Knowledge Base Configuration Overview

After you have finished installing and activating your license for Knowledge Base, use the KB Creation Utility to set up a new Knowledge Base automatically using the default configurations. See How to Use the KB Creation Utility for instructions on automatic KB site creation.

Before you get started, read KM Best Practices for a high level overview of implementing and sustaining knowledge management within your organization. Knowledge Base uses several web parts and lists stored in each of the sites:

To create the KB sites manually, follow the instructions below. Each section lists the configuration parameters that you need to consider and configure for the two sites that are contained within Knowledge Base.

Start by creating the two sites

Next configure the KB Client Site

The KB Client site is where your end users will interact; e.g., submit questions to KB Administrators, view recently added articles or most popular articles, navigate content by category, search for and access articles directly from the search results, submit ratings and comments on published articles using a 5-star interactive graphic, export articles to PDF or e-mail articles to end users.

When establishing Knowledge Base within your environment, follow these steps for best results.

Step	Action	Overview
1.	Configure Tab View for KB Client	The Tab View web part is used on the front page of the site so you will want to get it configured right away. You may see a Bamboo error when you first create the site. If you see this error, go to the site contents and open up the list called Bamboo KB Client Configuration and follow the steps here.
4.	Configure the KB Ask a Question Web Part	By default, this web part will not be set up, so you need to configure it.
5.	Configure the KB Display Article Web Part	The Display Article Web Part allows articles to be viewed in an attractive format on a page. End users cannot view articles by navigating to the Display Article Web Part page. You need to edit the web part which resides on a page that Bamboo has stored in your Site Pages library.
6.	Configure the KB Tag Cloud Web Part	The Bamboo KB Tag Cloud web part allows end users to locate articles that have been viewed the most times by clicking on a commonly used keyword (i.e. tag) from the tag cloud web part.
7.	Configure the KB Admin Site URL	Edit the web part and input the URL to your admin site so the administrators of your knowledge base have a quick way to get to the content area of Knowledge Base.

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Lastly, configure the KB Admin Site

“KB Admin” is the term Bamboo labels the site but you will most certainly want to change the name of it, as well as some of the lists contained within the site, so as not to confuse your users. But throughout our documentation, just correlate Bamboo’s naming conventions to your environment.

The KB Admin site is the site that contains all of the content which your users will access for contributing to lists; e.g., making comments, asking questions, posting, etc.

When you first create a Knowledge Base Admin site, it is empty so you need to start “seeding” the sites with some content. Use the links below as a checklist of things to accomplish in order to add some content so that users can begin interacting and continually add more content.

Step	Action	Overview
1.	Create the KB Admin Site	When you create a KB Admin site, there are many Bamboo KB Admin Site Lists and Web Parts that get built into the site which are helpful to know about as you begin to use it.
2.	Configure the KB Client Site URL	Edit the web part and enter a URL to the client site.
3.	Security Trimming	Read this article to understand whether or not you want to set up anonymous access.
4.	Configure the Group Redirect Web Part	When non-administrators of Knowledge Base reach the admin site, this web part will re-direct them to the client site.
5.	Configure Search for Knowledge Base	Several search options are available to your Knowledge Base users, but you first have to configure them to work in your environment.
5.	Configure the KB Configuration List	Configure the email address for your designated account.
6.	Configure the KB Tree View Web Part	You need to configure this web part to suit your environment.
7.	Configure the KB Ask a Question Web Part	This is the web part that holds questions submitted by end users.
8.	Configure the KB Answer Questions Web Part	Answer Questions is a data view of the questions that end users have submitted. It shows the number of replies for each question, the answer status for the question, whether or not the question needs to be turned into a KB, and a list of available actions, such as Answer Question, Mark as Answered and Edit.
9.	Category Control	Each question and article can be categorized based on your environment; this list houses the categories.
10.	Manage Pending Questions	Pending Questions displays the Bamboo Article Questions and Answers List, which contains questions that end users have submitted to Knowledge Base Administrators.
11.	Create an Article	Before you can use the KB Client site, you must create articles in the KB Admin site.

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The KB Admin and KB Client sites are linked in Navigator Tabs located in the same site for easy, centralized access. These tabs are can be displayed at the top of both sites.

Also see:

Knowledge Base Reporting

Knowledge Base Overview

The KB Admin site’s Reporting feature allows Knowledge Base administrator to view data about Knowledge Base articles via charts, including each report below. Just click a report to see a description of the report and how to configure the tool pane to get what you want from it.

Article Counts by Categories – Displays the current categories in the Knowledge Base along with how many articles are in each category. A data view is displayed underneath Article Counts by Categories and

Article Counts by Article Type – This data view displays the number of articles in each category or article type along with the average user rating for that category or article type.

Article Counts by Article Type – Displays the article types along with how many articles are in each type.

