SP2010 Alert Nightmares

Scenario: Existing alerts on SP2007 sites upgraded to SP2010 after changing web application host name stop working.

Solution: This post from Shane is the solution,
http://msmvps.com/blogs/shane/archive/2011/08/22/after-sharepoint-2010-database-attach-upgrade-alerts-have-the-wrong-urls.aspx

Remeber to first run the powershell script from technet,
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc508847.aspx 
and then use the script provided above by Shane to fix the issues from MS script.

After running the script from technet check the [SiteUrl] column in the [ImmedSubscriptions] table in the content database where your site collection resides to make sure it points to the right host web application host name. If it does not then the alerts are simply not triggered. Also make sure the Outgoing email settings are enabled.

Even after configuring all the above sometimes alert emails are not sent for new and SP2007 migrated alerts. Here are some more steps to troubleshoot.
1. Find the database which stores the site collection data.
2. Run "select * from timerlock" against that database
3. Get the GUID of the Server (LockedBy column) who is supposed to execute all timer job activities for this site collection.
4. To map the GUID to user friendly server name run the following powershell,
Get-SPServer | Foreach-Object { Write-Host $_.id $_.Name}
5. Make sure this server is allowed to relay emails in your network.


Some of the points to check if alerts are working on some site collections but not on others,
 - Outgoing email settings on web application
 - Allow smtp relay from all servers(where SPTimerv4 is Started) in your farm.


Other references:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/skelley/archive/2007/06/18/alerts.aspx
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/936759

http://www.rightpoint.com/community/blogs/viewpoint/archive/2010/08/26/the-truth-about-how-daily-sharepoint-alerts-actually-work.aspx

http://www.moss2007.be/blogs/vandest/archive/2007/12/27/sharepoint-immediate-alert-notifications-stopped-working.aspx

http://sharepointalert.info/2009/11/troubleshooting-sharepoint-alerts-timer-jobs/

http://blogs.technet.com/b/harikumh/archive/2008/05/25/troubleshooting-alerts.aspx

http://blogs.technet.com/b/steve_chen/archive/2009/11/20/alerts-in-sharepoint-troubleshooting-moss-wss.aspx

http://sharepointalert.info/

http://sunilrepale.wordpress.com/

Business Connectivity Services

An external content type is really a reusable description of external data to allow it to participate as a native Office entity across multiple applications such as:

• SharePoint as external list
• Outlook
• SharePoint workspace
• Word
• InfoPath
• Access
• Other Office applications via code

 http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/ee819133.aspx

People Picker: "There was an error in the callback"

This was my issue although I had stsadm setapppassword and peoplepicker-searchadforests setup correctly.

***
On the “HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Web Server Extensions\14.0\Secure” registry key ensure the following permissions are in place and are being inherited in the sub-keys


* WSS_WPG Read permission


* WSS_Admin_WPG Full Control


* WSS_RESTRICTED_WPG_V4 Full Control





Reference:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/sofocle/archive/2011/05/17/sharepoint-2010-people-picker-issue-quot-there-was-an-error-in-the-callback-quot.aspx

Override Redirect Help link SharePoint 2010

Override help link on SharePoint 2010.

Excellent article.
http://blakeblackshear.wordpress.com/2009/04/25/adding-a-custom-help-url-to-sharepoint-the-right-way/ 

JS snippet:

var intervalId = setInterval('OverrideHelpButton()', 250);
function OverrideHelpButton()
{
TopHelpButtonClick = function (strParam)
{
var wndHelp=window.open('/HelpFiles/index.html', 'STSHELP',
'height=500,location=no,menubar=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,status=no,toolbar=no,width=475'
 );
wndHelp.focus();
}
}
setTimeout('window.clearInterval(intervalId);', 10000);

Exception from HRESULT: 0x80040E14

Scenario:

Users get this exeception when they try to add new content to SharePoint 2007 sites.

Solution:

If the transaction log for the configuration database is full this error can occur for random number of sites in the farm.

Project Server 2010 - Waiting for resources

Scenario: Trying to provision new project server 2010 pwa instance. The status is stuck at "Waiting for resources" After some time checking the ULS logs and the content database statistics we releaize that a new site collection did get created.

Solution: Make sure that the SharePoint 2010 Timer service is "Started" on all servers where it is supposed to run.