Other Installation Issues

The following section describes other issues related to installation. It reviews how to modify proxy server settings after installation. It also describes the interaction between the IFS drive and the Web Storage System.

Modifying Proxy Server Settings

You need to specify your proxy server settings in SharePoint Portal Server. The following section describes how to modify these settings in your Web browser and how to correct settings that SharePoint Portal Server modified during setup.

Modifying Proxy Server Settings in Your Web Browser

You may need to change your proxy server settings for SharePoint Portal Server if your proxy server configuration has changed.

To change your proxy settings for the SharePoint Portal Server computer at some time after installation:

1. Configure the proxy server settings for your SharePoint Portal Server computer.
   • On the taskbar of the computer on which you are installing SharePoint Portal Server, click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
   • Double-click Internet Options. The Internet Properties dialog box appears.
   • Click the Connections tab, and then click LAN Settings.
   • Clear both check boxes under Automatic configuration. Do one of the following:
     • If you use a proxy server, select the Use a proxy server check box, type a valid proxy server address and port number, and then select the Bypass proxy server for local addresses check box.
     • If you do not use a proxy server, clear all check boxes. For more information about the use of SharePoint Portal Server without a proxy server, see step 3.
   • Click OK to apply the changes, and then click OK to close Internet Properties.
2. Configure the proxy server settings used by the Gatherer. SharePoint Portal Server uses this setting when it creates indexes of external Web sites.

   Use SharePoint Portal Server Administration to configure this setting on the Proxy Server tab of the Properties page for the server. For more information about configuring the proxy server settings used by the Gatherer, see "Specify Proxy Server Options" under "Managing Servers" in Administrator's Help.

3. Configure the proxy server settings for the dashboard site.
   • To enable SharePoint Portal Server to import Web Parts to the dashboard site, the server administrator must use a tool called Proxycfg.exe, located under the SharePoint Portal Server \Bin directory. The location of this directory depends on the location of the SharePoint Portal Server installation directory.

   You must run Proxycfg.exe even if you are not using a proxy server.

   Using SharePoint Portal Server with a Proxy Server

   If you are using a proxy server, run the following command, which uses the settings specified in step 1: proxycfg –u

   For more information about Proxycfg.exe, see "Configure the Dashboard Site to Work with a Proxy Server" under "Advanced Topics" in Administrator's Help.

   Using SharePoint Portal Server without a Proxy Server

   By default, SharePoint Portal Server is not configured to run with direct Internet connectivity. SharePoint Portal Server is initially configured for use with a proxy server. For more information about the proxy settings if you are not using a proxy server, see Chapter 12, Deploying SharePoint Portal Server in an Extranet Environment.

4. When using Fully Qualified Domain Names (FQDNs) on an intranet (this does not apply to the extranet), users must configure browser proxy server settings on client computers to bypass the proxy server for local addresses on each client computer accessing the dashboard site if:
   • Your network does not natively support FQDN.
   • You are running Windows Internet Naming Service (WINS).
   • Users experience errors navigating to the dashboard site by using FQDN.

   In addition, server administrators must configure the Internet Explorer proxy settings on the SharePoint Portal Server computer to include the domain of the local computer on the bypass list.

   Each user and the server administrator can configure the proxy server settings by using the following procedure. This procedure applies when your browser is Internet Explorer 5. To do this on other browsers, consult the browser documentation.

   To configure the proxy server settings when using Internet Explorer:

   • On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
   • On the Connections tab, click LAN Settings.
   • Select the Use a proxy server and Bypass proxy server for local addresses check boxes.
   • Specify the address and port number of the proxy server, and then click Advanced.
   • In the Do not use proxy server for addresses beginning with box, type *domain where domain is the domain of your SharePoint Portal Server. For example, if the domain is Adventure-works.com, type:

     *Adventure-works.com

   • Click OK, and then close the remaining dialog boxes.
5. Restart the server after configuring the proxy settings.

Undoing Proxy Settings Modified by Setup

During the installation of SharePoint Portal Server, the setup process changes the proxy settings for the server from per-user to per-computer.

