It may be necessary to uninstall Windows SharePoint Services or SharePoint Portal Server 2003 if the installation can become unstable or corrupt, and troubleshooting can't resolve the issue. Uninstalling and reinstalling the Windows SharePoint Services or SharePoint Portal Server 2003 software can be accomplished relatively quickly. The database(s) would then need to be reconnected with. The Uninstall option can be accessed through Start, Control Panel, Add or Remove Programs; then select Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 2.0 or SharePoint Portal Server 2003 and click the Remove button. When this is completed, the Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine (SHAREPOINT) should also be removed. It's a good idea to now reboot the server and review the items listed in the Add or Remove Programs option to make sure that the applications have been removed properly. Document the Server ConfigurationAfter the server is configured, a task should be completed that many organizations neglect: The server configuration should be documented. Although it can be argued that the administration staff has "better things to do," this step should not be omitted because it records the state of the server when it is configured and will be of great value if the server needs to be rebuilt, or if additional servers need to be added to the SharePoint 2003 installation at a later date. A shortcut to producing an informational and useful document is to run the WINMSD utility and export the results to a .txt file. To run it, type winmsd at a command prompt on the server (it lives in the Windows\system32 directory). After the System Information window loads, the information can be exported by selecting File and then Export. A .txt file is created that contains information on the following items:
This information can easily be edited to be more readable or pared down to the components that are key to the reconfiguration of the server. Information should also be recorded on IIS configuration, IP settings, hard drive configurations, and SharePoint 2003 specific configurations by using screenshots or creating a spreadsheet to record this information. Event logs should also be archived at regular intervals so that any errors being encountered can be tracked over time. By creating this document a record can be created of the server configurations, which can be useful in network environments where server reliability is important. For example, if a SharePoint Portal 2003 server suddenly starts having problems, and the error logs aren't providing conclusive information, the WINMSD logs may reveal changes that were made and that could have affected the performance. |