SharePoint 2013 SP1 Generate New Key Issue

I am in the process of setting up TFS 2013 with SharePoint 2013 SP1 and ran into a generic error that took me a good deal of trial and error to figure out.  Luckily someone else in this world ran into the same issue and posted the solution on MSDN.

My application and SQL server are both Windows 2012 SR2.  SQL 2012 version 11.0.3128.  To get SharePoint and it's prerequisites to install properly with little intervention I had to use SharePoint 2013 SP1.  I don't think SP1 made any difference as the solution was for 2013.

One of the steps in configuring SharePoint 2013 SP1 for use with TFS is to Generate a New Key in the Secure Store Service Application.

After entering my passphrase and selecting OK the message An error occurred during the "Generate Key" process.  Please try again or contact your administrator appeared.



The event log may have an entry generated by your domain account that looks like the below message.

The next step was to start searching for solutions and came across one good page that didn't work for me but might for someone else.  I tried everything in this article with no luck.  I did come across the one that worked for me as well but executed it wrong the first time.

Basically there is a service that is not running in SharePoint called the Claims to Windows Token Service.  You are to start it and restart 3 SharePoint services.  Then reset IIS.

1. SharePoint Administration
2. SharePoint Timer Service
3. SharePoint Tracing Service
4. Start -> Run -> iisreset

My problem was I started the service the old fashioned way.  This did not work for me.

To get it working you have to go to the System Settings -> Manage Services on Server page in the SharePoint Central Administration site.  From there start it and then restart the other services.  Once done give creating the key a shot.  It worked for me!

Microsoft OneNote Journal not syncing

Sync Issue with OneNote

For a week or 2 now my Work notebook has not been syncing to my SkyDrive.  I have been fixing any page sync errors between all of my devices one at a time.  This has yeilded no success yet.  Then I came across this article from Microsoft for the error being reported.

The error message is:
We're sorry, something went wrong during sync. We'll try again later. (Error code: 0xE000005E)

Clicking on Get Help sent me here:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/support/resolve-the-0xe000005e-referencedrevisionnotfound-error-in-onenote-HA104010799.aspx

One thing to note is don't forget to permanently delete the notebook out of the OneNote Recycle Bin.  If you don't the sync will still fail.

After that is done if you want the notebook to have the same name as the original just rename it.

Team Unity

There was an issue at work one day were people were ratting on each other and snapping at one another.  I pulled out some things I learned over the years to share with that team.  I hope they felt empowered and accountable for building the team.

• Solve issues within the team.  Involve management as little as possible.
• Talk to someone if something is bothering you.  Don't internalize it and start snapping at your coworkers.  Once the damage is done it is hard to repair.  This takes courage but you will feel better for having done it.
• If you have made mistakes apologize for them.  It helps to heal the damage you have done.
• Rats are vermin that spread disease.  Don't be a rat or you will most likely find yourself avoided by your team.
• Reputations proceed people.  Make sure yours is a good one.
• Present as a unified team.  Come up with recommendations as a team and present them.  If everyone goes and give there opinions on how something should be done it makes it harder for the decision maker to make a good decision.  There are always many ways to do the same thing in the IT world and the fewer the choices the easier it is to decide and get working.
• United we stand divided we fall in the corporate world means everyone must act professional.  Teams that get along are more productive and makes the grind more enjoyable.  When there is a negative atmosphere people tend to leave the company and then the few are left with much responsibility. 

DNSCMD Examples

Any of these commands can be combined and put in batch file or run separately.  Take note that they need to be run in a certain order if setting up from scratch.  The order would be zones and then records in the zone.  Note the parameter flags are case sensitive (ZoneAdd not zoneadd).

Records can be deleted instead of added by replacing Add with Delete, example /ZoneDelete

Add a zone:

dnscmd /ZoneAdd rasky.com /DSPrimary /DP /forest

Add an A record:

dnscmd /RecordAdd rasky.com test A 10.200.122.139
dnscmd /RecordAdd rasky.com @ A 10.200.122.140 (parent record)

Add a CNAME (alias):

dnscmd /RecordAdd rasky.com aliasname CNAME realname.rasky.com

If You Want to be a Good Manager

In my life as a corporate worker I have noticed some bad habits from different managers.  For those who want to be good managers and lead their teams to success you should avoid doing things on this list.

