SharePoint TimerJob runs behind the current date and time

Recently a rare question was posted on SharePoint MSDN forum, that reads all the SharePoint Timer Jobs running behind of the server's date and time settings.
And also this leads to incorrect date format on the User Profile Service based application.

When I started think over on what could be the root cause, I opened my Central administrator web application to see all my timer jobs are running correctly.

Then started to scan the services (Start --> Administrative Tools --> Services ) related to SharePoint on my server and learnt that "SharePoint Timer Service"(SPTimerV4) has been stopped and started, still timer jobs in the SharePoint running behind of the current date and time.

Stumped ! All my SharePoint timer jobs are running behind 5 days with 3 hour.

I was trying to find the PowerShell command to adjust the timer job related in MSDN but no such commands with time stamp parameter.

Suddenly I recollect, how my development server undergone the recent changes, windows updates  changes to settings. such as language, timezone and password expiry policy on my AD.

a month ago, my BIOS battery started to show its weakness , If you happen to see the different time and date on your computer then its all you need is just change your "BIOS" battery on system.

Its been 5 year old computer with Core i5 processor with 16GB RAM. When I opened the desktop and I realised "How I am lazy chap to clean up my desk and my computer".

I did a month ago, and changed the timezone and time based on my location. All seems to work normally.

Meantime, the password for my server has been expired and I am not used the SharePoint for some days due to busy schedule at my work :)-.


Still the timer job is not shown up to current settings.

After reading this question,
SharePoint Timer Jobs runs behind the current date and time

To resolve these problem on my server and reply to MSDN forum,

I just update my windows up to date and ran the SharePoint Config wizard and all my timer job are running along with correct time settings on my server.

Post configuration wizard running all the timer jobs in the SharePoint started to show the current date and time based on my system settings.

SharePoint Client Side Rendering - Part 3

This post continuation to "Client Side Rendering - Part 2"

SharePoint Client Side Rendering , to understand from the basic, Just wanted to see how the default CSR template works on SharePoint List.

I have created the simple list with and checked the html source view in Chrome Browser.

Here its look like,

SharePoint 2013 Client Side Rendering (CSR - Learning from the basics)

And one more tips to understand how the SharePoint list being rendered using the CSR approach.

I have checked the Account list using the Chrome Browser and inspected the List and it their HTML elements. This has been designed with id "CSRSaveAsNewViewDivWPQ1", On rendering time this whole DIV will be transformed to new UI as like and tweaked in JavaScript.


Here is how its look like

SharePoint 2013 Client Rendering Template (Default)

Again, this default list's client side rendering's script on the "clienttemplates.js", in this CSRSaveAsNewViewDiv, a html link has been added using the JavaScript's array method.
Like wise, you can customise this CSRSaveAsNewViewDiv as your wishes.

In next part of Client Side Rendering, I show you how to customise the list and its look and feel in very simplest way.

client side rendering in sharepoint - Part 2

This post continues of the Client Side Rendering Part 1

To learn more about display template or Client Side Rendering in the SharePoint 2013,we must know the DNA of the SharePoint List.

SharePoint List made of the Site Column or List Column (SPFields),Content Types,Forms (New,Edit and View Pages) and Views.

SharePoint 2013 - Display Templates,CSR, JS Link

On this image,the rounded artifacts can be customised using the CSR by using Javascript snippets, called JSLink property.



By default,When you open the SharePoint List either (AllItems.aspx or NewItem.aspx), the default template(JavasScript code) has been applied.

You can find the default clienttemplate.js file under

C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\15\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS

For better understanding of the scenario, I could compare the AngularJS's template or component or widget but with Javascript.

You can create dynamically the templates in AngularJS or pointing the html file URL to render the View in the browser based on the business logic.

That's how the SharePoint Client Side Rendering works but with advanced JSOM based code snippets.

All columns including the taxonomy, forms, view, list view webpart and content types and their UI can be overwrite. This is the added advantage and again SharePoint 2013 ecosystem open up the opportunities for UI and UX developer.

And also CSR supporting the couple of event "OnPreRender" and "OnPostRender".

To ingrain the CSR topic technically and theoretically  , just think of the ASP.NET page's Render and PreRender event and also over riding the method in the Feature Event Receiver.

