Information Worker Structured Collaboration https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/wwepmcoe/feed.xml World Wide Center of Excellence for EPM and Structured Collaboration. Tue, 16 Apr 2019 05:37:02 GMT en-US hourly 1 Project Server 2007 Split Farm Migration https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/wwepmcoe/project-server-2007-split-farm-migration Tue, 19 Jan 2010 19:10:30 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/wwepmcoe/2010/01/19/project-server-2007-split-farm-migration/ A lot of customers have Project Server 2007 and SharePoint Server 2007 running in coexistence on the same farm. There are many varying business factors that play into a migration/upgrade with timing, fiscal policy and workload scenarios. During the TAP and RDP phase of Project Server 2010 and SharePoint 2010 there is a growing requirement to temporarily break the coexistence of the 2007 applications into their farm/hardware and allow separate upgrade schedules to the 2010 platform and later rejoin the same farm in coexistence. This process on it's own can be a major challenge with a frequent request on how to uninstall Project Server 2007 from the farm and leave SharePoint operational. Below are the basic steps for the un-installation procedure. It assumes the prior installation and configuration was successful and Project Server binaries with the same (Service Pack/Cumulative Update) patch level are on ALL servers in the farm.

Basic un-installation steps:

  1. Un-provision PWA instance/s.
  2. Delete the PWA site Collections through the Central Administration.
  3. Uninstall Project Server 2007 from the Add/Remove program on the ALL servers in the farm
  4. Run Post Setup Configuration Wizard on all the Servers in the farm one at a time

In some scenarios an error may occur when running the Configuration Wizard. Refer to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927156 for details.
Error message when you try to use the SharePoint Products and Technologies Wizard: "Exception: System.ArgumentException: Error during encryption or decryption".

]]> How to determine resource licensing https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/wwepmcoe/how-to-determine-resource-licensing Tue, 19 Jan 2010 12:28:27 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/wwepmcoe/2010/01/19/how-to-determine-resource-licensing/ There are always several questions we face at customer sites on the licensing requirements for their Project Server implementation. It’s best to consult your local Microsoft Solution Sales Specialist (SSP) for the details to ensure compliance.

A common scenario we see customers are faced with is loading Project Server with ALL resources in the organization, whether work assignments exist or not, and have them available to perform work as it is assigned. An organization may likely consist of 10,000 people and only 1,200 active on projects at a time and would prefer to only have 1,200 Client Access License (CAL)s for the entire organization. This scenario is not allowed, however, Microsoft allows the CAL to be transferred (as a one off) after a 90 day period to a new user.

The simple SQL script below provides a view of all the resources in the named instance you set through the @PUBLISHED_DB_NAME variable to have the discussion with the SSP. Key columns to review from the SQL output that form a type of 3 way logic are:

  • RES_TYPE
  • LOGON_TO_PRO
  • LOGON_TO_PWA

RES_TYPE: The RES_TYPE_DESC case statement shows a RES_TYPE < 20 for users who can login to the server themselves and would require a CAL. A RES_TYPE between 20 and 99 cannot log themselves in and do not require a CAL. Any RES_TYPE 100 or higher are INACTIVE and do not require a CAL.

LOGON_TO_PRO: The LOGON_TO_PRO value is set in PWA by an administrator under Global Permissions for that user or category. To prevent logon from Project Professional requires the Deny option to be explicitly checked. This value is set the first time they login into the server and download the EGlobal. Therefore belonging to the Project Manager group itself does not qualify them as a Project Professional user.

LOGON_TO_PWA: The LOGON_TO_PWA value is set in PWA by an administrator under Global Permissions for that user or category. To prevent logon from to the Server requires the Deny option to be explicitly checked. A user who is denied access to login to the server does not require a CAL. E.g.: An active resource who has assignments in a project but never inputs, queries or views data on the server.

 

To summarize:

  1. For a resource to qualify for a PWA license it requires the RES_TYPE < 20 AND LOGON_TO_PWA = YES
  2. For a resource to qualify for a PRO license it requires the RES_TYPE < 20 AND LOGON_TO_PRO = YES AND LOGON_TO_PWA = YES
  3. If one or more of the conditions above is not true then the resource is INACTIVE/DENIED and no license is required

 

Click here for a sample view of the SQL Output.SQL_Output_Sample

SQL CODE

/*
-- **************************************************** SUMMARY NOTES ****************************************************** --
RESOURCE SYSTEM REPORT V1.0
    This report extracts a series of data points from the MSP_RESOURCES table in the Published Database with OUTER JOINS to
    the MSP_RESOURCES table and OUTER JOINS to the MSP_WEB_FN_SEC_GetGlobalPermissionAccessInfo function table.
    The data qualifies primary resource information for diagnostic analysis together with information to identify license
    usage. This query will be included in the EPM Diagnostics Extract Tool.
CUSTOMIZATION
    1. Set local variable @WORKING_QUERY with the dynamic Select query to execute.
    2. Set local variable @PUBLISHED_DB_NAME with your PUBLISHED database name.

