How to export the ULS log based on Correlation Id?

Scenario:
Sometime we may need to export check the actual error for the Correlation Id which we got in the browser. At that time, we can use the PowerShell command to get all the error details from ULS log which are related to the specific correlation id.


How:
Run the below command in the "PowerShell for SharePoint" window (Run as Administrator".


merge-splogfile -correlation "<Correlation Id>" -path .\desktop\<filename>.csv -starttime "<Time in server time format>" -endtime "<Time in server time format>"


Example:
merge-splogfile -correlation "e2677d9d-eedf-501a-7c9b-a41fc989149d" -path .\desktop\filename5.csv -starttime "5/18/2016 10:43:00 AM" -endtime "5/18/2016 10:45:00 AM"

Process that hosts the writer with name OSearch15 VSS Writer and ID {0ff1ce15-0201-0000-0000-000000000000} does not run under a user with sufficient access rights.

Issue:

Process that hosts the writer with name OSearch15 VSS Writer and ID {0ff1ce15-0201-0000-0000-000000000000} does not run under a user with sufficient access rights.

Reason:
Your "Search Host Controller" may not be started as you expected. Also it will struck to start in the "Services.msc" console.
The reason is the account which is used for Search services does not have access rights to read the specific registry key.

Solution:
1. Make sure that you have added your "Serice Account" in the "Administrator group of SP server.
2. Open "Regedit" in the "Run" window
3. Go to "HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VSS\VssAccessControl"
4. Do right click and add one more "DWORD" value for your search service as depicted below and set the value as "1"

5. Also you need to set the "Read" permission to the administrator group as depicted below

6. Now go and check your "Search Host Controller" service and it works fine.

That's it....

Unable to edit SharePoint 2013 web part properties

Issue:
If you are trying to edit the web part properties, you will not have such option to edit the properties.

Reason:
This is a known issue in IE 11.

Solution:
Try to edit the page in Google chrome.

cacheHostInfo is null

Error:

An attempt to start/stop instance  of service Distributed Cache on server did not succeed.  Re-run the action via UI or command line on the specified server. Additional information is below.

cacheHostInfo is null

Reason:
If you are trying to activate the Distributed cache service in Central admin, you will get the "cacheHostInfo is null" error. This is because the Distributed cache is not able to map with the configured "Cache" location.

Solution:

1. Go to "Caonfig Appfabric" window through "Start" menu
2. Check the server name which is configured in the window as I depicted in the below screenshot

3. Get the server name and replace the server name in the below script

$DC = Get-SPServiceInstance | where {$_.TypeName -eq “Distributed Cache”}
$DC
$DC[0].Provision(“\\Servername“)

4. Execute the script in the SharePoint 2013 Powershell window

Note: 
If you are having more than one distributed cache service, you need to replace the above array value for the disabled distributed cache. In my case, i have only one cache service.

That's it...

Error: The tool was unable to install Application Server Role, Web Server (IIS) Role

Error: 
The tool was unable to install Application Server Role, Web Server (IIS) Role

Reason:
You will get this error, if you are trying to install "prerequisiteinstaller.exe" for SharePoint server 2013 in Windows server 2012. Because, the installer is unable to find the required file.

Solution:
If you are getting this error, you can easily find the actual error in the "log" file via the installer. The log file may say,

So what is the actual solution?

• You have to go to "C:\Windows\system32\" in the server that you are install the prerequisites
• Copy and paste the "ServerManager.exe" in the same folder
• Rename the copy of ServerManager.exe as ServerManagerCmd.exe
• Now try to run the prerequisiteinstaller.exe file. You will not get the above said error. 

Thats it...

Method 'get_IsClientValid' in type 'Microsoft.SharePoint.WorkflowServices.WorkflowServiceApplicationProxy' from assembly 'Microsoft.SharePoint.WorkflowServices, Version=15.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c' does not have an implementation

Error:
Method 'get_IsClientValid' in type 'Microsoft.SharePoint.WorkflowServices.WorkflowServiceApplicationProxy' from assembly 'Microsoft.SharePoint.WorkflowServices, Version=15.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c' does not have an implementation

(Or)

SharePoint 2013 SP1 failed to install.

