MSG315: Building An SPS Provisioning Solution RapPort: Rapid Portal “In-A-Box” Jim Boyle Group Program Manager Knowledge Management IT Microsoft Corporation

Agenda Mission Mission Business problem and proposed solution Business problem and proposed solution Demo Demo RapPort functionality and value-add RapPort functionality and value-add Technical details Technical details Lessons learned Lessons learned

Knowledge Management IT (KMIT) Mission Drive creation of KM and collaboration solutions on emerging Microsoft technologies Drive creation of KM and collaboration solutions on emerging Microsoft technologies Solve real business and user problems Solve real business and user problems And serve as a compelling showcase for the enabling technologies And serve as a compelling showcase for the enabling technologies  SharePoint ™ Portal Server  Exchange 2000  Microsoft ® Office XP

Issues With Today’s Sites Time Consuming to Create Time Consuming to Create  Example Microsoft Intranet site:  15 calendar wks, 5 MS effort wks, $38K contractor Doesn’t map to day-to-day work Doesn’t map to day-to-day work  Web site is used to publish end result (oft forgotten) Hard to Maintain Hard to Maintain  Mostly manual processes; No / limited tools Re-Organization Re-Organization  Time consuming, manual processes when sites are re-organized to match business; often abandoned

RapPort Target Scenarios Business Owner Business Owner  Rapidly Creating New Collaborative Sites  Restructuring Sites End Users End Users  Access to all work-related info in one place  Keeping Site Current

RapPort Setup And Resulting Sites Request Submission Request Submission AutoSetup Log AutoSetup Log Resulting Site Resulting Site Configuring the Site Configuring the Site Actual Sites Actual Sites

Why SharePoint Portal Server? Easy-to-use document management Easy-to-use document management  Document profiles, check in/out, versioning Out of Box collaboration features Out of Box collaboration features  Subscription, notifications, discussions Rich extensible portal Rich extensible portal  Category browsing Search Search  Full Text and Property Search

RapPort Functionality Self-Service Setup, centrally hosted Self-Service Setup, centrally hosted Templates Templates  Creation of two templates (PG, Sales)  Instantiation process as part of setup  Ability to support new templates Tied into Intranet search Tied into Intranet search Action Item Manager Integration Action Item Manager Integration Restructuring / Bulk Tagging Tool Restructuring / Bulk Tagging Tool

RapPort’s Value-Add Quick setup Quick setup Templates Templates  Business specific content (docs, apps,…) Content management tools Content management tools  Web Parts focused on day-to-day mgmt Expedite adoption and deployment Expedite adoption and deployment Extensible and customizable solution Extensible and customizable solution

RapPort Case Study (MS Internal Data) Business Tools Division Business Tools Division  Re-org requires new site  Effort to create and implement  Custom: 15 cal wks; 5 MS effort wks; $38.5 K  RapPort: 1 cal wk; 2 MS effort wks; $ 0.5 K Product Group Portal Product Group Portal  Average Monthly Effort to Maintain  Custom ASP / SQL: PM: 76 hrs Dev: 26 hrs  RapPort & SPS: PM: 22 hrs Dev: 0 hrs

RapPort Templates Pre-defined set targeted at business functions Pre-defined set targeted at business functions  Categories  Profiles and Attributes  Document Folder Structure  Content (Documents, Links, Part contents)  Dashboards and Web Parts  Applications RapPort V1 templates RapPort V1 templates  Product Group; Sales and Marketing  Created as SPS workspace  Requires review; copy of template to server  Owners can update their templates anytime

System Architecture Auto Setup SalesProductGroup Other Intranet Search Crawler 1 Search Data Center Department Site Crawler 1 Create Site

TemplateServer XML Templates A.. X WINS / DNS Active Dir Target Server Target Server n New Workspace Assign Roles Create Virtual Server B’ Server Farm DC Ops Template Copy DomainName Users & Groups Request SiteReady Categories, Profiles, Doc folders Documents, Dashboards, Web Parts WINSEntry B Create Workspace RapPort Provisioning 7 7 RequestRecieved Auto Setup

RapPort Server Setup And Install Process RapPort Server Configuration RapPort Server Configuration  Windows ® 2000 SP-1;  Standard SPS Install RapPort Server Install RapPort Server Install  Create Virtual Directory for Request ASPs  Copy all application components  Registers DLLs  Creates components for role assignments  Configure SMTP server

Destination Server Setup And Install Process Destination Server Configuration Destination Server Configuration  Windows 2000 SP-1  Standard SPS install Destination Server Install Destination Server Install  Register DLL to create workspace remotely  Copies scripts for roles and virtual server  Accepts IP, proxy, domain names then runs proxycfg tool and restarts server  Add “common” admin acct

Configure RapPort Environment Create Template Workspaces Create Template Workspaces  Create, Build, Test, and QC Modify Configuration Files Modify Configuration Files  Template and Server Configuration Edit Mail Messages Edit Mail Messages  Confirmation, WINS / DNS Request  Site Ready, Failure Notices Tailor Event Viewer Messages Tailor Event Viewer Messages

Server Configuration File (XML)

RapPortServer XML WINS / DNS Active Dir PING for Name Users & Groups (security principles only) Request Request Process RequestReceived Auto Setup 55 Trap in text file, parse for “unknown host” Persist all data in USERDATA_<servername>.XML Mail Message (XML) Template Config (XML)

Request Process Check virtual server availability (#2) Check virtual server availability (#2) Template Selection Template Selection Role Assignment (# 3) Role Assignment (# 3)  Active Directory ™ lookup via LDAP Stores Request (#4) Stores Request (#4)  All data and status stored in userdata.xml Send Acknowledgement Mail (#5) Send Acknowledgement Mail (#5)

