What SQL Server is my SharePoint machine pointed to?

I recently powered on a SharePoint 2016 box that I haven't used in a while, when I powered it on and tried to browse to the default SharePoint site at http://machinename I received the classic .net error:

Server Error in '/' Application.

Runtime Error

I also attempted to open the SharePoint Central Administration page and received the same error.

I opened the web.config for the default SharePoint site at  c:\inetpub\wwwroot\wss\VirtualDirectories\80 and searched for the word 'error' located the xml node...

<customErrors mode="On" /> and changed this setting to 'Off'

Refreshing the http://machinename page now displays the hidden error message...

'This operation can be performed only on a computer that is joined to a server farm by users who have permissions in SQL Server to read from the configuration database. To connect this server to a server farm, use the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard, located on the Start menu in Microsoft Sharepoint 2016 Products.

Unfortunately, if I attempt to run the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard it also displays an error message 'Failed to detect if this server is joined to a server farm,,,'

Turns out the SQL server was just turned off but in my environment I have many SharePoint Servers, SQL Servers, Web Servers, etc. I wasn't sure which SQL server this SharePoint machine was pointed to and I only wanted to power on this one SQL Server.

There are probably multiple ways to determine which SQL Server the SharePoint box is pointed to but the way I chose to find out was to just reference a registry key that defined the connection string to the configuration database. The key name is dsn and the Data value is populated with the connection string.

My Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Web Server Extensions\16.O\Secure\ConfigDb

Connect SQL Server 2014 Management Studio to Azure SQL Database

To connect SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) to an Azure SQL database log in to the Azure Management Portal

Create a new database or connect to an existing database

For this example I'll create a new SQL database, from Azure home page select SQL Databases and select  +Add

Select the database

After the database has been created (may take a few minutes and a refresh to appear), from the SQL databases menu select the database that was just created (MyDb).

Add a firewall rule

In order to connect to the Azure SQL database a firewall rule must be created with the IP address or range of IP addresses that will be allowed to access the database.

After the firewall rule has been created the database can now be connected to using SSMS.

Copy the server name

From the Azure Management Portal Select SQL Databases and select the MyDb database

Copy the server name listed below Essentials for your database

Determine Server Admin username for the Azure SQL Server

From the SQL Databases menu select the database (MyDb)

Select the server name link below Essentials - Note: you must have a username and password that has access to the database to connect using SSMS.

Launch the SSMS Application

Paste the server name that was copied above and enter the username and password

OneDrive for Business

What is OneDrive for Business?

Let’s start with what OneDrive for Business (ODFB) is not, ODFB is not Microsoft’s service for hosting files in the cloud (OneDrive – previously SkyDrive which is intended for personal storage) that allows users to sync files and later access them from a web browser or mobile device. OneDrive is a completely separate product and has nothing to do with ODFB.
 

Microsoft OneDrive for Business variations

On Premises SharePoint – OneDrive for Business on premises

• OneDrive for Business is a brand, not a product and it consists of three specific things

1. SharePoint My Site – a site collection that is created by default for every user
2. My Documents Library in SharePoint My Site - A document library that every user has and OWNS (key point), in addition it allows users to sync any other document library the user has access to
3. Synchronization Tool for synchronizing between desktop and Document Library. The OneDrive for Business Windows Sync client installs either with Office 2013 Standard or with Office 2013 Professional Plus. Or you can download the stand-alone OneDrive for Business Windows Sync client

• ODFB replaces previous Microsoft products Groove (SharePoint 2007) and SharePoint Workspace (Sharepoint 2010)

Prerequisites - To support OneDrive for Business document libraries in SharePoint Server 2013, you must have:

• Configured the User Profile Service application
• Configured My Sites
• For Office 2013 to display the user's My Site as a default save or open location, you must configure SharePoint Server 2013 to use Exchange Autodiscover
• To support system generated email notifications from SharePoint Server 2013 when a user shares a document with another user, make sure outgoing email is configured for your SharePoint Server 2013 farm

Library quotas

By default, the quota for each user's My Site in SharePoint Server 2013 is 100 MB. If you plan to use the OneDrive for Business document library for users to store their files, you should increase this default quota limit. If your organization uses SharePoint Online, a user's My Site quota is set to 25 GB and is configurable to 50 GB or 100 GB per user.