Article Usage Report – Allows Knowledge Base administrators to see which articles have the most views. The Article Usage Report is a data view of the most popular articles and each article’s page views and rating.

Ask a Question Report – Displays how many questions have been asked, whether they were answered, and if Knowledge Base articles need to be created based on the questions and answers. The Ask a Question Report is a bar graph that displays the number of questions submitted by users that:

Need a Knowledge Base article to be written
Do not have an answer
Have replies

Knowledge Base Reports

Within Knowledge Base you have several reports available to help you see what content is getting the most attention and help you ascertain where to put more focus.

Knowledge Base Search Page

Overview of Knowledge Base Solution Accelerator

Users can also locate and access articles by entering search criteria on the Search page.

Search criteria and search results layout is configurable.

Bamboo KB Admin Site

Overview of Knowledge Base Solution Accelerator

Use the navigation sidebar in the KBSA Admin Site to create and manage articles, answer users’ questions, manage article images, approve and manage users’ comments, and create and manage Knowledge Base categories.

Locate articles using the tree view, the Most Popular Articles box, the Latest Additions box or the All Articles box. You can create, edit or delete categories directly from the tree by right-clicking on a category. The All Articles box shows all articles for the selected category. If no category is selected (which is the default), then all articles are displayed in the All Articles box.

The KB Admin site allows Knowledge Base administrators to view data about articles and authors, create new articles, manage existing articles, approve and manage article comments, answer end-user questions, manage images, and create and manage Knowledge Base article categories.

The KB Admin site must be configured before it can be used. Read KBSA Configuration Overview for information on configuring the KB Admin site.

Access the lists, libraries, discussion boards and other site content used in the KB Admin site by selecting Site Actions > View All Site Content and selecting the desired item.

Knowledge Base Authors

Overview of Knowledge Base Solution Accelerator

The Authors feature lists all articles or articles written by the logged-in user along with data view/grid view. Administrators can sort, filter and edit in datasheet view.

Using the view, you can sort, filter, and make changes in datasheet view by selecting the Edit in Data Sheet option in the tool pane.

This view uses the Data-Viewer web part. Data-Viewer provides users with additional capabilities for organizing and viewing their data that SharePoint OOTB (out of the box) lists lack. Data-Viewer features allow users to modify lists to best suit their unique needs.

This example shows Data-Viewer configured to display data from a SharePoint list, without other dynamic or conditional formatting.

For examples of using other Data-Viewer features, see the Interactive Options section of the Data Viewer documentation.

Overview of Knowledge Base Solution Accelerator

Using Tree View

How to Use the KB Client Site

The Tree View page displays a tree view of articles that allow users to search for articles. Use the tree view to view articles by expanding or collapsing the categories to view subcategories. The Most Popular Articles, Latest Additions and All Articles sections then display that category’s most popular articles, most recently added articles and all articles.

Step	Action	Result
1.	The sections for Most Popular Articles, Latest Additions and All Articles can be hidden. The tree view web part itself can also be hidden. To hide one or all of these options, edit the Web Part. In the configuration tool pane, uncheck the options that you want to hide.	You have the option to show or hide the Tree view, show or hide the most popular articles, show or hide the latest additions to the list and show or hide all articles. Click Apply and then OK to save your changes.
2.	To view any of the articles in the Most Popular Articles, Latest Additions and All Articles sections, simply click the article title to view it.	The article’s title and content are displayed. Keywords associated with the article are displayed above the article title. On the right side of the page, view when the article was created and last modified as well as who last modified the article. See how many times the article has been viewed and what the article rating is. You can also print or e-mail the article. Underneath the article, you can rate the article and submit comments. You can also view related external links associated with the article. Under Additional Article Details, you can view the article type, tag terms associated with the article, the date that the article was last reviewed, and the categories associated with the article.
3.	Use the tree view to view articles by expanding or collapsing the categories to view subcategories.	The Most Popular Articles, Latest Additions and All Articles sections then display that category’s most popular articles, most recently added articles and all articles.

KB Client Search

How to Use the KB Client Site

The Search page allows end users to search for articles using specific search criteria. See How to Use the KB Search Web Parts for more information about searching and search criteria.

To search for an article:

Step	Action	Result
1.	From the Knowledge Base Client site Home page, click Search.
2.	Enter in your search criteria and click Search.
3.	Click the article title to view the article. Click Print to print the article. Click Export to Excel to export it.

KB Client Tag Cloud

How to Use the KB Client Site

Knowledge Base Tag Cloud List allows Administrators to add new tags to be associated with articles. End users on the KB Client site can then click on a tag cloud to view articles associated with that tag. The Tag Cloud page allows users to search for articles using tag terms. Users can select the most viewed articles by selecting the largest tag term in the tag cloud. Tags must be created in the KB Admin site. See Using the KB Admin Site for more information.