CHANGELOG
    12/16/2009 MJ: Prepared for release to EPM Diagnostics Tool

*/
-- ************************************************ BEGIN DECLARE VARIABLES ************************************************ --
DECLARE @WORKING_QUERY nvarchar(max)              -- Variable to contain SELECT statements
DECLARE @PUBLISHED_DB_NAME nvarchar(100)          -- Variable to set the PUBLISHED database name
----------------------------------------------------  END DECLARE VARIABLES  --------------------------------------------------

-- *********************************************** BEGIN SET VARIABLE VALUES *********************************************** --
SET @PUBLISHED_DB_NAME = N'PWA_Published'          -- Set local variable @PUBLISHED_DB_NAME with your PUBLISHED database name
SET @WORKING_QUERY = N'use ' + @PUBLISHED_DB_NAME + N';' + N'
--------------------------------------------------  END SET VARIABLE VALUES  ---------------------------------------------------
SELECT
       rs.[RES_NAME]
      ,rs.[WRES_ACCOUNT]
      ,rs.[RES_TYPE]
      ,CASE
          -- ACTIVE RESOURCES HAVE RES_TYPE VALUE < 100
          -- ACTIVE HUMAN RESOURCES HAVE RES_TYPE VALUE < 20
    WHEN rs.[RES_TYPE] = 1 then ''PureUser - cannot be assigned''
    WHEN rs.[RES_TYPE] = 2 then ''WorkResource - can be assigned''
    WHEN rs.[RES_TYPE] = 20 then ''GenericWorkResource - cannot login themselves''
    WHEN rs.[RES_TYPE] = 21 then ''MaterialResource - cannot login themselves''
    WHEN rs.[RES_TYPE] = 22 then ''GenericMaterialResource - cannot login themselves''
    WHEN rs.[RES_TYPE] = 25 then ''CostResources - cannot login themselves''
    WHEN rs.[RES_TYPE] = 26 then ''GenericCostResources - cannot login themselves''
    WHEN rs.[RES_TYPE] = 50 then ''BudgetWorkResource - cannot login themselves''
    WHEN rs.[RES_TYPE] = 51 then ''BudgetCostResource - cannot login themselves''
    WHEN rs.[RES_TYPE] = 52 then ''BudgetMaterialResource - cannot login themselves''
    WHEN rs.[RES_TYPE] = 53 then ''GenericBudgetWorkResource - cannot login themselves''
    WHEN rs.[RES_TYPE] = 54 then ''GenericBudgetCostResource - cannot login themselves''
    WHEN rs.[RES_TYPE] = 55 then ''GenericBudgetMaterialResource - cannot login themselves''
    -- INACTIVE RESOURCES HAVE 100 ADDED TO THE RES_TYPE VALUE
    WHEN rs.[RES_TYPE] = 101 then ''PureUser - Inactive''
    WHEN rs.[RES_TYPE] = 102 then ''WorkResource - Inactive''
    WHEN rs.[RES_TYPE] = 120 then ''GenericWorkResource - Inactive''
    WHEN rs.[RES_TYPE] = 121 then ''MaterialResource - Inactive''
    WHEN rs.[RES_TYPE] = 122 then ''GenericMaterialResource - Inactive''
    WHEN rs.[RES_TYPE] = 125 then ''CostResources - Inactive''
    WHEN rs.[RES_TYPE] = 126 then ''GenericCostResources - Inactive''
    WHEN rs.[RES_TYPE] = 150 then ''BudgetWorkResource - Inactive''
    WHEN rs.[RES_TYPE] = 151 then ''BudgetCostResource - Inactive''
    WHEN rs.[RES_TYPE] = 152 then ''BudgetMaterialResource - Inactive''
    WHEN rs.[RES_TYPE] = 153 then ''GenericBudgetWorkResource - Inactive''
    WHEN rs.[RES_TYPE] = 154 then ''GenericBudgetCostResource - Inactive''
    WHEN rs.[RES_TYPE] = 155 then ''GenericBudgetMaterialResource - Inactive''
    ELSE ''RES_TYPE not found''
        END AS RES_TYPE_DESC
      ,(CASE WHEN logonProPerm.WSEC_DENY = 0 THEN ''YES'' ELSE ''NO'' END) AS LOGON_TO_PRO
      ,(CASE WHEN logonPerm.WSEC_DENY = 0 THEN ''YES'' ELSE ''NO'' END) AS LOGON_TO_PWA
      ,(CASE WHEN rs.[RES_IS_WINDOWS_USER] = 1 THEN ''YES'' ELSE ''NO'' END) AS RES_IS_WINDOWS_USER
      ,rs.[WRES_LAST_CONNECT_DATE]
      ,rs.[CREATED_DATE]
      ,getdate() AS RECORDED_DATE
FROM [dbo].[MSP_RESOURCES] rs
      LEFT OUTER JOIN [dbo].[MSP_RESOURCES] AS tms ON rs.[RES_TIMESHEET_MGR_UID] = tms.[RES_UID]
      LEFT OUTER JOIN [dbo].[MSP_RESOURCES] AS assn ON rs.[RES_DEF_ASSN_OWNER] = assn.[RES_UID]
      LEFT OUTER JOIN dbo.MSP_WEB_FN_SEC_GetGlobalPermissionAccessInfo(''D2F88263-31C5-4FF5-BEAE-B98B26C5C116'') logonProPerm ON rs.RES_UID = logonProPerm.RES_UID
    LEFT OUTER JOIN dbo.MSP_WEB_FN_SEC_GetGlobalPermissionAccessInfo