RapPortServer XML (userdata) Target Server n New Workspace Server Farm Create Workspace 7 7 Auto Setup 6 6 Determine Determine destination server remotews.dll ServerXMLHTTP

Create Workspace Nightly job processes requests (autosetup.exe) Nightly job processes requests (autosetup.exe) ServerXMLHTTP for all server comms ServerXMLHTTP for all server comms Opens XML file, determines destination server (#6) Opens XML file, determines destination server (#6) Creation via CreateWorkspace Method (SDK) (#7) Creation via CreateWorkspace Method (SDK) (#7) Add “common” account as coordinator Add “common” account as coordinator Empty contents from new workspace Empty contents from new workspace

RapPortServer XML (userdata) Templates A.. X Target Server n New Workspace B’ Template Copy Categories, Profiles, Portal Content Document folders& Documents, Application folder, Resource sub-folder, Dashboards, Web Parts B Template Instantiation 8b 8a VB Scripts DLLs Rosebud & WebDAV Use SDK, DDRK, DAV to read & create VB Scripts

Template Instantiation Create Visual Basic ® Scripts to load content (#8a) Create Visual Basic ® Scripts to load content (#8a)  Read content from Template – SDK, DDRK, DAV  Transform the XML files into Visual Basic scripts Load Content into the Workspace (#8b) Load Content into the Workspace (#8b)  Execute scripts on RapPort server  Pushes content to Destination Workspace

TemplateServer Target Server n New Workspace Assign Roles Create Virtual Server B’ DC Ops AutoSetup Request SiteReady WINSEntry Roles, Virtual Server And Notification XML (userdata) DLL VB Script ASP DLL

Roles, Virtual Server And Notification Roles are set on workspace (#9) Roles are set on workspace (#9) Create Virtual Server – (#10) Create Virtual Server – (#10)  Scripted using IIS objects (ADSI) Messaging (#11) Messaging (#11)  WINS entry, Support Alias, Requestor

Lessons Learned Templates are the key Templates are the key  This is what speeds the implementation  Require champion from Business to build Roll-out and Implementation Roll-out and Implementation  Need to train end-users on DM concepts IT Hosting IT Hosting  Enables IT to manage yet reduces effort Development Development  Requires broad skills -SPS and IIS SDKs, DDRK, ADSI, MSXML

Resources SharePoint Portal Server Web Site SharePoint Portal Server Web Site SharePoint News Groups newsgroup.htm SharePoint News Groups newsgroup.htm newsgroup.htm newsgroup.htm Digital Dashboard Web Site Digital Dashboard Web Site Microsoft Training and Certification default.asp Microsoft Training and Certification default.asp default.asp default.asp

Resources MSDN SharePoint Portal Server 2001 as a Collaborative Solutions Platform SharePoint Portal Server 2001 as a Collaborative Solutions Platform SharePoint Portal Server – Document Management and Much More MSTahoe.htm SharePoint Portal Server – Document Management and Much More MSTahoe.htm MSTahoe.htm MSTahoe.htmPartners Digital Dashboard Solution Providers /ddpartners.asp Digital Dashboard Solution Providers /ddpartners.asp /ddpartners.asp /ddpartners.asp Microsoft Direct Access Microsoft Direct Access

Other Added Value Web Parts Web Parts TeamPort Application Suite TeamPort Application Suite

Extending With Web Parts Extending SPS Web Parts Extending SPS Web Parts  Announcements, News, FYI, Quick Links Implementation of Existing Solutions as Parts Implementation of Existing Solutions as Parts  News, Organization Chart Create Office XP Web Parts Create Office XP Web Parts  What’s Shipping, Mark Your Calendar, Tabular Data New Custom Parts New Custom Parts  RAID – summary and “my bugs”  Search as a Service – tied into Enterprise Search Integration with other apps (dashboards) Integration with other apps (dashboards)  RAID (bugs), Siebel, SAP  Collab: Action Item Mgr, Universal Calendar

Web Part Development Extended SPS Web Parts using XML, VB Script, and custom doc profiles Extended SPS Web Parts using XML, VB Script, and custom doc profiles  Executive Comms, FYI, What’s Hot, Custom Parts Custom Parts  Modified ASP pages and moved inside portal resources folder  Web parts point to pages via content link  WEB RAID, ORG Chart Web parts now beyond simple DWP Web parts now beyond simple DWP  Dependent upon SPS directories, profiles  ASP Pages in Portal/Resource/RapPort

Web Part Development Custom attributes hq.StartSearchQuery "SELECT " & vbCRLF & _ " ""DAV:href"", " & vbCRLF & _ … " ""urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office#Description"", " & vbCRLF & _ … " ""urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office#DisplayStatus"" " & vbCRLF & _ "FROM " & vbCRLF & _ " SCOPE('SHALLOW TRAVERSAL OF ""/" & GetWorkspaceName() & strFolderPath & """')" & vbCRLF & _ "WHERE ""DAV:iscollection"" != TRUE " & vbCRLF & _ "AND (""urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office#PostingDate"" <= '" & sDate & "' " & vbCRLF & _ "AND ""urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office#ExpirationDate"" >= '" & sDate & "') " & vbCRLF & _ strOrderByFragment, 0, cRecordsToDisplay - 1, -1, True …

TeamPort Umbrella Suite Integrating “Killer Applications Definition Definition  Scalable, extensible and rapidly deployable team application suite consisting of easy to use compelling collaboration components that are well integrated, but are equally compelling on their own TeamPort Components TeamPort Components  Action Item Manager – issue management application  UniCal – event communication & collaboration  RapPort – Rapid out-of-box portal, with Web parts End user Corporate Team Department Division