Add tags to the Bamboo KB Tag Cloud List:

Step	Action
1.	From the KB Admin site, click All Site Content.
2.	Under Lists, select Bamboo KB Tag Cloud.
3.	Click Add new item to add a new tag to the list. Click Save.

A larger tag size indicates a greater number of articles associated with that tag. Click a tag to view all articles associated with that tag.

Use the drop-down list to search for specific tags that begin with a letter within the grouping; for example, you would find the word SharePoint in the S-T group.

KB Permissions

KB uses the built-in SharePoint permissions to determine what actions a user can perform in KB. Default permissions are inherited from the parent site, so all users with edit privileges on the parent site will have access to the Admin portal and “Edit” access to articles unless inheritance is broken.

Permission levels include Full Control, Design, Edit, Contribute, Read, and View Only. The table below summarizes the actions available at each permission level:

	View	Download	Add/Edit/Delete Items	Add/Edit/Delete Lists	Approve, Customize Settings	Set Permissions, Full Admin
Full Control	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Design	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Edit	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Contribute	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Read	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
View Only	Yes	No	No	No	No	No

Advanced Permissions

To break inheritance and set custom permissions, admins can configure setting either through the KB permissions panel or OOTB permissions settings

KB permissions settings are found in Permissions under Categories in the quick launch bar.

To manage permissions for who can access/view/edit articles or set blanket permissions on articles in a category, use the Manage KB Articles Permission search function. The Manage KB Category Permission only affects who can see category labels, not articles.

Search for and select the articles you would like to manage permissions for and click Manage Permissions to adjust the settings.
OOTB Permissions settings are located in the ribbon under Library Settings > Permissions for this Document Library.

Is there a way to find a lost or unknown Bamboo product license key?

If your Bamboo Product License is invalidated because of a change to the hardware profile of a server, the license key used to activate it previously will not be shown in the Bamboo Web License Manager in SharePoint Central Administration.

You should be able to find the license keys associated with your purchase in the My Bamboo area of the Bamboo Solutions web site.

Step	Action
1.	Login to My Bamboo.
2.	Click the My Orders link from the Home page.
3.	On the Product Licenses tab of the My Orders page, the license keys associated with the products you’ve purchased are listed. NOTE: If you don’t see your orders listed on the page, please contact your Bamboo Sales Representative at Sales@bambooosolutions.com

Step

Action

Click the My Orders link from the Home page.

Mb-Home squares.jpg

On the Product Licenses tab of the My Orders page, the license keys associated with the products you’ve purchased are listed.

MB-MyOrders blurred.jpg

NOTE: If you don’t see your orders listed on the page, please contact your Bamboo Sales Representative at Sales@bambooosolutions.com

Installing the Bamboo Web License Manager

Overview of Licensing and and Product Activation

If you need to activate your Bamboo product license, you most likely need the Bamboo Web License Manager installed on your farm. If you need to activate a Bamboo Desktop application, please see Activating a Bamboo Desktop Product Using the License Manager

NOTE: If you are running with a free trial license, there is no need to install this component.

Install the Bamboo Web License Manager on one of the servers in the SharePoint farm that is running the Central Administration service. The component will be automatically deployed to all Central Administration Web applications by the SharePoint timer service.

NOTE: You must be a member of the local server Administrators group and have the db_owner role for the SharePoint configuration database to install and run the Bamboo Web License Manager.

Step	Action
1.	On the server running the Central Administration service, run the Setup program for any Bamboo product. NOTES: 1. Refer to System Settings in SharePoint Central Administration for a list of servers running this service. 2. Although every product Setup package includes the Web License Manager, it is necessary to install it only once on the farm.
2.	From the Setup interface, click the Bamboo Web License Manager component. Verify that the installation location is correct. Verify that the you have the required installation permissions. Click the Install button. The installation for the Web License Manager will begin.
3.	Click Next to continue.
4.	The install will run through some system checks. If they pass, click Next. NOTE: The Web License Manager expects Bamboo Logging V1 to have been previously installed. If you have installed a Bamboo product before installing the Web License Manager, this Prerequisite Component will already be installed.
5.	Read and accept the Bamboo End-User License Agreement. When you check the box labeled “I accept the terms in the License Agreement”, the Next button will be enabled. Click it to continue.
6.	The Web Application where Central Administration is running should be displayed in the Deployment Targets page. Check the box at the bottom to automatically activate the feature during the install. NOTE: If desired, you can always activate the feature manually in Central Administration.
7.	Monitor the progress of the install. When its complete, click Next.
8.	A Summary of the installation is presented. Click Close to complete the process.
9.	After a successful installation of the Web License Manager, you should see a Bamboo Solutions entry on the main page of SharePoint Central Administration on the main page.

