How to clear the Windows SharePoint 2010 Services configuration cache

There were many common issues that could occur in WSS v3 and MOSS that would require you to clear the configuration cache on your servers. While less common, these issues can still turn up occasionally on SharePoint Server 2010 (And Foundation). While the resolution for these issues might be the same, the steps are a bit different. The main thing to note is that the Configuration Cache is located in a different directory on Windows Server 2008 then it was in Windows Server 2003. The new path for the Configuration Cache under Windows Server 2008 is: %SystemDrive%\ProgramData\Microsoft\SharePoint\Config\ The overall steps remain largely the same:

1. Stop the Timer service. To do this, follow these steps:
• Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Services.
• Right-click SharePoint 2010 Timer, and then click Stop.
• Close the Services console.
2. On the computer that is running Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 and on which the Central Administration site is hosted, click Start, click Run, type explorer, and then press ENTER.
3. In Windows Explorer, locate and then double-click the following folder:
4. %SystemDrive%\ProgramData\Microsoft\SharePoint\Config\GUID
5. Notes
• The %SystemDrive% system variable specifies the letter of the drive on which Windows is installed. By default, Windows is installed on drive C.
• The GUID placeholder specifies the GUID folder. There may be more than one of these.
• The ProgramData folder may be hidden. To view the hidden folder, follow these steps:
• On the Tools menu, click Folder Options.
• Click the View tab.
• In the Advanced settings list, click Show hidden files and foldersunder Hidden files and folders, and then click OK.
• You can also simply type this directly in the path if you do not want to show hidden files and folders.
6. Back up the Cache.ini file. (Make a copy of it. DO NOT DELETE THIS FILE, Only the XML files in the next step)
7. Delete all the XML configuration files in the GUID folder (DO NOTE DELETE THE FOLDER). Do this so that you can verify that the GUID folders content is replaced by new XML configuration files when the cache is rebuilt.
   Note When you empty the configuration cache in the GUID folder, make sure that youdo NOT delete the GUID folder and the Cache.ini file that is located in the GUID folder.
8. Double-click the Cache.ini file.
9. On the Edit menu, click Select All.
10. On the Edit menu, click Delete.
11. Type 1, and then click Save on the File menu. (Basically when you are done, the only text in the config.ini file should be the number 1)
12. On the File menu, click Exit.
13. Start the Timer service. To do this, follow these steps:
• Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Services.
• Right-click SharePoint 2010 Timer, and then click Start.
• Close the Services console.
14. Note The file system cache is re-created after you perform this procedure. Make sure that you perform this procedure on all servers in the server farm.
15. Make sure that the Cache.ini file in the GUID folder now contains its previous value. For example, make sure that the value of the Cache.ini file is not 1.
16. Check in the GUID folder to make sure that the xml files are repopulating. This may take a bit of time.

Publish a workbook to a SharePoint 2010 site

In Microsoft Excel 2010, you can publish a workbook to a Microsoft SharePoint Services 2010 site so that other users can view its data in a web browser without having Excel installed on their computers. In addition, by setting some publish options, you can emphasize specific parts of your workbook in the browser. A great way to utilize this feature is by displaying an Excel chart on a SharePoint page to help your organization make agile business decisions. This article shows you how to publish a workbook from the Excel 2010 desktop program, and does not cover connecting a workbook or workbook data to an Excel Web Access web part on a SharePoint page.
When you publish a workbook to a SharePoint server, the entire contents of the workbook are saved to the server and can be viewed and worked with if you open the workbook in the Excel desktop program. If Office Web Apps are deployed on the SharePoint server, viewing and working with your data in the web browser can be very much like working with your data in the Excel desktop program. In fact, simultaneous editing of a workbook is possible in the browser grid when Office Web Apps are deployed. When you view a workbook in the browser, if the Edit in Browser button is visible, this means that Office Web Apps are available.

PREPARE THE WORKBOOK
Before you publish the workbook, you have the opportunity (in the Publish Options dialog box) to select the worksheets or items that you want visible in the browser when editing has not been enabled by clicking the Edit in Browser button. Just remember that although you can select what is viewable in this mode, the entire contents of the workbook are still saved to the SharePoint server. If you want to include entire worksheets as an item in addition to other items, such as charts or PivotTables, define the entire worksheet as a named range. Select the entire worksheet, and then define a named range. This named range will then appear as an available item in the Publish Options dialog box when you are ready to publish. If you want to allow users to provide a parameter to a formula when viewing a worksheet in a browser, set a cell as a defined name. You can then add that defined name as a parameter on the Parameters tab in the Publish Options dialog box.

