**Updated to include SharePoint On-Prem to Office 365 SharePoint Online Scenario

Important

• This documentation covers features that are currently in preview and not yet finalized for use in production code.
• Replace <TENANT> with actual tenant prefix, <SPOSite> with SPO Site prefix and <On-PremSPSite> with SP On-Prem Site Prefix in all PowerShell cmdlets.
• Triple-click in code box to copy Code / PowerShell cmdlets if they don’t fit on screen!

Prerequisites

• Valid Office 365 subscription
• Valid Microsoft Azure subscription
• Install SharePoint Online management shell version 16.0.4017.1200 or above from here. More details at https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/fp161372.aspx
• Run SharePoint Online management shell as Administrator and connect SPO service using the below cmdlet

  Connect-SPOService -Url https://<TENANT>-admin.sharepoint.com 

 To keep things simple, lets divide the entire process in few steps:  

Step 1 - Create SPO Migration Package

Step 1a – Create SPO Migration Package from SharePoint On-Prem Content

• RDP to a WFE for On Premise SharePoint Server
• Open SharePoint Management Shell as administrator
• Export the Web / Site Collection using the below cmdlet

  Export-SPWeb -Identity "https://<On-PremSPSite>" -ItemUrl "/OnPremDocLib" -Path "C:\SPOnPremExport" -NoFileCompression -IncludeVersions 4

• Note:
1. -NoFileCompression is specified so output will be created in a folder and hence -Path is given without .cmp
2. -ItemUrl parameter has to be a relative path i.e. if absolute URL is https://SharePoint.contoso.com/DocLib then –ItemUrl will be just “/DocLib”
3. At this time, SPO migration pipe is oriented for list and document library content only. Hence, -ItemUrl is required.
• More Info: Export-SPWeb https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff607895.aspx
• Copy Data: Copy the Contents of this folder to the location on machine which has SharePoint Online Management Shell installed. i.e. I copied contents from C:\SPOnPremExport from my SharePoint On-Prem Server to C:\MigrationPackages\SPOTemp on my laptop.

OR

Step 1b – Create SPO Migration Package from a file share

• Copy data / files to be migrated to SPO into a local / network folder e.g. \\nishant-lptp\SPOTEMP
  • Note: Blocked file types for SPO is by default same as https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc262496.aspx
• Create a new migration package using below cmdlet

  New-SPOMigrationPackage -SourceFilesPath "\\nishant-lptp\SPOTEMP" -OutputPackagePath "C:\MigrationPackages\SPOTEMP" -TargetWebUrl "https://<SPOSite>.sharepoint.com/" -TargetDocumentLibraryPath "SPOMigration"

• More Info: New-SPOMigrationPackage https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/mt143603.aspx

Note:

• OutputPackagePath folder hierarchy will be created if it doesn’t exist





 

Step 2 - Prepare Final SPO Migration Package

• Prepare data / files to be migrated using below cmdlet
• For Step 1a

  ConvertTo-SPOMigrationTargetedPackage -SourceFilesPath "C:\MigrationPackages\SPOTEMP" -SourcePackagePath "C:\MigrationPackages\SPOTEMP" -OutputPackagePath "C:\MigrationPackages\SPOMigrationPackage" -TargetWebUrl "https://<SPOSite>.sharepoint.com/" -TargetDocumentLibraryPath "SPOMigration"

• For Step1b

  ConvertTo-SPOMigrationTargetedPackage -SourceFilesPath "\\nishant-lptp\SPOTEMP" -SourcePackagePath "C:\MigrationPackages\SPOTEMP" -OutputPackagePath "C:\MigrationPackages\SPOMigrationPackage" -TargetWebUrl "https://<SPOSite>.sharepoint.com/" -TargetDocumentLibraryPath "SPOMigration"

  
  
• There are six required parameters to enter (others are optional)
  1. TargetwebURL: points to the destination Web
  2. SourceFilesPath: points to the you want to migrate
  3. SourcePackagePath: points to your Temporary package folder
  4. OutputPackagePath: points to your final package folder
  5. TargetDocumentLibraryPath: the path to your destination library
  6. Credentials: SPO credential that has admin rights to the destination site
• More Info: ConvertTo-SPOMigrationTargetedPackage - https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/mt143609.aspx





