SharePoint General FQA

What are the system requirements for WSS 3.0?

The minimum hardware requirements are dual-processor with minimum 2.5GHz or faster and at least 1GB of RAM. Minimum software requirements are Windows Server 2003 (Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter, or Web Edition) with NTFS partition, IIS 6.0 in worker processor isolation mode, Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 (which includes the Windows Workflow Foundation and ASP.NET 2.0). For server farms, SQL Server 2000 SP4 or higher or SQL Server 2005 SP1 or higher (preferred) are required. For complete details, check out the WSS system requirements page on Microsoft's Web site.

Can I install WSS 3.0 on Windows Server 2003 Web Edition?Yes, but you will have to use a remote SQL Server because with WSS 3.0, you cannot install the Windows Internal Database Engine on the Web Edition.

Do I have to install SQL Server for WSS 3.0?


No. If you are installing WSS 3.0 on a single server with default settings, the setup program will automatically installs and uses Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition to create the databases for the SharePoint site. However, if you want, you can use SQL Server with WSS 3.0. SQL Server 2000 SP4 or higher or SQL Server 2005 SP1 or later are only required for server farms.

What is required to install MOSS 2007?


MOSS 2007 requires Windows Server 2003, WSS 3.0, and the .NET Framework 3.0 (which includes the Windows Workflow Foundation and ASP.NET 2.0). You also need either SQL Server 2000 SP4 or higher or SQL Server 2005 SP1 or higher.

Can I migrate sites, content or other objects from previous versions of SharePoint services to WSS 3.0?


No, you cannot migrate sites, content or other objects from previous versions of SharePoint services to WSS 3.0. However, you can migrate objects from WSS 3.0 to WSS 3.0. For example, you can migrate site collections, sites, or any combination of objects within a site to another SharePoint Web application that is extended with WSS 3.0.

What is a Web site collection?


The entire structure of a top-level Web site and all of its subsites is referred to as a Web site collection. A site collection consists of a set of Web sites that have the same owner and share administrative settings.

What is a Web application in WSS 3.0?

A Web application is called IIS Web site in WSS 3.0. When you create a new Web application in WSS, you are creating an IIS Web site and you install WSS 3.0 components in that Web site.

Can Linux users be authenticated to a SharePoint site?


MOSS 2007 supports non-Windows authentication which includes users stored in LDAP directories, such as the Linux-based Fedora directory server. This is accomplished via ASP.NET 2.0’s support for authentication providers.

What is the default authentication type for Central Administration in WSS 3.0?

The default authentication type is NTLM. The other option is Kerberos Windows Integrated authentication which uses stronger authentication and utilizes secret-key cryptography. With NTLM, each user request is authenticated with the domain controller, which has an impact on the WSS performance. Kerberos does not impact the performance because the user credentials are stored on the WSS server, which eliminates the need for each user request to e authenticated against the domain controller.

Does configuring Kerberos authentication requires any special steps?

Yes. Configuring Negotiate Kerberos option in WSS 3.0 requires that you configure a Service Principal Name (SPN) for the domain user account that will be used by WSS service as service account. The service account must be registered with a SPN in Active Directory.

What is the name of the default database configuration file in WSS 3.0?

The default database file is called SharePoint_Config.

Do I need to manually create the IIS virtual server and the application pool?

Unlike the previous versions of WSS, the administrator is no longer required to manually create the IIS virtual server or the application pool in WSS 3.0. The SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard automatically creates the IIS virtual server (it's called IIS Web site in WSS 3.0) and the application pool for you.

How should I access the Central Administration site from the Internet?

You should avoid making the Central Administration site accessible from the Internet if possible. However, if you must access the site from the Internet then first connect to your work network using a VPN. Make sure that your Central Administration site is configured to use SSL so the traffic is encrypted over the Internet.

What are the differences between the Operation and the Application Management section of the Central Administration site?

The Operation section allows you to configure topology-wide settings, while the Application Management is meant for configuring site-specific tasks.