(Or)

Getting error when you are trying to create a new web application in central admin

Reason:
You will get this error, after you tried to install "SharePoint server 2013 Service Pack 1 (officeserversp2013-kb2880552-fullfile-x64-en-us.exe)

The reason is there would not be enough space in the "C" drive.

Solution:
Keep minimum of 3 GB in C drive and install the SharePoint server 2013 SP1 from http://www.microsoft.com/en-in/download/details.aspx?id=42544

Your Service pack will continue to install now without any issues. Also you will not get the above mentioned issues.

That's it...

Apps are disabled on this site.

Error:

 ErrorDetail: Apps are disabled on this site.
        ErrorType: Configuration
        ErrorTypeName: Configuration
        ExceptionMessage: Microsoft.SharePoint.SPException: Apps cannot be installed. Review the diagnostic logs for more details regarding app deployment failures.
   at Microsoft.SharePoint.Utilities.SPUtility.ThrowSPExceptionWithTraceTag(UInt32 tagId, ULSCat traceCategory, String resourceId, Object[] resourceArgs)
   at Microsoft.SharePoint.Packaging.SPUserCodeSolutionDeploymentGroup.Deploy()
   at Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPAppTask.DeployOperation()
   at Microsoft.SharePoint.Lifecycle.MonitoredTaskExecution.DoTask()
        Source: AppWeb
        SourceName: App Web Deployment
Error occurred in deployment step 'Install app for SharePoint': Failed to install app for SharePoint. Please see the output window for details.


Reason:
You will get this error when you are trying to deploy your SharePoint 2013 "app" through visual studio.The reason behind this error is you might not created the "App domains" for your application.

Solution:
To create the "App domain",  please refer my another post in the below URL:

http://sensoft2000-sharepoint.blogspot.in/2014/10/the-subscription-settings-service-and.html


Thats it...

The Subscription Settings service and corresponding application and proxy needs to be running in order to make changes to these settings.

Error:

The Subscription Settings service and corresponding application and proxy needs to be running in order to make changes to these settings.

Reason:
You will get this error when you are trying to create the "App URL" through "Configure App URLs" in central admin.

Solution:

• First you need to provide the "db creator" role for the specific user which you are going to use for the "Subscription service"
• Then you need to enable the "Subscription service" ONLY  through the below PowerShell script. (Replace your actual values in the highlighted areas)

$account = Get-SPManagedAccount domainname\username
$appPool = New-SPServiceApplicationPool -Name SubscriptionServiceAppPool -Account $account 
$serviceApp = New-SPSubscriptionSettingsServiceApplication -ApplicationPool $appPool -name "Subscription Settings Service Application" -DatabaseName "SP2013DEV-SubscriptionSettingsDB" 
$serviceAppProxy = New-SPSubscriptionSettingsServiceApplicationProxy -ServiceApplication $serviceApp

• Then go to Application management  --> Manage services on the server  and start the "Microsoft SharePoint Foundation Subscription Settings Service" service
• Then click the "Apps" in the left navigation and click the "Configure Apps URLs" and your error will not be displayed there

Error occurred in deployment step 'Uninstall app for SharePoint': The local SharePoint server is not available. Check that the server is running and connected to the SharePoint farm.

Error:
Error occurred in deployment step 'Uninstall app for SharePoint': The local SharePoint server is not available. Check that the server is running and connected to the SharePoint farm.

Reason:
some of the core databases in your SharePoint SQL server does not have the enough access rights for the "currently logged-in" user. You must provide "db_owner" for them.

Solution:
You need follow the steps which i was published in the year 2011.
URL: http://sensoft2000-sharepoint.blogspot.in/2011/07/error-occurred-in-deployment-step.html


Thats it...

How to Shrink WSS_Logging Database?