 

Step 3 - Upload SPO Migration Package to Azure Blob Containers

• Follow the below steps to get Storage Account Name and two container names inside it. If you already have a storage account, you could use the same
  • Login to Azure Portal via https://manage.windowsazure.com
  • Browse to Storage > Create a new storage account e.g. nO365mig
  • In newly created storage account create two containers e.g. migration-files, migration-package
• Prepare to upload the prepared data / files to Azure Blob Containers using below cmdlet
• For Step 1a

  $azurelocations = Set-SPOMigrationPackageAzureSource -SourceFilesPath "C:\MigrationPackages\SPOTEMP" -SourcePackagePath "C:\MigrationPackages\SPOMigrationPackage" -FileContainerName migration-files -PackageContainerName migration-package -AccountName nO365mig -AccountKey "REAPLCE_WITH_YOUR_AZURE_STORAGE_ACCOUNT_ACCESS_KEY"

  
  
• For Step1b

  $azurelocations = Set-SPOMigrationPackageAzureSource -SourceFilesPath "\\nishant-lptp\SPOTEMP" -SourcePackagePath "C:\MigrationPackages\SPOMigrationPackage" -FileContainerName migration-files -PackageContainerName migration-package -AccountName nO365mig -AccountKey "REAPLCE_WITH_YOUR_AZURE_STORAGE_ACCOUNT_ACCESS_KEY"

  
  
• More Info: Set-SPOMigrationPackageAzureSource - https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/mt143606.aspx



 

Step 4 - Submit Migration Job

• Submit Migration Job to transfer data from Source <to> Azure Blob Containers <to> SPO Site Collection using below cmdlet

  Submit-SPOMigrationJob -TargetWebUrl "https://<SPOSite>.sharepoint.com/" -MigrationPackageAzureLocations $azurelocations

• Above cmdlet is generic and applies to both Step1a and Step1b
• More Info: Submit-SPOMigrationJob - https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/mt143605.aspx



 

Step 5 (Optional) - Check Migration Job Status

• Check migration job (to transfer data from Azure Blob Containers to SPO Site Collection) status using below cmdlet

  Get-SPOMigrationJobStatus -TargetWebUrl https://<SPOSite>.sharepoint.com/

   



Step 1a



Step 1b



 

Step 6 (Optional) - Remove Migration Job

• In case if the migration job is stuck or if it needs to be removed for any reason you could use the below cmdlet (Note: This will work only if the job is not already completed)

  Remove-SPOMigrationJob -JobId e79c5022-3aa1-446c-a8e6-2431063706fa -TargetWebUrl https://<SPOSite>.sharepoint.com/

• More Info: Remove-SPOMigrationJob - https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/mt143607.aspx

So, I ran into an issue where the tick marks just disappeared from OneDrive for Business. New and modified files would actually sync just fine however it wouldn’t show any notification tick marks (Green for InSync / Twin cyclic arrows for SyncInProgress / Red for ErrorConflict).

After running a quite a few quick / online repairs (Office 365 ProPlus) of Office 2013, clearing cache etc I found a way to fix this.

1. Shut down OneDrive for Business by choosing Exit from system tray icon. Sometimes it re-spawns so do ensure there is no instance of GROOVE.EXE in Task Manager > Details
2. Download Autoruns from https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx and run autoruns.exe as Administrator
3. Once the scanning completes, search for “ShellIconOverlayIdentifiers” and toggle two sets of 3 entries for OneDrive for Business (screenshot below). The intent is to ensure both sets of 3 entries for OneDrive for Business are in checked state.
   • 
4. Take a backup of contents of below folders (these are used for groove and office cache respectively) and empty these folders
   • C:\Users\<USERNAME>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\Spw
   • C:\Users\<USERNAME>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\15.0\OfficeFileCache
5. Go to Control Panel > Programs and Features (appwiz.cpl) and run a Quick Repair of Office 365 ProPlus
6. Reboot!

These steps fixed the issue for me and I was glad to have my sync notification icons back!

Prerequisite: You'll need an active Microsoft Azure subscription > Verify by browsing to https://manage.windowsazure.com/ (or new portal at https://portal.azure.com/) and sign-in using your Windows Live ID associated with Microsoft Azure subscription.

