Content databases contain orphaned Apps SharePoint 2013

Content databases contain orphaned Apps

SharePoint Health Analyzer rule “Content databases contain orphaned Apps.”

Some situation content database may become corrupted. The corrupted database may contain orphaned apps. Orphaned apps are not accessible, which causes unnecessary resource and license consumption and may result in failures in SharePoint upgrade.

Solution

Remove app for SharePoint instances from a SharePoint 2013 site.

A user must have the Manage Web site permission to remove an app for SharePoint. By default, this permission is only available to users with the Full Control permission level or who are in the site Owners group.

To remove an app from a SharePoint site

  • Verify that the user account that is performing this procedure is a member of the Site owners group.
  • On the site, on the Settings menu, click View Site Contents.
  • In the Apps section, point to the app that you want to remove, click “…”, and then click Remove.
  • Click OK to confirm that you want to remove the app.

To remove an app by using Windows PowerShell

Verify that you have the following memberships:

  • securityadmin fixed server role on the SQL Server instance.
  • db_owner fixed database role on all databases that are to be updated.
  • Administrators group on the server on which you are running the Windows PowerShell cmdlets.
  • Site Owners group on the site collection to which you want to install the app.

An administrator can use the Add-SPShellAdmin cmdlet to grant permissions to use SharePoint 15 Products cmdlets. On the Start screen, click SharePoint 2013 Management Shell, type the following commands, and press ENTER after each one:

$instances = Get-SPAppInstance -Web
#Gets all apps installed to the subsite you specify.

$instance = $instances | where {$_.Title -eq ”}
#Sets the $instance variable to the app with the title you supply.

Uninstall-SPAppInstance -Identity $instance
#Uninstalls the app from the subsite.

At the question “Are you sure you want to perform this action?”,
type Y to uninstall the app.

Locate and remove app instances in all locations

An app for SharePoint in the App Catalog is available for users to install.Users can install apps for SharePoint on many sites. Below two Windows PowerShell scripts can be used to find all locations for a specific app and then uninstall all instances from every location.

First script to locate all instances of a specific app in a SharePoint environment. Then use the second script to uninstall all instances of the app from the SharePoint environment.

To locate specific apps by using Windows PowerShell (save as script and run script)

Verify that you have the following memberships:

  • securityadmin fixed server role on the SQL Server instance.
  • db_owner fixed database role on all databases that are to be updated.
  • Administrators group on the server on which you are running Windows PowerShell cmdlets.

An administrator can use the Add-SPShellAdmin cmdlet to grant permissions to use SharePoint 2013 cmdlets

save the below script as “Get-AppInstances.ps1”

This Windows PowerShell script gets all app instances from your SharePoint 2013 farm for a specified App ID on a specified web application. You specify the App ID and the web application URL and the script will remove all of the instances of the App for all webs in that web application.

param(
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true)] [Guid] $productId,
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true)] [String] $webAppUrl
)

function GetAllInstances($productId = $null, $webAppUrl = $null)
{
$outAppName = "";
$sites = Get-SPSite -WebApplication $webAppUrl
$outWebs = @()
foreach($site in $sites){
if($site.AdministrationSiteType -ne "None"){
continue;
}
$webs = Get-SPWeb -site $site
foreach($web in $webs) {
$appinstances = Get-SPAppInstance -Web $web
foreach($instance in $appinstances) {
if($productId -eq $instance.App.ProductId) {
if ($outAppName -eq "") {
$outAppName = $instance.Title;
}
$outWebs += $web;
}
}
}
}
return ($outAppName,$outWebs)
}
Write-Host "This script will search all the sites in the webAppUrl for installed instances of the App."
$confirm = Read-Host "This can take a while. Proceed? (y/n)"
if($confirm -ne "y"){
Exit
}

$global:appName = $null;
$global:webs = $null;

{
$returnvalue = GetAllInstances -productId $productId -webAppUrl $webAppUrl;
$global:appName = $returnvalue[0];
$global:webs = $returnvalue[1];
}
);

$count = $global:webs.Count;
if($count -gt 0){
Write-Host "App Name:" $global:appName;
Write-Host "Product Id: $productId";
Write-Host "Number of instances: $count";
Write-Host "";
Write-Host "Urls:";

foreach($web in $global:webs) {
Write-Host $web.Url;
}
}
else {
Write-Host "No instances of the App with Product Id $productId found.";
}
return;
  • Now Open “SharePoint 2013 Management Shell”
  • Change to the directory where you saved the file.
  • At the Windows PowerShell command prompt, type the following command: 
./ Get-AppInstances.ps1 -productId -webAppUrl

To uninstall specific apps from all locations by using Windows PowerShell (save as script and run script)

Verify that you have the following memberships :

  • securityadmin fixed server role on the SQL Server instance.
  • db_owner fixed database role on all databases that are to be updated.
  • Administrators group on the server on which you are running Windows PowerShell cmdlets.

