Connecting to Microsoft##SSEE

During the execution of a project, (an eLearning Portal in SharePoint about which more posts will come…), I had some problems with the virtual machine (blue screens on the virtual machine…another post in the future), and on one restart of the machine… the disaster…the sharepoint portal did not start up anymore, a notice that indicated that it could not find the configuration database. (Fortunately I had a copy from almost the same day, by a pure miracle because backups of my machine are not my strong suit).

So I set out to try to understand where the problem came from and here I note some comments on what I learned.

On Concepts.

1. The SharePoint Configuration database contains everything that has been done in sharepoint, the sites created, the lists, the columns, the templates, etc. even if a template is modified using the SharePoint Design tool the resulting file is stored in the database (another post…)

2. without the configuration database the sharepoint site does not run… 🙂

On infrastructure

1. Backup copies of the virtual machine must be made. (The bad thing is that it weighs 13 gigas, so the medium for the copy becomes a problem.)

2. Even if a single server is used, the farm concept applies to have the database in the instance one wants.

On Sharepoint (Installation).

1. When sharepoint is installed, one of the initial questions is whether one has a server farm (web farm), well I answered that I did not have one because it was only one machine, but when that is done then it does not bother to ask for the sql server server, so it does not let me have the option of using the sql server instance that I had already installed.

2. When sharepoint is not installed in a farm then it creates an instance of SQL Server, I imagine Express, called Microsoft##SSEE, acronym of Microsoft SQL Server Embeded Edition, which is a version of SQL Server that is integrated with some product, in this case SharePoint. It is also known as Internal DataBase. In this database all the databases related to SharePoint will be created.

3. If one wants to use the SQL Server instance one has installed then one must select the Farm option, in it one will be asked for the Database instance.

On Microsoft##SSEE

1. To connect to the Microsoft##SSEE database, either the SQL Server administrator or the console that can be downloaded for SQL Server Express must be used.

2. In the server name you must write: .pipemssql$microsoft##sseesqlquery

3. The authentication must be Windows integrated.

On Sharepoint (Uninstallation).

1. When Sharepoint is uninstalled the Instance is not uninstalled nor are the files deleted.

I hope it helps,

Juan Carlos Peláez

MCTS

Keywords: WSS 3.0, MOSS 2007, Microsoft##SSEE, SSEE, SharePoint, Installation, Configuration, Problems, Juan Peláez, SQL Server, Tips, Advice.