1. Create a Virtual Network > Give it a name and choose the region > Leave the DNS Server blank for now, we'll come back for it > Choose IP address range (Class A / B /C) and or add subnets as needed

2. (Optional) Download and Install "Microsoft Online Services Sign-in Assistant" from https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=221500&clcid=0x409

3. Download and Install "Windows Azure PowerShell" from https://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9811175&clcid=0x409

Note: .NET Framework 4.5 is a prerequisite to "Windows Azure PowerShell" so if not already installed, Web Platform Installer will download and install it.

      a. Documentation: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/articles/install-configure-powershell/

      b. Script Center: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/scripts/

4. Find out your Microsoft Azure Storage account URL and note it down

5. Locate your local VHD and note down the local path

6. Run "Windows Azure PowerShell" as Administrator

7. Run the below PowerShell command, this will open a browser window, sign in again if needed and it will download a file e.g. <SubScriptionName>-<Date>-credentials.publishsettings > Save this file locally

Get-AzurePublishSettingsFile

8. Run the below PowerShell command to Import the publishSettings file

Import-AzurePublishSettingsFile -PublishSettingsFile "C:\<SubScriptionName>-<DownloadDate>-credentials.publishsettings"

9. Type the below PowerShell command to verify the PowerShell connection to your Microsoft Azure Subscription

Get-AzureSubscription

10. Run the below PowerShell command to upload the VHD to Microsoft Azure storage

Add-AzureVhd -Destination "https://<AzureStorageAccountPath>/VHDName.vhd" -LocalFilePath "<LocalVHDPath>\VHDName.vhd"

It will first calculate MD5 hash of the VHD and then it will upload the VHD

11. Browse to Microsoft Azure Management Portal https://manage.windowsazure.com/

12. You could verify the VHD shows up in Storage by clicking on Storage > Select storage > Containers > Select appropriate container

13. Create a Disk from VHD by clicking on Virtual Machines > Disks > Create > Select the appropriate VHD and give it a name > Put a check mark on "This VHD contains an operating system" and choose Windows as the OS family > It will start creating a disk and should complete in a minute or so

14. Now create a VM by clicking on Virtual Machines > New > Compute > Virtual Machine > From Gallery > Choose My Disks > Choose the appropriate disk > Click next

15. Provide VM name > Choose Size as appropriate > Click next > Choose to create a new cloud service and sure cloud service name is not duplicate (green tick) > Choose Network and subnet as designed in first step > Expose additional end points if needed > Finish the wizard > This should complete in a few minutes

16. (Optional unless you have your own DNS Server / DC) Click on Networks > Select your network > Note down IP address of DNS Server/ Domain controller machine > Click configure and provide DNS Server hostname and IP address > Click Save

17. Once ready, you can click on Connect to RDP to the VM

Note:

I. Since the Network Adapter will change, you'll need to re-assign the old IP addresses for DNS Servers if needed (especially if you have your own ADDS running on Microsoft Azure too). Otherwise name resolution and hence other services may fail.

II. Guest Windows OS may require re-activation in some cases.

III. It is possible to have simultaneous uploads for different VHDs to Microsoft Azure from different local machines.

· In case if you wish to download the VHD again from Microsoft Azure -

a. From UI: You can browse to Storage > Select storage > Containers > Select appropriate container > Choose VHD > Download.

II. Using PowerShell: You could use the following PowerShell command to download the VHD from Microsoft Azure.

Save-AzureVhd -Source "https://<AzureStorageAccountPath>/VHDName.vhd" -LocalFilePath "<LocalVHDPath>\VHDName.vhd"

Download: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=43416

<Date Time> w3wp.exe (PID) <TID> SharePoint Foundation General 8kh7 High The URL 'DocumentLibrary/DocumentName.docx' is invalid. It may refer to a nonexistent file or folder, or refer to a valid file or folder that is not in the current Web. <Correlation ID>