All you need is a simple java script function with UI tweak and assign to these event and over riding the fields,views,header,footer,body,group by registering the template.

SPClientTemplates.TemplateManager.RegisterTemplateOverrides(yourtemplateVariable);

Client Side Rendering in SharePoint 2013

Client Side Rendering in SharePoint 2013

Client Side Rendering - Part 2
Client Side Rendering - Part 3

SharePoint 2013 is not just for traditional SharePoint developer or ASP.NET programmer,  The main success of the SharePoint 2013 is ,It allows the all non Microsoft developer
to develop their respective technologies and integrate them with the SharePoint framework.

Client Side Rendering is one of the new addition to SharePoint. We all aware that all controls in the SharePoint has been developed based on ASP.NET controls.
But when it comes to rendering it on the browser, all controls are treated as HTML controls.

Almost all developer and designer or any department IT guys knows the basics of HTML and JavaScript nowadays.

I have seen many times a hard core SharePoint developer lacks behind when it comes to Page design, Content Management (WCM) or any other UI/UX develoment on their site.

Often this task has been outsourced to other team who specialised in web design or web developer come into SharePoint team.

This is huge win for SharePoint and Microsoft.The new concept "Design Manager" in SharePoint 2013 is fully belongs web developer community.

In this posts,I am going to talk about all the scenario where web developer part of the SharePoint implementation.

Client Side Rendering is one of the breakthrough changes introduced in the SharePoint 2013.

The term CSR is all about how the SharePoint data has been transformed using the HTML and JavaScript instead of the XSL/XSLT in its predecessor.


So the performance on the page loading has been increased drastically. Earlier XSLT and CAML has been used and processed on the server and send back to client, this has been burden some to server.

Learning the XSLT was one of the toughest choice for  novice programmer.

All these problems has been addressed and answer is "Client Side Rendering" or "Display Template" in SharePoint 2013.

The word "Display Template" is being used only for formatting or controlling the SharePoint Search result on Page or WebPart. But still its considered to be CSR.


Ok, Now we get in to CSR or Display templates technical details.

Migrating the SharePoint 2007 List to SharePoint 2013

One of the elegant solution yet OTB solution available in SharePoint 2013, if you want to migrate the SharePoint list from the SharePoint 2010 or MOSS 2007 to SharePoint 2013.

Large list and item with attachment works charmingly with this solution.

Please check this link , and its really best solution, I would recommend to everyone instead of paying heft huge money for third party software for migrating the OTB stuffs.

Migrating large SharePoint list with attachment to SharePoint 2013

Installing antivirus in SharePoint 2013

Files are backbone for every organisation and core piece of an every collaboration activities in SharePoint.

Example , an end user can upload the documents to SharePoint for any approval process taken place, SharePoint administrator can copy or download the Package(.wsp) in the server to deploy it farm wide ,SharePoint designer can download the design template from internet and uploading to SharePoint to create the branding.

In several ways user has to deal with the files, Files are prone to affect by virus or malicious script injection.

By default, SharePoint has feature that allows the user to restrict the certain files types and WebPart configuration security to guard against all malicious intention on the SharePoint server

When user download or opening the malicious file their system or  some time their whole network can be affected by virus.

Microsoft also periodically releases the Security Updates for SharePoint 2013.

To defend this problem, SharePoint allows the administrator to set  up their antivirus software on all server in the farm.

 Here is the detail, I am going to update continuously how the antivirus software works with in SharePoint ecosystem.

To learn more on this, I have the machine with Windows 2008 R2 SP1, SharePoint Server 2013 SP and SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1.

Googling the keyword "Free antivirus for Windows 2008 R2 64bit" and got the "Avast".

This is only for demonstration or learning more about installing the Antivirus on SharePoint not suggesting you or follow the same for your environment.

Download the avast antivirus and doing the custom setup,

Here is the screenshot,

After installing, It shows every thing up to date and all shields are active. Now we test it in SharePoint context.

Now go to your SharePoint Central Administrator Page, click on Security link (_admin/Admin.aspx) from the left hand side , I have modified all the default settings in the page.

