SharePoint Saturday Boston 2014

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Yes folks, it’s that time of year again, when the days get longer, and the temperature slowly starts to rise. That also means that SharePoint Saturday is back in town! On April 12, 2014, we will be hosting the 7th SPS Boston at the Microsoft office at One Cambridge Center (in Cambridge!)

Check out our awesome lineup of world-class speakers and sessions: http://www.spsevents.org/city/Boston/April2014/speakers

Also, our awesome sponsors (there are still some slots left!), who help make this event a reality every year: http://www.spsevents.org/city/Boston/April2014/sponsors

This is a FREE (as in a sponsored SharePint beer) event for all, but there is limited space, so please visit the site to register today! http://www.spsevents.org/city/Boston/April2014/

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Call for Speakers is Now Open for SharePoint Saturday Boston 2014!

It’s that time of year again, when we start to think about spring, and more importantly, SharePoint Saturday Boston!

I am pleased to announce that the call for speakers for SharePoint Saturday Boston 2014 is now open! We are beta testing the new SPSEvents website, so please report us any issues you encounter as well. Go here for more information on how to register to speak at the event: http://beta.spsevents.org/city/boston/april2014 

What’s SharePoint Saturday you ask? Go here to find out: http://beta.spsevents.org/about

Registration Open for SharePoint Saturday Boston – 4/28/12

I am pleased to announce that registration is now open for SharePoint Saturday Boston! Register today to reserve your spot. Registration is on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Event Details

SharePoint administrators, end users, architects, developers, and other professionals that work with Microsoft SharePoint Technologies will meet for the 5th SharePoint Saturday Boston event on Saturday, April 28th, 2012 at the Microsoft Office located at 201 Jones Road in Waltham, MA, 02451. SharePoint Saturday is an educational, informative, and lively day filled with sessions from respected SharePoint professionals and MVPs, covering a wide variety of SharePoint-orientated topics. SharePoint Saturday is FREE, open to the public and is your local chance to immerse yourself in SharePoint! Follow us on twitter @SPSBoston. Register today to reserve your spot before they are all gone.

Our sponsors will be providing breakfast, lunch, and a snack. Microsoft is providing the facility. Many other sponsors will be providing wonderful giveaways at the end of the day.

We have speakers from around New England plus speakers flying into Boston from around the globe to provide the best event for learning cutting edge skills and techniques for implementing SharePoint at your company. SharePoint Saturday is also a great way to network with like-minded professionals.

For up to date schedule and agenda see our web site at:

http://www.sharepointsaturday.org/boston

Don’t forget to print your ticket and bring it with you to the event in order to use the Rapid Registration Line.

When is SharePoint Saturday Boston?

Saturday, April 28th, 2012
8:00AM – 6:00PM

Where will SharePoint Saturday Boston be held?

SharePoint Saturday Boston will be held at the Microsoft Waltham office at 201 Jones Rd., Sixth Floor, Waltham, MA 02451 http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&style=r&lvl=100&where1=201%20Jones%20Road%2CWaltham%2CMA%2C02451

Who is organizing this event?

Jornata, ThirdM, Microsoft, and Sympraxis Consulting

How do I register?

Registration is limited and based on first come first serve basis http://spsbos.eventbrite.com

The New England SharePoint Community List

New England is a bustling SharePoint community, and I am happy that I just happen to live in the area, and can experience most or all of what the New England area offers as far as SharePoint is concerned.

Since this is the season of giving, being the holidays and all, I thought this was a great time to inventory the resources in the New England area to allow people to give and to receive SharePoint community goodness. In building this list, I also learned that there are more SPUGs in New England that I did not even know existed – so I hope this does the same for you!

Please feel free to add to the comments on this post with any other resources I may have missed, I know I must have! Also please feel free to send any updates for information below. All group and event information has been culled from their respective websites and other various sources.

