Distributed Cache on Error Starting in one of the SharePoint 2013 server in a Farm.

Recently I want to setup a Medium SharePoint Server farm with 2+2 concept. 2 SharePoint web Front end Servers and 2 SharePoint Application Servers.

The second app server was included to the SharePoint farm after a month. During the time as per the requirement we stopped the Distributed cache on WFE's and started the same in APP#01.

When tried to starting the distributed cache on APP#02 it shows error starting.

Then did lot of option from Google Suggestion but no luck, so thought back my IIS admin role and copied "DistributedCacheService.exe.config" from working server (APP#01).

The config file will be available on "C:\Program Files\AppFabric 1.1 for Windows Server".

After copied I tried to start the service using powershell with the cmdlet of Start-SPServiceInstance.

Again it failed after a day but with below error.

Error executing service instance (un)provisioning job.  Service instance: "Distributed Cache" (id "b6c10332-478a-483a-9b1a-a949040de1d9) "cacheHostInfo is null""

with the error message of CacheHostInfo is null and decided to fix the Cluster Configuration of Distributed cache and got a ps script


Solution:

• Copy the below and Save it with .ps1 extenstion.

$SPFarm = Get-SPFarm
$cacheClusterName = "SPDistributedCacheCluster_" + $SPFarm.Id.ToString()
$cacheClusterManager = [Microsoft.SharePoint.DistributedCaching.Utilities.SPDistributedCacheClusterInfoManager]::Local
$cacheClusterInfo = $cacheClusterManager.GetSPDistributedCacheClusterInfo($cacheClusterName);
$instanceName ="SPDistributedCacheService Name=AppFabricCachingService"
$serviceInstance = Get-SPServiceInstance | ? {($_.Service.Tostring()) -eq $instanceName -and ($_.Server.Name) -eq $env:computername}

if([System.String]::IsNullOrEmpty($cacheClusterInfo.CacheHostsInfoCollection))
{
    #here's the key. we can't provision, unprovision, start, or stop a Cache Service because we still have a Cache Service that have no server attached
    $serviceInstance.Delete()
    Add-SPDistributedCacheServiceInstance
    $cacheClusterInfo.CacheHostsInfoCollection
} 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

• Execute the .ps1 from the server where the Distributed Cache is working fine.
• Login to the server where distributed cache is having a problem to start
• Find and get the service Instance ID of distributed cache which has problem.
• To find the below command will help you to take it

Get-SPServiceInstance | ? {($_.service.tostring()) -eq “SPDistributedCacheService Name=AppFabricCachingService”} | select Server, Status

• Copy the service instance ID which has problem and past it in the below command. which will delete the service instance. 

$service = get-spserviceinstance b6c10332-478a-483a-9b1a-a949040de1d9 

$service.Delete() 

• If you execute the below command it will display remaining server except the one which has the problem.

Get-SPServiceInstance | ? {($_.service.tostring()) -eq “SPDistributedCacheService Name=AppFabricCachingService”} | select Server, Status

• Now execute the  Add-SPDistributedCacheServiceInstance cmdlet in ps window.

If you are having a luck and completing the task without any escalation the above command will be the solution for the issue and refer the central admin. Distributed cache is started on the APP#02.

You can leave reading the post from here and have a JIGARTHANDA (A desert of Madurai, TN, INDIA).

Now if you are reading here then you are like me, being an active person, hard worker and still not getting the place what you want or expecting ;-)

You might again getting the cacheHostInfo is null error in event viewer. So simple Go to services.msc and start Remote Registry services.

Now again execute the script and login back to the App#02 server which has problem.

Execute the cmdlet for deleting the instance and run the  Add-SPDistributedCacheServiceInstance.

Issues is  resolved for me. As usual I learnt new thing and created a post here.

Your suggestions are welcome.

SharePoint 2013: Reduce AppFabric Calls to Active Directory

AppFabric is a key part of any SharePoint 2013 as we all know by now. It’s used for many things indeed all over the product and AppFabric in turn uses Active Directory to make sure only authorised processes get access to the cache data.

Thus when SharePoint uses AppFabric, it opens a new TCP connection to it and AppFabric has to authenticate that connection with Active Directory; the same as when a user/browser connects to a Windows authentication protected website. Just as with the browser/IIS connection, there’s two ways of authenticating to AppFabric – NTLM or Kerberos, with NTLM being picked if Kerberos isn’t setup. Given Kerberos is a more efficient protocol at caching authorisation we want to use that over NTLM to reduce traffic to AD as it’s just better designed in that respect.