Issue:
SharePoint 2010/2013 always fill the "WSS_Logging.mdf" file continuously. If you are trying to shrink or empty the ".mdf" or ".ldf" files, you will not be able to shrink them.

Follow the below steps to shrink them immediately.

Solution:
1. Open a new Query window by right clicking the "WSS_Logging" database.
2. Paste the below query and execute it which will empty the unwanted contents from database.

DECLARE @TableName AS VARCHAR(MAX)
DECLARE table_cursor CURSOR
FOR 
SELECT TABLE_NAME 
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES 
WHERE TABLE_TYPE = 'BASE TABLE'
AND TABLE_NAME LIKE '%_Partition%'
OPEN table_cursor
FETCH NEXT FROM table_cursor INTO @TableName
WHILE @@FETCH_STATUS = 0
BEGIN
DECLARE @SQLText AS NVARCHAR(4000)

SET @SQLText = 'TRUNCATE TABLE ' + @TableName

EXEC sp_executeSQL @SQLText

FETCH NEXT FROM table_cursor INTO @TableName 
END
CLOSE table_cursor
DEALLOCATE table_cursor


3. Once the above is query executed, your SQL DB is ready to shrink. (If the above query is not executed, then you will not be able to shrink the "WSS_Content.mdf" file.

4. Now right click on the database and go to the "shrink window" as mentioned below and shrink the DB to "50 MB".

5. Now the DB size would be re-sized to 50 MB.

Thats it...

AppFabric1.1-RTM-x64 not found or this package does not contain compatible update.

Error:
AppFabric1.1-RTM-x64 not found or this package does not contain compatible update.

Reason:
You will get this error when you are trying to install the Windows Server AppFabric v1.1 CU1[KB 2671763] directly on SharePoint 2013 server.

Solution:
Before trying to install this Windows Server AppFabric v1.1 CU1, you need to install the "Windows Server AppFabric". After installing the AppFabric, if you try to install the CU, you will not get this error.

Also make sure that the below services are in "Running" state in the server.

1. Windows Update service
2. Windows Firewall service

If you are facing any difficulty on installing Appfabric, please refer my other posts in this blog.

http://sensoft2000-sharepoint.blogspot.in/2014/09/windows-server-appfabric-is-not.html

http://sensoft2000-sharepoint.blogspot.in/2014/09/active-directory-rights-management.html

http://sensoft2000-sharepoint.blogspot.in/2014/09/another-appfabric-installation-error.html

That's it...

Another Appfabric installation error due to PSModulePath

Error:

Product: AppFabric 1.1 for Windows Server -- Error 1722. There is a problem with this Windows Installer package. A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected. Contact your support personnel or package vendor.  Action Env_PSModulePath_powershell_i, location: C:\Program Files\AppFabric 1.1 for Windows Server\Microsoft.ApplicationServer.InstallHelper.exe, command: powershell.exe "-command \"$str = [System.Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable(\\\"PSModulePath\\\",[System.EnvironmentVariableTarget]::Machine); $str = $str+\\\";C:\Program Files\AppFabric 1.1 for Windows Server\PowershellModules\\\"; C:\Windows\system32\setx.exe /MPSModulePath \\\"$str\\\"\"" "C:\Users\senthil\AppData\Local\Temp\AppServerSetup1_1_CustomActions(2014-09-28 20-02-35).log"

 (Or)
Unable to proceed the installation after restarting the Server by AppFabric.

Reason:

You will this error during the installation of Appfabric service in SharePoint server 2013. You need to fix 2 issues. 

1. Need to update the "PSModulePath" in the environment variable section
2. Enable the "Windows Firewall" service

Solution:

1. "PSModulePath" in the Environment variable will have extra double quote (") at end of the value. Appfabric installation will not be able to parse the value, if it contains the double quote. So we need to remove that additional character.   Follow the below screenshots to remove the extra double quote character

2. One more important thing is, we need to enable to the "Windows firewall" service which is mandatory for Appfabric to complete its full installation. Because

Appfabric will try to add few entries in the Windows firewall.  See the below screenshot for more info.

