#SP2013 The server was unable to save the form at this time.

A user can't edit  and save properties of the document.

In my case it turned out to be a permission issue.
The document library uses a document set which in turn uses a custom content type that were defined on the site collection level.
The lib was created under some site (spweb) , the lib has unique permissions
The user doesn't have access to the site, but has access to the lib.
The user can upload and check in  the document to the document set, but can't edit and save the properties of the custom document content type (which is used in the document set).
Every time the user hits the save button he gets the client-side error -
"The server was unable to save the form at this time.Please try again."
I have traced the issue when the user attempted to create a document set item. He got an error: "Access denied".
It happens because SharePoint uses the link ~site/_layouts/15/NewDocSet.aspx that is not accessible by the user since he doesn't have access to the site.
The obvious fix in my case to give access to the site to the user.

SharePoint Online manual migration: Managed Metadata issues

I have just finished SharePoint Online manual migration. And this post is all about migration Term Store and the managed metadata columns.

So, you have got a term set on-prem.

How do you migrate the term set to SharePoint Online? 

In case of migration to SharePoint Online manually, the only option you left with - is Import CSV file of term set to the destination - SPOnline.

The provided PowerShell script exports the term site into CSV file on-prem in order to import it in SharePoint Online.

The pitfall of importing CSV file , you can't specify child-parent relationship between term sets.

Another issue that I have discovered that there is no way to copy over Keywords, since it's a system term set. So, in case you need them from on-prem either you should re-type them manually or (much better option) a buy a 3rd party tool for SharePoint migration.

And finally, the BIG ISSUE of manual migration of managed metadata:

Imported terms will get a different GUID than terms on-prem. That means, every list that has managed metadata  after migration should be updated manually with valid imported term.

To sum up, if you have used Taxonomy, Folksonomy extensively in your on-prem, the best approach to migrate is to use 3rd party tools for SharePoint migration

SharePoint 2013: AD group membership changes are not reflected on the site

[What you have]:

Web application with claims based authentication (which is by default) in SharePoint 2013, and the site to which you gave access via AD group.

You have added\removed a user from AD group, but  the site permissions won't reflect the changes for this user.

[Why]:

When a domain user logs on to SharePoint, the server will create a token that contains information about that user, along with any domain groups they may be a member of.  By default, SharePoint 2010 (as will SharePoint 2013) will hang on to this data for 24 hours, at which point the token will expire, and the next user logon will force a fresh token to be created.

[What to do]:

Run stsadm to change the default value 1440 minutes (24 hours)

for example, set 1 hours (60 minites)

stsadm.exe -o setproperty -propertyname token-timeout -propertyvalue 60

iisreset

You may also run into an additional problem related to Claims token cahce.

To resolve this, check this out

Alert error: You do not have an e-mail address.

You do not have an e-mail address.
Alert has been created successfully but you will not receive notifications until valid e-mail or mobile address has been provided in your profile

Got this error on your on-prem SP2013 while setting alerts?
The reason, in my case, was that User Property "Work email" wasn't setup correctly.

Don't worry , it is easy to get it straight and here is how:
1. Go to Manage User Properties, and find "Work Email", Edit
2. In the "Work Email" properties, add a new mapping "mail"
3. Make sure that Policy settings: Replicable, and Edit settings: Allow users to edit values for this property.

4. Start Full synchronization.

Done!

Error occurred in deployment step 'Install App for SharePoint': packagePath

In case you have started SharePoint 2013 Apps Development and you use remote deployment (How to Deploy Apps Remotely to the Office 365 Preview) , you might experience a following error when you click "Deploy":
Error occurred in deployment step 'Install App for SharePoint': packagePath

To resolve the issue:
Make sure that project name and package name are the same.
Clean the project after renaming, and then deploy

Explanation:
Deploy triggers some MS Build actions and one of them at one point is trying to find a package name based on the project name in the folder: bin\[Release\Publish]\app.publish
But since you package has a different name than the project, the action couldn't find a package to deploy.

I would prefer to have more descriptive error in VS with the specific path though....Now, after we discover the reason of failure behind , it's much clearer what "Error occurred in deployment step 'Install App for SharePoint': packagePath" means.