UPDATED 8/3/12:

  • Added Rhode Island SharePoint User Group
  • Removed New England Regional SharePoint User Group

UPDATED 2/6/13:

  • Added Women in SharePoint – Boston Chapter

UPDATED 4/18/14:

  • Removed Boston SharePoint Salon
  • Added Connecticut SharePoint Users Group
  • Added Boston Office 365 Users Group

Massachusetts

Boston Area SharePoint Users Group (BASPUG)

ABOUT: The Boston Area SharePoint Users Group (BASPUG) was founded to bring together like minds to network and share their experiences, triumphs, and tribulations​ around Microsoft SharePoint, to provide a community platform for Boston area SharePoint users, administrators, developers, architects, of all experience levels, even those brand new to SharePoint, to share their knowledge with the community. We (usually) meet the 2nd Wednesday of every month at either Microsoft’s New England Research & Development Center in Cambridge, MA, or at the Microsoft Office in Waltham at 201 Jones Road.

MEETING FREQUENCY: Monthly, second Wednesday of the month

MEETING LOCATION(S): Microsoft New England Research & Development Center (NERD), 1 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA and Microsoft Waltham, 201 Jones Road, 6th Floor, Waltham, MA

WEBSITE: http://www.bostonsharepointug.org

Boston Office 365 Users Group (BOS365)

ABOUT: The Boston Office 365 User Group is a community focused on sharing knowledge around Microsoft’s Office 365’s ever-growing, always changing suite of technologies. The group will focus on every level of interest, from those who are just “kicking the tires” to business users, Office 365 administrators and IT pros.

Discussions (and coming in May, meetings) will focus on every angle of the Microsoft platform, covering topics around Yammer, Exchange, Lync and SharePoint Online.

Topics may range from introductory sessions for new users — even experienced hands can pick up new tips and tricks — as well as more advanced technical subjects such as migrations strategies and integration. This is your group.

MEETING FREQUENCY: Monthly, third Thursday of the month

MEETING LOCATION(S): Microsoft New England Research & Development Center (NERD), 1 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA and Microsoft Waltham, 201 Jones Road, 6th Floor, Waltham, MA

WEBSITE: http://www.bostono365usergroup.com

 

SharePoint Saturday Boston (SPSBos)

ABOUT: SharePoint Saturday Boston is a free community‐focused SharePoint event dedicated to educating and engaging members of the local technical community. SharePoint Saturday draws upon the expertise of local SharePoint IT professionals, developers and solutions architects who come together to share their real world experiences, lessons learned, best practices, and general knowledge with other like‐minded individuals.

MEETING FREQUENCY: Yearly

MEETING LOCATION(S): Microsoft Waltham, 201 Jones Road, 6th Floor, Waltham, MA

WEBSITE: http://www.sharepointsaturday.org/boston

Women in SharePoint – Boston Chapter (WSPBos)

ABOUT: The purpose of the Women in SharePoint Boston chapter is to connect the many women in the New England area currently working with SharePoint. This group is also intended to build the SharePoint community alongside the other local SharePoint groups including the Boston Area SharePoint Users Group (BASPUG), the Granite State SharePoint Users Group, and local SharePoint Saturdays.

MEETING FREQUENCY: Monthly

MEETING LOCATION(S): Meadhall, 4 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA

WEBSITE: http://www.womeninspboston.com

The SharePoint Technology Conference (SPTechCon Boston)

ABOUT: The SharePoint Technology Conference is the world’s premier independent event for Microsoft Office SharePoint Server technology and services. The format includes 90+ technical classes, workshops and breakout classes with content geared to IT professionals, business managers and developers.  It features a top Microsoft MVPs, dozens of expert MS speakers and solutions from 50+ exhibitors.

MEETING FREQUENCY: Yearly

MEETING LOCATION(S): Various

WEBSITE: http://www.sptechcon.com

Connecticut

Connecticut SharePoint Users Group (CTSPUG)

ABOUT: ​Welcome to the Connecticut SharePoint Users Group (CTSPUG) a place for professionals to come together and share their successes, near-successes, and almost-successes with the Microsoft SharePoint Platform. Our goal is to replicate the magic of the Boston Area SharePoint Users Group with the scenic views and quaint New England charm of Hartford Connecticut.

We meet monthly at the Microsoft Farmington Office at 74 Batterson Park Road.

MEETING FREQUENCY: Monthly

MEETING LOCATION(S): Microsoft Farmington CT Office, 74 Batterson Park Rd, Farmington, CT

WEBSITE: http://www.ctspug.org

Fairfield County SharePoint Users Group (FCSPUG)

ABOUT: The mission of this group is to establish a local community for the FCSPUG members to discuss and collaborate on SharePoint best practices and evolving technologies. The vision is to empower the users with the resources and better understanding of how to build applications/solutions for their organizational needs leveraging Microsoft SharePoint.