<Date Time> w3wp.exe (PID) <TID> SharePoint Foundation General 8nca Verbose Application error when access /_layouts/Versions.aspx, Error=The URL 'DocumentLibrary/DocumentName.docx' is invalid. It may refer to a nonexistent file or folder, or refer to a valid file or folder that is not in the current Web. at Microsoft.SharePoint.Library.SPRequestInternalClass.GetFileVersions(String bstrWebUrl, String bstrFileUrl, Byte level, Object& pvarVersions, UInt32& pdwcVersions) at Microsoft.SharePoint.Library.SPRequest.GetFileVersions(String bstrWebUrl, String bstrFileUrl, Byte level, Object& pvarVersions, UInt32& pdwcVersions) <Correlation ID>

<Date Time> w3wp.exe (PID) <TID> SharePoint Foundation Runtime tkau Unexpected System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException: The URL 'DocumentLibrary/DocumentName.docx' is invalid. It may refer to a nonexistent file or folder, or refer to a valid file or folder that is not in the current Web. at Microsoft.SharePoint.Library.SPRequestInternalClass.GetFileVersions(String bstrWebUrl, String bstrFileUrl, Byte level, Object& pvarVersions, UInt32& pdwcVersions) at Microsoft.SharePoint.Library.SPRequest.GetFileVersions(String bstrWebUrl, String bstrFileUrl, Byte level, Object& pvarVersions, UInt32& pdwcVersions) <Correlation ID>

Good thing is, Content DB orphans / Security Corruption (Missing ScopeID) could be detected using stsadm -o databaserepair or using a PowerShell script such as below for SharePoint 2010 /2013 Farm.

Note:

1. Please take farm / Content DB backup before you attempt to use this script. I or Microsoft are not responsible for any damages due to wrong usage of the script!
2. Script runs at Farm level, enumerates thru each Content DB so script could take some time to complete if there are many Content DBs / large farm.
3. Script is Read-Only (just detects orphans – if any).

• IMPORTANT: Script can be changed to remove orphans by setting bool DeleteCorruption to $true. I strongly suggest to use this script initially only for detection and enable DeleteCorruption flag only after ensuring working backup of affected Content DBs / entire farm (if required).

• More Info on SPContentDatabase.Repair method https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/microsoft.sharepoint.administration.spcontentdatabase.repair.aspx
• More Info on stsadm -o databaserepair command https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc263282.aspx

if ((Get-PSSnapin -Name Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) -eq $null ) 

{Add-PSSnapin Microsoft.SharePoint.Powershell}

$CDBs = Get-SPContentDatabase

ForEach ($CDB in $CDBs)

{

    Write-Host "Detecting Orphans for " $CDB.Name

    $CDB.Repair($false)

}

You can use this Windows PowerShell script to know the total number of list items in a SharePoint Web Application. You can tweak the recursion to get list item details for subsite o for site collection level...

Below is the sample script.

if ( (Get-PSSnapin -Name Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) -eq $null )
 {Add-PSSnapin Microsoft.SharePoint.Powershell}
 
$SPWebApp = Get-SPWebApplication("https://intranet.contoso.com")
 
$i=0
foreach ($SPSite in $SPWebApp.Sites)
{
    Write-Host "Going thru Site Collection" $SPSite.Title
    foreach ($SPWeb in $SPSite.AllWebs)
    {
        Write-Host "Going thru Web" $SPWeb.Title
        foreach ($SPList in $SPWeb.Lists)
        {
        Write-Host "Going thru List" $SPList.Title "which has" $SPList.ItemCount "item(s)"
        foreach ($SPListItem in $SPList.Items)
        {
            Write-Host "Going thru Item" $SPListItem.Name
            $i=$i+1
            }
        }
        $SPWeb.dispose()
    }
    $SPSite.dispose()
}
Write-Host "Total item count" $i
 

So lets get started with assuming -

1. "User Profile Synchronization Service" is in "Started" state on appropriate SharePoint server
2. "Replicate Directory Changes" permission on a domain is present for synchronization account https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh296982.aspx#RDCdomain
3. If you will export property values from SharePoint Server to AD DS, the synchronization account must have Create Child Objects (this object and all descendants) and Write All Properties (this object and all descendants) permissions on the organizational unit (OU) that you are synchronizing with. Ref: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff182925.aspx#permission
4. You have a functional SharePoint 2010 / SharePoint 2013 environment which is configured to do Profile Synchronization. For more details on this please refer to https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff382639.aspx

• Currently this is how the picture space in Outlook and Lync shows up for our example user Amy Alberts.