(This second one has killed me a lot)

Active directory rights management services client 2.0 setup wizard ended prematurely

Error:
Active directory rights management services client 2.0 setup wizard ended prematurely.

Reason:
You will get this error during your installation of SharePoint server 2013.
(Or)
During the installation of "setup_msipc_x64.msi" file (Microsoft Information protection and Control Client)

Solution:
Some of the below activities are required to install the "setup_msipc_x64.msi" file.

1. The logged-in user should be a Domain user  and should not be a  local user.
2. Should be a administrator in the current machine.
3. "windows Update" service should be in running state (services.msc)  (Mandatory)
4. "AppFabric" and "Cumulative Update Package 1 for Microsoft AppFabric 1.1 for Windows Server (KB 2671763)" should be installed
5. "AppFabric" should be configured which will create a new SQL server DB for Appfabric application and its caching activities
6. "Appfabric caching service" should be started.

Windows Server Appfabric is not configured correctly

Issues:
The following error occured while loading the extended type data file: , C:\Program Files\AppFabric 1.1 for windows server\PowershellModules\ApplicationServer\Microsoft.ApplicationServer.Management.types.ps1xml : File skipped because of the following validation exception: AuthorizationManager check failed.

(Or)

Windows Server Appfabric is not configured correctly

Reason:
The above errors will occur during the installation of SharePoint Server 2013 software. All the SharePoint 2013 Pre-requisites will be installed successfully  except "AppFabric"  when executing the "Setup.exe". This pre-requisite should be installed manually and the steps are given below:

Solution Steps:
1. Uninstall the "AppFabric" through the control panel, if it is already installed fully/partially
2. Restart the server.
3. Download the "WindowsServerAppFabricSetup_x64.exe" file from internet
4. Copy the "WindowsServerAppFabricSetup_x64.exe" to "C:\" or "D:\" drive. (ex: "D:\")
4. Open the command prompt with "Administrator Privilege"
5. Go to the "SharePoint 2013" setup folder in command prompt (ex: "d:\SP2013Setup\")
6. Type the below command (based on the above mentioned example path)

prerequisiteinstaller.exe /AppFabric:D:\WindowsServerAppFabricSetup_x64.exe

7. You will see the below "SharePoint Products Preparation Tool" screen.

8. In the middle of the installation, you will be asked to restart the server. Press "Ok" to restart.
9. After the restart, the system will resume the AppFaric installation
10. Finally you will get the "Installation complete" message.
11. Now you can start the "SharePoint 2013" installation without any issue.

Thats it....


Update (on 28-Sep-2014)
Still if there is an error during the installation, then there might be an error in "Windows Update" service. This service should be enabled. So, you need to go to "services.msc" and enable the "Windows Update" service.

"Search Service Host Controller" struck in "Starting" state

Errors:

Log Name:      Application
Source:        Application Error
Date:          12/30/2013 3:16:15 PM
Event ID:      1000
Task Category: (100)
Level:         Error
Keywords:      Classic
User:          N/A
Computer:      XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Description:
Faulting application name: hostcontrollerservice.exe, version: 15.0.4420.1017, time stamp: 0x50672c2d
Faulting module name: KERNELBASE.dll, version: 6.1.7601.17965, time stamp: 0x506dcae6
Exception code: 0xe0434352
Fault offset: 0x000000000000bccd
Faulting process id: 0x1e2c
Faulting application start time: 0x01cf0543f8ebade4
Faulting application path: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office Servers\15.0\Search\HostController\hostcontrollerservice.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\system32\KERNELBASE.dll
Report Id: 38fba41d-7137-11e3-bb81-005056a04313
Event Xml:

 
    hostcontrollerservice.exe
    15.0.4420.1017
    50672c2d
    KERNELBASE.dll
    6.1.7601.17965
    506dcae6
    e0434352
    000000000000bccd
    1e2c
    01cf0543f8ebade4
    C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office Servers\15.0\Search\HostController\hostcontrollerservice.exe
    C:\Windows\system32\KERNELBASE.dll
    38fba41d-7137-11e3-bb81-005056a04313
 