MEETING FREQUENCY: Monthly, second Wednesday of the month

MEETING LOCATION(S): Bigelow Tea, 1 Constant Comment Way, Fairfield, CT

WEBSITE: http://www.sharepointusergroup.com/FCSPUG/

SharePoint Saturday Hartford (SPSHFD)

ABOUT: SharePoint Saturday Hartford is a free community‐focused SharePoint event dedicated to educating and engaging members of the local technical community. SharePoint Saturday draws upon the expertise of local SharePoint IT professionals, developers and solutions architects who come together to share their real world experiences, lessons learned, best practices, and general knowledge with other like‐minded individuals.

MEETING FREQUENCY: Yearly

MEETING LOCATION(S): New Horizons Learning, 340 West Newberry Road, Bloomfield, CT

WEBSITE: http://www.sharepointsaturday.org/hartford

New Hampshire

Granite State SharePoint Users Group (NHSPUG)

ABOUT: We’re about tip sharing and making connections in the industry without having to head south of the border.

MEETING FREQUENCY: Monthly, second Thursday of the month

MEETING LOCATION(S): Daniel Webster College, 20 University Drive , Eaton Richmond Center, Room 122, Nashua, NH

WEBSITE: http://www.granitestatesharepoint.org

SharePoint Saturday New Hampshire (SPSNH)

ABOUT: SharePoint Saturday New Hampshire is a free community‐focused SharePoint event dedicated to educating and engaging members of the local technical community. SharePoint Saturday draws upon the expertise of local SharePoint IT professionals, developers and solutions architects who come together to share their real world experiences, lessons learned, best practices, and general knowledge with other like‐minded individuals.

MEETING FREQUENCY: Yearly

MEETING LOCATION(S): Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), Manchester, NH

WEBSITE: http://www.sharepointsaturday.org/nh

Vermont

Vermont SharePoint Users Group (VTSPUG)

ABOUT: The Vermont SharePoint Users Group is an open and independent forum for evaluating and extending the knowledge of the SharePoint Products and Technologies architecture, technologies, tools and business applications for its membership. Its purpose is to provide information and guidance to the full breadth of its capabilities.

MEETING FREQUENCY: Monthly

MEETING LOCATION(S): White River  Craft Center, 50 Randolph Avenue, Randolph, VT

WEBSITE: http://www.vermontspug.com

Maine

SharePoint User Group of Maine (SPUGME)

ABOUT: Swap tips and tricks with other local SharePoint professionals. Share problems and solutions at an old-school user group, meant to support everyone’s knowledge of this extensive application. Our goal is to bring the local SharePoint community together to share tips, tricks and ideas on the uses of the various SharePoint products and technologies.

MEETING FREQUENCY: Monthly

MEETING LOCATION(S): Winxnet Offices, 5th Floor, 84 Marginal Way, Portland, ME

WEBSITE: http://www.winxnet.com/spugme

Rhode Island

Rhode Island SharePoint User Group (RISPUG)

ABOUT: The Rhode Island SharePoint User Group (RISPUG) is a community based organization focused on driving awareness and support for the Sharepoint Community in Rhode Island and its surrounding areas.

MEETING FREQUENCY: Monthly, First Wednesday of the Month

MEETING LOCATION(S): Providence College, Moore Hall, Room 1, 1 Cunningham Plaza, Providence, RI

WEBSITE: http://www.meetup.com/RISPUG/

SharePoint Saturday Boston 4–Recap and Materials

spsbostonWhat an event! This will be the 3rd SharePoint Saturday Boston event that I had the pleasure to help organize with Talbott Crowell and Pradeepa Siva. This was by far the smoothest as far as getting the gears cranking on it. Once the engine started, it virtually ran itself… I think our only real issue the day of, is that the breakfast caterer did not pick up their coffee containers, that and we could not figure out the AC situation, or lack there-of in some of the conference rooms. No speaker cancellations, or anything of that sort.

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I want to start off by thanking our wonderful sponsors, who without, these events could never take place. It would take tens of thousands of dollars to pull one of these off… and that kind of money does go into these, but, not funded by registration fees from attendees. These are sponsored by some great companies, that believe in these events.