If you have Kerberos logging enabled on a web-front-end for example, something you’ll notice is these SPNs being requested and not being found:

 

 

Notice anything about the SPN? Yep, it’s the AppFabric server we’re trying to use – the client (SharePoint) is trying to connect via Kerberos and it’s not working so we have to fail-back silently to NTLM. That works of course as far as SharePoint’s concerned but we have generated more traffic than we wanted due to this security protocol fall-back.

 

Add AppFabric SPNs to Reduce Calls to Active Directory

As with HTTP, we want to use Kerberos for AppFabric authentication to reduce the extra logins to Active Directory. This is just done by adding the right SPNs to the app-fabric account in the form of:

• AppFabricCachingService/server:22233
• AppFabricCachingService/server.domain.fqdn:22233

This you do with either ADSI Edit or setspn; in my example:

• setspn -U -S AppFabricCachingService/sharepointserver01:22233@scshiva.LOCAL scshiva\svc_cache

That should take care of both SPNs but you might want to try adding the NetBIOS one too manually – Win2012 will duplicate-check the SPN first anyway so there’s no risk. Check the security log again after the change with Kerberos logging enabled to double-check it’s worked if you’re unsure. First though, restart AppFabric (and if I remember right IIS might be necessary too) and you should be good to go – AppFabric will make significantly less calls to Active Directory as it’ll use a Kerberos token instead.
If this is of particular interest I can probably expand on this subject, but that’s it for now.

 

With Regards,

சிவசங்கரன் (Shivashankaran)





Configuring a SharePoint farm in single server without domain controller.

Recently I had a requirement of configuring 25 SharePoint development servers.

The beauty of the requirement is "The servers are not joined with Domain".

As usual, I installed the SQL Server 2012 Standard edition.

When installing the prerequisites of SharePoint, The IIS throws the configuration error, had more than 2 cup of coffee, then only released I am having SharePoint 2013 RTM version and trying to install it in Windows server 2012 R2. This is not possible.

Then downloaded the SharePoint 2013 with SP1 and installed the prerequisites and SharePoint too with complete option.

Didn't expect, that I will going to be in office for another 2 hours for configuring the SharePoint. Got the below error and absolutely yes got the help from Mr.Google.

 

 

SharePoint PowerShell is really powerful tool, because it have some backend gate to configure the SharePoint illegally or they missed to check the condition from configuring from PowerShell.

 

Open the SharePoint management Shell with Elevated permission(Run As administrator).

 

Execute the command called New-SPConfigurationDatabase.

 

It will shoot out some question to you like Config Database Name, Database Server Name, Credentials (Enter the local account like below) and provide the passphrase.

 

 

Go and take some sambar vadai(south indian dish), with coffee or some other and open the system the above mentioned command executed successfully. Go to ssms and check the database server you can see SharePoint Config database and admin content database.

 

Now run the SharePoint configuration wizard and choose DO NOT DISCONNECT THE SERVER FROM FARM.

 

Catch you later on next post. Post your queries if you have anything.

 

Desinging the Search Topology in SharePoint 2013.

Earlier in SP2010 we had an option of amending the search topology in the central Administration itself. But in SP2013 you need to amend the topology through SharePoint PowerShell alone.


In My Scenario I have 2 WFE, 1 APP, 1 for Crawl and 1 for Index.

First of all we need to start the Search Service in the necessary server. So I need to start the service in the APP1, Crawl and Index server.

$hostA = Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceInstance -Identity "App1"
$hostB = Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceInstance -Identity "Crawl"
$hostC = Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceInstance -Identity "Index"
Start-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceInstance -Identity $hostA
Start-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceInstance -Identity $hostB
Start-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceInstance -Identity $hostC

Check the status of SSA after started

Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceInstance -Identity $hostA
Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceInstance -Identity $hostB
Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceInstance -Identity $hostC



Creating new topology in the existing service application which we have in the farm

$ssa = Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceApplication
$newTopology = New-SPEnterpriseSearchTopology -SearchApplication $ssa

Creating the necessary components in the new topology. Here I am creating the Admin Component, Analytic Component will be in APP Server

Crawl and Content Processing will be in Crawl Server.

Query processing and Index component will be in Index server. 
 
