 2008 (Setup)





This installation is compliant with both MOSS 2007 and Windows SharePoint Services.







1 - Prerequisites




  • Be sure to have Windows 2003 Server with SP2 before starting installation.





2 - Installation Overview



This installation includes the following steps:


  • Step 1: Launching Installation


  • Step 2: prerequisites Installation dialog box


  • Step 3: Net Framework 3.5 + SP1 Installation


  • Step 4: Windows Installer 4.5 Installation


  • Step 5: Launching a new installation of SQL Server 2008


  • Step 6: Passing System Configuration Checker


  • Step 7: Choosing a free SQL Version, or entering product key


  • Step 8: SQL Server prerequisites Installation Wizard


  • Step 9: Passing System Configuration Checker


  • Step 10: Selecting Installation features


  • Step 11: Instance Configuration Page


  • Step 12: Disk Space Requirements Page


  • Step 13: Server Configuration


  • Step 14: DataBase Engine Collation


  • Step 15: Database Engine Configuration - Account Provisioning page


  • Step 16: Reporting Services Configuration page


  • Step 17: Error and Usage Reporting


  • Step 18: Passing System Configuration Checker


  • Step 19: Ready to install page - Installation Progress


  • Step 20: Closing Installation


  • Step 21: Checking Installation: Opening SQL Server 2008 Management Studio


  • Step 22: Configure your new SQL Server installation








3 - Installation



3.1 Step 1: Launching Installation


Double click the "setup.exe" of your SQL Server 2008 installation media.










3.2 Step 2: prerequisites Installation dialog box


If the prerequisites Installation dialog box appears, click OK.









3.3 Step 3: Net Framework 3.5 + SP1 Installation


If the 3.5 SP1 installation dialog box appears, select the radio button to accept the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 License Agreement. Click Install.



You may wait from 5 to 20 minutes depending on your system hardware configuration.


















When installation of .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 is complete, click Exit.











3.4 Step 4: Windows Installer 4.5 Installation


Windows Installer 4.5 is also required, and might be installed by the Installation Wizard.








































If you are prompted to restart your computer, restart it, and then restart SQL Server 2008 setup.exe.










3.5 Step 5: Launching a new installation of SQL Server 2008


When the prerequisites are installed, the Installation Wizard will run the SQL Server Installation Center. To create a new installation of SQL Server 2008, click New Installation or Add Features to an Existing Installation.










3.6 Step 6: Passing System Configuration Checker

The System Configuration Checker will run a discovery operation on your computer. To continue, click OK. Setup log files are created for your installation. For more information, see How to: View SQL Server Setup Log Files.









3.7 Step 7: Choosing a free SQL Version, or entering product key


On the Product Key page, select an option button to indicate whether you are installing a free edition of SQL Server, or a production version of the product that has a PID key.









On the License Terms page, read the license agreement, and then select the check box to accept the license terms and conditions.









3.8 Step 8: SQL Server prerequisites Installation Wizard 2


The Installation Wizard will install SQL Server prerequisites if they are not already on the computer. These include the following:


  • .NET Framework 3.5 SP1


  • SQL Server Native Client


  • SQL Server Setup Support Files


To install prerequisites, click Install.











3.9 Step 9: Passing System Configuration Checker

The System Configuration Checker will verify the system state of your computer before Setup continues.









3.10 Step 10: Selecting Installation features

On the Feature Selection page, we have now to select the components for our installation. A description for each component group appears in the right pane after you select the feature name.









I provide some more information on the current choices:


  • Data Base Engine is obviously mandatory






  • Full text search


    I didn't check it because of SharePoint. SharePoint 2007 with SQL Server 2008 configuration doesn't need Full-Text Search feature anymore as it is well explained in MSDN blog:



                 Upgrading SharePoint SQL Servers to SQL Server 2008.

    On the other hand, I plan to install in a further step, SQL Server 2008 database samples (Adventure works), and these samples installation requires Full-Text search feature to be activated.






