Saturday, March 21, 2015

Retrieve user profile properties using javascript object model in Sharepoint

With new programming model for Sharepoint Online we need to use client and javascript object models more often than regular server-side object model. And we need to perform basic operations using client API. One of such operations is working with user profile properties. In this post I will show how to retrieve user profile properties using javascript object model. For example let’s use the script which retrieves language and country properties from user profile:

   1: SP.SOD.executeFunc('userprofile', 'SP.UserProfiles.PeopleManager', function () {
   2:     var pmPeopleManager = new SP.UserProfiles.PeopleManager(spContext);
   3:  
   4:     var spSite = spContext.get_site();
   5:     var spWeb = spSite.get_rootWeb();
   6:  
   7:     spContext.load(spSite);
   8:     spContext.load(spWeb);
   9:  
  10:     var currentUser = spWeb.get_currentUser();
  11:     spContext.load(currentUser);
  12:  
  13:     spContext.executeQueryAsync
  14:     (
  15:         Function.createDelegate
  16:         (
  17:            this, function () {
  18:                var strUsername = currentUser.get_loginName();
  19:                var arrProperties = ["DefaultLanguage", "DefaultCountry"];
  20:                var userProperties = new
  21:                  SP.UserProfiles.UserProfilePropertiesForUser(spContext,
  22:                    strUsername, arrProperties);
  23:                var uppProperties =
  24:                    pmPeopleManager.getUserProfilePropertiesFor(userProperties);
  25:  
  26:                spContext.load(userProperties);
  27:                spContext.executeQueryAsync
  28:                (
  29:                    Function.createDelegate
  30:                    (
  31:                       this, function () {
  32:                           var strLanguage = uppProperties[0];
  33:                           var strCountry = uppProperties[1];
  34:                       }
  35:                    ),
  36:                    Function.createDelegate
  37:                    (
  38:                        this, function (sender, args) {
  39:                        }
  40:                    )
  41:                );
  42:            }
  43:         ),
  44:         Function.createDelegate
  45:         (
  46:             this, function (sender, args) {
  47:             }
  48:         )
  49:     );
  50: });

First of all whole script is executed under SP.SOD.executeFunc() in order to ensure that SP.UserProfiles.PeopleManager type is loaded. In script we first asynchronously load current user (lines 5-19). After that we prepare parameters for loading user profile properties (lines 14-23) and retrieve properties by calling SP.UserProfiles.PeopleManager.getUserProfilePropertiesFor() method (lines 24-27). When query is executed we store DefaultLanguage and DefaultCountry user profile properties into local variables for further use (lines 34-35).

This is how you may retrieve use profile properties using javascript object model in Sharepoint. Hope that this information will help someone.

Saturday, March 14, 2015

Set search settings in all site collections of Sharepoint web application via PowerShell

In site collection’s search settings page (Site settings > Search settings) we may set the following parameters:

  • Search center url: when you've specified a search center, the search system displays a message to all users offering them the ability to try their search again from that Search Center;
  • Search results page: page where search queries should be sent to.

Page looks like that:

image

If we have a lot of site collections where search settings should be set it will have sense to use PowerShell script which will do the job. Here is the script which iterates through all site collections in web applications and changes search settings of each site collection:

   1: param(
   2:     [string]$webAppUrl,
   3:     [string]$searchCenterUrl,
   4:     [string]$resultsPage
   5: )
   6:  
   7: function Set-Search-Settings($site)
   8: {
   9:     Write-Host "Set search settings on site" $site.Url
  10: -foregroundcolor green
  11:     $web = Get-SPWeb $site.Url        
  12:     $web.AllProperties["SRCH_SB_SET_SITE"] = 
  13: '{"Inherit":false,"ResultsPageAddress":"' + $resultsPage + '","ShowNavigation":false}' 
  14:     $web.AllProperties["SRCH_ENH_FTR_URL_SITE"] = $searchCenterUrl
  15:     $web.Update()
  16:     Write-Host "    Search settings were successfully set"
  17: -foregroundcolor green
  18: }
  19:  
  20: if (-not $webAppUrl)
  21: {
  22:     Write-Host "Specify web app url in webAppUrl parameter"
  23: -foregroundcolor red
  24:     return
  25: }
  26:  
  27: if (-not $searchCenterUrl)
  28: {
  29:     Write-Host "Specify web app url in searchCenterUrl parameter"
  30: -foregroundcolor red
  31:     return
  32: }
  33:  
  34: if (-not $resultsPage)
  35: {
  36:     Write-Host "Specify web app url in resultsPage parameter"
  37: -foregroundcolor red
  38:     return
  39: }
  40:  
  41: Start-Transcript -Path "output.log" -Append -Force -Confirm:$false
  42:  
  43: $wa = Get-SPWebApplication $webAppUrl
  44: $wa.Sites | ForEach-Object { Set-Search-Settings $_ }
  45:  
  46: Stop-Transcript

Script has 3 parameters:

  • webAppUrl - url of web application where search settings should be changed;
  • searchCenterUrl - url of search center where search query will be redirected to;
  • resultsPage - results page where search query will be redirected to.