New-SPEnterpriseSearchAdminComponent -SearchTopology $newTopology -SearchServiceInstance $hostA
New-SPEnterpriseSearchCrawlComponent -SearchTopology $newTopology -SearchServiceInstance $hostB
New-SPEnterpriseSearchContentProcessingComponent -SearchTopology $newTopology -SearchServiceInstance $hostB
New-SPEnterpriseSearchAnalyticsProcessingComponent -SearchTopology $newTopology -SearchServiceInstance $hostA
New-SPEnterpriseSearchQueryProcessingComponent -SearchTopology $newTopology -SearchServiceInstance $hostC
New-SPEnterpriseSearchIndexComponent -SearchTopology $newTopology -SearchServiceInstance $hostC -IndexPartition 0

Activating the topology which we created.

Set-SPEnterpriseSearchTopology -Identity $newTopology

Get the list of topologies which are available in the search serviceapplication. In my scenario the existing one will be available and that will be deactivate after executing the above mentioned Set-SpEnterpriseSearchTopology.

Get-SPEnterpriseSearchTopology -SearchApplication $ssa

In the output of above command just make a note of inactive topology id.

Remove-SPEnterpriseSearchTopoly -Identity "InactiveToplogy ID" -SearchServiceApplication $ssa


That's it now you can check the component status in the central adminstration -> Manager Service Application -> Search Service Application.


Thanks.

சிவசங்கரன் (Shivashankaran)

SharePoint 2013 Service Pack 1 had 2 versions

                       Microsoft has re-released Service Pack 1 for SharePoint 2013. Hopefully this time with fewer bugs. I haven’t taken it for a full test drive yet, so this blog post will likely get updated in the next few days.

If you have already installed SP1 on your farm, install this new SP1 on top of it, then run the Config Wizard, like you would with any other patch. If you’re at some lower patch level, use the same steps.

Here are some links.

SharePoint Foundation – KB – Download

SharePoint Server        – KB – Download

Project Server             – KB – Download

Office Web Apps          – KB – Download

Thanks,
சிவசங்கரன் (Shivashankaran)

OWA Configuration for SharePoint 2013.

Install the OWA server set up first. Once done open the Windows power-shell with elevated permission (Run as administrator)

The below command will create new farm structure of OWA and you can use this in your application such as SharePoint, Lync and etc. Here I used the OWA with my SharePoint application.

> New-OfficeWebAppsFarm –InternalURL "http://owa" -ExternalURL "http://owa.scshiva.com" –AllowHttp -EditingEnabled

the above command will show the below as output:

FarmOU                           :
InternalURL                     : http://owa/
ExternalURL                     : http://owa.scshiva.com/
AllowHTTP                       : True
SSLOffloaded                     : False
CertificateName                 :
EditingEnabled                   : True
LogLocation                     : C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\OfficeWebApps\Data\Logs\ULS
LogRetentionInDays               : 7
LogVerbosity                     :
Proxy                           :
CacheLocation                   : C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\OfficeWebApps\Working\d
MaxMemoryCacheSizeInMB           : 75
DocumentInfoCacheSize           : 5000
CacheSizeInGB                   : 15
ClipartEnabled                   : False
TranslationEnabled               : False
MaxTranslationCharacterCount     : 125000
TranslationServiceAppId         :
TranslationServiceAddress       :
RenderingLocalCacheLocation     : C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\OfficeWebApps\Working\waccache
RecycleActiveProcessCount       : 5
AllowCEIP                       : False
ExcelRequestDurationMax         : 300
ExcelSessionTimeout             : 450
ExcelWorkbookSizeMax             : 10
ExcelPrivateBytesMax             : -1
ExcelConnectionLifetime         : 1800
ExcelExternalDataCacheLifetime   : 300
ExcelAllowExternalData           : True
ExcelWarnOnDataRefresh           : True
OpenFromUrlEnabled               : False
OpenFromUncEnabled               : True
OpenFromUrlThrottlingEnabled     : True
AllowHttpSecureStoreConnections : False
Machines                         : {OWAServer}



_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

Now login to SharePoint 2013 server:

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

1. Open the SharePoint Powershell with elevated permission (Run as administrator).

2. Execute the below command one by one.



> New-SPWOPIBinding -ServerName OWAServer.scshiva.com  -AllowHTTP

The above command will give multiple line as a output. Then execute the below commands one by one.