If you later uninstall SharePoint Portal Server, you can change the proxy settings back to per-user on the computer. This allows each individual user on the server to configure specific proxy settings.

To change proxy settings to per-user:

1. Open Group Policy as a stand-alone MMC snap-in:
   • On the taskbar, click Start, and then click Run.
   • Type MMC and then click OK. The MMC console opens.
   • On the Console menu, click Add/Remove Snap-in. The Add/Remove Snap-in dialog box appears.
   • On the Standalone tab, click Add. The Add Standalone Snap-in dialog box appears.
   • In Available Standalone Snap-ins, click Group Policy, and then click Add. The Select Group Policy Object dialog box appears. By default, the Group Policy Object is specified as Local Computer.
   • Click Finish to close the Select Group Policy Object dialog box. The Group Policy Object (Local Computer Policy) appears on the Standalone tab in the Add/Remove Snap-in dialog box.
   • Click Close to close the Add Standalone Snap-in dialog box.
   • Click OK.
2. Use the Group Policy snap-in to change the proxy settings per-user:
   • Expand the Local Computer Policy node.
   • Expand the Computer Configuration node.
   • Expand the Administrative Templates node.
   • Expand the Windows Components node.
   • Click Internet Explorer.
   • In the details pane, right-click Make proxy settings per-computer (rather than per-user), and then click Properties.
   • On the Policy tab, click Not Configured.
   • Click OK to close the Properties page.
3. Each individual user on the server must reconfigure his proxy settings.

Using the IFS Drive and the Microsoft Web Storage System

The IFS provides access to the Microsoft Web Storage System that SharePoint Portal Server uses. By default, IFS is not mounted during the installation of SharePoint Portal Server.

You can use IFS access for the following tasks:

• Read-only access to the document library
• Microsoft FrontPage^® Server Extensions
• Web Storage System development through IFS

Server administrators can access the IFS by using Windows Explorer on the SharePoint Portal Server computer. SharePoint Portal Server typically maps IFS to network drive M, unless there is already a mapping that uses that drive. Although you can use IFS to view the contents of the Microsoft Web Storage System that is used by SharePoint Portal Server, this access is read-only.

It is strongly recommended that you do not use IFS (network drive M) to create SharePoint Portal Server folders or documents, assign security to folders or documents, or edit properties for folders or documents. SharePoint Portal Server roles and configuration options are available through the supported Web folders interface. Manipulating the IFS security attributes may interfere with the roles information associated with SharePoint Portal Server, which results in data loss. Workspace management functions, such as creating document profiles, are also available through the Web folders interface only. In addition, do not use Microsoft ActiveX^® Data Objects (ADO) or OLE DB to configure security on SharePoint Portal Server folders or documents.

SharePoint Portal Server setup uses drive M during setup and repair. This has the following issues:

• Drive M is added to the backup exclusion list for Windows NT backup. You will not see any drives mounted as M: under the Windows NT backup utility. You can reset this by using the backup utility for Windows NT.
• If there are no free drive letters, the repair option of setup fails. For the repair option to succeed, you must disconnect another drive.

You can mount drive M temporarily by doing the following:

To temporarily mount drive M:

1. On the taskbar, click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Command Prompt.
2. Type subst M: \\.\backofficestorage and then press ENTER. If drive M is already mapped, you can use any available drive letter. If the drive does not appear after running this command, restart the server and run the command again.

You can access the drive until you restart the server. To permanently mount drive M, you must edit the registry.

To permanently mount drive M:

1. On the taskbar, click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.

   Incorrectly editing the registry may severely damage your system. Back up the current version of the registry before making any changes. You should also back up any valued data on the computer.

3. In Registry Editor, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\EXIFS\ Parameters.
4. Click Parameters.
5. In the details pane, right-click DriveLetter, and then click Modify.
6. In the Value data box, type M and then click OK. If drive M is already mapped, you can use any available drive letter.
7. Close Registry Editor.
8. Restart the server.