I came across this in my wanderings, and found it in the SharePoint Server TechCenter.  This CHM file, available for download here, is a copy of content in the Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 technical library.  Head on over to the SharePoint Server TechCenter for the latest information.

- M

In my Googling (we all Google to find stuff that we can use, instead of creating from scratch, right?) to find some help with an issue I was having when trying to loop through the UserProfileManager, I came across a really awesome post of Victor Vogelpel's blog that cites some code that Julien Lepine wrote to do some impersonation of the Web Application's ID.  What this code does is basically create an Identity class that runs in the context of the Web Application's ID.  Now, how does this differ with SPSecurity.RunWithElevatedPrivileges?  Well, RunWithElevatedPrivileges is kinda like a "black box" implementation in the context of the built-in "SharePoint\System" identity.  If you utilize the Identity class described above, and you give your Web Application ID the relevant access (in this case, the Manage User Profiles permission in the SSP), you're able to directly know who's doing what, where.  Better than just relying on a "black box" kinda implementation, no?

Check out the code from Victor's article.  It's a little old, but still very relevant.  Cool stuff.

Of special note: On the virtual I was working on at the time I couldn't get anything to work for the above example.  Turns out the issue was related to a fix that was applied when installing the December CU.  Remember to keep your virtual/development environments updated.

- M

I basically had an issue with the December CU, in that after installing it I could not access my sites or the Shared Service Provider Admin site ('issue' sounds like an understatement, eh?).  Luckily, I was doing this in my DEV environment. Always, always, always test out patches and such like this first before going to your PROD environment.  I'm probably preaching to the choir here, but just making sure.

So, what was up?  Well, in following the steps to install the CU, it was failing in an area related to the SPSearchDatabaseInstance (found that in the logs).  Running the update through the UI Configuration Wizard resulted in the same (failing at Step 8).  After some digging, I found that it looked like it was related to the Windows SharePoint Services Help Search.  This service handles search tasks for nonindexed content such as Help.  So, what was done to resolve this?  Here's what I did: (note: your mileage may vary)

1. Open up Central Administration to its Home page
   
2. Click the Server in the Farm Topology list (my DEV setup has all on the same server)
3. Click Stop for the Windows SharePoint Services Help Search Service
4. Open up SQL Management Studio, log in, and locate the Search Database for the above service
5. Delete this database (yup, I had to delete it)
6. Close the SQL UI
7. Re-run the Configuration Wizard (It may take a little time, but at this point it should complete)
8. Upon succesful completion, return to CA
9. Go back to the Configure Windows SharePoint Services Search Service Settings page (above Steps 1, 2 and 3)
   
10. Enter the values in the fields that you had had in there originally (I used the DB name that I had deleted just before)
11. Click <OK>
12. The service should now be started

After doing this my sites returned.  I'll post updates here for any issues that come out of my testing.

- M

I've been seeing lots of questions around this on the boards, and when I do I refer them to Chris Hernandez' awesome post (see below) on taking MOSS from a standalone setup to a farm one.  The steps apply for both WSS and MOSS, just for WSS you don't have the Shared Services stuff.  In a nutshell...

1. Set up your target environment farm (remember, Advanced/Complete!)
2. Use your SQL tools to backup the databases on the source server, and restore them to the target one
3. Use the STSADM Command Line utility to attach the restored databases to the relevant areas

Even though his post is from '07, it's still valid, and has helped out a lot.  Check out his detailed steps in the link below...enjoy! - M

Migrating Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) from Standalone to Farm Install