Next off, the speakers. If you are not familiar with a SharePoint Saturday event, the speakers are not paid a single cent to come and speak. There are no reimbursements for travel from us at least – some people do have companies that pick up their tab, a lot however, do not.We had speakers from all over the US, Canada, and even one from Russia. We could have all of the sponsors in the world, but, without the quality of the speakers, and their knowledge and delivery of the content, these events would not take place.

And last, but certainly not least, all of the 250+ attendees that came out on an absolutely gorgeous New England Saturday (it got me out of mulching my entire yard!), to come and network, learn, and have some fun. Again, if there were no attendees, there would be no SharePoint Saturday Boston.

For you math geeks out there, it is a simple equation, to sum up what the SharePoint Saturday ecosystem is.

Speakers + Sponsors + Attendees = SharePoint Saturday

And for my last bit of thanks – thank you to all of the people who attended my session – Planning and Configuring Extranets in SharePoint 2010. This was my first run of this session, and the feedback was very positive. Thank you all for bearing the heat in there, especially with the unending stream of hot air coming from me. I’ve posted my deck (below) at slideshare, and to all of who you are looking for a copy of the demo image – I will have that link available within the next week or two, as soon as I get it all up and running.

 

 

I am looking forward to the next SharePoint Saturday Boston, as well as other SharePoint Saturdays to come…

Planning and Configuring Extranets in SharePoint 2010–Part 2

extranetIn Part 1 of this series, we walked through creating of the actual databases for managing our FBA users, as well as the general scope of this blog series. Today, we are going to focus on the configuration of SharePoint [insert crowd roar here]. Ok, ok, I know you are excited, this however, is the hardest part IMHO, so, please pay attention, and try to color inside the lines to the best of your ability while we are following this exercise.

 

Membership and Role Providers

First, let us do a quick definition of what these are.

Membership Providers are the authentication sources for applications. A provider can be a number of back ends (LDAP, SQL, 3rd party application, or a custom membership provider). In our specific case here, we are using SQL, specifically, the ASP.NET Membership Database. If you look at the tables we created in Part 1, you can see how this provider stores a username, password, and other information about the user. Just like active directory, it can hold information about a user, and also be used for authentication.

Role Managers are similar to membership providers, however, these are more like groups in Active Directory. A person in the membership provider can belong to a number of different roles, or groups. We will be configuring these as well.

So, hopefully the brief introduction to these terms above is enough to make sense, so we can move onto our next bit.

At this point, they do not need to have a name. We can name them whatever we’d like to. So, we will use:

  • Membership Provider: SQL-MembershipProvider
  • Role Manager: SQL-RoleManager

 

Extending our Web Application with Claims Based Authentication

Now that we have our database up and running, we need to extend our web application in SharePoint 2010, so that we can create an FBA-Only authentication portal, for our partners at Contoso to access.

To do so, we need to enable Claims Based Authentication on our site, because it is already created, we need to enable our existing site to be “Claims aware”.

Note: a great blog on configuring Claims Based Authentication can be found here: http://blogs.technet.com/b/mahesm/archive/2010/04/07/configure-forms-based-authentication-fba-with-sharepoint-2010.aspx] I’ve relied heavily on that article in the past, so you will see a lot of the same information in this article as you will see in my reference above. This is not a swipe of that article, it is more of a homage 🙂

 

Extending the Web Application and Enabling Claims Authentication

To do so, go into Central Administration.

In Central Administration, go to Application Management > Manage web applications, and click on the site you would like to extend. In this example, I will be using the Intranet site within the SharePoint 2010 Information Worker demo image. Click on that site

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And then click on Extend up in the Ribbon.

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Now, time to configure the extended site. Give it a name, port, etc. (If you give it a DNS name, make sure you add in a DNS entry!)

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Then select the Extranet zone. This doesn’t do anything but classify the extended web application, and allow us to modify the authentication methods used. Then click OK.

Now, once we have done that, you will notice, if you keep the web application selected in the list, click on Authentication Providers in the Ribbon, and then click on Extranet

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You will notice that we cannot change the authentication type from Windows to Forms.

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Don’t worry, we have a fix for that. To convert the web application from Classic Authentication to Claims Based Authentication, open up the SharePoint 2010 Administration Console (PowerShell – as an administrator)

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   1: $webApp = Get-SPWebApplication http://extranet

   2: $webApp.UseClaimsAuthentication = "true"

   3: $webApp.Update()

This will enable Claims authentication on our web application.