• Browse to Central Admin > Manage User Properties > Edit the Picture Property

• Under Add New Mapping, Choose the Source Data Connection as your AD import connection, attribute as "thumbnailPhoto" and Direction as "Export" and click Add

• By doing this you'd see Property Mapping for Synchronization as below, Click OK now to save this property mapping

• Now in Manage User Properties, Picture attribute would show up as below

• Browse to a user's My Site whose picture needs to be updated, click on My Profile > Edit My Profile > Choose Picture > Save and Close

• Browse again to User Profile Service Application > Start Profile Synchronization > Start Incremental Synchronization
• There are couple of ways you can verify the picture export
• From SharePoint side
• Open MIISCLIENT.EXE from C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office Servers\14.0\Synchronization Service\UIShell
• Look at the latest DS_EXPORT phase and click on "Updates" in Export Statistics, this would open the Object Details window
• Choose the user for whom the picture was updated and click on Properties
• You should see a change of type "add" for attribute name "thumbnailPhoto" as below

• This indicates SharePoint was successfully able to export the photo
• From Active Directory side
• Open the tool ADSIEdit.msc
• Connect to the correct domain
• Navigate thru the hierarchy and find the user for whom the picture was updated and open properties  of the user so that it would display the attribute editor
• By default he value of attribute "thumbnailPhoto" would be <not set> however after the profile synchronization is completed, you would see a binary value in there as visible in screenshot below

• Important:
• Its not supported/recommended to run any operations or make any changes directly using MIISCLIENT.exe. Please rely on SharePoint UI/OM for all your Profile Sync operations.
• ADSIEdit.msc is a very powerful tool and can mess around the Active Directory configuration if not carefully used. If you do any changes using this tool, its irreversible so please be careful. In my example, we are using this tool as READ-ONLY just to confirm the changes made.

• After giving a few hours and once the AD replication is complete and once Exchange and Lync have picked up these changes (I didn’t need to do any manual changes on my Exchange Server 2010 or Lync Serve 2010) this is how the picture space in Outlook and Lync shows up for our example user Amy Alberts.

 I hope this helps you to increase personalization in your organization.

In SharePoint Server 2007, we often run into situations where some attributes of a user is updated in Active Directory however the changes don’t reflect in SharePoint Sites even after doing Profile Import.

Lets take an example of a user "Susan Burk" who gets married and her last name changes to Johnson so her name becomes "Susan Johnson".

Active Directory (AD) folks changes the Last Name and Display Name of Susan

SharePoint Admin does a full / incremental profile import and we see that the changes have reflected in her User Profile as well.

 However, a week after Susan loges a call with IT Helpdesk stating on the company's Intranet portal, she is still listed as "Susan Burk" and it has not changed to "Susan Johnson".

SharePoint by default runs "Profile Synchronization" (PROFSYNCH) job every 1 hour and "Quick Profile Synchronization" (SWEEPSYNCH) job every 1 minute which are responsible to sync'ing any changes from Profile Store to SharePoint Sites. So, SharePoint Admin verifies these jobs are in-tact and are running on schedule for the affected web application by going to Central Admin > Timer Job Status and confirms both Profile Sync and Quick Profile Sync jobs have ran within the last hour.

So, there are quite a few things which can cause such a scenario.

• Database is marked as read-only in SQL Server

• Database status set to "Offline" at Central Administration > Application Management > Content Databases > Manage Content Database Settings

• Site Collection is marked as read-only in Central Administration > Application Management > Site Collection Quotas and Locks

• Profile Import is running from a long time

• Configuration Cache is stale
  • 'cache.ini' file not updating at

Windows Server 2003 - C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\SharePoint\Config\<GUID>\cache.ini

Windows Server 2008 & 2008 R2 - C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\SharePoint\Config\<GUID>\cache.ini

• The link between Shared Services Provider (SSP) and the web application is broken
  • Due to "Moving" attribute set to 'True' in dbo.SiteSynch table in SharedServices database due to incorrect usage of stsadm -o preparetomovecommand
  • https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc262122(office.12).aspx