After this settings, on my team site, trying to upload the text file and it was little slowness,
and the message was shown to me ,

After rebooting my server , this problem got resolved.

Failed to initiate the upgrade sequence

Failed to initiate the upgrade sequence

System.TypeLoadException was thrown.Additional exception information:Method 'Upgrade' in type 'Microsoft.SharePoint.workflowservices.workflow ServiceApplicationproxy' from assembly 'Microsoft.SharePoint.WorkflowServices,Version=15.0.0.0,Culture=neutral,PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c' does not have an implementation.

Reason:

I am using the Windows 2008 R2 and SharePoint 2013 and also windows updates are automatically enabled.
SharePoint 2013 related updates and security updates are enabled on the server. After all the KBs are installed, When I am trying to run SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard, the error was thrown.

Upon searching the forums and technet article, SharePoint 2013 SP1 related updates also being part of my windows updates.

So I cannot role back all my SharePoint related updates, So decided to update the SharePoint 2013 to SharePoint 2013 SP1.
Download the SP1 for SharePoint 2013 from this link

Service Pack 1 for SharePoint 2013

All my previous  incorrect updates are taken care by this download.
Now I am able to run the PSConfig successfully without any error.

Failed to initiate the upgrade sequence

Failed to initiate the upgrade sequence

System.TypeLoadException was thrown.Additional exception information:Method 'Upgrade' in type 'Microsoft.SharePoint.workflowservices.workflow ServiceApplicationproxy' from assembly 'Microsoft.SharePoint.WorkflowServices,Version=15.0.0.0,Culture=neutral,PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c' does not have an implementation.

New SharePoint document List experience

The enhanced ,new shining and user friendly "SharePoint Document Library" interface looks great.

The highlight of this feature is, it let the user to return to classic SharePoint View and the new one.

While checking and comparing the both views, I found "search" within the document library missing in the new view.

The new feature is, it allows you to edit the library through DataSheet View.

You can also set the new experience by going into Library Setting,Advanced Settings ,Under "List Experience" header, select the "New experience" and start to use.

Drag and Drop the files on the document library is the newly added feature,surely it will gives the smooth experience those who uploads the bulk documents into SharePoint.

Microsoft Flow

New and niche tool from Microsoft that automates everything in SharePoint and your cloud apps to do the basic activities like notification when user added the new item to SharePoint list, get email notification when your friend post on Facebook or new tweet on twitter, Manage your DropBox,OneDrive and Google Drive.

All you have to do is just configure the connection such as URL and Credentials on the Microsoft Flow's activity property and forget the manual job and expect the magic from the Microsoft Flow.

What I found is so simple and awesome of this tool, that allows me to edit so quickly in my android phone.

SharePoint 2016 on Windows 2012 R2

Finally, I am managed to build and configure the SharePoint 2016 on new shining Windows 2012 R2  with all the best practices like creating the managed account,Service account and AD Security group to configure the SharePoint 2016 Service application.

I have encountered so many issues while configuring the Windows 2012 R2, First I configured the AD CS (certificate  Server) without AD DS. I am not able to install the SP 2016 without AD.

I don't want to go for fresh installation instead , learn how to remove the AD CS through PowerShell Command.

While Installing the prerequisites ,I encountered the error that says I must have .NET Framework 3.5 SP1, I tried to installing the stand alone installer on my server OS Windows 2012 R2. Standalone installer for .NET framework won't work in Windows 2012 R2,then I go with adding new feature option through "Configure your Local Server" panel.

On installing the Visual Studio 2015, on first there was a error that I must have the .net framework 4.5.6.1 Developer Pack.
Upon searching this, I found the solution , restart the server and try the installation. It works like charm.

Here I am going to explore the new possibilities and features on SharePoint 2016.

Site accessible only for Site Collection Administrator

One of the simple questions (seems to be simple at first) has been asked in SharePoint MSDN forum, "How to ensure that a site collection only can be accessible by "Site Collection Administrator".

While doing the brain storming analyse on this topic, my first stop was finding the solution through SharePoint Power Shell.

But lastly I found there is no such cmdlets for this scenario.