Now if we click on Authentication Providers on the ribbon again, you can see that they now show up as Claims Based Authentication

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Click on the Extranet again, you will now see that we can change the authentication type for this web application. If you want to have both AD users as well as FBA users to be access the same portal with their respective accounts, go ahead and check both Enable Windows Authentication as well as Enable Forms Based Authentication. Remember how I listed the Membership Provider and the Role Manager at the beginning of this article? Now is when I make use of those.

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Note:  If you want to create a custom login page, you can specify that option from here (right below the Claims Authentication Types section). Maybe in an addendum to this article down the road I will write a quick post on how to do that. It’s easy, but, this article is more IT Pro/Admin focused, so we’ll skip that for now 🙂

Now go to the bottom and click on Save.  SharePoint will deal with the configuration of this web application.

 

Extranet Web Application Configuration

Our next item of concern is the configuration for the extranet. We need to re-configure the web.config settings for this extended web application. To do so, open the web.config file for the extranet web application, in my example, it is located at (C:\inetpub\wwwroot\wss\VirtualDirectories\extranet80\web.config)

Search for </SharePoint>, which should appear right before <system.web>, and insert the following code, after </SharePoint>, and before <system.web>.

   1: <connectionStrings> 

   2:   <add name="SQLConnectionString" connectionString="data source=DEMO2010A;Integrated Security=SSPI;Initial Catalog=aspnetdb" /> 

   3: </connectionStrings>

And where the two highlighted bits are above, insert your SQL server name, and FBA database name respectively. (see Part 1 for creating this database).

Once that is complete, locate the end of the </system.web>, mentioned above, where we just put the connectionStrings information above. It will be right above </system.webServer>. there are many other system.web declarations within this file, so be sure to use the right one. You should see tags in the XML for membership and rolemanager there.

We will leave these AS-IS! No need to modify those lines. Now, we need to add the following code within the <providers> and </providers> tags within the <membership> element, as directed in the image below

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   1: <add connectionStringName="SQLConnectionString" 

   2: passwordAttemptWindow="5" 

   3: enablePasswordRetrieval="true" 

   4: enablePasswordReset="true" 

   5: requiresQuestionAndAnswer="true" 

   6: applicationName="/" 

   7: requiresUniqueEmail="true" 

   8: passwordFormat="Hashed" 

   9: description="Stores and Retrieves membership data from SQL Server" 

  10: name="SQL-MembershipProvider" 

  11: type="System.Web.Security.SqlMembershipProvider, System.Web, Version=2.0.3600.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a" />

Make sure that the connectionStringName and name attributes match the connection string we used above, as well as the membership provider name we used in SharePoint respectively.

Next, the piece of xml we are going to use will fit in between the <providers> and </providers> tags within the <roleManager> element, as directed in the image below

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   1: <add connectionStringName="SQLConnectionString" 

   2: applicationName="/" 

   3: description="Stores and retrieves roles from SQL Server" 

   4: name="SQL-RoleManager" type="System.Web.Security.SqlRoleProvider, System.Web, Version=2.0.3600.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a" /> 

again, making sure that the connectionStringname and name attributes match the connection string we used above, as well as the role manager name we used in SharePoint respectively.

Then save the web.config file.

Central Administration Web Application Configuration

We now need to modify the Central Administration web.config file as well. In our example here, our Central Admin web.config file is located at: C:\inetpub\wwwroot\wss\VirtualDirectories\44535\web.config

We will be editing in the same places within the config file that we did for our extranet web application above, but with just a few slight changes.

So, first, locate the closing </SharePoint> tag, and the opening <system.web>. Just as we did above, we are going to paste in our connection strings here.

   1: <connectionStrings> 

   2:   <add name="SQLConnectionString" connectionString="data source=DEMO2010A;Integrated Security=SSPI;Initial Catalog=aspnetdb" /> 

   3: </connectionStrings> 

And next, as you may have guessed, just before we close out the </system.web> tag in this web.config, we need to put in our membership provider and role information. This is slightly different from the one we used for the extranet web.config above, notice the default membership provider. Don’t change this – leave this as-is. It is NOT a typo.