• SharePoint site and SSP have not "sync'd" from some time!
  • Try running stsadm -o sync -listolddatabases 5 (where 5 is the number of days since the site and SSP sync
  • https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc263196(office.12).aspx

• User is not active in SharePoint
  • "tp_IsActive" attribute is 'False' in Content Database's "dbo.UserInfo" table

• Web Application is excluded from sync

We know its NOT SUPPORTED to make any direct changes / modifications to SharePoint databases (https://support.microsoft.com/kb/841057)

Here are the standard troubleshooting steps for the scenarios mentioned above, running all the below steps may / may not be required in every case, so you should identify the problem and apply corrective steps accordingly -  

• Ensure the Content Database is not marked as read-only in SQL Server
• Ensure Site Collection is not marked as read-only at Central Administration > Application Management > Site Collection Quotas and Locks

• Profile Sync wont happen it the Profile Import is running, so ensure Profile Import job has successfully completed and you have a import schedule which is not overlapping (and hence profile import is not running all the time)

• Clear Configuration Cache on all SharePoint servers one by one by following KB article (https://support.microsoft.com/kb/939308)

• Run the following SQL read-only query against the SSP Database to identify the Sites which have "Moving" attribute set to 'True
  • SELECT* FROM [SharedServices1_DB].[dbo].[SiteSynch] Where Moving ='1'

• Run the following command against each of the Site Collections you find which have "Moving" attribute set to 'True' or '1'
  • stsadm -o preparetomove -site https://WebApp/SiteCollection/ -undo

• Run the below commands on a WFE which hosts Central Admin in the following order
  • stsadm -o sync -synctiming m:10 (If you have large number of users in a Site Collection where you're experiencing the issue, increase the number to h:2 {2 hours} or so such that the sync job doesn’t overlap and sync job gets sufficient time to execute)
  • stsadm -o sync -ignoreisactive 1 (switch onlyavailable in builds 12.0.6314.5000 and above)

Note: Setting ignoreisactive to '1' or 'True' will trigger all the Inactive users in the Content DB to get sync'd, which may be CPU intensive and cause a spike / transaction log growth on DB server, its important to revert it back once we are done

The actual performance impact caused by 'ignoreisactive' is determined by

• Total number of user entries in userinfo tables of each content database.

• The ratio of inactive/active users in userinfo table

• Current topology architecture and hardware configuration, e.g. it will ease the perf hit if customers split the content DBs and SSP DB to separate physical hard drives, and/or they separate the SSP DB from content DBs to different physical SQL server etc.

• How frequent they schedule the User Sync job. It's highly recommanded to set the sync job to run once everyday at non-working hour or in a test environment to evaluate the performance impact first. After understanding the SQL Disk I/O, CPU usage etc., then make the decision on how frequent and when to run the job based on business needs, and moving on to production system.

• stsadm -o sync -deleteolddatabases 0

• stsadm -o sync

• If you notice none of the site collection in the entire web application are sync'ing then you may have excluded the web app. You can run the below command to correct that and get the site collection in web app to sync again.
  • Stsadm -o sync -excludewebapps ""

Note: We are passing a NULL list (observe there is no value between quotes) as there is no way to remove a specific web application from this list. So, lets say you have added 2 web applications to exclude and just want 1 to be included back then you have to remove both and then add 1 again which you don’t wish to sync)

Now wait for ~30 to 60 mins and verify if profile sync is working (you may need to wait longer if there are lot of users in the Site Collection so that all entries are updated)

• Once confirmed its working fine; it is very important to revert back the changes to defaults
  • Set ignoreisactive back to 0 by running
    • stsadm -o sync -ignoreisactive 0
  • Set the Profile Sync job back to default time of 1 hour by running
    • stsadm -o sync -synctiming h:1

Note:  If you observe that nothing of the above has worked, try the below 2 steps

• Detach and attach the Content DB (perform this step in a TEST ENVIRONMENT first to understand any impact prior doing on Production)

• Try adding the user directly (not thru a Active Directory / SharePoint Group) and check

Note: Please be VERY careful when executing the deleteconfigurationobject command, if this command is not used in the correct way (if you end up deleting the wrong object) there is NO way to revert back the changes and it has the potential to render your Configuration Database useless, hence you may require to restore / rebuild your SharePoint farm !!!