Encourage not Discourage

We had a guy who rarely stepped out of his comfort zone.  If there were any decisions to be made he would ask someone else to make them for him.  One day he surprised us all and made a decision and moved forward with the work.  If decisions cannot be made work stops and you have idle unproductive people staring at their screens.  I told him good job for doing so and keep it up.  Sometime later the same day our manager dinged him for making that decision.  He was upset by this and told me so.  I told him not to worry about it but the damage was done.  What little confidence he had gained earlier in the day was gone (and so was any future productivity gains).  Was the decision right or wrong?  It doesn't matter. 

Trust Me

I was in a meeting with my manager and relayed some feedback to him the team had come to me with.  My manager asked me who said it.  I said I wasn't going to tell him because it wasn't relevant.  He again asked me.  I stood my ground.  Boy was that uncomfortable.  If you want trust and respect you just don't do those things to your employees.  I always scold my kids for snitching on each other.  It breeds distrust and a hostile work environment.

Lying

Ever sit in a meeting and listen to management out right lie to their management.  Whether it is dates on a project or the quality of their software I have heard it all.  I don't know what compels them to do so.  Wouldn't it be best for the company to be forthright and honest.  Even if your boss gets upset at least you can then work together to set things right.  If your going to be late on a project isn't it best to find that out early and work to mitigate things and make sure it still succeeds.  Why wait until the end and ask for more time.  It makes you look bad, brings the morale down of the team and just doesn't make any sense.

Yelling

I once heard a quote that cowards yell the loudest.  I have heard many a manager yell at other managers.  Even had a boss once tell me why she was crying that he was throwing chairs around a room why he yelled at the managers.  Another time another manager was yelling and my coworker said he heard it in the meeting room next door.  Regardless in a workplace we should all be acting like adults and speaking civilly.  Sure you might be upset and need to let some steam out.  Just do it in the gym or outside.  When your coworkers hear you it again lowers morale and you lose respect.  Who wants to work for a guy that might yell at you if you make a mistake.

Take responsibility for your actions and treat others with respect.  That is how you will build a strong team and be a successful manager.

Work Life Balance

When your resource has been up working until 5 AM on an deploy or issue tell him to take the next day off before he logs off.  Don't wait until he gets up the next morning to get to work on time.

Rasky's Quotes

Some quotes I have come up with over the years.

• I don't want to be a fireman anymore.  I want to be Smokey the Bear (regarding working in the IT industry.)
• By accepting the faults in others you learn to accept your own faults.
• Don't just people on yesterday.  Instead inspire them on what they could be tomorrow.
• Happiness isn't dictated by circumstance but by attitude.
• My calling in life is to help the Earth and its people.  Next?
• A technology company doesn't outsource it's technology.  It embraces every facet of it.  This opportunity is then given to it's employees.
• Every task every day matters.  You just have to keep the right mindset.  Everything you do everyday should tie back to your career goals
• Every mother is an artist. Her children the canvas.
• A leader does not turn around a failing company by going to meetings.  A leader is on the floor driving the change he or she wants to see.
• Less Meetings, more doing.  That is my home depot (repo).
• It is easy to offer criticism but more rewarding to understand (not sure if this has been said before by another person)

Configuring Network Connections in Windows 2008R2

A project I have been working on required us to add another NIC to all of our servers.  We didn't want production traffic accidentally being routed over that subnet.  Below are the steps we took on the servers to prevent it.

• Hit the Windows+R keys simultaneously
• Type control netconnections and then click OK
  
• Right Click on the connection you don't want traffic to go over and select Properties.
• Uncheck all item except for Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4).

• Right click on IPv4 and select Properties and set a static IP address for the new subnet.  In the picture below the IP is just an example (shouldn't use .1 as that is normally for your gateway)
• Click on Advanced and select the DNS tab.  Uncheck Register this connection's addresses in DNS.  Click on OK and OK to save the changes
  
• Right click on the connection we just changed and select Rename
• Pick a descriptive name for this connection
• While in the Network Connections Window hit the Alt key.  You should see a hidden menu pop up at the top.  Click on Advanced à Advanced Settings
  
• Change the connection you renamed to be below the other connections.
  
• Click on OK to save the changes.
• Next we want to make sure another default gateway wasn't created when the NIC was added.  Open up a command prompt and type in route print
• If there are more than one default gateways (0.0.0.0) and one of them is the new subnet you will need to remove it.
• route DELETE 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.0 10.10.10.1 servername