(''7C40A2C2-FD15-44E3-8FD3-11B3E0A4E441'') logonPerm ON rs.RES_UID = logonPerm.RES_UID
ORDER BY rs.[RES_TYPE], LOGON_TO_PRO DESC, LOGON_TO_PWA DESC
    '

EXEC(@WORKING_QUERY)
]]> GREAT ULS Log viewing tool https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/wwepmcoe/great-uls-log-viewing-tool Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:06:00 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/wwepmcoe/2010/01/12/great-uls-log-viewing-tool/ Someone on the SharePoint team took some time and built a VERY cool application for viewing ULS Logs. It lets you filter by any of the ‘fields’ in the log and format certain lines based on filter criteria.

Of course it lets you point the viewer at any ULS log file but it even lets you stream in the live ULS Log activity as it is happening and have it color code lines on criteria you determine.

If you find yourself looking at ULS logs for any reason then you will want to download this application

Get it here: http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/ULSViewer

]]> Project Server 2010 coexisting in SharePoint Server 2010 Universe https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/wwepmcoe/project-server-2010-coexisting-in-sharepoint-server-2010-universe Fri, 08 Jan 2010 14:48:10 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/wwepmcoe/2010/01/08/project-server-2010-coexisting-in-sharepoint-server-2010-universe/ Project Server 2010 coexisting in SharePoint Server 2010 Universe

In May 2009, a whitepaper titled EPM and Office SharePoint Server 2007 Coexistence — Intranet Scenario was released.

The whitepaper outlined the recommended setup and configuration approach for an Enterprise Project Management(EPM) focused Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Intranet farm. It also provided a set of validated and tested best practices for Office SharePoint Server 2007 and EPM coexistence.

Rewind 6 months forward and let’s have a look at the above paper again, this time through the lenses of new SharePoint Server 2010 platform. What is different, you may ask. With the new SharePoint Server 2010 platform that is now a requirement for Project Server 2010, how has this concept of “coexistence” changed?

What remains the same?

Similar to EPM and Office SharePoint Server 2007 deployments for coexistence, deploying Project Server 2010 and SharePoint Server 2010 solutions together in a single farm that enhances EPM users experience and provides full, seamless coexistence of all logical components and feature areas presents additional challenges and complexities.

New SharePoint Server 2010 platform offers many feature areas, such as Excel Calculation Services, Visio Services, Web Analytics and others that may be of interest when implementing a robust, integrated EPM solution.

What changed?

The new SharePoint Server 2010 Enterprise Edition is now a requirement for running Project Server 2010 and no longer optional. For all practical purposes Project Server 2010 became SharePoint 2010 application. Also, the basic coexistence scenarios one needs to consider changed somehow. The two scenarios that need to be evaluated are:

  1. Deployment of a new EPM focused farm with Project Server 2010 and SharePoint Server 2010
  2. Deploy a new Project Server 2010 into an existing SharePoint Server 2010 farm accommodating and coexisting with multiple feature areas

The first scenario allows maintaining exclusive EPM focus and activating only services that are necessary to provide EPM centric features and capabilities. Architecture, capacity planning and design activities can focus strictly on supporting and delivering EPM solution centric requirements.