Installing using the updated install process

Overview of the Updated Installation Process

In April 2017, with the Q1 Cumulative Update (CU) Bamboo introduced updated install/uninstall processes for component products (web parts). For more information about why this was introduced, please see Overview of the Updated Installation Process for Bamboo components

To install using the updated install process, please follow these steps (Warning.. Installs should be performed in Non-Peak hours as your farm will temporarily go offline):

No.	Function
1.	Download the install package from My Bamboo.
2.	Extract the contents of the package.
3.	Run the Install.ps1 from a WFE server in PowerShell as an admin.
4.	The script will look for WSPs in the install folder and list those found. It will install them in alpha order. Rather than deploying the solution immediately after its installed, the script schedules deployment time for 1 minute in the future so multiple installs won’t collide. IMPORTANT: By default, the script deploys solutions to all content web applications. If you don’t want to do this, please update the script for your needs.
5.	When the deployment completes, check Central Administration to confirm deployment completion.
6.	Activate in the desired Site Collections. See Activating a Bamboo Site Collection Feature for details.

Options for Installing

Option	When or Why to use this?
Use the Updated Installation Process for Bamboo components	Based on feedback from our customers, Bamboo introduced updated install/uninstall processes for component products (web parts). Instead of the Setup.exe Installation Application, we now supply two PowerShell scripts – one for Install/Upgrade and the other for Uninstall – to be used to install, upgrade, or uninstall the product. For more information, see Overview of the Updated Installation Process for Bamboo components.
Use the Bamboo Installation/Setup program	IMPORTANT: As of April 2017, Bamboo no longer includes the Installation/Setup program in product download packages. This is an easy option for small to medium sized farms with not too many web applications and/or WFE servers. The program will automatically check certain conditions, ask which Web Applications you want to deploy to, and then ask if you want to automatically activate site collection features. These are things that are easy to forget when installing any other way. For more information, see Overview of the Setup Program and How to run the Installation/Setup program. NOTE: You may decide NOT to use the Installation/Setup Program if your farm has several web front end servers (WFEs) or Web Applications. The installation and/or the solution deployment may timeout trying to deploy to a very large farm. In this case, it may be best to manually install the product on your farm.
Manually Install	Extra care must be used when installing a product manually because the series of automated checks performed by the Bamboo Installation program will not be available. Unexpected behavior during product configuration, licensing, or use may occur if some steps are skipped. About the Installation Files Important Notes About Manual Installation How to use the Installation-Setup program to install a single WSP Manually Install using PowerShell Manually Install using stsadm Manually Installing a Product MSI

Option

When or Why to use this?

Use the Updated Installation Process for Bamboo components

Based on feedback from our customers, Bamboo introduced updated install/uninstall processes for component products (web parts). Instead of the Setup.exe Installation Application, we now supply two PowerShell scripts – one for Install/Upgrade and the other for Uninstall – to be used to install, upgrade, or uninstall the product.

For more information, see Overview of the Updated Installation Process for Bamboo components.

Use the Bamboo Installation/Setup program

IMPORTANT: As of April 2017, Bamboo no longer includes the Installation/Setup program in product download packages.

This is an easy option for small to medium sized farms with not too many web applications and/or WFE servers. The program will automatically check certain conditions, ask which Web Applications you want to deploy to, and then ask if you want to automatically activate site collection features. These are things that are easy to forget when installing any other way.

For more information, see Overview of the Setup Program and How to run the Installation/Setup program.

NOTE: You may decide NOT to use the Installation/Setup Program if your farm has several web front end servers (WFEs) or Web Applications. The installation and/or the solution deployment may timeout trying to deploy to a very large farm. In this case, it may be best to manually install the product on your farm.

Manually Install

Extra care must be used when installing a product manually because the series of automated checks performed by the Bamboo Installation program will not be available. Unexpected behavior during product configuration, licensing, or use may occur if some steps are skipped.

Generating Activation Keys using My Bamboo

All Bamboo products that deploy to SharePoint can be activated online and the license(s) managed using Bamboo Web License Manager. Bamboo Web License Manager is included with the Setup program for every Bamboo product. You only need to install it once on your farm to manage all Bamboo products that have been or will be installed. After installation, it is accessed via SharePoint Central Administration.

If you are activating a Bamboo product on a server that does not have Internet access, you can activate your license offline and send the License Key and Machine Key to the Bamboo Support Team.
Alternatively, you can generate the Activation Key yourself via the My Bamboo area of the Bamboo Solutions website.

To generate the Activation Code yourself, follow these instructions.