PUBLISH THE WORKBOOK

1. Save & Send.
2. Save to SharePoint.
   Note : If the Save to SharePoint command is unavailable, you can still save the workbook to a SharePoint site by using the Save As command. The Publish Options dialog box will not be available. You can also directly upload the workbook from a SharePoint library. Users can view and edit the contents of the workbook in the browser by going directly to the site where the workbook is saved.
3. If you want to select individual worksheets or items to publish in the workbook, click the Publish Options button. Otherwise, if you want to publish the entire workbook, skip directly to step 4.
   On the Show tab, do the following:
• To show the entire workbook in the browser, select Entire Workbook in the list box.
• To show only specific worksheets in the browser, select Sheets in the list box, and then clear the check boxes for the sheets that you do not want to make visible.
  Note:  By default, all sheets are selected. To quickly make all sheets viewable again after you clear some of the check boxes, you can select the All Sheets check box.
• To show only specific items in the browser (such as named ranges, charts, tables, or PivotTables), select Items in the Workbook in the list box, and then select the check boxes of the items that you want to show.
  Note:  If you select items that have the same name (such as a chart and its underlying table of data), only one of these items will be available in the browser. To show all the items, you must make sure that each item in the workbook has a unique name. You can rename tables on the Design tab in the Properties group, rename PivotTables on the Options tab in the Pivot Table group, and rename charts or PivotCharts on the Layout tab in the Properties group. Duplicate items, such as named ranges, can be renamed on them Formulas tab in the Defined Names group.
• On the Parameters tab, add any defined names that you want to use to specify cells that are editable when users view the workbook in the browser. Then click OK to close the dialog box.
4. Choose a location in which to publish your workbook. There may already be saved server locations under Current Location, Recent Locations, or Locations from which you can choose. If there are no such locations, or you want to save to a new location, under Locations, double-click Browse for a location.
5. In the dialog box, enter the web address for the SharePoint site, and then browse to the site or library in which you want to save your workbook.
6. If you haven't already selected individual worksheets or items or set parameters, click the Publish Options button.
7. In the File name box, accept the suggested name for the workbook, or type a new name if you want.
8. To display the workbook contents in a browser window immediately after the publish operation has completed, make sure the Open with Excel in the browser check box is selected.
9. Click Save.

How to configure PerformancePoint services in SharePoint 2010

The following are the configuration steps to get PerformancePoint up and running on SharePoint 2010 Enterprise edition.
As PerformancePoint service is integrated in SharePoint 2010 environment, we need to do some configurations in Sharepoint 2010 Central Administration tool.
It also explains what components are enabled with the Site Collection and what Site features are required for storing PPS dashboards, scorecards, and reports in SharePoint Lists and Document Libraries.
Starting the PerformancePoint service

1. Open the SharePoint 2010 central administration and click on System Settings then click on Manage services on server link under Servers category.
2. Click the start link for the PerformancePoint Service.

 Activating PerformancePoint Site Collection Feature

1. Open your Business Intelligence site and navigate to Site Actions and click on site settings option.
2. Click on Site Collection Features option from Site Collection Administration.
3. Activate the PerformancePoint service from the below list.

Setting up the Secure Store Account
Without secure store account you cannot access the performance points unattended service account to connect to data sources. PP 2007 uses application pool identity to connect to the data sources where as in 2010 it is domain account whose password is stored in the secure store.
In order to configure Secure Store for PPS, Follow these steps

1. Open SharePoint 2010 central administration toll
2. Click on Manage Service Applications under Application Management
3. Click on the Secure Store Proxy and click Manage in ribbon

You will get a message saying ‘Generate a new key’, Click Edit on the ribbon then say Generate a new key
Setting up an Unattended Service Account

1. Go to Central administration Home page
2. Click “Manage Service Applications” under application management
3. Click the PerformancePoint service application
4. Click on the first link PerformancePoint Service Application Settings
5. In the “Unattended Service Account” section, enter the username and password for querying the data sources

Testing the configuration of Performance Point Service, Open a Performance Point BI Center Site and Click on Run Dashboard Designer button
If you have successfully created a PerformancePoint site collection, you should be able to browse to the BI Center, launch Dashboard Designer, and connect to a data source using the unattended service account.