(Or)

Log Name:      Application
Source:        .NET Runtime
Date:          12/30/2013 3:16:15 PM
Event ID:      1026
Task Category: None
Level:         Error
Keywords:      Classic
User:          N/A
Computer:      XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Description:
Application: hostcontrollerservice.exe
Framework Version: v4.0.30319
Description: The process was terminated due to an unhandled exception.
Exception Info: System.ServiceModel.CommunicationException
Stack:
   at Microsoft.Ceres.HostController.WcfServer.WcfService.StartService()
   at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.RunInternal(System.Threading.ExecutionContext, System.Threading.ContextCallback, System.Object, Boolean)
   at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(System.Threading.ExecutionContext, System.Threading.ContextCallback, System.Object, Boolean)
   at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(System.Threading.ExecutionContext, System.Threading.ContextCallback, System.Object)
   at System.Threading.ThreadHelper.ThreadStart()


 
    Application: hostcontrollerservice.exe
Framework Version: v4.0.30319
Description: The process was terminated due to an unhandled exception.
Exception Info: System.ServiceModel.CommunicationException
Stack:
   at Microsoft.Ceres.HostController.WcfServer.WcfService.StartService()
   at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.RunInternal(System.Threading.ExecutionContext, System.Threading.ContextCallback, System.Object, Boolean)
   at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(System.Threading.ExecutionContext, System.Threading.ContextCallback, System.Object, Boolean)
   at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(System.Threading.ExecutionContext, System.Threading.ContextCallback, System.Object)
   at System.Threading.ThreadHelper.ThreadStart()


(Or)

"Search Service Host Controller" struck in "Starting" state

Reason:
You will get this error when you are trying to start the "Search Service Host Controller" or Your Search may not be started due to this service.

Solution:
This issue killed me a lot.. :(
After a long research I have found that this "Search Host Controller" will work only if some of the supporting services are running.
So make sure that the below services are up and running in the "Services.msc" console.

1. Net. Tcp Port Sharing Service
2. Net. Tcp Listener Adapter
3. Remote Registry
4. Appfabric Caching Service

Also I have changed the user name in the "C:\program Files\AppFabric 1.1 for Windows Server\DistributedCacheService.exe.config". See the screenshot below.

Previously the "account" attribute had "Local Service" and I changed to the "farm Administrator" account.
I am not sure the last step also helped me to resolve the issue.

But now the "Search Service Host Controller" is working fine and the Search crawler is started the "Full crawl"

Thats it...

Failed to connect to hosts in the cluster

Issue:

Use-CacheCluster : ErrorCode:SubStatus:Failed to connect to hosts in the cluster At line:1 char:1
+ Use-CacheCluster
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [Use-CacheCluster], DataCacheException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : Microsoft.ApplicationServer.Caching.DataCacheException,Microsoft.ApplicationServer.Caching.Commands.UseCacheClusterCommand

Reason:

You will get this error when you are running the " Use-CacheCluster" command in powershell. The reason is the "Remote Registry" service might not be running.

Solution:
1. Go to "Run" window and type "Services.msc"
2. If the "Remote Registry" service is stopped, then make it as "Automatic" and "Start" the service.

Thats it...

Cannot connect to the SharePoint site: http://MachineName:5000/sites/xyz/. Make sure that the Site URL is valid and that the current user has the necessary permissions to access the site.

Errors:

---------------------------
Microsoft Visual Studio
---------------------------
SharePoint Connection Error

Cannot connect to the SharePoint site: http://MachineName:5000/sites/dev/. Make sure that the Site URL is valid and that the current user has the necessary permissions to access the site.

Additional information:

"The remote server returned an error: (500) Internal Server Error."


