Resource – Migrating SBS 2003 v2 SharePoint to SBS 2011 SharePoint Foundation

Robert Crane has an excellent guide on the process of migrating the v2 SharePoint instance found in SBS 2003 to the SharePoint Foundation instance found in SBS 2011

We have added the description to the titles:

• SBS 2003 Companyweb migration – Part 1 – Caveats and Considerations
• SBS 2003 Companyweb migration – Part 2 – Preparation Steps on v2
• SBS 2003 Companyweb migration – Part 3 – Upgrading the v2 Db to v3
• SBS 2003 Companyweb migration – Part 4 – Attaching the now v3 Db to SP v3 
• SBS 2003 Companyweb migration – Part 5 – Check the v3 Site for Migration Readiness
• SBS 2003 Companyweb migration – Part 6 – Move Dbs from v3 to SBS 2011
• SBS 2003 Companyweb migration – Part 7 – Post Migration Clean-up
• The seventh part is not yet available as of this writing.

Robert is an excellent resource for SharePoint related issues. The above steps assume a fairly mundane SBS 2003 SharePoint v2 setup. For highly customized SharePoint sites, please e-mail Robert to arrange for him to consult or provide technical migration services.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

SBS 2008 Side-By-Side From SBS 2003

What an adventure this job has been!

I am still in Calgary. :)

The messes we have uncovered have caused no end of struggle to make things work in our migrating this client to SBS 2008.

The biggest issue we are working on right now is an unstable Companyweb SharePoint v2 database (SQL 2005 integrated on SBS 2003 R2 Premium) that refuses to keep its connection with SharePoint. There is 80GB, yes Gigabytes, of data in this site and we need to somehow get all of it!

The proper way:

• SmallBizServer.net: SBS 2003 R2 - Upgrading the Sharepoint MSDE instance to SQL 2005

We have managed to use BeyondCompare V3 to save us from having to figure out which files we have managed to copy over to one of the local workstations.

Our two remaining options are SharePoint Database Explorer or bringing the 80GB worth of databases up with us on a ShadowProtect image and try and attach those databases to a fresh and stable install of SharePoint V2.

Never a dull moment. :D

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer

SharePoint Designer 2007 – Free for Download

SharePoint Designer 2007, the product used to customize SharePoint v3 and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server, is now a free download. Note that registration will be required to gain access to it.

• SharePoint Designer 2007

While we are by no means experts in SharePoint here at MPECS Inc. having SharePoint Designer available for use in our SBS installations has been very beneficial.

A good book that can be helpful with getting to know the ins and outs of working with SharePoint technologies via SharePoint Designer 2007 is the:

• Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007 Bible by Vikram Kartik.

This is, in our opinion, a good move on Microsoft’s part. Though we hope that making the product free does not spell its demise.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer

SBS - Companyweb and Office 2007 Documents

When there is a need to setup document libraries for Office 2007 documents, the current SBS SharePoint V2 Companyweb site does not know what to do with them.

To get that fixed, David Overton has an excellent post: How to get Companyweb (Windows SharePoint Services v2) to work with Office 2007.

Take note that one will need to run the following on each workstation, XP or Vista, that will access the Office 2007 documents on Companyweb:

reg add HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Common\Internet /v OpenDocumentsReadWriteWhileBrowsing /t REG_DWORD /d 01

This command is via David's post, but must be emphasized as the Office 2007 documents will always open in Read Only mode without it.

As per David's post which links to the following Knowledgebase article: KB 870853: Office 2003 and 2007 Office documents open read-only in Internet Explorer.

David, thanks for sharing that. It has come in very handy!

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

SBS - Quick Companyweb Internet Access Link

When we have published the Companyweb site to the Internet via the CEICW and the Remote Web Workplace, there is a very quick way to gain access: Create an Internet shortcut.

Here are the quick links to the Companyweb root site:

• SBS 2003
• https://rww.mysbsdomain.com:444
• SBS 2008:
• https://rww.mysbsdomain.com:987

With this knowledge in hand, we can setup a number of interesting data sharing scenarios based on the built-in SharePoint setup in both versions of SBS.

We could create a document library that only a particular set of domain and non-domain (Extranet) restricted users have access to such as ExternalCompany.

In the above example, we would have the following links:

• SBS 2003
• https://rww.mysbsdomain.com:444/ExternalCompany
• SBS 2008:
• https://rww.mysbsdomain.com:987/ExternalCompany

One could also go so far as to create a SharePoint site that uses the above URL or another set by the domain admin with the appropriate permissions set for that site.

Depending on the situation, an Active Directory OU, Group Policy, and NTFS ACL setups could be utilized to restrict a particular group to the SharePoint site only.

For those that require a distinct separation from their Active Directory domain, the External Collaboration Toolkit for SharePoint would work well. The setup in this case would require us to have a second server setup with IIS6/7 and SharePoint V3 installed.

If the extranet business relationship and data security warrants it, a second level authentication setup could be utilized in the form of AuthAnvil from Scorpion Software. This method of security would completely restrict access to any Internet facing resources to those who hold an AuthAnvil hardware token and a valid user name and password. The cost for the product is very inexpensive relative to the extra level of security it provides.

Some SharePoint related links:

• Microsoft SharePoint Team Blog
• The Sean Blog: SharePoint Extranet Collaboration Toolkit.
• Technet: External Collaboration Toolkit for SharePoint site.
• Somewhat relevant Microsoft document: SharePoint Portal Server 2003 Document: Deploying on an Extranet by Using ISA Server 2000 and ISA Server 2004.
• Windows SharePoint Services search results from Microsoft Downloads site.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

SBS 2003/8 - SharePoint Mapped Network Drive

For some of our clients we are facilitating the transition to SharePoint as a default document and file storage location by creating a mapped network drive to a folder on the Companyweb SharePoint site.

By default on SBS 2003 we have the startup script (SBS_LOGIN_SCRIPT.bat) that is located in the scripts folder under SysVol on the server. That is where the following entry would be placed.

Out of the box, SBS 2008 does not use a logon script. So, we need to create the logon script under the SysVol scripts folder and update the User Roles with the Logon.bat file name. Any users already created will need to be either updated manually or use the Change a User Role Wizard to redefine the appropriate user accounts once the User Roles have been updated.

To do this (note that the "" are required):

• SBS 2003 Companyweb SharePoint v2
• net use m: "\\companyweb\DavWWWRoot\General Documents"
• SBS 2008 Companyweb SharePoint v3
• net use m: "\\companyweb\DavWWWRoot\Shared Documents"

Note that the mapped drive is not at the root of the SharePoint site.

From there we can create a folder structure that will be accessible via Internet Explorer internally or via the Internet as well as Windows Explorer and any application with ease.

We find that once users get used to toggling the "Explorer View" in the SharePoint site they tend to forget about the mapped network drive for most tasks.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.