Here are the possible workaround for this,

Creating the feature event receiver that will check the currently logged in user belongs to Site collection administrator , if not set the "ReadLock" on the site collection.

This will help the site collection administrator for quick maintenance to be done on the site on peak hours.

Upon activating the feature, Site will be ready to check the currently logged in user is belongs to Site collection administrator or an end user.

On Deactivating lock will be removed for end user.

 public override void FeatureActivated(SPFeatureReceiverProperties properties)
        {
            SPSite site = properties.Feature.Parent as SPSite;
            SPWeb web = site.OpenWeb();
            if (!web.CurrentUser.IsSiteAdmin)
            {
                site.ReadLocked = false;
             
            }
            else
            {
                site.ReadLocked = true;
            }
         
        }

        public override void FeatureDeactivating(SPFeatureReceiverProperties properties)
        {
           //Remove the lock for all
         
        }

Approach : 2

   

WorflowServices SharePoint 2013 Service Pack 1 - Update

After you upgrade your SharePoint 2013 Enterprise to SP2013 Service Pack 1, you might have receive this error on your default site's home page or on powershell command.

  An exception of type System.TypeLoadException was thrown.Additional exception information:Method 'Upgrade' in type 'Microsoft.SharePoint.WorkflowServices.WorkflowServiceApplicationProxy' from assembly Microsoft.SharePoint.WorkflowServices,Version=15.0.0.0,Culture=neutral,PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c' does not have an implementation. To resolve this error, All you need is to download the update for KB2880963 from link KB 2880963 - Workflow Services related fix and Performance upgrade

Run SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard "As Administrator".

Happy Installing and Configuring the SharePoint.!

Synchronize the SharePoint document library

Now synchronizing the SharePoint document library in SharePoint 2013 is simplified as just like that.
Even there is an add-on (OneDrive for Business) for Chrome browser to do so.

Follow these steps to Synchronize the document library with your local folder.

Click the "Sync" button in the bar as shown in this image.

70-488 exam study guide

Here is my little part to help someone who wish to find the exam guide on 70-488.

70-488 Exam Guide - Developing SharePoint Server Core Solution

Apart from this ,
I have been forwarded the excel file , the classified and organised exam study guide  on 70-488 - Developing Microsoft SharePoint Server Core Solution.

SharePoint 2013 - Exam Guide on 70-488 - Developing SharePoint Server Core Solutions


And another one from renowned author and my all time favorite when its comes to exam preparation one and only "Becky Betram on Exam Gudie - 70-488.

Updating the Managed Account in SharePoint

Apart from updating the SharePoint 's Managed account through Administration site , here is an alternate way of updating the managed account through SharePoint Power Shell commands.

All we know the importance and best practices of using the SharePoint Managed account to provisioning the SharePoint Service Application in the Farm.

But in my local machine that elevated to Domain controller, Always I used to provision the System Account (Administrator) . So this account can be undergoes the password expiration policy on the Domain Controller Policy.

When you change or updates the account that has been used for provisioning the SharePoint Service Application on the farm , then updated password cannot be propagated to all services in the Farm.

Because the Service Application name,id, Application Pool Id, Managed Account and its credentials will be stored on the Config database and as well as in the IIS settings.

When I was trying to configure the SharePoint App development on my local machine , I have gone through many errors those not allow me to deploy it through Visual Studio.

Even though App Management Service , Microsoft SharePoint Foundation Subscription Settings Service Application Proxy , and DNS settings for App development all are configured still the errors prop up and does't allow me to go ahead.

Upon digging more on the error log , I found there are no "App Fabric ,distributed cache services" are not provisioned and the password for App Management service application also not updated in the Service level.

And also I am using the another farm account that not been used to provisioning or installing the SharePoint.

So the outline is to update all service applications and their's account( Managed) credentials.
use the

Set-SPManagedAccount -ExistingPassword "

and pass the existing account identity and is password as shown in the image.

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Register yourself @ Collab365 Summit 2016

In the Collab365 team on the 10th, 11th and 12th of May 2016 for an incredible amount of SharePoint, Azure and Office365 content. Delivered direct to your device, when you want it and for no cost at all. Catch premium keynotes across all 3 days. Sessions designed and delivered for IT Pro, IT Dev and Business delegates.