(Or)

---------------------------
Microsoft Visual Studio
---------------------------
SharePoint Connection Error

Cannot connect to the SharePoint site: http://MachineName:5000/sites/dev/. Make sure that the Site URL is valid and that the current user has the necessary permissions to access the site.

Additional information:

"Cannot contact site at the specified URL http://MachineName:5000/sites/dev/."


Reason:
You might have provided entry to that SharePoint server in your "hosts" file. The "hosts" file will be under "c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc".

Solution:
1. Go to that folder and edit the "hosts" file in Notepad and remove the "mapping" for that server.
2. Reset the IIS.
3. Close and re-open the Visual Studio 2012.
4. Now create the Solution in Visual Studio and you will not see this error.

That't it....

"403 forbidden" Error when editing "Content Sources" in SharePoint 2013 to Configure the Search.

Errors:

"403 forbidden" Error when editing "Content Sources" in SharePoint 2013 to Configure the Search.

(Or)

"403 forbidden" error when adding "New Content Source" in SharePoint 2013 to Configure the Search.

(Or)

Faulting application name: hostcontrollerservice.exe, version: 15.0.4420.1017, time stamp: 0x50672c2d
Faulting module name: KERNELBASE.dll, version: 6.1.7601.17965, time stamp: 0x506dcae6
Exception code: 0xe0434352
Fault offset: 0x000000000000bccd
Faulting process id: 0xeb0
Faulting application start time: 0x01ceefdd94d681b1
Faulting application path: D:\Program Files\Microsoft Office Servers\15.0\Search\HostController\hostcontrollerservice.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\system32\KERNELBASE.dll

(Or)

Application: hostcontrollerservice.exe

Framework Version: v4.0.30319

Description: The process was terminated due to an unhandled exception.

Exception Info: System.ServiceModel.CommunicationException

Stack:

   at Microsoft.Ceres.HostController.WcfServer.WcfService.StartService()

   at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.RunInternal(System.Threading.ExecutionContext, System.Threading.ContextCallback, System.Object, Boolean)

   at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(System.Threading.ExecutionContext, System.Threading.ContextCallback, System.Object, Boolean)

   at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(System.Threading.ExecutionContext, System.Threading.ContextCallback, System.Object)

   at System.Threading.ThreadHelper.ThreadStart()

Reason:

Microsoft only knows the actual reason. :) But the "Tasks" folder in the server does not have "Read" & "Write" access for the WSS_WPG account.

Solution:

You need to provide the Read & Write access permission to the "WSS_WPG" user in  "C:\Windows\Tasks" folder.

How to Install and Configure SharePoint 2013 Environment in Windows 8 through VHD?

Scenario:

SharePoint 2013 cannot be installed in Windows 8. So you need separate machine with Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows Server 2012. Or you need to install the Dual Operating system in your machine. 

If you are going to install the dual  Operating system in your laptop, your warranty may be void. If you are going to use the VHD file inside the Windows 8 (open and use the SP 2013 environment within the Windows 8 environment itself using the third party VHD file handling software.), the VHD file will consume only the partial RAM of the machine, so that the performance will be very slow. For example, in the available of 8GB RAM, you might be able to allocate only 4 GB and this might not be enough to work in SharePoint 2013 development.

So what is the solution to manage the warranty, using the 100% of the RAM that is available in the machine?

You need to Download the Windows server 2012 VHD and mount it as a separate drive and then add the entry in the boot file. In future, if you do not want to continue with Windows 2012, then you can detach the VHD file from the windows 8 machine easily. 

See the below approach for detailed installation procedure.

Approach:

Before Installing and configuring the SharePoint 2013 development environment (using 90 days trial versions), the machine should meet the following requirements.

1. Hyper-v Enabled Machine

2. Windows 8

3. Minimum of 4GB RAM

4. Separate drive (ex: F:\) to copy the VHD file (for the safer side)

Checking the Hyper-V

You may have doubt that whether your machine will support the Hyper-V or not. To check this, first you need to download the “Coreinfo” command line tool which will help you to find all the required information about your machine. The tool can be downloaded from http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/cc835722.