An administrator can use the Add-SPShellAdmin cmdlet to grant permissions to use SharePoint 2013 cmdlets

save the below script as “Remove-App.ps1”

This Windows PowerShell script removes all app instances from your SharePoint 2013 farm for a specified App ID on a specified web application. You specify the App ID and the web application URL and the script will remove all of the instances of the App for all webs in that web application.

param(
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true)] [Guid] $productId,
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true)] [String] $webAppUrl
)

function RemoveInstances($productId = $null, $webAppUrl = $null)
{
$outAppName = "";
$sites = Get-SPSite -WebApplication $webAppUrl
$outWebs = @()
foreach($site in $sites){
if($site.AdministrationSiteType -ne "None"){
continue;
}
$webs = Get-SPWeb -site $site
foreach($web in $webs) {
$appinstances = Get-SPAppInstance -Web $web
foreach($instance in $appinstances) {
if($productId -eq $instance.App.ProductId) {
if ($outAppName -eq "") {
$outAppName = $instance.Title;
}
$outWebs += $web;
Write-Host "Uninstalling from" $web.Url;
Uninstall-SPAppInstance -Identity $instance -confirm:$false
}
}
}
}
return ($outAppName,$outWebs)
}

$confirm = Read-Host "This will uninstall all instances of the App and is irreversible. Proceed? (y/n)"
if($confirm -ne "y"){
Exit
}

$global:appName = $null;
$global:webs = $null;

{
$returnvalue = RemoveInstances -productId $productId -webAppUrl $webAppUrl;
$global:appName = $returnvalue[0];
$global:webs = $returnvalue[1];
}
);

$count = $global:webs.Count;
if($count -gt 0){
Write-Host "All the instances of the following App have been uninstalled:";
Write-Host "App Name:" $global:appName;
Write-Host "Product Id: $productId";
Write-Host "Number of instances: $count";
Write-Host "";
Write-Host "Urls:";

foreach($web in $global:webs) {
Write-Host $web.Url;
}
}
else {
Write-Host "No instances of the App with Product Id $productId found.";
}
return;
  • Open SharePoint 2013 Management Shell
  • Change to the directory where you saved the file.
  • At the Windows PowerShell command prompt, type the following command:
./ Remove-App.ps1 -productId -webAppUrl

If the issue still persists like as below

“If you have an orphaned app in the initialized state on a site and you delete the site, Health Analyzer reports that there's an error and the auto-fix doesn't work.”

Apply CU November 2016 which will 100% resolve the issue

SharePoint Server 2013 (KB3127933)
SharePoint Foundation 2013 (KB3127930)

Access Denied Error after migrating to SharePoint 2013

Access Denied Error after migrating to SharePoint 2013

Scenario:

We were working for a client, they had many groups and we had to build a collaboration portal for all the groups. Key thing was few sites of some groups were already present in SharePoint 2010 in different standalone servers. Migration was a key thing here as the existing sites has huge data, and huge user base.

The Requirement was to build a portal /web application which will have migrated sites and new set of sites as per agreed site structure. According to the agreed architecture and design we created a new web application and started building the site hierarchy.

As part of this we followed the regular approach database detach –attach method and migrated the existing SharePoint 2010 site .Migration was successful and we were able to access the site  with the system account. Later we tried with couple of site admin accounts, to our surprise we were getting “ACCESS DENIED” with any other user id.

Background:

By default when we create a web application in SharePoint 2013, it gets created with Claims authentication. When we migrate the content DB to 2013, it recognizes the user account only in this format i:0#.w|domainusername . Though it’s an AD account it no more recognizes the DomainUserName format.

SharePoint assumes all users to be claim users and renders them so. Therefore, a normal windows user – “DomainUserName” appears as “i:0#.w|DomainUserName”. Moreover, it uses the username in this same format to check for its permissions but does not find a matching entry for the user as the database has windows users – “DomainUserName”. So, the site will give you an access denied.

Note that the System Account will work since its “DomainUserName” is never used and System Account is a keyword used by SharePoint for the application pool identity. Therefore, it remains unaffected.

Solution:

In brief the share point 2010 site which needs to be migrated should be converted to claims format and then migrate it to 2013. But a word of caution , do not directly change the SP 2010 site to claims format in a production environment as it will not allow existing windows accounts to login and existing SharePoint 2010 site will be no more operational.

Below power shell script converts classic mode site to claims mode:

Power shell script

This script converts user accounts to claims format:

Script for converting user accounts to claims format

On executing the first script (to enable claims authentication) the SharePoint Content Database is made ready for claims based authentication but the already existing site users were windows users, are not “migrated” to be understood by claims authentication.

We use the second script to “migrate” the users. MigrateUser($true) will convert all user accounts to claims format. After running this script user accounts are converted in the database to claims format, therefore, user names are read correctly by SharePoint therefore, permissions for users are associated correctly by SharePoint hence the site permissions work correctly.