Step	Action
1.	On a computer with Internet access, log in to My Bamboo with any valid account. In the My Orders tab, click Manage License.
2.	On the Manage License tab, enter the License Key and Machine Key. NOTE: See Activating My Bamboo Product License Offline to get the Machine Key. Click the Generate button to generate the activation key. Copy this key and put it in a safe place. You will need it in the next step. NOTE: If you are unable to successfully generate an activation key, send the License Key and the associated Machine Key to the Bamboo Support Team via Support@bamboosolutions.com. They will send the Activation Key to you via Email.
3.	Return to the Bamboo Web License Manager Offline Activation page in SharePoint Central Administration. Paste the activation key in the Activation Key box, and then click Activate.
4.	Your Bamboo product is now Active and is ready for use, as shown by the Status column. If you ever need to check which license key you used to activate each server, the license key used is shown on this status page.

I am having trouble adding the product Web Part to a page

Verify that the associated product feature is active in the site collection by following the instructions for Activating a Bamboo Site Collection Feature. If you are wondering which Site Collection Feature to activate for your product, refer to.
If the product feature is active but you still have problems adding it to the site, deactivate it and then activate it again.
If the product feature is not available to the site collection, verify that the product was successfully deployed to the Web Application. Deployment status can be verified in SharePoint Central Administration > System Settings > Manage Farm Solutions. If you are using WSSv3/MOSS, its in SharePoint Central Administration > Operations > Solution Management.
If the product does not appear in the list of Farm Solutions in Central Administration, it hasn’t yet been installed on the farm.
If the product shows a status of “Error” in the Farm Solutions list in Central Administration, Retract and then Remove the solution before running the Installation/Setup Program again to reinstall it. Refer to How to run the Installation-Setup Program for more information.

How to use Workflow Conductor for process automation in Knowledge Base

KBSA Configuration Overview

Applies To:

SharePoint Knowledge Base R2.0 or newer
Workflow Conductor R1.6 or newer
SharePoint Server and Foundation 2010
MOSS 2007 and WSS v3.0

IMPORTANT if you are using Workflow Conductor prior to Release2.x: Set up the following workflow processes during off hours. Publishing the workflow templates requires the application pool to be recycled. (Upgrade your WFC product soon so that you won’t need to publish during off hours!)

LIMITATIONS: To approve workflow tasks, users require the following permissions: Assignee, Initiator, Site Collection Administrator.

To complete task forms and to view the Approve, Reject and Submit buttons, users must be able to

Read the workflow item that the workflow is running on
and
Edit items in the Workflow Tasks List that is associated with the workflow.

Click a section below for more information:

How to Use the KB Creation Utility

The KB Creation Utility is located in the Bamboo Knowledge Base installer, under Optional Items:

Note: KB Creation Utility uses the current logged-in user’s credentials to create the Knowledge Base site. The current user must have SharePoint permission to create a site at the specified location.

Step	Action	Result
1.	Click the Launch button at the bottom of the window to start the Creation Utility.
2.	Provide a title for your new Knowledge Base site.	The KB Client Site will be created with the provided title.
3.	Provide a location for the site to be created. Note that the provided URL cannot point to an existing location.	The KB Client Site will be created at the specified location, with the KB Admin Site as a sub-site.
4.	Click Create, and within a few minutes the links to your newly created KB Client and KB Admin Sites will be displayed.

Knowledge Base Search Web Parts

The following topics provide examples of using Knowledge Base Search Web Part with different search options:

Configuring Search

Using Search

How to Use the KB Admin Site

The KB Admin site must be configured before it can be used. Read KBSA Configuration Overview for detailed information on configuring the KB Admin site.

Access the lists, libraries, discussion boards and other site content used in the KB Admin site by selecting Site Actions > View All Site Content and selecting the desired item.

Click the links below for more information on each section.

Workflow Configuration List: Create customized buttons for the ribbon for workflow approval processes.
Reporting: View data and statistics about Knowledge Base articles.
Authors: View data about Knowledge Base articles according to author.
Pictures: Upload article- or category-related images.
Pending Questions: Answer questions submitted by end users.
Create or Edit an Article: Create and edit articles. Manage article and category permissions.
Categories & Types: Create and edit article categories.
Comments & Ratings: Approve and manage comments on articles.
Tag Cloud: Create tags to be associated with articles.
Permissions: Manage user permissions.

How to Use the KB Client Site

Overview of Knowledge Base Solution Accelerator

The Knowledge Base Client site enables end users to:

Search for articles and content; print or e-mail articles or export them to PDF
Submit questions to Knowledge Base Administrators
Rate and comment on articles
View the most popular and recently added articles

You must configure the Knowledge Base Client site before you can begin using it. Read Configure the KB Client Site for information on configuring the KB Client site. Before you can use the KB Client site, you must create articles in the Knowledge Base Admin site. Read more here on using the Knowledge Base Admin site.

Click the links below for more information on each section.