Library customization

Although the OneDrive for Business document library supports many of the features of a standard document library, a user shouldn't customize the OneDrive for Business document library because it might affect synchronization.
For example, if a user modifies the document library to require that metadata be filled in, the files are synchronized with SharePoint Server 2013, however, the document remains checked out. To check-in the document, the user has to fill in the required metadata either through SharePoint Server 2013 using the browser, or by opening the file with the Office 2013 client.
In addition, keep permission levels at the default settings of Can edit and Can view.
 

Office 365 – SharePoint and OneDrive for Business in the Cloud

• ODFB provides 1 Terabyte of storage for every user
• External sharing works out of the box – share with users outside of the SharePoint environment, they’ll get an email and get access to that single document
• Advantage – users can edit Microsoft Office documents directly from the browser without having Microsoft Office installed on the client
• Multiple plans available with different storage, encryption and data loss features

Stand alone OneDrive – give users the My Site, the My Site My Documents and the ability to sync

• Multiple plans available with different storage, encryption and data loss features

Limitations

• ODFB My Documents library in users My Site has an item limit of 20,000 items that can be synced and downloaded locally for offline usage
• Additional document libraries within SharePoint can be synced as well but have a limitation of 5,000 items
• Sync is by document library and not by files or folders
• 2GB file size limit
• Character limitations in files and folder names
• Not available on a Mac – this may have changed
• Files don’t have a URL directly to them
• Number of items that can be sync’d

Features

• The old concept of My Site in SharePoint is going away and being replaced with OneDrive for Business
• When a user clicks the OneDrive link in the SharePoint 2013 navigation, the user is redirected to what used to be called My Site, now ODFB
• When a user installs Microsoft Office 2013 it installs a client tool called OneDrive for Business which handles the synchronizations of files between SharePoint and the client desktop
• There is a Powershell script available to create the ODFB sites for all users programmatically because they are not created by default. By default, when a user first logs in to SharePoint the My Site is created
• Mapping a drive to OneDrive for Business from the client, make sure the desktop experience feature is installed on the SharePoint server to allow this

 

Hybrid OneDrive for Business - Starting with SharePoint 2013 SP1 you can connect on-premises SharePoint 2013 servers to the cloud and turn on OneDrive for Business

Figure 1

• In SharePoint Server, you can redirect users to OneDrive for Business stand alone or Office 365 (see figure 2) when they choose OneDrive in the navigation bar (SharePoint Server 2010 and SharePoint Server 2013) or in the app launcher (SharePoint Server 2016). This is known as hybrid OneDrive for Business.
• If you want to redirect your users to OneDrive for Business in Office 365, you need an Office 365 tenant where your users are licensed and at least Service Pack 1 installed on your farm.
• To avoid user confusion, keep the following in mind when you turn on hybrid OneDrive for Business:

1. When you turn on this feature, your users will be directed to OneDrive for Business in Office 365 when they click OneDrive in SharePoint Server. Be sure to plan to migrate your users' content from their old SharePoint Server OneDrive for Business to the new one in Office 365.
2. Because there's no direct link between OneDrive for Business in SharePoint Server and OneDrive for Business in Office 365, users' Shared with me lists in Office 365 won't display documents that have been shared with them from on-premises SharePoint Server.For example, if a user modifies the document library to require that metadata be filled in, the files are synchronized with SharePoint Server 2013, however, the document remains checked out. To check-in the document, the user has to fill in the required metadata either through SharePoint Server 2013 using the browser, or by opening the file with the Office 2013 client.
3. Keep permission levels at the default settings of Can edit and Can view

 

Figure 2

Windows Explorer view on client desktop

Figure 3

Coming Soon

New sync capabilities include:

• Ability to sync SharePoint Online document libraries and OneDrive folders shared with you (preview available today)
• An “activity center” has been added to the OneDrive sync client to allow you to view synchronization and file activity at a glance (preview available today)

New browser capabilities include:

• Rich thumbnails and previews for over 20 new file types (rolling out before the end of 2016)
• Ability to access and edit all your files in OneDrive and SharePoint Online from the OneDrive browser client (rolling out before the end of 2016)
• Capability to download multiple files as a .zip file (rolling out before the end of 2016)

New mobile capabilities include:

• Notifications to your iOS or Android device when someone shares a OneDrive file with you (available today)
• Access to SharePoint Online files in the OneDrive app on Android (available today)
• Multi-page scan enhancements in the OneDrive app on Android (available today)
• Ability to see over time how many people have discovered and viewed your files in OneDrive for iOS (available today)

New IT capabilities include:

• Enhancements to integration with Office 2016 (available in First Release)
• Simple, flexible OneDrive user management in Office 365 (available in First Release)
• Dedicated OneDrive administration console in Office 365 (rolling out before the end of 2016)