Update: Running this command without explicit approval from SharePoint Product Group is not supported, use the information available in this blog ONLY IN TEST ENVIRONMENT to ensure your SharePoint environment has the issue described here, once confirmed open a support case with Microsoft and let them get approval from SharePoint Product Group.

Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS-IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. Use this information at your own risk, I or Microsoft are not responsible for any damage which may occur due to wrong usage of this command.

Lets consider a scenario of a site called SharePoint – 80 which was deleted sometime back but when you go to Central Administration > Operations > Timer Job Definitions you see an Immediate Alerts job still exists as below.

The above timer job should have got deleted when the SharePoint – 80 site was deleted however somehow its left out and may interfere with other alert timer jobs.

To get rid of this timer job we will need the Configuration ID of the timer job which can be found by looking at Internet Explorer status bar while pointing your mouse cursor on the orphan timer job. Note down the GUID after JobId=

Run the following command and replace objectId with above GUID number.

stsadm.exe -o deleteconfigurationobject -id <objectId>

You just got rid of your Orphan Immediate Alerts timer job!

Now lets take a scenario of an orphan application pool. ‘Orphan application pool’ is an object which is visible when you browse to Central Administration > Operations > Service Accounts > Choose Web application pool > Choose Windows SharePoint Services Web Application. Here in the drop down you see an orphan app pool which actually doesn’t exist on any of the web front ends (and also this app pool isn’t utilized for any web applications). Orphan app pool wouldn’t be listed in timer job definitions so that makes our job little difficult.

(Note: We are just going to read data from SQL Server and not perform any write operation as direct database modification is not supported for SharePoint databases – https://support.microsoft.com/kb/841057)

(Also ensure you have a good backup of your SharePoint Farm just in case if you accidently end up changing anything in database directly)

Open SQL Server Management Studio for SQL Server which hosts SharePoint databases > New Query

SELECT     Id, Name, Status, Properties

FROM       Objects

WHERE (Name LIKE 'SharePoint - 80')

(Here SharePoint – 80 is our orphan app pool name)

Now; it would give you a few entries; look in properties and note down the ID of the one which shows <object type="Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPApplicationPool, …. >

Again, run the following command and replace objectId with above GUID number to get rid of the orphan application pool.

stsadm.exe -o deleteconfigurationobject -id <objectId>

You see an error similar to the below one in ULS Logs.

01/09/2010 04:26:55.43 w3wp.exe (0x07F4) 0x11C4 Windows SharePoint Services Topology 8zri High System.DirectoryServices.DirectoryServicesCOMException (0x8007200A): The specified directory service attribute or value does not exist. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x8007200A) at System.DirectoryServices.DirectoryEntry.CommitChanges() at Microsoft.SharePoint.EmailIntegration.SPEWSADManager.CreateDistributionGroup(String Alias, String Name, String Description, Object memberList, Boolean RequireContactValidation, DistributionGroupFlags Flags)SPEWSADManager::CreateDistributionGroup

We go to Site Settings > People and Groups > New > Group > Type in details and make sure to choose “Yes” for Create an e-mail distribution group for this group and specify a Distribution list e-mail address.

This will send the above mentioned DL to approval at Central Admin > Operations > Approve/reject distribution groups

When we click on the group name and click on Approve we get the error message

Cause:

After doing quite some research, I found upon clicking on Approve, AD responds with noSuchAttribute as the msExchRequireAuthToSendTo attribute is unknown. This attribute is only available with Exchange 2003 or later.

Workaround:

Best way would be to install Exchange 2003 however its observed that if Exchange 2003 AD Extensions can be installed by just Exchange_Setup.exe /ForestPrep.

Once the ForestPrep is successful, you should no longer get the error message after clicking on Approve and should see a Distribution Group successfully getting created in the designated OU in AD.

Disclaimer:

When you use the /ForestPrep option, the Exchange Setup program extends the Active Directory schema to add Exchange-specific classes and attributes. THIS PROCESS IS IRREVERSIBLE and you should understand the consequences of running /ForestPrep prior to running it. ]]>