KB Client Home – to locate articles and to view the most popular and most recently added articles
KB Client Search – to search for articles using specific search criteria
Ask a Question Page in KBSA – to submit questions to Knowledge Base Administrators
KB Client Tag Cloud – to view specific articles using tag terms

How to Migrate Knowledge Base Solution Accelerator from SharePoint 2007 to SharePoint 2010

Follow the steps below to perform an upgrade of the SharePoint Knowledge Base from SharePoint 2007 to SharePoint 2010 using the database attach and upgrade method. For more information on this method, see the following Microsoft articles:

NOTE: The minimum product version that can be migrated to SharePoint 2010 is v2.0.71. If you are not running that version or higher, please upgrade your Knowledge Base Solution Accelerator before migrating. The minimum product version that should be installed in the SharePoint 2010 environment is v2.0.56.

Performing a Database Detach/Attach and Upgrade of SharePoint Knowledge Base Solution Accelerator:

Step	Action
1.	In your SharePoint 2007 environment, check the version of KBSA that you are currently running. If you are running a version older than 2.0.71, you need to upgrade. See KB.12683 How to upgrade Knowledge Base Solution Accelerator for SharePoint 2007 to 2.0 or newer for more information. NOTE: Versions older than R1.2 are no longer supported for upgrade or migration.
2.	Back up the content database for the Web Application (i.e., Port 80) that contains the KB Admin and KB Client sites. See this Microsoft article on backing up databases for more information. If you have used KBSA on more than one web app, be sure to back up all appropriate content databases.
3.	In your SharePoint 2010 environment, create a new Web application using a new port, such as 81. See this Microsoft article on creating a new Web application for more information. NOTE: If you are creating new sites in your SharePoint 2010 environment, you can use port 80. If you have existing sites in SharePoint 2010 on port 80, you must use a different port when crating the new web app to receive the KBSA content. This is because when you dismount or delete the content database for the new port (such as 81) and then override the new database (for port 81) with the old (WSSv3/MOSS) content database (for port 80), the data in the database for port 81 will be lost.
4.	Install and deploy Knowledge Base for R2.0 for SharePoint 2010 to this Web application. See How to run the Installation-Setup Program and Deploying a Bamboo solution to a new Web Application for more information.
5.	Dismount or delete the content database for the new port in the SharePoint 2010 environment, such as port 81. NOTE: Bamboo recommends dismounting the database. See these Microsoft articles for more information on dismounting or deleting content databases.
6.	Restore the content database from your SharePoint 2007 environment to your SharePoint 2010 environment by overriding the existing database for the new port, such as port 81, in SQL Server. The account restoring the database must* have permissions to the database*. See this Microsoft article on restoring content databases for more information.
7.	Attach the content database to the SP2010 Web application. In SharePoint Central Administration > Manage Web Applications > Manage Content Databases, the Database Status for the content database should be Upgrading. See this Microsoft article for more information on adding databases.
8.	Restart Internet Information Services (IIS) by navigating to Start > Run. Enter iisreset in the command line and press Enter.
9.	Visit the old KB Admin site(s) in the SharePoint 2010 environment. Click on Site Actions and select Visual Upgrade. Select Update the user interface in the Visual Upgrade section of the page and then click OK. You should see the new user interface for the KB Admin sites after the Visual Upgrade is done. NOTE: You must perform the visual upgrade. We do not support the old look and feel. The new user interface will look like this:
10.	Open the old KB Client sites in the SharePoint 2010 environment. Enter the URL: `http://<servername:port/KB client sitename>/_layouts/prjsetng.aspx` to go to the Site Settings page that includes the Visual Upgrade section. Select Update the user interface and click OK. You should see the new user interface for the KB Client sites after the Visual Upgrade is done. It is similar to what you saw with the KB Admin site in step 9 above.
11.	Activate the license for Knowledge Base in your SharePoint 2010 environment. See the following KB articles for more information about licensing: KB.12626: How to Migrate My Existing Bamboo Product License Key From SharePoint 2007 to SharePoint 2010 KB.12498: How to Install and Activate a License for Bamboo Products in SharePoint 2010

How to uninstall Bamboo.core.v1.wsp from your SharePoint farm

APPLIES TO:

Bamboo Farm deployed products that use Telerik. See Bamboo products that use Telerik for a list.
SharePoint Foundation 2010 and SharePoint Server 2010 have Bamboo.core.wsp and Bamboo.core.v1.wsp.
SharePoint 2007 has Bamboo.core.wsp

SYMPTOM:

Errors occur and you can not access your sites after manually retracting and removing bamboo.core.v1.wsp or Bamboo.core.wsp from your SharePoint farm.

CAUSE:

If you need to remove all of your Bamboo products from the farm, and you run the installers that come with the products and select the option to “remove”, the bamboo.core.wsp and/or bamboo.core.v1.wsp is intentionally left behind.

