Error installing SharePoint 2013 Preview on Windows Server 2012 Release Candidate

Issue

Whilst attempting to install SharePoint 2013 onto a freshly installed (domain joined) Windows 2012 Data Center RC build I ran into errors installing the SharePoint 2013 prerequisites / binaries. From reviewing the output log whilst installing the prerequisites the error I suspected was interrupting the install was as shown below:

“error when enabling asp.net v4.0.30319”

Background

  • Hyper-V hosted on Windows 8 Release Preview
  • SharePoint 2013 Preview Build: 15.0.4128.1014
  • Windows Server 2012 RC Build: 8400
  • Forest / Domain functional level: Windows 2008 R2

I tried various things to attempt to resolve this including adding roles and features manually as well as attempting to register ASP.NET 4 using command:

%windir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\aspnet_regiis.exe -i –enable

The above proved unsuccessful and then came across this forum on TechNet http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/sharepointitpropreview/thread/94b98c03-842e-4b2e-8707-8652774d73a3/ 

Solution

The solution was to remove the Windows Server 2012 from the domain run the prerequisites and then install the preview followed by adding the server back to the domain.

I appreciate this isn't ideal however this resolved the problem for me and I will feed this back to the product group.

Presenting at Siemens PLM Conference – Document Management

WP_000128I recently attended and presented a session on SharePoint at the Siemens PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) Conference at the NEC, Birmingham on 17th July 2012. Microsoft were a gold sponsor at the event and I was lucky enough to meet some of the truly passionate individuals in manufacturing at the event who are looking at innovative ways of moving forward in these tough times. An industry close to my heart growing up the son of proud toolmaker passed down from generations running his own business for 30 years based in Birmingham I have a lot of appreciation for things people take for granted and the effort and precision that goes into manufacturing products.

Onto the session, I presented on what is SharePoint and how its currently used in Manufacturing. Siemens were launching their latest offering Solid Edge Insight XT which when used with SharePoint compliments the product and provides additional functionality.

The main areas I covered in the presentation included:

Document management / Collaboration

  • Versioning
  • Approval
  • Alerts
  • Workflow
  • Discussions / forums
  • Announcements
  • Project task lists
  • Search benefits
  • Templates to provide consistency for documentation

Benefits for Designers / Departments

  • Sharing information with customers / suppliers
  • Reduced overhead on IT department as you have control of your data
  • Office look and feel providing a familiar environment to carry out tasks
  • Office client integration

One message that I wanted to be taken away from the session is that there is a base version known as SharePoint Foundation 2010 that can be installed free and the majority of basic document management features I discussed within my session are available within SharePoint Foundation. This is not to suggest that this will provide all the needs for you requirements however a god way to map these is to compare versions http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/en-us/buy/Pages/Editions-Comparison.aspx.

Below are a copy of my slides from the presentation:

A few interesting conversations took place during the conference including:

  • How do I move from Oracle / SQL databases
  • SharePoint performance was slow how can i improve this – the context to this question was related to converting CAD files stored in SharePoint and a suggestion was to look at the RBS (Remote Blob Storage) capabilities http://technet.microsoft.com/library/ee748607.aspx
  • We are going to use SharePoint but we don't know where to start? Well this is too much of an open ended question to answer here but in short the answer is plan and bring in experts otherwise you may not have the best experience. See a previous blog post of mine here http://www.paulgrimley.com/2011/08/will-sharepoint-work-for-us.html.

There is also a case study for Street Crane Company Ltd just been published to Microsoft Case Studies gallery which I encourage you to check out if you are considering SharePoint for your organisation. This can be seen here http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Case_Study_Detail.aspx?casestudyid=710000001163.

Finally I’d like to thank David Chadwick from Siemens for the effort he’d put into the session, he showed real passion for using SharePoint (and all the benefits it has) with Solid Edge Insight / Insight XT.

We’re hiring–July 2012

MS_Logo_BlackIts exciting times at Microsoft with Office 2013, SharePoint 2013, Windows 8, Surface… the list goes on of product releases taking place and as part of this we’re continuing to grow the consultancy practice to accommodate the increased demand experienced and we’re looking for great people to compliment the excellent team’s we already have here.

Closer to home in my team Business Productivity - MCS UK we are looking for (more) SharePoint experts to join the team.

If other than the opportunity to work for Microsoft you need a reason to come and join, here’s a few things I have certainly found to be of benefit:

  • Opportunity to work with some truly inspiring people
  • Access to all Microsoft’s training material
  • Working on Enterprise accounts
  • Excellent development prospects and supporting management to help achieve your ambitions
  • Fantastic benefits package
  • Great work / life balance
  • Large discounts on Microsoft products

So if you’re interested contact me on LinkedIn and I'll happily have a conversation with you. Please note you must have extensive experience of both working with the SharePoint platform and client facing consulting to apply so please consider this before getting in touch.

I’m still here!

Its been a while since I've blogged and as much as I’ve wanted to unfortunately I’ve had other commitments. As you may have seen from my last post I recently joined Microsoft and as part of joining I have been undertaking a lot of internal studying whilst also working on client engagement. This is not only technical study but also learning the Microsoft culture and consume lots of information about how the business work, the different types of roles, financials, scorecards not to miss a whole wave of new products being released as we speak, so exciting times indeed.Its been a great journey to date with Microsoft and long may it continue.

I hope to blog more frequently from now as I can begin to share more information on Office / SharePoint 2013/ Windows 8 and look forward to seeing new and old faces along the journey.

Paul