It has been a while since I have had cause to rant about the quality of SharePoint (see post about variation hotfix), but today after spending most of the day looking for solutions to a problem I was having with updating SharePoint to SP1, I have good reason to rant.
Originally when creating a variation, I had run across an issue where I was getting an error about a Primary Key Violation. I did some searching and found that it could be a couple of things. One of the options was that there were pages in draft mode, so I checked for those and there weren't any. I then found another post that suggested there was a hotfix for the issue, so I downloaded the hotfix related to KB936867 and installed it. The issue went away and I was able to create my variation.
Then I decide to finally upgrade to SP1 since there is a post-SP1 hotfix for another issue I was having with variations. (Notice a pattern here already). Why I need a post-SP1 hotfix for another hotfix that should have been fixed in SP1 is ridiculous. So I install SP1 after some trouble and try running a variation. I once again get the Primary Key Violation. I did some more searching and everyone said that this was supposed to be fixed in SP1. It couldn't have been since many people are still having the issue. So I kept searching and finally found a post that described the same problem I was having and come to find out there is another hotfix to fix whatever SP1 broke in the previous hotfix. The KB is 950279. What ticks me off is the number of times you find an issue, Microsoft issues a hotfix for you, the hotfix is supposed to be rolled into the Service Pack, but after you install the Service Pack, you get the issue again. What is even more troubling is that you can't back SP1 back out, you have to reinstall MOSS or WSS. Then you have to wait for Microsoft to create another hotfix for you to apply to get back to where you were before you tried installing SP1.
My advice to anyone who has not installed SP1 yet, make sure you have post-SP1 hotfixes for any hotfixes you currently have installed on your server. If you don't you will run into a number of messes that you may not be able to recover from.
It would be nice if Microsoft would test these Service Packs and hotfixes before they release them instead of typing up a paper saying you need to back up your databases before updating, just to cover their butts.
I am going to do some serious thinking before I install any more SharePoint updates on my servers.
Hi Michael,
ReplyDeleteI was the author of the post you make reference in your post. It was a very dificult situation at the time because we had the confirmation that the SP1 did include the necessary hotfix, and then it didn't work.
My advice is to be sure on the updates to apply to a project, because if you don't test it for your reality, there can be surprises.
Just added your link to my blog.
Ricardo Magalhães