This is because during installation and deployment, the bamboo.core.v1.wsp (or bamboo.core.wsp) solution puts specific versions of the Telerik.web.ui and Telerik.web.ui.Skins assemblies into the Global Assembly Cache (GAC). The associated bamboo.telerik.config.wsp solution programmatically adds Telerik-related entries into the web.config for the web application(s) selected during the install. These entries refer to specific versions of Telerik.web.ui* assemblies. Web.config files should not be modified manually.

When the product(s) and solutions are uninstalled, the changes to the web.config file regarding Telerik.web.ui are not removed. This is because there may be other SharePoint solutions from sources other than Bamboo that use this version of Telerik. For the same reason, the bamboo.core.v1.wsp (or bamboo.core.wsp) is left deployed because uninstalling it removes some specific versions of Telerik.web.ui* assemblies from the GAC.

If you remove bamboo.core.v1.wsp (either manually via Central Administration, PowerShell, or stsadm), then the Telerik.web.ui* assemblies will be removed from the GAC but the entries will remain in the web.config files. This may leave you unable to access your web pages.

If you are sure there are no other solutions that rely on Telerik on your farm, it will be OK to retract and remove the bamboo.core.v1.wsp (or bamboo.core.wsp) solution. However, you must be sure to also remove the Telerik entries from the various web.config files where they have been added.

RESOLUTIONS:

Leave the bamboo.core.v1.wsp deployed. Do not uninstall it.

If you must remove the bamboo.core.v1.wsp (or bamboo.core.wsp), remove it by retracting and then removing the solution from the Manage Solutions page in Central Admin. See Uininstalling from SharePoint Central Administration for more information.

After it is successfully removed, please use PowerShell to remove the Telerik entries from the web application(s) web.config file. This will ensure that changes to the web.config are saved in the database. For more information, see How to Remove a web.config Modification Using PowerShell

How to run the Installation/Setup Program

Options for Installing

IMPORTANT: As of April 2017, Bamboo no longer includes the Installation/Setup program in product download packages. Please Overview of the Updated Installation Process for Bamboo components for information about the updated process.

To access the Setup program:

Note: The minimum screen resolution to view the Setup program is 1024×768.

Step	Action
1.	Download the self-extracting product EXE (i.e., HW03.R1.7.SP2010.SL.exe) and save it to a local folder on the appropriate SharePoint server (see Location of Install Files if you are unsure about which SharePoint server to install on).
2.	Double-click the product EXE file to extract the contents of the product download. The Setup program will automatically start (see example screen shot below). See Overview of the Setup Program for more information. If you aren’t ready to install, click the X in the upper right corner to close it. To start the Setup program manually later, double-click the Setup.bat file in the root folder where the product files were extracted.

Step

Action

Download the self-extracting product EXE (i.e., HW03.R1.7.SP2010.SL.exe) and save it to a local folder on the appropriate SharePoint server (see Location of Install Files if you are unsure about which SharePoint server to install on).

Double-click the product EXE file to extract the contents of the product download.
The Setup program will automatically start (see example screen shot below). See Overview of the Setup Program for more information.

If you aren’t ready to install, click the X in the upper right corner to close it. To start the Setup program manually later, double-click the Setup.bat file in the root folder where the product files were extracted.

To Run the Setup:

Step	Action
1.	Review Recommendations for a successful install
2.	Run the Installation/Setup program and highlight a component to install. It’s best to install components in the order they are listed, if more than one is listed.
3.	Verify the installation location and required permissions for the selected component. They will be listed on the right side of the screen and could change for different selected components.
4.	Click the Install button that appears in the lower right corner. The install process will begin. During the install process, you will be asked: to verify that the system checks pass successfully. Some products have more checks than others. If some checks display an error, you will not be able to proceed until the error is resolved. Abort the install and try again once the issue is resolved. to read and accept the Bamboo Solutions End-User License Agreement (EULA). In the Deployment Targets screen, select the Web Application(s) on the farm where you want to deploy the product. If you are a Site Collection Administrator for all the site collections in the selected Deployment Targets (web apps), it’s OK to leave the Automatically activate features… option checked, otherwise uncheck it. NOTE: If you prefer that Site Collection Administrators activate product features as they are needed, uncheck the Automatically activate features option, then read How to activate a Bamboo Site Collection Feature to understand how to manually activate these features at a later time.
5.	When the installation is complete, a Summary will be displayed. Some Bamboo product components install several features. The install routine does not abort the installation if one feature fails to install. It continues to install the next feature. For this reason, be sure to review this summary carefully to make sure the install completed without error. You may need to scroll up to review the entire summary. NOTE: If one or two features failed, you can reinstall the failed features individually at a later time (after resolving any issues described in the log file). This may save you time if the installation was successful for all but a few components. See How to use the Installation-Setup program to install a single WSP for more information.
6.	Repeat Steps 2-5 for each required component listed. Required components are designated with a red asterix. Install optional components as needed. NOTE: It is not necessary to install the Bamboo Web License Manager if it is already installed on your SharePoint farm. This component is included with every Bamboo product, but only needs to be installed once.
7.	When all desired components are installed, restart the World Wide Web Publishing Service or the App Pools, depending on which you may have stopped.
8.	If you didn’t automatically activate features in site collections during the install, be sure to activate the site collection feature(s) in the appropriate site collection before adding the web part to a page. See Activating a Bamboo Site Collection Feature for more information.