  • Business Intelligence Development Studio aka BIDS



    This is essential regarding Reporting Services integration as it is THE tool that will allow you to create reports and deploy them in SharePoint.
    For a SQL Server 2008 installation without Reporting Services you can avoid installing this feature.







  • Management-Tools Complete


    This feature will install Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio


    If you don't need Reporting Services, you can avoid checking complete feature, but the complete one install elements that runs with Reporting Services as noticed in description that appears in the right pane after you select the feature name.


You can also specify a custom directory for shared components by using the field at the bottom of the Feature Selection page. To change the installation path for shared components, either update the path in the field at the bottom of the dialog box, or click Browse to move to an installation directory. The default installation path is C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\.





3.11 Step 11: Instance Configuration Page


On the Instance Configuration page, specify whether to install a default instance or a named instance. For a simple farm topology installation on ONE virtual machine, default instance will be enough.










3.12 Step 12: Disk Space Requirements Page


The Disk Space Requirements page calculates the required disk space for the features that you specify. Then it compares the required space to the available disk space. For more information, see Disk Cost Summary.











3.13 Step 13: Server Configuration


On the Server Configuration — Service Accounts page, specify login accounts for SQL Server services. For a simple farm topology installation on ONE virtual machine, I have chosen to use an unique service account that is the Virtual Machine Administrator.


I advise you to configure the SQL Server Agent Service in automatic mode, because it is used by Subscriptions of SQL Server Reporting Services 2008, and doing that, you will not need to start the service manually every time you restart your server.









3.14 Step 14: DataBase Engine Collation Configuration

The SQL Server database collation must be configured for case-insensitive, accent-sensitive, Kana-sensitive, and width-sensitive. This is to ensure file name uniqueness consistent with the Windows operating system as specified this technet article:


              Prepare the database servers








3.15 Step 15: Database Engine Configuration - Account Provisioning page


Choose Mixed mode as SharePoint propose in certain screens (Web Application Creation, Search Starting, etc.) to use SQL Authentication.



The two passwords to be typed are for the "sa" login.









3.16 Step 16: Reporting Services Configuration page


We have to select the third option because SharePoint is not installed yet on the virtual machine.









3.17 Step 17: Error and Usage Reporting


On the Error and Usage Reporting page, specify the information that you want to send to Microsoft that will help improve SQL Server. By default, options for error reporting and feature usage are enabled.









3.18 Step 18: Passing System Configuration Checker

The System Configuration Checker will run one more set of rules to validate your computer configuration with the SQL Server features that you have specified.









3.19 Step 19: Ready to install page - Installation Progress

The Ready to Install page shows a tree view of installation options that were specified during Setup. To continue, click Install.















You may wait from 5 to 20 minutes depending on your system hardware configuration.



During installation, the Installation Progress page provides status so that you can monitor installation progress as Setup continues.


















3.20 Step 20: Closing Installation

After installation, the Complete page provides a link to the summary log file for the installation and other important notes. To complete the SQL Server installation process, click Close.










3.21 Step 21: Checking Installation: Opening SQL Server 2008 Management Studio

From your machine Start Menu navigate to open SQL Server 2008 Management Studio.









Connect to DataBase Engine









Check it opens properly and contains all usual features.









3.22 Step 22: Configure your new SQL Server installation

As specified in the previously referred article

              Prepare the database servers

We have to configure SQL Server in order to prepare SharePoint installation.


As there is a change in the 2008 version of the Configuration Manager, this is the current way to proceed:




On the Start menu, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft SQL Server 2008, point to Configuration Tools, and then click SQL Server Configuration Manager.












Use the SQL Server Network Configuration area to enable connection protocols as follows:


  • Named Pipes Enabled


  • TCP/IP Enabled













Your SQL Server 2008 installation for Reporting Services Integration with SharePoint 2007 is done.
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