Why is the WSS Search service not working properly on my server?

You may be using the network service instead of a domain user account for the Web application. The WSS 3.0 Search won't work properly if you use the network service. The Web application authenticates the user account and uses an application pool that defines the account and the credentials that the Web application will use.

I am very familiar with IIS, is there any harm in configuring a Web application manually?


Even if you know IIS well, it is best to let WSS create the Web application so it can properly configure the settings for use with WSS. Microsoft does not recommend that you configure WSS Web applications manually in IIS.

I want to use a user account for the Application Pool. Does this account needs to have administrative rights on the Web Front End (WFE) server?

Absolutely not. First make sure that the account is a domain user account. For example, you can use the same account that you used for the WSS 3.0 service. The account does not need to be a member of any particular security group. In fact, make sure that the account is not a member of the Administrators group on WFE or the back-end database server. All you need to do is ensure that the domain user account has the rights only to the database and no other service on the server. Remember to specify the user name in the DOMAIN\Username format.

Should I use Windows or SQL Authentication for my Web application?


Windows authentication is the default and is more secure than the SQL authentication because Windows authentication doesn't send the password to the server when it send the authentication credentials. SQL authentication on the other hand sends the credentials with the password that can be captured and is therefore less secure.

What is the default name of the WSS Search database server and the name of the Search database?


The default database server is wss_srv\sqlinstance sqlname and the name of the database is WSS_Search_srv.

What is the default indexing schedule?

The default indexing schedule for WSS 3.0 is 5 minutes.

Can I create more than one Web application on port 80?


Yes. You can create as many Web applications on port 80 as you want as long as you use host headers. Host headers allow you to have more than one site on an IP address. If you only create one Web application, it will be called "SharePoint - 80", which is the default name of the Web application.

Do I have to deploy WSS Search service during the WSS installation?

No, you don't but if you are not using WSS Search the search box will still appear on the page but will be inoperable. In other words, if a user uses the search it won't return any results, which can cause confusion. To eliminate this confusion, you can modify the page so that the search box doesn't appear on the page for the users. However, without the search users will have to browse the WSS site to locate the items they need.

If I upgrade a WSS 2.0 site to WSS 3.0 site, can I revert back if something goes wrong?

Yes. On the Site Collection Upgrade page there's a revert button on the site that allows you to revert an upgraded WSS 3.0 site back to WSS 2.0.

If I use SQL Server 2000 or SQL Server 2005 as my database, should I use WSS 3.0 for my backup or the tools in SQL Server?

If you have a SQL Server installed, it is best to use its tools for backup and restoration of WSS sites because they offer better options.

How can I backup items to the local directory or schedule my backups using the GUI?

You can't use GUI to backup items to the local directory and it doesn't support scheduling of backups. However, you can use the command-line tool STSADM to perform these tasks. STSADM is available with WSS 3.0 and MOSS. Click here to learn more about STSADM.

Where can I access Server event logs report?


The Server event logs report can be accessed from the Operations tab of the Central Administration site. Click Server events logs under the Logging and Reporting section.

If I am unable to add additional SQL Servers, is it possible to split the content database between multiple SQL Servers?


Yes.

What is the difference between the major and minor versions when publishing documents?

The major versions are the final copy which are considered "published" versions and are indicated by whole numbers, such as 3.0 or 4.0. The minor versions are typically the drafts and are indicated as decimal numbers, such as 3.1 or 4.1. You can always convert a minor version (draft) to a major version simply by publishing it.

How long are the documents kept in the WSS 3.0 Recycle Bin?

There are two levels of Recycle Bins in WSS 3.0. When a user deletes a document it is kept in the first tier of the Recycle Bin for up to 30 days. During this period the user can restore the document from the first tier Recycle Bin. If a deleted item is not restored within 30 days from the first tier Recycle Bin, it is moved to the second tier of Recycle Bin (the site collection's Recycle Bin) where it remains for an additional 30 days before it is permanently deleted. The second tier Recycle Bin at the site collection's level is only available to the administrator.