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Entries from October 2008

Virtual PC / SQL Server – Restore Database Failure – Media Family Incorrectly Formed

October 16, 2008 · 2 Comments

I ran into a problem with SQL Server restore operations recently. I got burned for quite a while, because I thought I had a problem with my SQL Server 2000 and SQL Server 2005 installation, a SQL Server or O/S version issue, or a problem with my database backup file. Small SQL backup files restore fine, but large backups fail on the restore on VPC images

When I restored the large backup files, ISQL RESTORE DATABASE commands fail with the following symptoms:

Msg 3241, Level 16, State 37, Line 1 The media family on device ‘C:\Temp\MyLargeDatabase.bak’ is incorrectly formed. SQL Server cannot process this media family.
The media set shows a Backup Set Name of *** INCOMPLETE ***
RESTORE HEADERONLY FROM DISK=’C:\Temp\MyLargeDatabase.bak’ returns BackupName of *** INCOMPLETE ***, Position = 1, the rest of the fields are NULL

The Problem

Virtual PC Shared Folders corrupt files! Especially large files. Small files seem to work fine. I’ve heard reports of problems with files over 1GB to 4GB in size. My database was around 8GB.

You get the errors shown above when you reference a file across a VPC Shared Folder, or when you create a local VPC file copy by copying a file to your VPC disk over a Shared Folder connection.

The Solution

Copy or reference files using a traditional networking file share between the host and guest, and avoid using Shared Folders for large files (or altogether).

Troubleshooting

If you think you may be having a similar issue, you can use a tool like SlavaSoft’s fsum to perform checksum comparisons file on the host and guest systems to verify what’s going on. Or you can take my word for it and save yourself the trouble. I’ve experienced this (the hard way) with Virtual PC 2007.

Categories: SQL Server · Virtual PC · Virtualization

SharePoint 2007 (MOSS) – How To Determine Service Pack Version

October 15, 2008 · 1 Comment

So, what version of SharePoint 2007 is on this server? Sounds like an easy question, doesn’t it? Oh, I forgot, this is SharePoint!

SharePoint Server 2007 (including MOSS 2007) or WSS 3.0

Correct Methods

Central Administration > Operations > Servers In Farm > Database Schema Version – You will see the Database Schema Version in the top of the screen and a list of servers with the version numbers listed in the relevant column against each server in the farm
Site Settings > Modify All Site Settings > Site Information > Database Schema Version - You will see the schema version of the site content database
Query the Versions table of the farm configuration database – The entries in this table will show the version number and the date it was applied to the farm

Misleading Methods – The following methods are documented all over the web, but your results may be misleading

IIS Web Site Properties > HTTP Headers Tab > Custom HTTP headers box which displays a version number – This shows the build version of MOSS at the time the Virtual Directory [Web Application] was created, which is probably not what you’re looking for.
Add / Remove Programs - Select Microsoft SharePoint Server 2007 or Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 > Click here for support information. This will show the current version of the software installed on a WFE server, but it does not always update and may differ from other servers on the farm. For better results, use the methods listed above instead.

Cumulative Update KB956056 & KB956057	12.0.0.6327
Infrastructure Update KB951695 & KB951297	12.0.0.6318
SP1 + KB948945	12.0.0.6303
SP1 + KB941274	12.0.0.6301
SP1 + KB941422	12.0.0.6300
SP1	12.0.0.6219
October 2007 public update	12.0.0.6039
August 24, 2007 hotfix	12.0.0.6036
RTM	12.0.0.4518
Beta 2	12.0.0.4017
Beta 2 TR	12.0.0.4407
Office 12 PDC Pre-beta	12.0.0.311

Running a Prior Version Of SharePoint?

If you’re unfortunate enough to be running an older version of SharePoint (SharePoint Portal Services 2003, 2001, SharePoint Team Services, or WSS 2.0), please see SharePoint Portal Services / Team Services – Determine Service Pack Version.

References

Categories: MOSS 2007 · SharePoint · WSS 3.0

SharePoint Portal Services / Team Services – Determine Service Pack Version

October 15, 2008 · 1 Comment

If you’re unfortunate enough to be running an older version of SharePoint Portal Services or WSS 2.0, here’s some version info to help you figure out what version is running.

SharePoint Portal Server (SPS) 2003

Control Panel > Add/ Remove Programs > Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Services > Click Here for Support Information.
- OR -
Locate the mssrch.dll file (located in \Program Files\SharePoint Portal Server\Bin), right-click > File Properties > Version and check the version number:

SP3	11.0.8168.0
SP2	11.0.8126.0
SP1	11.0.6715.0
RTM	11.0.5704.0

Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) 2.0

Control Panel > Add/ Remove Programs > Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services > Click Here for Support Information. Note the version numbers:

SP3	11.0.8173.0
SP2	11.0.7969.0
SP2 Beta	11.0.6551.0
SP1 + KB887981	11.0.6411.0
SP1	11.0.6361.0
RTM	11.0.5608.0

SharePoint Portal Services (SPS) 2001

Locate the mssrch.dll file (located in \Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\MSSearch\Bin), right-click > File Properties > Version and check the version number:

SP3	10.0145.7329
SP2a	10.0145.6011.5
SP2	10.0145.6011.0
SP1	10.145.4629.0
RTM	10.145.3914.3

SharePoint Portal Team Services (SPTS)

10.0.2627.01 is the version with no service packs.

In the Administrative Tools menu, you will see a link to Microsoft SharePoint Administrator. This will display a web page, where you can see the version number of the virtual server(s), e.g., 5.0.2.2623. The ISAPI filter is fpexedll.dll.

Running SharePoint 2007 (MOSS)?

If you’re lucky enough to be running an newer version of SharePoint (SharePoint 2007, MOSS 2007, or WSS 2.0), please see SharePoint 2007 (MOSS) – How To Determine Service Pack Version.