Here is example of usage:

.\SetSearchSettings.ps1 -webAppUrl http://example1.com -searchCenterUrl http://example2.com/search/Pages -resultsPage "{SearchCenterURL}/results.aspx"

Note that if {SearchCenterURL} token is used in resultPage parameter it is necessary to enclose parameter’s value into double quotes, otherwise instead of “{SearchCenterURL}/results.aspx” it will be set to “SearchCenterURL” value which is incorrect.

Friday, March 6, 2015

One more reason of why User Profile Synchronization Service fails to start

There are many posts and forums questions about the reasons of why User Profile Synchronization Service may fail to start: it may stuck in Starting status or return to Stopped state after some time. Recently we faced with similar issue and the reason was quite interesting: may be you won’t face with it in your environment, but technique used for troubleshooting may be useful for you.

Ok, everything has started with unsuccessful attempt to start User Profile Synchronization Service from Sharepoint Central administration. It froze some time in Starting state and then returned to Stopped state. In Sharepoint ULS logs the following message was added:

The Execute method of job definition Microsoft.Office.Server.UserProfiles.UserProfileImportJob (ID …) threw an exception. More information is included below.  Operation is not valid due to the current state of the object.

at Microsoft.Office.Server.UserProfiles.UserProfileImportJob.CreateSteps()   
at Microsoft.Office.Server.UserProfiles.UserProfileImportJob.Execute()   
at Microsoft.Office.Server.Administration.UserProfileApplicationJob.Execute(SPJobState jobState)   
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPTimerJobInvokeInternal.Invoke(SPJobDefinition jd, Guid targetInstanceId, Boolean isTimerService, Int32& result)

If you will google for it you may find the following frequent answer: add Read and Execute permissions to all users group or to Network Service on C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office Servers\15.0 folder. It didn’t help in our case. In the ULS there was also another error right after the message which is shown above:

SettingsProvider: System.InvalidOperationException: Adding Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell...
Data Source=dbserver;Initial Catalog=SharePoint_Service_User_Profile_Sync;Integrated Security=True;Enlist=False;Pooling=True;Min Pool Size=0;Max Pool Size=100;Connect Timeout=15
   at Microsoft.IdentityManagement.Samples.SettingsProvider.GetDbConnection()
   at Microsoft.IdentityManagement.Samples.SettingsProvider.Microsoft.IdentityManagement.Settings.ISettingsProvider.TryGetSetting(String name, String& value)
   at Microsoft.IdentityManagement.Settings.ExternalSettingsManager.TryGetSetting(String settingName, String supportedParameters, String& value, String& unsupportedValue)
   at Microsoft.ResourceManagement.Utilities.ExternalSettingsManager.TryGetSetting(String settingName, String supportedParameters, String& value, String& unsupportedValue)
   at Microsoft.ResourceManagement.Data.DatabaseConnection.InitializePrimaryStoreConnectionString()
   at Microsoft.ResourceManagement.Data.DatabaseConnection.get_ConnectionString()
   at Microsoft.ResourceManagement.Data.DatabaseConnection.Open(DataStore store)
   at Microsoft.ResourceManagement.Data.TransactionAndConnectionScope..ctor(Boolean createTransaction, IsolationLevel isolationLevel, DataStore dataStore)
   at Microsoft.ResourceManagement.Data.TransactionAndConnectionScope..ctor(Boolean createTransaction)
   at Microsoft.ResourceManagement.Data.DataAccess.RegisterService(String hostName)
   at Microsoft.ResourceManagement.Workflow.Hosting.HostActivator.RegisterService(String hostName)
   at Microsoft.ResourceManagement.Workflow.Hosting.HostActivator.Initialize()
   at Microsoft.ResourceManagement.WebServices.ResourceManagementServiceHostFactory.CreateServiceHost(String constructorString, Uri[] baseAddresses)
   at Microsoft.ResourceManagement.WindowsHostService.OnStart(String[] args)

In order to check what may be the reason of this exception I needed to find assembly with Microsoft.IdentityManagement.Samples.SettingsProvider class. In the GAC there are several Microsoft.IdentityManagement.* assemblies, but they don’t contain mentioned class. Then I went to the folder which contains executable file for Forefront Identity Manager Service (e.g. "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office Servers\15.0\Service\Microsoft.ResourceManagement.Service.exe", but it may be different in your case. In order to check it go to Services MMC and find executable file for Forefront Identity Manager Service service on General tab of service details window). There was SettingsProvider.dll which contained interested class.