SSRS: authentication error 14

I hate the SSRS error:  authentication error 14 in the http log of SSRS.

Time to time we have this issue , even though the farm is already established and we haven't changed anything in the topology.

We have 2 SharePoint WFEs and one SSRS server, SSRS is in integrated mode.

Here are few posts that I have found describe the error with different causes:

Web service request failed with HTTP status 401: Unauthorized in ssrs 2008 r2

Troubleshooting HTTP Errors

But, unfortunately all of these didn't help to resolve the authentication error 14.


What we noticed that we can have such error on one WFE, but other WFE  still can call SSRS to render the reports.
We saw a correlation between free memory and ability SharePoint to call SSRS.

Even though we can have 5 gb of available , but free can be lower 1 GB.

In this case SharePoint can't call SSRS server.

The easiest and not so smart action to make SSRS worked on this WFE is:

1. On WFE: IIS reset;

2. SSRS: server reboot,

3. SSRS: SSRS Service re-start

I would glad to hear your comments on this issue and suggestions how can I intelligently resolve this issue.

rsviewerpage.aspx Type Sys.UI._Timer has already been registered

You have configured SSRS on SharePoint 2010. You successfully open report builder and run report, but when you try to run it through rsviewerpage.aspx it stucks.

My suggestion, as usual, look at the logs:
 - ULS;
 - SSRS log (SSRS: How to troubleshoot?)

But in this specific case, I found really helpful look at the F12 Developer tools panel in IE.
In console I found an error:
Type Sys.UI._Timer has already been registered
SCRIPT5022: Sys.ScriptLoadFailedException: The script '{your portal url}/ScriptResource.axd?d={some data}


It turned out that the error in rsviewerpage.aspx is due to configuration in this specific web application:
Check in web.config the following:
 <compilation batch="false" debug="false">

In case debug="true" rsviewerpage.aspx gives you that error. As you may guess, once you set debug="false" reports will run successfully.

I officially announce such behavior as a bug in SharePoint 2010 and SSRS integrated mode:

   Setting in the web.config debug="true" will case an error Type Sys.UI._Timer has already been registered in the rsviewerpage.aspx  and report stucks

Cannot generate SSPI context. (.Net SqlClient Data Provider)

Cannot generate SSPI context. (.Net SqlClient Data Provider)

The reason for this error in my case was somehow related to SPN.

The easiest first step to troubleshoot “Cannot Generate SSPI Context” is to run SQL server under Local System account and gracefully shut it down. You can then change your service account to whatever you want. SPN will not be registered and clients will fallback to use NTLM.

“Cannot Generate SSPI Context” error message, more comments for SQL Server 

SSRS: Errors

SSRS makes my life unbearable.

This post for everyone who suffers with SSRS errors in SharePoint.

Here is the links that may help to identify the cause of the error:

From my experience with SSRS:

SSRS: How to troubleshoot?

SSRS and SharePoint 2007: How to configure

Simple concept: SSRS authentication

SSRS: authentication error 14 (not so smart temporary fix)

From others:

Session Timeout during execution SSRS reports

Timeouts and Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services

Troubleshooting Server and Database Connection Problems

Reporting Services Log Files

Troubleshooting Concepts (Reporting Services)

Installing and Configuring SQL Server Reporting Services

Report Server Service Trace Log

Quick notes:

 -  The reports are slow? and SSRS log file doesn't refresh much?
 Look at the  ULS log whether the SharePoint server has an error with loading dll:

Error: Failure in loading assembly: 

Fix the error via: editing web.config file for a web application or adding the missing dll into GAC. In mycase it helped to start reports quicker.

SharePoint server cache: How to clear

For some reasons, you have decided to clear cache.

Here are several reasons why I need to clear SharePoint server cache:

1. Workflow timer job is acting weird. Workflows are stuck in "Starting" status without any errors in ULS log.

2. User Profile application produces synchronization errors such as  failure trying to synch site . Cannot insert duplicate key row in object

3. You have restored your VM with SharePoint Server and having errors like this:  System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object. at Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPDatabase.get_SqlSession()


So, how do you clear the SharePoint cache?