Introducing brand new Summit Experience for 2016

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As well as live sessions, live chat and real time twitter feeds, we have been adding more spice to the mix in the form of 2 real-time, tech based, fun as heck quizzes. Compete against your peers, win prizes and unlock new learning opportunities!

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Jeremy Thake	Office 365 – Product Manager
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Mark Kashman	Office 365 – Product Manager
Chris McNulty	Office 365 – Product Manager
Reuben Krippner	Office 365 - Director
Christophe Fiessinger	Enterprise Social Group

Feature Dependency SharePoint 2013

Feature Dependencies in SharePoint 2013 - Base Site Features

The feature that depend another feature to work correctly on the site called feature dependent.

In SharePoint 2013, all most all site template has its own dependency on other features.

Example,

In team site navigation hierarchies with managed meta data, requires publishing feature dependency.

Team site with default list and list template requires few feature dependencies.

Or, if you want to provision the list with event receiver, you may prefer to split the even receiver logic, site column and content type in to different feature. Finally, your list will group all the features to work as expected. In that case, no features will be activated with dependent features are activated first.

First site column features must be activated, the content type that relies on the column must be activate and finally the list definition and event receiver.

Go to C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\15\TEMPLATE\FEATURES

Open the “BaseSite” folder and “Feature example, it will be shown like this image,

So the base site feature id: B21B090C-C796-4b0f-AC0F-7EF1659C20AE has its dependencies on rounded blue bordered box.

Feature Name	Feature GUID
Local Directory Site Control	14AAFD3A-FCB9-4bb7-9AD7-D8E36B663BBD
Portal Layouts	5F3B0127-2F1D-4cfd-8DD2-85AD1FB00BFC
WebPart Adder groups.	2ED1C45E-A73B-4779-AE81-1524E4DE467A
Document routing resources	0C8A9A47-22A9-4798-82F1-00E62A96006E
Record Resources	5BCCB9A4-B903-4fd1-8620-B795FA33C9BA
Social Site	4326E7FC-F35A-4b0f-927C-36264B0A4CF0
Search WebParts	EAF6A128-0482-4F71-9A2F-B1C650680E77
Search templates and resources	8B2C6BCB-C47F-4F17-8127-F8EAE47A44DD
Item Form recommendations	39D18BBF-6E0F-4321-8F16-4E3B51212393

Types of Features:

1. cross site scoped : The feature can have it dependency of the another feature that is scoped its  high level hierarchies. Example , Publishing feature in the web (sub site) scope requires the site collection scoped Publishing Infrastructure should have been activated prior to be activated on the site level.
2. Same site scoped : Feature can have its dependency of the other feature that is scoped on the same site scope level.
   
   Example, A feature that provisioning the site columns should be activated before the feature that creates the content type that relies on the already available site columns in the site and its associated form template on the site.

Rules of the Feature:

1. Feature can be set to visible or hidden through its feature definition file (Feature.xml)
2. Hidden feature cannot have any feature dependency.
3. Hidden feature can activated ,deactivated,installed and uninstalled through only Power shell command,So farm admin have full control on it.
4. Feature dependencies cannot be chained.

SharePoint Database recovery model

Here are the list of databases and its default recovery model available on SharePoint related content databases.

As SharePoint tend to be available on all time and span to host able on different server and beyond the network and geographies, we should understand its recovery model.

This precise information is very critical and wanted when the database damaged or corrupted especially a SharePoint Config and SharePoint_AdminContent databases to restore the FARM as soon as possible in time.

Recovery models Simple,Full and Bulk logged has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Learn more about these recovery model @ MSDN

You may update its from default recovery model to another recovery model as per your SQL Capacity plan.

Missing server side dependencies

Missing server side dependencies in SharePoint  is one the main problem that stops being upgraded or migrate to next version of the SharePoint.

SharePoint administrator has to take prompt action on this problem on his farm.


 

The "SharePoint Health Analyzer" report this problem under "Configuration" category and you have to take the manual job to delete these missing server side dependencies.

Example,If you are installing the WSP package that contains the features and webparts, that will create the related SharePoint artifact folders on the server  such as folder name with feature under \Template\Features and user controls under CONTROL TEMPLATE so on.