Once the tool is downloaded, you need to run the tool in the “Administrator” privilege as mentioned below. 

As displayed in the screenshot, the “Hypervisor” should be present and the “64-bit mode” also to be supported.

Enable through Bios

If this is disabled, then you need to enable in the BIOS settings. 

If Hyper-V Turned Off

If the Hyper-V is not installed in your Windows 8 machine, then you can install by Navigating to 

Control Panel -->  Programs --> Programs and Features and select Turn Windows features on or off.

On the Windows Features dialog select Hyper-V from the list of available options and this will install the Hyper-V Management Tools and Hyper-V Platform in your Windows 8 machine.

Attach the Windows Server 2012 VHD

Once the Hyper-V is enabled, then you need to download the “Windows server 2012” VHD file from the Microsoft site and this OS is valid for 180 days.

Link to Download: 

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/hh670538.aspx

While downloading the Server OS, you need to select the VHD option. This will ask you to login with your live id.

Once downloaded the VHD file, you need to attach that VHD in the “Disk Management”.  To do this, just follow the below steps:

1. Right click on the “My Computer” and select the “Manage” option.

2. Select the drive which you want to attach the VHD file.

3. Right click on the “Disk Management” and select the “Attach VHD” option.

4. Click the “Browse” and then select the VHD file.

Once the VHD is attached, separate drive name will be allocated. In this article, we will consider it as “F:” drive. Then you need to add this information to the “Boot” configuration. To do this, you need to run the below command in “Administrator” privilege.

Command: bcdboot F:\windows (“F:\” is taken as example in this article.)

Now you are ready to boot with Dual operating system. Simple isn't it.. :)

When you are rebooting your machine, the system will ask you to select the operating system. You need to select the “Windows Server 2012” option.

During the first booting with windows server 2012, the server will ask you setup the time zone information, administrator and login user details. Fill all the details and you can able to see the “Windows 2012” environment.

    

Now you need to add the roles and features. For example, here we need to add the Web Server (IIS), Volume Activation services, Active Directory Domain services and Web browsing features.

Install SharePoint 2013:

To install the SharePoint 2013, you need to download the SharePoint 2013  software from the Microsoft website and this is 180 days trial version.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-in/evalcenter/hh973397.aspx

This will download the file called “SharePointServer_x64_en-us.img”. Just right click on the file to “Mount” the image file as a CD Drive. You can install the SharePoint Server 2013 from there.

Install Visual Studio 2012:

You can download and install the Visual Studio 2012 from http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/eng/downloads

When selecting the download option, instead of selecting the “Install Now” option, please select the “Download Now” option as shown below to download the files in your local machine.

This will download a file called “vs_ultimate_download.exe” to your local machine and from there you can install the Visual Studio 1012.

Install SharePoint Designer 2013:

To Install SharePoint designer 2013, you need to download the software from http://www.microsoft.com/en-in/download/details.aspx?id=35491

This will ask you whether to download the 32 bit designer or 64 bit designer. You please select the 64 bit software.

Final step

Once you have downloaded and installed all the above mentioned software then you need to configure the central admin in order to create the SP 2013 web applications.

That’s it… 

How to enable blob cache in SharePoint 2013?

Blob cache is a disk-based caching technique. It will be extremely fast and eliminates the need for database round trips in SharePoint 2013. Blob Cache objects can be a image or sound or video file. BLOBs are retrieved from the database once and stored on the Web client. Further requests are served from the cache and trimmed based on security.

You can see this kind of message in SharePoint 2013 as below.

The blob cache is not enabled in this web application. Image renditions will not be generated until the blob cache is enabled. For information on turning on the blob cache, please review the product documentation.  

To enable the blob cache,

1. Open the web.config file
2. Search the "BlobCache" tag.
3. Change the "enabled" value as "true"

Thats it...