1. Stop SharePoint Timer

2. Check the GUID for your config database:

Go to - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Web Server Extensions\14.0\Secure\ConfigDB
and Check ID

For SP2013 - it's 15.0 folder instead 14.0
And any case, this step is optional and you can try to locate cache folder without investigation ID.

3. Go to {You system drive}:\ProgramData\Application Data\Microsoft\SharePoint\Config 
Clear the files from folder with the ID of your config db.
Create cache.ini with the value '1' in the file

4. Start SharePoint Timer

5. Check the cache.ini. If caching started successfully you will see that:
 - cache.ini contains other value than '1'
 - new xml files were created.


P.S. I have noticed that SharePoint 2010 creates another folder with files PERSISTEDFIle extension.
I have deleted this folder  and haven't discovered any problem after that. Although, I found a post where it says that

be sure NOT to touch the one with the PERSITEDFILEs

(Clear the SharePoint Configuration (Timer) Cache)

Please, please, please, SharePoint community if you know why SharePoint uses this PERSITEDFILE, let me know.

sharepoint 2010 user profiles failure trying to synch site

Event log shows you error:  failure trying to synch site . Cannot insert duplicate key row in object 'dbo.UserMemberships' with unique index 'CX_UserMemberships_RecordId_MemberGroupId_SID'. Task Category "user profiles"

It happens to me when I have restored content db from another farm.

The way I fixed it:

1. Clear SharePoint 2010 cache (  I doubt that it may help but I did with the second step. So, can't differentiate what actually helped. Let me know if this step is not necessary)

2. stsadm -o sync -deleteolddatabase 0

P.S. make sure that user that runs stsadm.exe has acces to User Profile Service.
To be on the safe side, Run stsadm.exe under the user that runs the service "Forefront Identity Manager Service"

 (for more insight on User Profile Synchronization service)

SSRS: How to troubleshoot?

Got weird errors on SSRS?: 
such as below:

• An error occurred during client rendering.
  • Too many automatic redirections were attempted. 

The good place to start is:

1.

SSRS logs

C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSRS10.MSSQLSERVER\Reporting Services\LogFiles
(assuming that you have C:\ as a system drive)
2.
Find error and google it.

P.S.
In case you have found this post by searching:

• An error occurred during client rendering.
  • Too many automatic redirections were attempted. 

You may have problem with HTTPS communication.

Check the config file for SSRS:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSRS10.MSSQLSERVER\Reporting Services\ReportServer\rsreportserver.config

If you need to have HTTP connection: set

<Add Key="SecureConnectionLevel" Value="0"/> instead of 2

layouts/inplview.js? access is denied

[Question]:
layouts/inplview.js? access is denied


In SharePoint 2010 when I am trying to get a item menu by right clicking on the item I am having a javascript error:
layouts/inplview.js? access is denied
How can I fix it?


[Answer]:


I have resolved this error by correcting AAM (Alternate Access Mapping) records.


 My issue was that I have configured HTTPS between user and ISA, but set HTTP between ISA and the SharePoint server. ISA: How to redirect HTTP to HTTPS, How to set SSL Certificate


Such configuration is called "off-box SSL termination." But, I have setup AAM in incorrect way.


The correct AAM for "off-box SSL termination" is to use HTTP and HTTPS urls as Internal URLS for one default HTTPS Public URL(in case public and internal hostname are equal in ISA):

P.S. In case you haven't setup SSL certificate on the web server and you want to request site locally avoiding trip to ISA, add to local host file as an example perimiter.portal2010.local with IP of the server; and then add AAM for this hostname. It will do the trick.

Simple Concept: _layouts/userdisp.aspx shows 404 not found

[Question]: 

How to fix 404 not found on SharePoint 2007/2010 browsing User Profile page _layouts/userdisp.aspx ?

[Answer]:

The userdisp.aspx page code needs to be changed on any servers providing web application services for the site (the web front ends, for example). On the servers, navigate to C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\12\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS. Make a copy of the userdisp.aspx file – just in case, so you'll have something to revert back to! Open the original using Notepad. Look for Scope="Farm" and change Farm to Web so that it reads Scope="Web". Save and close. Repeat on all web servers

P.S. More details from SharePoint User Information Userdisp.aspx Error by Melonie Poole

an unhandled exception systemsecurity.cryptography.cryptographicexception occurred in OWSTIMER.exe

Having this one every day on your local box where SharePoint 2010 installed?