Note:

By any chance if you execute these scripts directly in productions, by executing $webapp.MigrateUsers($false) will not convert user accounts to windows mode, rather it will throw an exception. Make sure you have a temporary environment built where you execute the above scripts. Also note that these scripts are running on Web Applications so they will affect all site collections in that web application

storage related performance issues sharepoint

Here are five storage-related issues in SharePoint that can kill performance, with tips on how to resolve or prevent them.

Problem #1:

Unstructured data takeover. The primary document types stored in SharePoint are PDFs, Microsoft Word and PowerPoint files, and large Excel spreadsheets. These documents are usually well over a megabyte.

SharePoint saves all file contents in SQL Server as unstructured data, otherwise known as Binary Large Objects (BLOBs). Having many BLOBs in SQL Server causes several issues. Not only do they take up lots of storage space, they also use server resources.

Because a BLOB is unstructured data, any time a user accesses a file in SharePoint, the BLOB has to be reassembled before it can be delivered back to the user – taking extra processing power and time.

Solution:

Move BLOBs out of SQL Server and into a secondary storage location – specifically, a higher density storage array that is reasonably fast, like a file share or network attached storage (NAS).

Problem #2:

An avalanche of large media. Organizations today use a variety of large files such as videos, images, and PowerPoint presentations, but storing them in SharePoint can lead to performance issues because SQL Server isn’t optimized to house them.

Media files, especially, cause issues for users because they are so large and need to be retrieved fairly quickly. For example, a video file may have to stream at a certain rate, and applications won’t return control until the file is fully loaded. As more of this type of content is stored in SharePoint, it amplifies the likelihood that users will experience browser timeout, slow Web server performance, and upload and recall failures.

Solution:

For organizations that make SharePoint “the place” for all content large and small, use third-party tools specifically designed to facilitate the externalization of large media storage and organization. This will encourage user adoption and still allow you to maintain the performance that users demand.

Problem #3:

Old and unused files hogging valuable SQL Server storage. As data ages, it usually loses its value and usefulness, so it’s not uncommon for the majority of SharePoint content to go completely unused for long periods of time. In fact, more than 60 to 80 percent of content in SharePoint is either unused or used only sparingly in its lifespan. Many organizations waste space by applying the same storage treatment for this old, unused data as they do for new, active content, quickly degrading both SQL Server and SharePoint performance.

Solution:

Move less active and relevant SharePoint data to less expensive storage, while still keeping it available to end users via SharePoint. In the interface, it helps to move these older files to different parts of the information architecture, to minimize navigational and search clutter. Similarly, we can “unclutter” the storage back end.

A third-party tool that provides tiered storage will enable you to easily move each piece of SharePoint data through its life cycle to various repositories, such as direct attached storage, a file share, or even the cloud. With tiered storage, you can keep your most active and relevant data close at hand, while moving the rest to less expensive and possibly slower storage, based on the particular needs of your data set.

Problem #4:

Lack of scalability. As SharePoint content grows, its supporting hardware can become underpowered if growth rates weren’t accurately forecasted. Organizations unable to invest in new hardware need to find alternatives that enable them to use best practices and keep SharePoint performance optimal. Microsoft guidance suggests limiting content databases to 200GB maximum unless disk subsystems are tuned for high input/output performance. In addition, huge content databases are cumbersome for backup and restore operations.

Solution:

Offload BLOBs to the file system – thus reducing the size of the content database. Again, tiered storage will give you maximum flexibility, so as SharePoint data grows, you can direct it to the proper storage location, either for pure long-term storage or zippy immediate use.

It also lets you spread the storage load across a wider pool of storage devices. This approach keeps SharePoint performance high and preserves your investment in existing hardware by prolonging its useful life in lieu of buying expensive hardware. It’s simpler to invest in optimizing a smaller SQL Server storage core than a full multi-terabyte storage footprint, including archives.

Problem #5:

Not leveraging Microsoft’s data externalization features. Microsoft’s recommended externalization options are Remote BLOB Storage (RBS), a SQL Server API that enables SharePoint 2010 to store BLOBs in locations outside the content databases, and External BLOB Storage (EBS), a SharePoint API introduced in SharePoint 2007 SP1 and continued in SharePoint 2010.

Many organizations haven’t yet explored these externalization capabilities, however, and are missing out on significant storage and related performance benefits. However, native EBS and RBS require frequent T-SQL command-line administration, and lack flexibility.

Solution:

Use a third-party tool that works with Microsoft’s supported APIs, RBS, and EBS, and gives administrators an intuitive interface through SharePoint’s native Central Administration to set the scope, rules and location for data externalization.

In each of these five problem areas, you can see that offloading the SharePoint data to more efficient external storage is clearly the answer. Microsoft’s native options, EBS and RBS, only add to the complexity of managing SharePoint storage, however, so the best option to improve SharePoint performance and reduce costs is to select a third-party tool that integrates cleanly into SharePoint’s Central Administration. This would enable administrators to take advantage of EBS and RBS, choosing the data they want to externalize by setting the scope and rules for externalization and selecting where they want the data to be stored.