   1: <roleManager defaultProvider="AspNetWindowsTokenRoleProvider" enabled="true" cacheRolesInCookie="false"> 

   2:   <providers> 

   3:     <add connectionStringName="SQLConnectionString" applicationName="/" description="Stores and retrieves roles from SQL Server" name="SQL-RoleManager" type="System.Web.Security.SqlRoleProvider, System.Web, Version=2.0.3600.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a" /> 

   4:   </providers> 

   5: </roleManager> 

   6: <membership defaultProvider="SQL-MembershipProvider"> 

   7:   <providers> 

   8:     <add connectionStringName="SQLConnectionString" passwordAttemptWindow="5" enablePasswordRetrieval="false" enablePasswordReset="false" requiresQuestionAndAnswer="true" applicationName="/" requiresUniqueEmail="true" passwordFormat="Hashed" description="Stores and Retrieves membership data from SQL Server" name="SQL-MembershipProvider" type="System.Web.Security.SqlMembershipProvider, System.Web, Version=2.0.3600.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a" /> 

   9:   </providers> 

  10: </membership> 

 

Security Token Web Service Application Configuration

Last, but certainly not least, we must also update the web.config for the SecurityToken service.

Within your SharePoint Root folder, under WebServices\SecurityToken (generally found at C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\WebServices\SecurityToken), you will find another web.config file. Before the end <configuration> </configuration> section, add in the following… again, tailored to your configuration which we have specified above.

   1: <connectionStrings> 

   2:     <add name="SQL-ConnectionString" connectionString="data source=DEMO2010A;Integrated Security=SSPI;Initial Catalog=aspnetdb" /> 

   3: </connectionStrings> 

   4: <system.web> 

   5:     <roleManager defaultProvider="c" enabled="true" cacheRolesInCookie="false"> 

   6:         <providers> 

   7:             <add name="c" type="Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.Claims.SPClaimsAuthRoleProvider, Microsoft.SharePoint, Version=14.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c" /> 

   8:             <add connectionStringName="SQL-ConnectionString" applicationName="/" description="Stores and retrieves roles from SQL Server" name="SQL-RoleManager" type="System.Web.Security.SqlRoleProvider, System.Web, Version=2.0.3600.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a" /> 

   9:         </providers> 

  10:     </roleManager> 

  11:     <membership defaultProvider="i"> 

  12:         <providers> 

  13:             <add name="i" type="Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.Claims.SPClaimsAuthMembershipProvider, Microsoft.SharePoint, Version=14.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c" /> 

  14:             <add connectionStringName="SQL-ConnectionString" passwordAttemptWindow="5" enablePasswordRetrieval="false" enablePasswordReset="false" requiresQuestionAndAnswer="true" applicationName="/" requiresUniqueEmail="true" passwordFormat="Hashed" description="Stores and Retrieves membership data from SQL Server" name="SQL-MembershipProvider" type="System.Web.Security.SqlMembershipProvider, System.Web, Version=2.0.3600.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a" /> 

  15:         </providers> 

  16:     </membership> 

  17: </system.web>

Once you do that, it would be healthy to restart IIS as well (just humor me on this one, while not required, as changes to the web.config will cause the application pools to recycle, I’ve seen issues where a reset to IIS has been known to do good).

And lastly, once you visit your site, you should get one of these nice choice boxes:

 

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You should be configured, and ready to roll!

Now stay tuned for Part 3… get access to this test environment!

Planning and Configuring Extranets in SharePoint 2010–Part 1

extranetFor my SharePoint Saturday Boston session on April 9th, I will be delivering a presentation on Planning and Configuring Extranets in SharePoint 2010. As I am building up my virtual environment for this presentation, I thought I would also write a blog series on the subject. The abstract for the session is below, and, if you can make it to SharePoint Saturday Boston, I hope you’ll come and see the presentation.

Most companies, large or small, require contact and collaboration with external entities, whether they are vendors, clients, or contractors. SharePoint gives us the ability to open up portals for collaboration with these external entities – this session will show you how to accomplish this using SharePoint 2010.

We will review what is required to make SharePoint “open” to the external world, discuss scenarios regarding security and privacy, as well as walk through configuring Forms Based Authentication, Claims Based Authentication, as well as using Business Connectivity Services in SharePoint 2010, to authenticate, and manage our external users.

Once completing this session, you should have a firm grasp on how to configure an extranet environment using SharePoint 2010, as well as what should be considered during the planning of your extranet scenarios.