This is a known issue that gives you no harm: OWSTimer unhandled exception popup – System.Security.Cryptographic.CryptographicException

Don't worry about your Prod SharePoint 2010 box. The window will not popup in the case you don't have Visual Studio installed there.

Chrome: An additional plug-in is required to display some element.

What plug-in should I install? How can I look at the installed plug-ins?

You can look at the installed plug-ins by typing in the Chrome browser:
about:plugins or chrome://plugins/

When I click on "Install plug-in" nothing happens.


In this case, there is chance that you are suffering from Skype plug-in:


Refer to:Chrome–An additional plug-in is required to display some elements on this page–Solved

I fixed my Chrome by removing Skype extension.

SharePoint 2010 Failover doesn't work: Login failed at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlInternalConnectionTds.LoginWithFailover

We did the SQL mirroring for a content database.Then I went on /_admin/CNTDBADM.aspx select the content database and set the failover server for it.


We have 2 servers. Initially, db01 - is a principal, db02- failover.


The connection strings looks like this one:Data Source=db01;Failover Partner=db02;Initial Catalog={Content_db_name};Integrated Security=True;Enlist=False;Asynchronous Processing=False;Connect Timeout=15'  


Then for test purposes we switch the principal to  the previous failover server(db02). db01 became a mirror.


SharePoint worked great first couple hours.


But then when we sunset db01, the SharePoint collapsed with error that he can't connect to db01:



SqlError: 'Login failed for user '{failover instance service account}.'    Source: '.Net SqlClient Data Provider' Number: 18456 State: 1 Class: 14 Procedure: '' LineNumber: 65536 Server: '{db01 server netbios name}'


SQL database login for '{Content_db_name}' on instance 'db01' failed. Additional error information from SQL Server is included below.  Login failed for user '{failover instance service account}



ConnectionString: 'Data Source=db01;Failover Partner=db02;Initial Catalog={Content_db_name};Integrated Security=True;Enlist=False;Asynchronous Processing=False;Connect Timeout=15'    ConnectionState: Closed ConnectionTimeout: 15


An error occured while attempting to verify that the database is read only for database {Content_db_name}. The error contained the following message: Login failed for user {failover instance service account}

System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException: Login failed for user '{failover instance service account}'.    
 at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlInternalConnection.OnError(SqlException exception, Boolean breakConnection)    
 at System.Data.SqlClient.TdsParser.ThrowExceptionAndWarning(TdsParserStateObject stateObj)    
 at System.Data.SqlClient.TdsParser.Run(RunBehavior runBehavior, SqlCommand cmdHandler, SqlDataReader dataStream, BulkCopySimpleResultSet bulkCopyHandler, TdsParserStateObject stateObj)    
 at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlInternalConnectionTds.CompleteLogin(Boolean enlistOK)    
 at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlInternalConnectionTds.AttemptOneLogin(ServerInfo serverInfo, String newPassword, Boolean ignoreSniOpenTimeout, Int64 timerExpire, SqlConnection owningObject)    
 at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlInternalConnectionTds.LoginWithFailover(B

Even though I can see the connection string with Failover Partner value in the log, it hasn't been recognized by SharePoint.


This strange fix worked for me:


I re-applied the failover setting on the content database through PowerShell:


***Note you must be logged into PS as the Farm Account to set the failovers, a farm admin does not have sufficient rights to do this.***
(Setting Failover Partners for Sharepoint 2010)


 $db = get-spdatabase | where {$_.Name -eq "Content_db_name"}   
 $db.AddFailoverServiceInstance("db02");
 $db.Update() 




How do you know if SharePoint uses the failover succesfully? Here is an indicator in the log file:


SQL Server failover connection detected. SQL Server db01 failing over to SQL server db02


P.S. The failover server should have a partner on SQL side. My DBA set the content db without mirroring on db02 . That immediately brought the error on SharePoint side. Somehow it checks that the failover server contains the content database that should be mirrored.


System.InvalidOperationException: Server db02, database {Content_db_name} is not configured for database mirroring


P.S.S.
There is an excellent article that covers all SharePoint 2010 databases and their failover ability. 