> Get-SPWOPIZone
OutPut: internal-https

If the above shows the https then need to execute the Set-SPWOPIZONE command. If the above out put is http then skip the next 2 steps.

> Set-SPWOPIZone -zone "internal-http"
> Get-SPWOPIZone
internal-http

> (Get-SPSecurityTokenServiceConfig).AllowOAuthOverHttp
OutPut: False

If the above output is "False" the run the next set of command.
> $config = (Get-SPSecurityTokenServiceConfig)
$config.AllowOAuthOverHttp = $true
$config.Update()

Run the below command to confirm the status is True.
> (Get-SPSecurityTokenServiceConfig).AllowOAuthOverHttp
OutPut: True

Post your quires in the below. :-)

Administration on HNSC URL

Earlier we discussed about HNSC Concept and How to create HNSC in SharePoint. To know that click here

In this post I am explaining how to manage(Add/Remove) the URL of HNSC.

Add URL for HNSC site.

To view the existing URL's and its zone use the below command.

Get-SPSiteURL -Identity "http://FirstSiteCollection.SharePointShiva.com"

Note the output and Use the below command to add the new URL in existing site collection

Set-SPSiteURL -Identity "http://FirstSiteCollection.SharePointShiva.com" - Url  http://addingnewurl.SharePointShiva.com -Zone "custom"

The above command will add the new url called addingnewurl.sharepointshiva.com to the existing site collection which contain the url called firstsitecollection.sharepointshiva.com

Don't forget to mention the ZONE.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Remove the URL of HNSC.

Remove-SPSiteURL -Identity http://firstsitecollection.sharepointshiva.com

Post your query in comment.

Host Name Site Collection Concept (HNSC) - SharePoint

In the post we are going to know about Host Name Site Collection concept.

What is Host Name Site Collection?
Host Name is referring a identity for the computer in general. The URL of web application in SharePoint will be "<http(or)https>://HOSTNAME:PORT" eg: http://sharepointwebserver:2204.

In this web application we can create one site collection in root level and that can access using the above mentioned URL or some other alternate access mappings url in SharePoint.

In my scenario I need to have 9 site collections in one web application and each site collection should have its unique url (No Managed Path).

Then my minds arise a question I can have 5 URL's in SharePoint but all the 5 will access the one site collection which I created in ROOT. To achieve the requirement we need to choose the HNSC concept in SharePoint. The below example and syntax shows how to create a site collection using HNSC concept.

For getting the syntax and description for options in the syntax click here

Example: New-SPSite -Url "http://FirstSiteCollection.SharePointShiva.com" -OwnerAlias SharePointShiva\SPHNSCAdmin -ContentDatabase WSS_Conent_HNSC1stSC -HostHeaderWebApplication http://sharepointwebserver:2204 -Name FirstSiteCollectionUsingHNDCConcept -Template STS#0

In the above mentioned powershell command have list of option and check the description below.

-URL : Provide the SiteCollectionURL which required this will be similar to ROOT.
-HostHeaderWebApplication : Provide the WebApplication URL in this Option so that that the site collection will create under the web application.
-Template : Mention the template code here to create the SC with the corresponding template to know more template click here

Soon I will post about how to set the another URL for the HNSC and how to remove the URL.. Stay Tuned.

Install Workflow Manager 1.0 Offline

If you want to install Workflow Manager 1.0 on servers without internet connectivity, you will run into problems with the Web Platform Installer, the only tool Workflow Manager 1.0 can be installed with.

The good news is, there is a command line tool of Web Platform Installer, where you can download the installation files and all of its dependencies to a internet accessible machine, move it over to one of your servers and install it in offline mode.

Take the following steps to do so:

1. Download the WebPICMD.exe Package from the MS Downloadcenter and unzip it to a folder (C:\WebPICMD\WebPICMD.exe in our case)
2. Open a Command Prompt, navigate to the folder you extracted the tool and execute the following command:
   
   "WebpiCmd.exe /Offline /Products:WorkflowManager /Path:D:\Temp\WorkflowManager\"This will initiate a download with all the related components into the provided folder.
3. Copy the WebPICMD.exe to the server where you want to install the WorkflowManager 1.0, in our example to D:\Temp\WebPICMD\WebPICMD.exe
4. Copy the downloaded files to your server where you want to install the WorkflowManager 1.0, in our example to D:\Temp\WorkflowManager 
5. Open a Command Prompt, navigate to the folder you copied the WebPICMD.exe tool and execute the following command:

WebPICMD.exe /Install /Products:WorkflowManager
/AcceptEULA /SuppressReboot
/Log:./WorkflowManager.log /Xml:file:///D:\Temp\WorkflowManager\feeds\shadow-webproductlist.xml

This will initiate the installation of the Workflow Manager 1.0 and its dependencies. The outcome of the installation will be logged to the WorkflowManager.log file. The above line will suppress reboots and will accept the license terms automatically.