When you retracting the WSP package from the farm, it should wipe out all the folders that created on deploying the solution.

You have to create the batch file to disable/uninstall the feature while retracting them.


Same analogue, will be applied the missing server dependencies , even though  you retracted package from the server , feature / webpart name references will not be deleted from the "SharePoint_Admin_Content Database." Even though you deleted the web config entry that related to missing features, could be "" list.

This will be called "Orphaned features" in the SharePoint.Before going to look into resolve this problem, we should learn What is the reason ? why the missing server side dependencies are clogged in the SharePoint server ?

The reason is very straight forward, you might forcefully uninstall the solution without deactivating the features that are scoped to site / web / web application and Farm.

How to prevent the "Missing Dependencies" issues on the SharePoint.

Always use the "Feature event receiver class" to delete the feature folder from the server when its deactivating.

Create the "Health Analyzer definition rule to "Repair automatically" to yes.

Somehow, we missed and found so many "Missing Server Side dependencies", now  we will see on how to resolve this configuration problem,

Resolution : #1

$feature = Get-SPFeature | ? { $_.DisplayName -eq "Orphaned feature reported in HealthAnalyzer" }
$feature.Delete()

Sometime, the webpart also can be missing and reported by Health Analyzer.

I just open the content database and select the table dbo.AllWebParts and fired the delete command.(For safer side, have your Content DB backup).

Resolution : #2

DELETE  from [WSS_Content].[dbo].[AllWebParts] where tp_WebPartTypeId='c6f6e5a5-1038-13a7-87c1-0db44446d99a'

Resolution: #3,

Download the SharePoint Utility called "SharePoint Feature Administration and Cleanup" from codeplex that will help you to identify the faulty features on the farm.

Missing dependencies in SharePoint

jQuery ajax method and SharePoint list

Using jQuery ajax method we can initiate the RESTful request to retrieve the SharePoint List Items that has been designated as resources through end point.

Once the end point has been identified, the query will be used to make CRUD operation using OData protocol.

Here is the simple code snippet and bit explanation behind the jQuery ajax call and the call back method.

All you need to is to pass the SharePoint's REST endpoint URI as url parameter to ajax method.
And request what data format has to be returned by the request by specifying the header format.

 $(document).ready(function () {
            $.ajax(
                {

                   url: "http://win-0nvq2rjqgo2/_api/web/lists/getbytitle('trac')/items",
                    mehtod: "Get",
                    headers: { "Accept": "application/json; odata=verbose" },
                   dataType:"json",
                  success: function (data) {
                        SuccessMessage(data)
                    },

                     error: function (data) {
                     //var parsedJson = $.parseJSON(data.responseText);
                       console.log(data.responseText);
                        //Logging the error details
                  }
                });
        });


        function SuccessMessage(w) {
         $.each(w.data.results, function (index, item) {
         //logic to show the output in html page
                $('#itemsInDiv').append(item.Title + "---->" + item.FName);
            });

When the request has been processed and the data will be passed to success handler by SharePoint.


To get the clear exception, log the error details using data.responseText. Here I just renamed the list track to trac and logged the exception details.

SharePoint Farm credential expired - Solution

Disclaimer

strictly this solution is not intended for staging servers.

Sometime, your SharePoint development environment configuration account's password might have expired. especially as a developer, you need to switch the different account on the same time to test user context based application or SharePoint Add-Ins development. You cannot use the System account to develop the SharePoint App on the server.

In that case, you might try to use the STSADM command to update the farm credential, but the STSADM command window flicks and disappear.

Or trying to change password or reset the same in SQL Server, still you are not able to use it as you have only the system account or Administrator account on SQL with Windows authentication.

Here is the simple solution, But its not recommended approach on the staging server.

Open your IIS Manager, and check all the application pool that uses the password expired account,usually "Administrator" on development machine.

Select the application pool , on the right hand side, click on the "Advance Settings", change the application pool identity with another account and set back the same account which password expired earlier.

Now ensure all services (SQL Server,SQL Server Agent,SQL Browser and SharePoint Administrator) are all up and running by going through "Services.msc" from RUN command window and started all sites in the IIS.