The minimal set of services required to operate a Project Server 2010 server farm are:

  • Project Service Application -required to host one or more Project Web Access instances
  • Excel Services - required for reporting
  • PerformancePoint Service - required for reporting
  • Secure Store Service – required for reporting and data level impersonating
  • State Service – required for charting in the Portfolio and Resource features

The second scenario, depending on the mission (focus) and architecture of the existing SharePoint Server 2010 farm, can prove to be a lot more challenging to plan and architect for. The picture below shows many feature areas available as part of SharePoint Server 2010 platform.

SP2010 universe

A unique load profiles and characteristics of EPM solution need to be defined and their potential impacts on the existing SharePoint 2010 architecture evaluated. The original capacity planning and design assumptions need to be reviewed to determine if the changes to the existing SharePoint 2010 farm architecture are necessary prior to adding Project Server 2010 to the farm.

To provide more prescriptive guidance and validate SharePoint 2010 feature areas for coexistence with Project Server 2010, a new “EPM and SharePoint Server 2010 Coexistence — Intranet Scenario” white paper will be released in first half of 2010.

As a start, the following SharePoint Server 2010 feature areas and services will be validated for coexistence with Project Server 2010:

  • Search
    • Enterprise Search center
    • Fast Search Center
  • MySites
  • Enterprise Content Management
    • Document Center
    • Records Center
    • Office Client integration
  • Collaboration and Workflow
  • Business Connectivity Services
  • Business Intelligence
    • Excel Services and PowerPivot
    • PerformancePoint Services
    • Visio Services
  • SharePoint and Project Server Web Parts
  • Health and Monitoring
  • Backup and Restore

System Components testing will include functional testing of main logical architectural components of SharePoint Server 2010 and Project Server 2010 such as Site Collections, Application Pools, Content Databases and PWA Instances.

Finally, let me just say this. The new SharePoint Server 2010 Universe is bigger and more complex. With Project Server 2010 now being the part of that Universe, we need to figure out what is the best way to coexist, what new frontiers we can explore and take advantage of while not disturbing or upsetting the balance of “SharePoint 2010 planetary systems” already in place. Then, we can deliver on the promise of providing more complete, richer and more integrated platform for our end users.

All the best in 2010 and look for EPM and SharePoint Server 2010 Coexistence - Intranet Scenario whitepaper coming soon.

]]> Queue Service and Event Service will not start in a virtualized environment https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/wwepmcoe/queue-service-and-event-service-will-not-start-in-a-virtualized-environment Fri, 08 Jan 2010 11:19:00 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/wwepmcoe/2010/01/08/queue-service-and-event-service-will-not-start-in-a-virtualized-environment/ Services

Could not start the Microsoft Office Project Server Queue Service service on Local Computer. Error 1053: The service did not respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion.

The 1053 error message is one that I have come across in many environments where customers have chosen to virtualize Project Server 2007. In short, the Microsoft Office Project Server Queue Service and Event Service fail to start in a timely manner.

As a result, one or both of the services may be stopped and refuse to start. Additionally, errors may be appearing in the event viewer, and sometimes jobs in the Queue Service will not show as processing or may fail completely. 

While this issue has caused headaches for more than few customers,  it is important to note that the issue with the Queue Service and the Event Service not starting in a timely fashion is not related to or caused by Microsoft Project Server. Rather it is due to the nature of virtualization and how the virtualized environments respond.

The good news is there is a fairly straight forward fix.

To date, I have not seen this issue occur on a physical server.

 

Just as the error message states, the error occurs because the virtual servers are unable to restart the Microsoft Office Project Server Queue Service and Event Service in a timely manner. 

I have used the following steps to successfully resolve the error:

1.       Identify the drive on which ProjectServer was installed.

2.       Open a command prompt on the front-end servers (where the error is occurring) and navigate to the following path:

C: \Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\12\bin

 

Once you have arrived at the bin directory, type the following command:

Psconfig –cmd upgrade –inplace b2b –wait -force

 

Note: Since C: is the default path for the Project Server installation, C: has been used in this example. If a different drive letter has been used, use that drive letter instead.

 

This process will finalize any updates prior to implementing the fix.

3.       Once this process has completed, open the registry editor

Start=>Run=>Regedit

 

Once the registry editor has been opened navigate to

HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control

 

Here it will be necessary to create a new DWORD key with the following value:

ServicesPipeTimeout DWORD 60000 (decimal)

 

Note: 60000 = 60 Seconds.

 

4.       Next, look for the WaitToKillServiceTimeout key – take note of its current value – and then change the value to 120000

 

Note: 120000=120 Seconds.