A log file will be created at the following path, where you can see the process and the warnings/errors/information about the installation:

%localappdata%\microsoft\web platform installer\logs\webpicmd

Stay tune to catch the configuration wizard of Workflow Manager. (Standalone and Farm).

Thanks.

Install and Download SharePoint 2013 prerequisites offline (manually)

This article applies in a situation when you don’t have internet access in your SharePoint server.

I have placed all the direct download links for the installers you might need.

This article assumes you are having a new fresh installation of windows server 2008 R2 SP1

If you tried to run the installer , The following should be installed (but you cant install them directly from here since you don’t have internet)

in this case  you can download and install SharePoint 2013 Prerequisites offline and run them manually as below:

I have placed what needs to be installed on a clean Window server 2008 R2 SP1 , you should not need more than this:

Click the each prerequisite it will redirect you to the page where the software need to Download.

Prerequisite:

1. Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5
2. Windows Management Framework 3.0
3. Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 Native Client
4. Windows Identity Foundation (KB974405)
5. Windows Identity Extensions
6. Microsoft Sync Framework Runtime v1.0 SP1 (x64)
7. Windows Server AppFabric
8. Microsoft Information Protection and Control Client
9. Microsoft WCF Data Services 5.0
10. Cumulative Update Package 1 for Microsoft AppFabric 1.1 for Windows Server (KB2671763)

Once you downloaded all the above mentioned prerequisites, Install the .Net Framework 4.5 and Windows Management Framework 3.0 Manually.

Yes you can install all the above prerequisites manually except AppFabric. If you are installing manually it required do some configuration. That is not required for SharePoint.

So once the First 2 prerequisites installed successfully now you need to follow the below simple steps.

My SharePoint 2013 software dump is available in the following path for an example.D:\Software\split\SharePoint\.

Place the downloaded software to prerequisiteInstallerFiles folder which present inside the SharePoint dump.

Then open the Windows PowerShell with elevated permission (Run As Administrator).

Execute the below powershell command. It will install all the softwares including appfabric without an issue.

$SharePoint2013Path = "D:\Software\split\SharePoint\"

Start-Process "$SharePoint2013Path\PrerequisiteInstaller.exe" –ArgumentList "/SQLNCli:$SharePoint2013Path\PrerequisiteInstallerFiles\sqlncli.msi /IDFX:$SharePoint2013Path\PrerequisiteInstallerFiles\Windows6.1-KB974405-x64.msu /IDFX11:$SharePoint2013Path\PrerequisiteInstallerFiles\MicrosoftIdentityExtensions-64.msi /Sync:$SharePoint2013Path\PrerequisiteInstallerFiles\Synchronization.msi /AppFabric:$SharePoint2013Path\PrerequisiteInstallerFiles\WindowsServerAppFabricSetup_x64.exe /KB2671763:$SharePoint2013Path\PrerequisiteInstallerFiles\AppFabric1.1-RTM-KB2671763-x64-ENU.exe /MSIPCClient:$SharePoint2013Path\PrerequisiteInstallerFiles\setup_msipc_x64.msi /WCFDataServices:$SharePoint2013Path\PrerequisiteInstallerFiles\WcfDataServices.exe"

Thanks.

Item was not crawled because of a password change. Update password and retry crawling.

Recently i changed my service account password and updated the same in the following areas

1. Central Admin -> Managed Account
2. IIS -> Application Pool Identity
3. Services.msc -> If Search Service running service account.

but my search crawl history says "Item was not crawled because of a password change. Update password and retry crawling". Searched a lot and come to knew require to update the password separately in Default Content Access account.

To access the Default content access account use the following links.

Central Adminstration -> Manage Service Applications -> Search Service.

In the search service page. Look on the left top pane you have link called "Search Service Administration". Choose that and it opens a new page. In that we have a option called default content access account.

Thanks.