After reset the same account, you can reset the IIS and check the site or central administrator site, it will open.

Composed Looks in SharePoint 2013

Apart from "Designer Manager" in the SharePoint 2013, another remarkable  new feature in SharePoint 2013 branding side is "Composed" look that enables the site owners to change their site's look and feel as they wanted in just click of selecting the predefined template.(Theme).

The word composed means putting all the design elements such Master Page,Layout page,font,colour and background image and make the design template.
Later you can apply this template for your site.

Example,
If a Site collection administrator wanted to differentiate the each site under the site collection ,he /she could prefer to use the different composed looks.

To start this click on gear button on the site and click-->Change the look.

How this made up ?

Navigate to Site Settings-->Under web designer galleries->Click on Themes
There you will see the folder 15 (default theme applied on your site currently).Under this folder you will see the font scheme (.scheme),color palette (.spcolor) .

The combination of these file makes the  dynamic views on the SharePoint layouts (Title,WebPart Title,Dialog border,TopBar Text and Navigation related elements).

Here is the snapshot of the .spcolor file

Font scheme file snapshot

Microsoft Mechanics

Microsoft Mechanics

Microsoft's new initiatives to bring all the engineers those are continuously working for improving the Microsoft Products such as Azure,Office 365,Office Desktop version,Exchange Server 2016,SharePoint,OneDrive and Skype for business together and imparting the knowledge to IT workers through Video platform.
Checkout the blogs / Video
Microsoft Mechanics

File recover approach from SharePoint Template.

Disclaimer : Its a low level file recover approach from the SharePoint template.

Here I wanted to show you how to recover or retrieve the documents from the SharePoint template.
SharePoint template(.stp) is a just an zip file format. You can rename its extension to .CAB or Zip.
If you have 7.zip utility installed on your system, you can simply extract to destination folder.

Once you extracted you will see the file names with scrambled and its extension will be .000.

Manifest file along with extracted files are the master file, that you have to refer the file name and its index position.
So you can rename the file with proper extension to recover the file.
You can also automate or create the utility based on this steps using C#,FileSystem and Compression class.
If you want to record the meta data then "Rows" node will be the best place to parse through code.


Here is the steps, watch this video,

SharePoint App and SQL Permission

When you are developing the SharePoint Add-In in Visual Studio,you might seen these errors.

Error occurred in deployment step 'Uninstall app for SharePoint': The local SharePoint server is not available. Check that the server is running and connected to the SharePoint farm.

Even though you are able to view the developer site on the browser, still the Visual Studio throws the error that could confuse the developers.

Second error

Error occurred in deployment step 'Uninstall app for SharePoint': Cannot connect to the SharePoint site: Your Site Url. 
Make sure that this is a valid URL and the SharePoint site is running on the local computer. If you moved this project to a new computer or if the URL of the SharePoint site has changed since you created the project, update the Site URL property of the project.

The above error, Visual studio somehow tried to manage that the server is accessible but not the site collection.
Still you are cent percent sure , the URL is correct and accessible through browser but not through Visual Studio.

Reason:
The currently logged in user account doesn't have the required permission on the SQL Server.

Resolution:
Go to your SQL server and expand the "Security" folder under the SharePoint SQL Instance.Check there you will not find the account that has facing the above issues in visual studio.
Right click on "Logins" and select the "New Login".

Now add the "Server Role" and check the "sysadmin and dbcreator".

Again try to "Deploy" the SharePoint App project , you can able go forward through the successful messages.

Microsoft Graph API

An unified API for accessing the data,intelligence and insights coming from the Microsoft cloud including (Office 365 and Azure)

Simple,put this way, you have the Office 365 site for your team collaboration, for file sharing you use the One Drive for business for email specialties you use the cloud based mail exchange and now you wanted to have the custom application, Add Ins or cross platform  Mobile Apps (including Android and iPhone) to leverage the above features in your application (Php,node.js, Angular.js,Ruby on rails and python using single endpoint and unified API - Microsoft Graph API comes in very handy.

Microsoft Graph API is fully based on REST API and OData compliance.Once the source's endpoint defined, you can do all operation (CRUD) on the objects.