Category: SharePoint 2013

AutoSpInstaller XML to SharePointDsc Converter – Preview – Update 2018/04/19

Andi KrügerLeave a comment

Today the first preview of a web based AutoSpInstaller to SharePoint DSC converter got released.

There are still some limitations, as the mapping of the xml file to SharePointDsc is not complete jet. This is a preview to demonstrate the capabilities.

The converter targets the following use case:

As a user with an AutoSpInstaller XML available I want want to switch to SharePointDsc.

Currently the converter is able to create a multi node SharePoint DSC configuration based on the input of the contents of the AutoSPInstaller XML file. The configuration will contain the following elements:

  • one node block for each server name. If you are using localhost mixed with real server names, there will be an additional node for localhost.
    • On each node the following configuration is placed:
      • SQLAliases
      • SharePoint Prerequistes
      • SharePoint Binary Installation
      • Farm create or join
  • The following components are currently extracted from the AutoSPInstaller xml file:
    • Basic Farm setup
    • Managed Accounts
    • Web Applications
    • Site Collections
    • Managed Paths
    • Diagnostics Logging Service
    • State Service Application
    • Sandboxed Code Service
    • Claims to Windows Token Service
    • Outgoing Mail
    • Distributed Cache
    • Workflow Timer Setting
  • Update 2018/04/19 – There are the following additions:
    • Creation of Application Pools for Web Applications, Search, Serivces
    • User Profile Service Application
    • Search Service Application
    • Managed Metadata Service Application
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Matomo (Piwik) and SharePoint – Tracking on Sites with Minimal Download Strategy or Search

Andi Krüger1 Comment

Using Matomo (Piwik) with SharePoint can be very straight forward. There is no need to install any extension for SharePoint or any .wsp solution. All you need is Piwik installation and some lines of JavaScript in a file and a bit of PnP PowerShell.

Piwik offers you a default JavaScript snippet that allows you to track a user on your web site. The default code will somehow look like this:


var _paq = _paq || [];
/* tracker methods like "setCustomDimension" should be called before "trackPageView" */
_paq.push(['enableLinkTracking']);
_paq.push(['trackPageView']);
(function () {
	var u = "//piwikserver.domain.de/";
	_paq.push(['setTrackerUrl', u + 'piwik.php']);
	_paq.push(['setSiteId', '1']);
	var d = document, g = d.createElement('script'), s = d.getElementsByTagName('script')[0];
	g.type = 'text/javascript';
	g.async = true;
	g.defer = true;
	g.src = u + 'piwik.js';
	s.parentNode.insertBefore(g, s);
})();<span id="mce_SELREST_start" style="overflow:hidden;line-height:0;">&#65279;</span>

As soon as you save this JavaScript code in file, you can get started with SharePoint tracking with the following steps:

  1. Upload this file to your SharePoint Root Site Collection and place it in the Style Library (Why? Regularly I use this lib as a on-premises CDN)
  2. Make sure the file is accessible
  3. Create a Script Link in the Site Collection you want to track.

For step 3 You can use the following PowerShell code to add a script link to your site collection:


Connect-PnPOnline -CurrentCredentials -Url https://mywebapp.domain.de
Add-PnPJavaScriptLink -Name SpPiwik -Url "/Style Library/SpPiwik.js" -Sequence 900 -Scope Site

With this setting you can track a user and gain basic insights about his flow through your website. The data you are gaining by now is very basic and there are some SharePoint only specialties:

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SharePoint Distributed Cache 101

Andi KrügerLeave a comment

In the last time I have seen many SharePoint Farms (2013 and 2016) on which the distributed cache was not in a healthy state or not available at all.

Before you start with any configuration make yourself familiar with distributed cache:

Planning:

Configuration:

Distributed Cache – Cheat Sheet

The distributed cache is one of the service applications you should not configure via the central administration. So, start your PowerShell as administrator! 😉

I will update this post regular, as there is always something “new”.

 

Get (all) Distributed Cache Service instances

Get-SPServiceInstance | ? {$_.TypeName -eq "Distributed Cache"}

To get the service instance on a specific server (In this case: the current one). Run this command.

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Start all SharePoint Health Analyzer Jobs

Andi KrügerLeave a comment

“SharePoint Health Analyzer is a feature in Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010 that enables administrators to schedule regular, automatic checks for potential configuration, performance, and usage problems in the server farm. Any errors that SharePoint Health Analyzer finds are identified in status reports that are made available to farm administrators in Central Administration.” (MSDN)

healthanalyzer

In some scenarios SharePoint Health Analyzer helped me out a lot. The messages give a clear starting point to search for the error source. But, there is one thing that bothers me a lot. SharePoint Health Analyzer relies on Time jobs which are usually run on a hourly to weekly schedule. Therefore if you are trying to fix a reported issue there won’t be no immediate feedback.

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