I encountered a problem during the installation of the prerequisites of SharePoint 2010 Enterprise. The installation of KB976462 failed, and so would eventually the whole prerequisites installer. The error message pointed me to the log file.

Here is an excerpt from the installation log:

2012-01-11 16:07:21 – Beginning download of Hotfix for Microsoft Windows (KB976462)
2012-01-11 16:07:21 – http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=166369
2012-01-11 16:07:23 – Size of download of "Hotfix for Microsoft Windows (KB976462)" in bytes is "4331740"
2012-01-11 16:07:23 – Download of "Hotfix for Microsoft Windows (KB976462)" completed successfully
2012-01-11 16:07:23 – Installing Hotfix for Microsoft Windows (KB976462)
2012-01-11 16:07:23 – "C:\Windows\system32\wusa.exe" "C:\Users\xxx~1\AppData\Local\Temp\KB926A2.tmp.msu" /quiet /norestart
2012-01-11 16:07:26 – Install process returned (-2145124329)
2012-01-11 16:07:26 – [In HRESULT format] (-2145124329)
2012-01-11 16:07:26 – Last return code (-2145124329)
2012-01-11 16:07:26 – Error: The tool was unable to install Hotfix for Microsoft Windows (KB976462).
2012-01-11 16:07:26 – Last return code (-2145124329)
2012-01-11 16:07:26 – Options for further diagnostics: 1. Look up the return code value 2. Download the prerequisite manually and verify size downloaded by the prerequisite installer. 3. Install the prerequisite manually from the given location without any command line options.
2012-01-11 16:07:26 – Cannot retry

So, the solution is quite simple: You must download, extract and install the hotfix manually. The following 3 steps show how it works:

1. Download the KB976462 manually from here:

http://archive.msdn.microsoft.com/KB976462/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=4317

Choose the “x64” version of the msu file. Save it to a local directory: I used here C:\Installation\KB976462.

2. Open a command prompt and expand the msu file (make sure you open cmd with administrator rights)

expand -f:* "C:\Installation\KB976462\Windows6.1-KB976462-v2-x64.msu" %TEMP%

3. install using:

pkgmgr /n:%TEMP%\Windows6.1-KB976462-v2-x64.xml

All done! Re-run the prerequisites installer – it should finish with success, as expected.

Hope this was of some help!

Thanks and best regards,

Martin

if you are searching for the already installed MOSS 2007 language packs and don’t know where to find them, open the Registry Editor and search for the following path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Web Server Extensions\12.0\InstalledLanguages

It will give you a list with the installed languages, providing the corresponding LCIDs (e.g. 1033 for “English”).

Fig. 1: RegEd reporting three installed language packs for MOSS 2007.

Make sure not to change any settings in this place, as MOSS 2007 will manipulate these settings automatically upon installation/uninstallation of a language pack.

Enjoy and have a good time!

Best regards,

Martin

Dear all,

episode 4 of SP5 is ready! This time it is dealing with the topic of moving site collections from one content database to another. Click below to watch the video (UPDATED):

Remark: If you want to create a new site collection using a specific content database, you need to use PowerShell, specifically the New-SPSite cmdlet:

New-SPSite –ContentDatabase <DBName>

This cannot be done from within Central Administration.

The involved cmdlets are:

Get-SPSite (lists site collections)

Get-SPContentDatabase (list content databases)

Move-SPSite (list content databases)

New-SPSite (create new site collection, specify content DB)

Important: After moving a site collection from one content DB to another, an iisreset is required. Be aware that this will cause a service disruption for some time (depending on your server’s configuration). Be sure to execute this only if you are fully aware that this will cause all websites to be inaccessible for some time.

Disclaimer: All tutorials are provided as is. You are responsible for any changes undergoing your system that derive from following this tutorial. It is hence recommended to consult your administrators and verify that the changes cannot harm your IT environment in any way.

Stay tuned till the next time!

Martin

the third episode of SharePoint 5 is ready and can be viewed here:

Please note the slight watermark – I am testing another recording software, so in future there will be no more watermark.