At the conclusion of this series, as well as after the presentation at SPS Boston, I will include my slide deck here, as well as links to the actual virtual environment I am creating for this via cloudshare, as well as follow-up answers to questions asked during the session. I am using this to build up the shareable version of my presentation, because, it doesn’t use any local resources, I can access it from anywhere, and, I can share it with an unlimited amount of people, and I can update it from time to time.

So, let’s get started. To give some background on what we are going to be accomplishing here as our end game – we are going to configure the SharePoint 2010 Information Worker image with FBA, using the ASP.NET membership database as our backend. As well as using some built-in and home-grown tools to manage those users.

So now, really this time, lets get started… oh wait, before I do, notice the two images that start off this blog post? get it? an “extra net”, hah! Wow, did I strike a funny bone on that one.

Ok, I am seriously serious about moving forward on this. Let’s go.

Creating the ASP.NET Membership Database

So, first, we will need to be able to authenticate users. In the imaginary (but none-the-less exciting!) extranet planning that took place for Contoso, we decided we wanted to not have our external users, our partners, to have Active Directory accounts. Sure, we can secure AD users, and create a sub-domain to support them, but, just in case, we want to make sure that with the username and password they are given, they cannot access any other resource at all, no matter what, within our organization. Even if they came into our office and plopped down onto a computer connected to our internal network, and started typing away. A SQL-based authentication source will guarantee that.

To do this, we are going to follow this resource here (http://go.gvaro.net/AN2Mbr) to create our authentication database (pay no attention to the fact that the content is outdated – it is not for our purposes!). If we visit that link, and scroll down to Using the SQLMemberShipProvider, and look at Step 2, we have the commands needed to configure our ASP.NET Membership Database.

aspnet_regsql.exe -E -S localhost -A -all

If you do not have aspnet_reqsql.exe in your path, it can be found in C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\<FRAMEWORK VERSION>\<versionNumber>\aspnet_regsql.exe

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This will create all of the tables needed (we might need roles, web part personalization, etc. so that is why I chose the “All” option. Information on all of the above options can be found here at the Creating the Application Services Database for SQL Server link from technet.

Once that completes, if you check SQL, you should have a new database named aspnetdb, as well as the tables.

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And time to leave you hanging until Part 2… until then, stay tuned for more extranet fun in SharePoint 2010!

Registration Open for SharePoint Saturday Boston – 4/9/11

I am pleased to announce that registration is now open for SharePoint Saturday Boston! Register today to reserve your spot. Registration is on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Event Details

SharePoint administrators, end users, architects, developers, and other professionals that work with Microsoft SharePoint Technologies will meet for the 4th SharePoint Saturday Boston event on Saturday, April 9th, 2011 at the Microsoft Office located at 201 Jones Road in Waltham, MA, 02451. SharePoint Saturday is an educational, informative, and lively day filled with sessions from respected SharePoint professionals and MVPs, covering a wide variety of SharePoint-orientated topics. SharePoint Saturday is FREE, open to the public and is your local chance to immerse yourself in SharePoint! Follow us on twitter @SPSBoston. Register today to reserve your spot before they are all gone.

Our sponsors will be providing breakfast, lunch, and a snack. Microsoft is providing the facility. Many other sponsors will be providing wonderful giveaways at the end of the day.

We have speakers from around New England plus speakers flying into Boston from around the globe to provide the best event for learning cutting edge skills and techniques for implementing SharePoint at your company. SharePoint Saturday is also a great way to network with like-minded professionals.

For up to date schedule and agenda see our web site at:

http://www.sharepointsaturday.org/boston

Don’t forget to print your ticket and bring it with you to the event in order to use the Rapid Registration Line.

When is SharePoint Saturday Boston?

Saturday, April 9th, 2011
8:00AM – 6:00PM

Where will SharePoint Saturday Boston be held?

SharePoint Saturday Boston will be held at the Microsoft Waltham office at 201 Jones Rd., Sixth Floor, Waltham, MA 02451

http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&style=r&lvl=100&where1=201%20Jones%20Road%2CWaltham%2CMA%2C02451

 

Who is organizing this event?

ThirdM and Grace-Hunt

How do I register?

Registration is limited and based on first come first serve basis. http://spsboston.eventbrite.com

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