Shrinking SharePoint_Config transactional log (when in emergency)

Some SharePoint critical errors thrown frequently and repeatedly might end up in an unexpected titanic growth of the SharePoint_Config transactional log. It can get seriously big, believe me... and the worst of all, it keeps growing and growing *fast*! 


This will lead us to an unstable working environment where nothing actually works as it should, slow, unresponsive and likely to be hit by collateral damage (i.e. Out of disk space just to name one). Well, my client fully suffer it the other day, the actual log hit the 1 TB mark! Woohoo!


So, no panic, before we get to diagnose and fix the cause of issue, let's quickly shrink the transactional log so we can get back to 'healthier' and quicker environment. 


Executing the following SQL script against the  SharePoint_Config database will compress the size of SharePoint_Config_log regardless of its size.

USE SharePoint_Config
GO
-- Truncate the log by changing the database recovery model to SIMPLE.
ALTER DATABASE SharePoint_Config
SET RECOVERY SIMPLE;
GO
-- Shrink the truncated log file to 1 MB.
DBCC SHRINKFILE (SharePoint_Config_log, 1);  -- here 2 is the file ID for trasaction log file,you can also mention the log file name (dbname_log)
GO
-- Reset the database recovery model.
ALTER DATABASE SharePoint_Config
SET RECOVERY FULL;
GO


From this point, the size of the log should be significally smaller. Hope you can can solve the issue/s now. Good luck!

SharePoint PDF iFilter Installation Guide

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0
[Indexing Server]

1. Install the PDF IFilter (see below for a list of available IFilters)
2. Add the .pdf file type to the index list:
   1. Open the Registry Editor (Start > Run > regedit)
      
   2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Web Server Extensions\12.0\Search\Applications_<GUID>_\Gather\Search\Extensions\ExtensionList
   3. Add a new String Value
      
      1. Value name: <next value in line>
         
      2. Value data: pdf
3. Change the registry keys pointing to the IFilter's GUID 
   1. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Web Server Extensions\12.0\Search\Setup\ContentIndexCommon\Filters\Extension\.pdf
   2. Add or change the (Default) key value
      1. Old value:
         {4C904448-74A9-11D0-AF6E-00C04FD8DC02}
      2. (Foxit  x64 PDF IFilter) New value:
         {987F8D1A-26E6-4554-B007-6B20E2680632}
      3. (Adobe  x64 PDF IFilter) New value:
         {E8978DA6-047F-4E3D-9C78-CDBE46041603}
   3. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office Server\12.0\Search\Setup\ContentIndexCommon\Filters\Extension\.pdf
   4. Repeat step (b) above
4. Perform an iisreset
   
5. Perform a Full Update on the Search content indexes
   1. Open a Command Prompt on the Indexing Server
      
   2. net stop spsearch
      
   3. net start spsearch
      
   4. cd "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web server extensions\12\BIN"
      
   5. stsadm.exe -o spsearch -action fullcrawlstop
      
   6. stsadm.exe -o spsearch -action fullcrawlstart
      [Web Front End Server]
      
6. Copy the ICPDF.GIF () file to "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\12\Template\Images"
7. Edit the file C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web server extensions\12\Template\Xml\DOCICON.XML
   1. Add an entry for the .pdf extension
      <Mapping Key="pdf" Value="icpdf.gif"/>
      
       

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007
[Indexing Server]

1. Install the PDF IFilter (see below for a list of available IFilters)
2. Add the .pdf file type to the index list:
   1. Go to Central Administration, then to the Shared Services Administration Web of the current SSP, go to Search Settings and next to File Type
      
   2. Add a new file type pdf
      
3. Add the .pdf file type to the index list:
   1. Open the Registry Editor (Start > Run > regedit)
      
   2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Web Server Extensions\12.0\Search\Applications_<GUID>_\Gather\Search\Extensions\ExtensionList
   3. Add a new String Value
      
      1. Value name: <next value in line>
         
      2. Value data: pdf# Change the registry keys pointing to the IFilter's GUID 
   4. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Web Server Extensions\12.0\Search\Setup\ContentIndexCommon\Filters\Extension\.pdf
   5. Add or change the (Default) key value
      1. Old value:
         {4C904448-74A9-11D0-AF6E-00C04FD8DC02}
      2. (Foxit  x64 PDF IFilter) New value:
         {987F8D1A-26E6-4554-B007-6B20E2680632}
      3. (Adobe  x64 PDF IFilter) New value:
         {E8978DA6-047F-4E3D-9C78-CDBE46041603}
   6. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office Server\12.0\Search\Setup\ContentIndexCommon\Filters\Extension\.pdf
   7. Repeat step (e) above
4. Perform an iisreset
   
5. Perform a Full Update on the Search content indexes
   1. Open a Command Prompt on the Indexing Server
      
   2. net stop osearch
      
   3. net start osearch
      
   4. Go to Central Administration, then to the Shared Services Administration Web of the current SSP, go to Search Settings and start a full crawl of all locations containing PDF files
      [Web Front End Server]
      
6. Copy the ICPDF.GIF () file to "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\12\Template\Images"
7. Edit the file C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web server extensions\12\Template\Xml\DOCICON.XML
   1. Add an entry for the .pdf extension
      <Mapping Key="pdf" Value="icpdf.gif"/>

Available IFilters
Adobe PDF IFilter 9.0

• free (always good !)
• 32 bit: the IFilter is included with Adobe Reader. You must download and install the whole Adobe Reader package onto the server.
• 64 bit: download the standalone x64 IFilter(64 bit released recently, applies to the [Indexing Server])

Foxit PDF IFilter v1.0

• free for desktops, servers require a license
  
• 32 bit and 64 bit (IA64 currently being tested, applies to the [Indexing Server])