This time, we’re dealing with the installation of language packs for

• Windows Server 2008 (make sure to grab the 64-Bit version of the LPs!)
• SharePoint Server 2010

Purpose: Creating sites in different languages than only the originally installed SharePoint Server 2010 language.

Here are the links for downloading all the language packs:

Windows Server 2008:

http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=1246

SharePoint 2010 Language Packs: http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=3411

IMPORTANT: Do not execute these steps without prior consulting your administrator and plan for downtime. There will be a service disruption when running the Products Configuration Wizard, where your SharePoint Contents won’t be accessible for some time. Please bear that in mind before executing any of the above mentioned steps.

Best regards and stay tuned till the next episode,

Martin

as of 1st of July, I received the MVP for SharePoint Server. Now, the ACADEMIA science magazine of EURAC research, published an article about this achievement, and I see it as a nice recognition. Here is the full article (German only):

Thanks to the ACADEMIA team, but especially to Alessandro, Marjorie and the whole MVP CEE team!

Best regards,

Martin

the second episode of SharePointFive is ready to be viewed here:

The topics covered are:

• Setting up Document Sets site collection feature
• Setting Up a Document Library
• Adding a Content Type
• Creating a Document Set

You can find all SharePointFive videos here:

www.youtube.com/SharePointFive

Enjoy and stay tuned till the next time!

Martin

it is my pleasure to announce a new initiative of communicating SharePoint knowledge via videos using the “SharePointFive” approach: Show how technical configurations are done within only a few minutes (guideline: 5 mins per video, up to a max of 15 in special cases.

If you want to learn about SharePoint 2010 configurations, but only want to invest a few minutes at a time, if you are looking for the essentials that make up what you actually want to do, then SharePointFive is for you.

SharePointFive (SharePoint5)

SharePointFive is a youtube channel, that you can access under the below mentioned URL. It contains all videos (currently 1 only ) that have been and will be published, showing how to apply SharePoint (or related) configurations in just a few minutes. Usually, like in this case, there will be published a related blog post on angler.wordpress.com, in order to facilitate it for you to copy scripts and apply them.

http://www.youtube.com/sharepointfive

The Video

The video will give you an idea of the steps to be executed, a few caveats. But most of all, it is only a few minutes long and won’t take a long time to watch. This first episode of SharePointFive is  a bit longer (about 12-13 minutes), since it contains also the explanation and motivation why SP5 has been launched.

The Scripts

1. Create the Master Key:

 1: USE master;
 2: 

 3: go
 4: 

 5: CREATE MASTER KEY ENCRYPTION BY PASSWORD = 'n0PWStealingAll0w3d!';
 6: 

 7: go

2. Create the Certificate:

 1: CREATE CERTIFICATE SP5Certificate WITH SUBJECT = 'SP5 DEK Certificate';
 2: go

 3: 

3. Back up Certificate & Private Key (EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO KEEP IT BACKUPPED AND SAFE!):

 1: USE master;
 2: go

 3: BACKUP CERTIFICATE SP5Certificate TO FILE = 'C:\Certificate\TDECertificate.cer'
 4: WITH PRIVATE KEY (

 5: FILE = 'C:\Certificate\PK.pvk',
 6: ENCRYPTION BY PASSWORD = '?pkP4SsW0rD!');

 7: GO

4. Create Database Encryption Key:

 1: CREATE DATABASE ENCRYPTION KEY WITH ALGORITHM = AES_256 ENCRYPTION BY SERVER CERTIFICATE SP5Certificate;
 2: 

 3: GO

5. Enable Transparent Data Encryption for a Specific Content Database:

 1: CREATE CERTIFICATE SP5Certificate WITH SUBJECT = SP5Certificate;
 2: go

Please bear in mind:

• Scripts need to be adapted to your needs, of course
• Please run everything in a isolated test environment, before applying on production level
• Consult your DBA before applying any changes to the SQL Server Instance, like running the beforementioned scripts.
• The author of this blog cannot take responsibility for any damages caused by executing scripts, programs and configurations shown
• It is your responsibility to inform yourself about possible side effects that are not reported. Usually, Technet and MSDN are good references for complete documentation of the concepts shown.
• The scripts of SharePointFive are provided “as is”

Stay tuned till the next episode of SharePoint 5 and enjoy!

