Friday, July 19, 2013

Interact Intranet: Diagnosing problems with AD sync

From time to time you might notice issues with accounts in your intranet not properly synchronizing with your AD system.  If this is the case the first step is to contact support which will give you the fastest resolution to your problem.

If you are handy with SQL and AD you can try to identify the issue yourself by examining the AD sync logs which are stored in a table called UMI_audit.

This query will return any errors from the last two weeks:
    select * from UMI_audit where errormsg is not null
This query will identify any users that aren't configured to sync:
     select * from umi_person where sync = 0  

The most common issues we encounter with AD sync are accounts that have been orphaned as a result of incorrect expiration.

If your IT department isn't willing to give you AD access and you aren't sure how to verify data on the AD side, I'd recommend installing Softerra LDAP browser.  With a minute or two of configuration you'll have a READ only view into your organizations AD system.

Softerra LDAP Browser is a lightweight version of Softerra LDAP Administrator. It supports read-only operations that do not modify LDAP directory data, e.g. browsing, search, export, etc. For complete, fully functional management of LDAP directories you need Softerra LDAP Administrator.

Softerra LDAP Browser is the industry-leading software for browsing and analyzing LDAP directories. It provides a wide variety of features for handy viewing of directory contents, getting information about directory infrastructure and objects.

Right after the very first release Softerra LDAP Browser has become a real breakthrough in IT market thanks to its simplicity and power in equal measures. The software holds highest positions for 10 years already. Some of its features are unique - to date there is anything to match their efficiency in the existing LDAP software packages.

Intranet, Portal, Social Network, Community vendor list

In my opinion, the days when intranets were distinct from social networks is behind us.  Most intranet vendors these days include every social feature that social network vendors offer, and vice versa.    Similar to the transition half a dozen years ago when the term intranet consumed the notion of portals.

Below is a list of a few vendors that brand themselves as social, intranet, portal and community providers.  Feel free to email me or comment below if I'm missing anyone.

Acquia
Anahita
Atlassian - Confluence
Big Tent
Bloomfire
BlueWiki
BoonEx
BrightSpot
BuddyPress
Chatter
CommunityFire
CrowdVine
Elgg
Elgg Social
eXo
Fuze
Grou.ps
Groupiest
Grouply
GroupSite
IBM WebSphere
Igloo
INGage
Interact-Intranet
JCow
Jive Software
JomSocial
Kapow
Liferay
Lithium
MindTouch
Mixxt
MooSocial
MoxieSoft
Newsgator
Ning
Noodle
Oracle WebCenter
Orchid Software
Oxwall
PHPFox
Plone
Qlubb
SayMedia
ShareTronix
Social Go
SocialCast
SocialEngine
SocialText
Spurz
StatusNet
Telligent
ThoughtFarmer
Tibbr
Traction
Wall.FM
Webs
WSO2
Yammer

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Interact Intranet v5 Search Index Rebuild

Each time we apply an update to our Interact v5 environment our search index jams and fails to index new content.  After 5-6 of these occurrences I've discovered the trick to rectify this issue which allows the search index to begin functioning in a normal manner again - it also indexes content that it had previously missed. 

While I don't recommend any customers use this process without first discussing with Interact, I'm posting the steps because of the frequency in which I need to refer to them:
  • Login to SQL and open the Interact db
  • Expand Storage
  • Expand Full Text Catalogs
  • Right click on Catalog1
  • Click Rebuild
The repair will take a few minutes depending upon the size of your index (we have roughly 10k items in our search index and the rebuild takes about 10 minutes).  While the index is being rebuilt nothing will be returned in your search results.