#ProjectServer and #SharePoint 2013 SP1 re-released #ps2013 #sp2013 #office2013

There is lot of noise over the web related to Service Pack 1 of MS Office 2013 products, it was released with much of an applaud then deactivated due to issue and then re-released with lot of clarifications :) because in between deactivation and re-release of SP1, April 2014 CU for Project Server and SharePoint 2013 was also released.

So let me kill all this unnecessary noise with the final announcement that Service Pack 1 is now available to download, and all the clarifications in a nut shell is that Just apply this SP1 to your environment even if you have applied the previously released SP, and also feel free to apply this SP1 if you have April 2014 CU in place.  don't forget to  run the configuration wizard in the end :)

Also do not forget that unlike old times, this SP1 is not a roll up package, which mean you should install SharePoint 2013 SP1 + Project Server 2013 SP1 and then run the configuration wizard in the end.

Download links for updated SP1:

• SharePoint Foundation 2013 Service Pack 1
• SharePoint Foundation 2013 Language Pack Service Pack 1
• SharePoint Server 2013 Service Pack 1
• SharePoint Server 2013 Language Pack Service Pack 1
• Project Server 2013 Service Pack 1
• Office Web Apps Server 2013 Service Pack 1

For details please see Brian Smith post, you can find details of almost all the queries in your mind on his blog post.

Also see Stefan Bogner's post for details related to Service Pack 1 release announcement and clarifications.

As always try any patches in your test environment prior to apply to production.

Happy patching :D

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#Project, #ProjectServer and #SharePoint Server 2013/2010 April 2014 CU available #ps2013 #sp2013

This is to announce that April 2014 CU of Project, Project Server and SharePoint Server 2013/2010 is out now. The important point to note that April 2014 CU of Project Server 2013 includes the fixes of SP1 as well. Since SP1 is deactivated until further announcement from Microsoft, Apr 2014 CU can do the job for now.

Also Project Server 2013 CU is not a roll-up package, which means it doesn't includes SharePoint server fixes.

Test the CU in your test environment first prior to apply to production.

Project Server 2013 individual Apr 2014 CU: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2863881
Project 2013 Apr 2014 CU: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2878276
SharePoint Server 2013 Apr 2014 CU: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2768332

Project Server 2010 individual Apr 2014 CU:http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2878259
Project 2010 Apr 2014 CU: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2878263

For more details please see: http://blogs.technet.com/b/projectsupport/archive/2014/04/09/microsoft-project-server-2010-and-2013-april-2014-cu-announcement.aspx

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#SharePoint Product Configuration Wizard Error: Unable to create a Service Connection Point in AD #SP2010 #PS2010

While updating one of my Project Server 2010 environment with language pack, the configuration wizard has thrown following error in the end at step 9:

An exception of type Microsoft.SharePoint.PostSetupConfiguration.PostSetupConfig

urationTaskException was thrown.  Additional exception information: The upgrade

command is invalid or a failure has been encountered.

Failed to upgrade SharePoint Products.

ULS logs digging helped me found a substantial clue and reminded me that i did come across to similar issue long time back as well. The issue is related to configuration to track any SharePoint production installation to farm of your organization, and tracking requires container in AD with appropriate user permissions to allow installation. If the account does not have permission to write to this container, the following warning will appear in the log file for the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard and Wizard will fail at the last step:

Failed to add the service connection point for this farm

Unable to create a Service Connection Point in the current Active Directory domain. Verify that the SharePoint container exists in the current domain and that you have rights to write to it.”

To resolve this follow these steps:

1. On the domain controller, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click ADSI Edit, or use a remote administration tool to connect to ADSI Edit from another computer.
2. On the Action menu, click Connect to, and connect to the domain that you want to use.
3. In the console tree, expand the connection, expand the domain name, and then click CN=System.
4. In the details pane, right-click in the white area, click New, and then click Object.
5. In the Create Object dialog box, in the Select a class box, click container and then click Next.
6. In the Value box, type Microsoft SharePoint Products as the container name, and then click Next.
7. Click Finish.
   The container is created.
8. Right click the container (CN=Microsoft SharePoint Products), and then click Properties.
9. On the Security tab, click Add.
10. In the Select Users, Computers, Service Accounts, or Groups box, add the users that you want to write to this container, and then click OK.
    Note that if a user who cannot write to this container installs SharePoint Server 2010, no new entry will be created. Consider giving all Authenticated Users the permission so that you can track all the objects.
11. In the Group or user names box, select the names that you previously added, and then under the Permissions box, clickAdvanced.
12. In the Permission entries box, select the names that you previously added, and then click Edit.
13. In the Permission Entry for Microsoft SharePoint Products dialog box, in the Permissions box, select the Allow check box forCreate serviceConnectionPoint objects, and then click OK.

Now re-run the wizard and hopefully this time it will go through successfully.

The whole process, with powershell comands as well, can be found here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff730261.aspx

Happy updating SharePoint farm :)

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#ProjectServer and #SharePoint 2013 #SP1 download deactviated

Update: Service Pack 1 is re-released now, find details in this post

This is to spread the word that due to recently discovered issue, Microsoft Project Server and SharePoint Server 2013 SP1 have been temporarily unavailable for downloading.

“We have recently uncovered an issue with this Service Pack 1 package that may prevent customers who have Service Pack 1 from deploying future public or cumulative updates. As a precautionary measure, we have deactivated the download page until a new package is published.”

Download pages for Project Server and SharePoint are also updated with above reason.

For more details, check Brian Smith post: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/brismith/archive/2014/04/03/project-server-2013-and-sharepoint-2013-sp1-download-deactivated.aspx

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