Here is the code of Microsoft.IdentityManagement.Samples.SettingsProvider.GetDbConnection() method which threw exception:

   1: private static string GetDbConnection()
   2: {
   3:     SqlConnectionStringBuilder builder;
   4:     Guid empty = Guid.Empty;
   5:     using (RegistryKey key = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(
   6: @"SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\FIMSynchronizationService\Parameters"))
   7:     {
   8:         string str = (string) key.GetValue("SyncDatabaseId");
   9:         if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(str))
  10:         {
  11:             return null;
  12:         }
  13:         try
  14:         {
  15:             empty = new Guid(str);
  16:         }
  17:         catch (FormatException)
  18:         {
  19:             return null;
  20:         }
  21:     }
  22:     string connectionString = RunPSScript(string.Format(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,
  23: "\r\n#Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted\r\nAdd-pssnapin Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell\r\n\r\n" +
  24: "$syncDB = get-SPDatabase -Identity {0}\r\n$syncDB.DatabaseConnectionString\r\n",
  25: new object[] { empty })).Trim();
  26:     try
  27:     {
  28:         builder = new SqlConnectionStringBuilder(connectionString);
  29:     }
  30:     catch (Exception)
  31:     {
  32:         throw new InvalidOperationException(connectionString);
  33:     }
  34:     ...
  35: }
  36:  
  37: private static string RunPSScript(string script)
  38: {
  39:     using (Process process = new Process())
  40:     {
  41:         process.StartInfo.FileName = Path.Combine(
  42:             Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.System),
  43:             @"WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe");
  44:         process.StartInfo.Arguments = "-Command -";
  45:         process.StartInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
  46:         process.StartInfo.RedirectStandardInput = true;
  47:         process.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
  48:         process.StartInfo.CreateNoWindow = true;
  49:         process.Start();
  50:         process.StandardInput.WriteLine(script);
  51:         process.StandardInput.WriteLine("exit");
  52:         process.StandardInput.Flush();
  53:         string str = process.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd();
  54:         process.WaitForExit();
  55:         return str;
  56:     }
  57: }

Exception is thrown on line 32 in SqlConnectionStringBuilder(connectionString) constructor call. It occurs if connection string passed to SqlConnectionStringBuilder constructor is invalid. If we will see few records up we will find that connection string is retrieved using quite interesting way: Windows PowerShell process is launched and inside it the following PowerShell script is executed:

   1: Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted
   2: Add-pssnapin Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell
   3: $syncDB = get-SPDatabase -Identity ...
   4: $syncDB.DatabaseConnectionString

I.e. it gets reference on User Profile Sync database which id is stored in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > System > CurrentControlSet > Services > FIMSynchronizationService > Parameters > SyncDatabaseId and then just calls its DatabaseConnectionString property in last script command which makes it return value of the PowerShell process which is returned to Microsoft.IdentityManagement.Samples.SettingsProvider.GetDbConnection() method.

This code doesn’t contain dependencies on other sub systems so it was quite easy to simulate it by copying to standalone console application. When I ran it I found that instead of single connection string it returns 2 lines:

Adding Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell...

Data Source=dbserver;Initial Catalog=SharePoint_Service_User_Profile_Sync;Integrated Security=True;Enlist=False;Pooling=True;Min Pool Size=0;Max Pool Size=100;Connect

And the problem was in the first line “Adding Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell...”. Because of it SqlConnectionStringBuilder() constructor threw exception because this is not correct connection string. After that I contacted guys who configured environment and they said that added Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell module to default Windows PowerShell by default because it is needed almost everytime (the code which adds it was added via custom profile.ps1 file in powershell.exe folder C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0). As it turned out it was not very good idea because it caused mentioned problem with starting User Profile Synchronization Service: if you need PowerShell console with Sharepoint support it is better to use Sharepoint Management Shell which loads Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell automatically, while Windows shell should be left untouched. After I deleted profile.ps1 with custom code and restarted the PC, User Profile Synchronization Service had started successfully. Hope that this story will help you to troubleshoot similar problems.