 

5.       Reboot the Server.

Test by going to Start=>Run=>services.msc and examining the Microsoft Office ProjectServer Queue Service and Event Service. These services should now show as started, and assuming nothing else is wrong with the environment, the Queue Service should now be able to process jobs. The error messages in the event viewer should also have stopped.]]> SQL Server – Alias Names https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/wwepmcoe/sql-server-alias-names Thu, 07 Jan 2010 07:08:02 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/wwepmcoe/2010/01/07/sql-server-alias-names/ Over the years of assisting many customers with multiple problems and performance issues with Project Server environments, it has been necessary to recommend replacing/upgrading their existing SQL Server for various reasons…mostly due to under powered hardware.

As many of you may or may not have found out, it is not as simple as copying all the Project Server and SharePoint databases from one SQL Server to another. You may have experienced “Cannot contact Configuration database” page or other type of error messages encountered. I have seen countless hacks and workarounds on websites/blogs/forums trying to get company production SharePoint and Project Server environments back up and running. I have also assisted administrators that have attempted to follow the SharePoint TechNet article “Move all Databases - SharePoint 2007” and have failed for several reasons. 

To avoid these headaches or having to uninstall Project Server and SharePoint Server from the farm it would be beneficial to create an SQL Connection Alias to utilize during the installation of Project Server and SharePoint than to use NetBIOS Names (Server Names). Unless you happen to create the new SQL Server or updated server with the EXACT same name as previously used.

By using the SQL Connection Alias Names, regardless of what server is hosting the databases (this includes ALL databases created for that farm), they could be easily be moved and the Connection Parameters (SQL Server + Instance Name) be changed to reflect the new host of these databases.

There are other advantages of using SQL Connection Alias Names, which you can read further on - SQL Blog “SQL Connection Alias”. In summation, by specifying the Network Library protocol and the Connection Parameters (SQL Server + Instance Name), the application doesn’t have to try each SQL Protocol (in sequence) to find a protocol that will connect to SQL Server, which will slightly help improve performance.

There are two utilities that you can use to configure SQL Connection Alias’.

  1. SQL Server Client Network Utility – CLICONFG.EXE (provided by Windows OS)
  2. SQL Server Connection Manager (provided on servers hosting SQL Server).

*Image of SQL Server Client Network Utility*

cliconfg

 

Gary Crich
Infrastructure Principal Consultant
WW EPM COE - Ranger

]]> Coverage of Business process, configuration and user best practices https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/wwepmcoe/coverage-of-business-process-configuration-and-user-best-practices Wed, 06 Jan 2010 14:05:00 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/wwepmcoe/2010/01/06/coverage-of-business-process-configuration-and-user-best-practices/ I’m Brian Kennemer and I am a member of the Microsoft Consulting Services World Wide EPM Center of Excellence\ Rangers (WW EPM COE\Rangers). I too will be blogging here and covering topics related to the end user use of Project Server, the integration of organizational business and project management processes into the tool and the configuration of the tool that goes along with that integration as well as best practices around the use of the tool.

I have been with Microsoft for 4 years and have been working with Project Server and the world of enterprise level project management software since 1998 and have mainly focused on the design of project management processes and the configuration of Project Server to support organizational business needs.

I am working on a post now that will cover some sample reports and some best practices that deal with the use of Deliverables.

]]> WW EPM COE – Rangers…Intro to EPM Infrastructure https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/wwepmcoe/ww-epm-coe-rangersintro-to-epm-infrastructure Wed, 06 Jan 2010 08:54:05 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/wwepmcoe/2010/01/06/ww-epm-coe-rangersintro-to-epm-infrastructure/ Welcome to the WW EPM Center of Excellence (COE) Blog.

I’m a Infrastructure Principal Consultant for Microsoft Consulting Services (MCS) and have been working for MCS, and the WW EPM COE - Rangers Team, for 4 ½ years. In total, I have worked with Project, and its many versions, for over 10 years now. I have architected, installed, configured many different types of environments for customers, Microsoft internally and Partners in many countries around the world. 

I will be blogging in general some common items that pertain to all Project environments and then segregating topics into their own respective versions, for example Project Server 2007 and Project Server 2010. I will also include some experiences of items that are unique and rare that you most likely won’t find easily on the internet. Having the WW EPM COE Blog site, brings all these items into one site to provide you one area to access instead of constant searching many sites across the internet.

With Project Server 2010 right around the corner to be released, it is our goal to provide a single source, for the latest and greatest information, to ensure your installation is complete and successful with knowledge that we have obtained working with many customers in the field.

Gary Crich
Infrastructure Principal Consultant
WW EPM COE - Ranger

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