Difference between Explicit and Wildcard Inclusion in SharePoint

Recently i heard from one my friend who playing SharePoint developer role. He asked what is mean by explicit inclusion. What is the purpose of it and how it works. And they knew only wild card inclusion managed path and they thought that is the one which available in SharePoint.

With this experience i would like to share the information about explaining the managed path and its uses in SharePoint.

What's in a SharePoint Managed Path?

I often hear and sense confusion about SharePoint managed paths. Managed paths are essentially 'mount points' for site collections. 

There are two types of managed paths available in SharePoint.
- Explicit 
- Wildcard. 

What's the difference between an explicit managed path and a Wildcard managed path? 

By default, the root ‘/’ managed path is explicit, meaning only one site collection can be in it and it assumes the identity of the managed path. That's how you browse to http://servername:port and get a Web page. A Web application without a site collection in the root managed path will return a 404 error when browsing to the root. You could always create another explicit managed path for multiple portal support in a Web application, i.e. http://servername:port/HR. HR is a peer to '/'. Now, you can no longer have an HR sub-site in the root - you will get a security validation error because the URL space is already taken.

A Wildcard managed path is basically 180 degrees in the opposite direction. A Wildcard managed path can support hundreds or thousands of site collections, but they are appended to the managed path, like http://servername:port/sites/team, with sites being the Wildcard managed path. It will always return a 404 error when browsing directly to a Wildcard managed path. But, you can create many Wildcard MPs like teams or projects.  Wildcard managed paths are like a sorting mechanism for site collections.

I hope this helps your Web application structure and design.

Run all Health Analysis Jobs on Demand

Following an installation, nothing gives me more joy (pertaining to SharePoint anyway) than having a clean Health Report days after my installation (AKA: Review Problems and Solutions). Recently though, I was doing an installation and I decided to try to “force run” the health rules rather than wait for them to run.

Found this in PowerShell to run all the jobs on demand:

$jobs = Get-SPTimerJob | Where-Object {$_.Title -like "Health Analysis Job*"}
foreach ($job in $jobs)
{
  $job.RunNow()
}

SharePoint Server 2010 Service Pack 2 Updated

It is recommended to install June 2013 CU before SP2. June 2013 CU might not correctly identify the SP2 baseline. If SP2 has already been installed and June CU does not install you need to wait for August CU which will correctly identify the SP2 baseline.

Guess it wasn’t such a smart installer after all was it?

Let’s take a look at the version numbers based on installation order:

• SP2 only - 14.0.7015.1000
• June CU only - 14.0.7102.5004
• SP2 then June CU - 14.1.7015.1000
• June CU then SP2 - 14.1.7102.5004

Based on the original guidance from MS, you might be running the June 2013 CU baseline, but your build version will still show as SP2.

SharePoint 2013 New Feature Reference

This can be used as a quick reference for custom meetings or just yours to have on hand.

Requirements:

• Minimum OS: Server 2008 R2 SP1
• Minimum SQL: 2008 R2 SP1
• Supports SQL and Server 2012
• CPU: 4 Cores
• RAM: 12GB (3-tier farm deployment)

General Info:

• DB Attach only upgrade method
• BDC, MMS, UPA, Secure Store, Search support DB attach upgrade
• Site collection level upgrade supported. DB is upgraded but site collection stay 2010 until testing is complete. Not just visual upgrade
• Web analytics now integrated with search. No longer its own SA
• Office Web Apps now its own separate scalable server farm product that SP consumes
• New Service Apps:
  • App MGMT Service
    • Manage SP app licensing and permissions
  • Work MGMT Service
    • Aggregate and synchronize tasks between multiple environments, such as Project Server, Exchange and SharePoint.
  • Translation Service:
    • On the fly translation from 1 language to another
• Supports PowerShell 3.0 and .Net 4.x Framework
• Claims based authentication is the default (classic mode can still be implemented via PowerShell)
• FAST Search is now baked in.
• User Profile Service has a new 1 way AD import mode. Full 2 way FIM UPS stays the same and is still available

SQL:

• SQL has always on HA/DR and improved I/O with SP 2013
• 7 DB have been deprecated in SP 2013
  • 4 Project related DBs
  • Search Property
  • 2 Web Analytics DBs
• 5 New databases
  • Project Service
  • Search Service Application Links Store Database Library
  • Search Service Application Analytics Reporting Store Database
  • App Management Service Database
  • Translation Service Database