Best,

Martin

The manuscript is finished and submitted! Now I’m waiting for feedback, and certainly some corrections will be made. However, the big stuff is done.

Preview it here: Einstieg in Business Intelligence mit SharePoint 2010

Below you can get some numbers about how I passed the last 4 months writing:

Book numbers

• 1 Book
• 9 chapters
• 3 appendices
• 340 pages
• 250 images
• 1.5 GB of content created

Time statistics

• 500 hrs of writing
• 142 hrs/month (yes, it’s become my second fulltime job)
• 4.5 hrs sleep/day
• 14 holidays taken for fulltime writing
• Average hour of going to sleep:
  • First month of writing: 11.30 p.m
  • Last month of writing: 03.00 a.m.

Trivia

• 15 albums listening to while writing (7 from which Rammstein)
• 1 640GB backup hard disk smashed on the floor, causing:
  • INF swearings over the broken hard disk
  • 1 shock proof hard disk purchased
• 1 MacBook Pro AC adapter cable chewed to death by cat
• INF amount of:
  • Coffee
  • Red Bull
  • Tea
  • Fresh Fruit
  • Sweets

It was a great experience to write the book and I had the chance to take a 4 month intensive course in specializing on selected topics. However, now I’m really looking forward to increase my sleeping again back from 4.5 to 8 hours!

Stay tuned and best regards,

Martin

Hi there,

a few days ago I received the definitive confirmation that I’m going to speak at the Collaboration Days in Lucerne, Switzerland. The conference’s motto is as follows:

‘creating hands-on value’

Hence, the goal is to communicate best practices and tutorials, sessions that can be used right away in the field. No marketing or ads, just real-life SharePoint 2010 usage scenarios. Microsoft is supporting the conference as platinum sponsor, among many other sponsors.

Contents and Speakers

Here are some numbers:

• 2 days (November 29th and 30th)
• ~20 speakers
• 7 MVPs
• 4 tracks (IT Pro, Developer, Management, Solutions)
• 40+ sessions

My session has been placed in the “Management” track and is called “Einstieg in Business Intelligence mit SharePoint 2010”. It will deal with the configuration of PerformancePoint Services and the creation of BI content using Dashboard Designer.

It’s a great honor to speak alongside with gurus such as Thorsten Hans, Dux Raymond Sy, Christian Glessner Michael Greth, Samuel Zürcher (who organises the Collaboration Days) and many many more!

Where and when?

The conference takes place at the KKL Luzern (CH).

Check out the official information at www.collaborationdays.ch.

I’m really looking forward to meeting many of you at the conference. More or less at the same time, my book, titled “Einstieg in Business Intelligence mit SharePoint 2010” should be printed and available. For the ones who want to give a glance at the book’s summary, here it is:

http://www.amazon.de/Einstieg-Business-Intelligence-Microsoft-SharePoint/dp/3866456832/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1315309414&sr=8-1

Hope to meet many of you there!

Best regards,

Martin

I already got the happy notice on July, 1st while on the way to the holidays. I returned 2 days ago and finally could embrace the MVP Award Kit!

In fact, I’m the first SharePoint Server MVP from South Tyrol, and one among only few in Italy.

The MVP Award Kit box.

The Certificate.

I also updated my MVP Profile, which you can find here:

https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/profile/angler

The kit contained:

• Glass-made award
• Certificate
• Plastic card w/ MVP ID
• MVP Pin
• NDA agreement

Thanks, Microsoft, and big thanks also to Ale and Marjorie! I hope to be able to contribute many, many more times to the communities and wish you all a nice week start!

I also hope to meet some of you at the conference Collaboration Days in Luzern, on November 29^th and 30^th this year!

Best regards,

Martin