Logon Failure: Reason: An error occurred during logon

This issue occurs if you install Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) or Microsoft 


Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1). Windows XP SP2 and Windows Server 2003 SP1 


include a loopback check security feature that is designed to help prevent reflection attacks 


on your computer. 


Therefore, authentication fails if the FQDN or the custom host header that you use does not 
match the local computer name.

Method 1: Specify host names (Preferred method if NTLM authentication is desired)

To specify the host names that are mapped to the loopback address and can connect to Web sites on your computer, follow these steps:

1. Set the
   DisableStrictNameChecking
   registry entry to 1. For more information about how to do this, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
   281308  Connecting to SMB share on a Windows 2000-based computer or a Windows Server 2003-based computer may not work with an alias name
2. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
3. In Registry Editor, locate and then click the following registry key:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa\MSV1_0
4. Right-click MSV1_0, point to New, and then click Multi-String Value.
5. Type BackConnectionHostNames, and then press ENTER.
6. Right-click BackConnectionHostNames, and then click Modify.
7. In the Value data box, type the host name or the host names for the sites that are on the local computer, and then click OK.
8. Quit Registry Editor, and then restart the IISAdmin service.

Back to the top

Method 2: Disable the loopback check (less-recommended method)

The second method is to disable the loopback check by setting the DisableLoopbackCheck registry key.

To set the DisableLoopbackCheck registry key, follow these steps:

1. Set the
   DisableStrictNameChecking
   registry entry to 1. For more information about how to do this, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
   281308  Connecting to SMB share on a Windows 2000-based computer or a Windows Server 2003-based computer may not work with an alias name
2. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
3. In Registry Editor, locate and then click the following registry key:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa
4. Right-click Lsa, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
5. Type DisableLoopbackCheck, and then press ENTER.
6. Right-click DisableLoopbackCheck, and then click Modify.
7. In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.
8. Quit Registry Editor, and then restart your computer.

(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896861)

"SharePoint 2007 to 2010 Upgrade" online project (part 7) : In-place upgrade BDC failed: the bdc service application is not accessible There are no addresses available for this application

[What you have]:
 An Upgraded 2007 farm by means in-place upgrade model ("SharePoint 2007 to 2010 Upgrade" online project (part 3): "Theory"). After you have upgraded the farm, you have [name of your 2007 SharedServices] - Business Data Connectivity Service where all converted BDC files reside.  On click on that service you are getting the error: the bdc service application is not accessible. There are no addresses available for this application

[What you want]:

Fix the error and use the the converted BDC files.

[What you want to know]: 
You may first try to google the error itself. My google findings couldn't  fix the errors. And I ended up removing the broken BDC service. But before removing I exported all converted BDCM files. This post is all about How to export BDCM out of the broken BDCS.

(Btw, still confused with BDC and similar abbreviation? - welcome to read post on SharePoint 2010: BCS and BDC)

[What you want to do]:

Firstly, try to export BDCM using SPD 2010. My attempt has failed. And I happily returned to PowerShell to get my BDCM files out of the Business Connectivity Service 

(Want a quick intro into PowerShell and SharePoint - PowerShell and SharePoint: What, Why and How)

Here is the code to export BDC models:

$models=@(

#array of your model names

);

foreach ($modelName in $models)

{

$path =  "G:\temp\LOCAL\BDCM\{0}.bdcm" -f $modelName;

$Model = Get-SPBusinessDataCatalogMetadataObject -BdcObjectType "Model" -name $modelName -ServiceContext {your web application URL}

if ($Model -ne $null)

{

Export-SPBusinessDataCatalogModel -Identity $Model -Path $path -force

Write-Host "The model $modelName has been exported";

}

}

SimpleConcept: Message Error: 18456, Severity: 14, State: 38.

[Question]:
Message:
Message Error: 18456, Severity: 14, State: 38.
Login failed for user 'NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE'. Reason: Failed to open the explicitly specified database. [CLIENT: <local machine>]
How to figure out what application to what database is trying to connect?

[Answer]:

State 38: Initial database could not be determined for session (SQL 2008)

The best way to investigate and locate the problem is SQL Server Profiler.

Run the trace with following trace properties:

And the filter:

You will see the ApplicationName from the request is originated.