Return to Options for Installing

How to Remove a web.config Modification Using PowerShell

Background

Some custom SharePoint products make changes to the web.config file for a Web application via SPWebConfigModification objects to support their features. Bamboo products sometimes make changes like this during installation. Please see How to modify a web.config file using PowerShell for some additional background information.

You may need to remove these changes for a particular Web application, if the product is no longer used on that Web application. It’s not a good idea to manually edit the file to remove the text, because the web.config would no longer match what has been set in the SharePoint configuration database and might cause future problems on your farm.

Resolution

Follow the steps below to remove web.config settings using PowerShell.

NOTE: The commands in this article work with both SharePoint 2010 Foundation and Server. Be extra careful when making changes to the web.config. Back up the file before making any changes. Do not remove a modification unless you are absolutely sure what it is.

Step	Action
1.	First, open SharePoint 2010 Management Shell. From the Start menu on a SharePoint WFE Server, select All Programs > Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Products > SharePoint 2010 Management Shell
2.	Next, list all of the SPWebConfigModification objects that have been applied to the Web application. These objects are stored in the WebConfigModifications property of the Web application. `1: $webApp = Get-SPWebApplication WebApplicationURL 2: $webApp.WebConfigModifications` In this example, you can see some of the modifications added by Bamboo products to support Telerik:
3.	Now, we can identify a particular modification and remove it using the commands shown below. `1: $config = $webApp.WebConfigModifications \| Where-Object {condition_to_identify_the_object} 2: $webApp.WebConfigModifications.Remove($config) 3: $webApp.Update() 4: $webApp.Parent.ApplyWebConfigModifications()` In this example, we’ll remove the modification with the name “add[@name=[‘Session’]” and path “configuration/system.webServer/Modules”.
4.	The ApplyWebConfigModifications() method applies this change across the farm for the specific web application, so we don’t need to worry about each physical web.config file at the server-level. That is one of the main advantages of using PowerShell to update web.config modifications. If there are multiple modifications we need to remove, we can use a loop to do that. The following example removes all of the modifications added by Bamboo Telerik Config in a particular Web application (they all have the same Owner value): `1: $BambooConfigs = $webApp.WebConfigModifications \| Where-Object {$_.Owner -eq "Bamboo.SP2010.Config"} 2: foreach ($config in $BambooConfigs) { 3: $webApp.WebConfigModifications.Remove($config) 4: } 5: $webApp.Update() 6: $webApp.Parent.ApplyWebConfigModifications()`

How to Migrate a Bamboo Web Part from SharePoint 2007 to SharePoint 2010 using the In-Place Upgrade Method

When you run an in-place upgrade from SharePoint 2007 to SharePoint 2010, the configuration data for the farm and all the content in the farm is upgraded on the existing hardware, in a fixed order. When you start the in-place upgrade process, Setup takes the Web server offline and the Web sites are unavailable until the upgrade is finished, and then Setup restarts the Web server.

Using the In-place Upgrade method, the following Bamboo products migrate to SP2010 with no errors or additional steps:

Alert Plus
Alerts Administrator
Chart Plus
Cross List
Column Level Security
Custom Identifier Column
Group Redirect
Group Email
In/Out Schedule Board
KPI Column
List Consolidator

List Rollup
List Search Simple
List Search Advanced
Lookup Selector Column
Mini-Calendar
My Alerts Organizer
Navigators
Password Expiration
Poll
Tree View
Site Creation Plus

Rich Text Column
Visual Indicator Column
Validator Column
Video Library
Task Master
User Manager for Sites
User Redirect
Virtual Map View
Wiki Publisher
World Clock and Weather

NOTE: If you are using a Bamboo product that is not on the above list and you are considering using the In-Place Upgrade method to migrate your farm, refer to the specific migration information for your product to learn more about possible limitations before proceeding with a migration.

Step	Action
1.	Follow Microsoft’s Upgrade In Place to SharePoint 2010 article to perform the in-place upgrade. NOTE: When running the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard, be sure to select the option Change existing SharePoint sites to use the new user experience. Administrators control the user experience for end users and can decide which sub-option is then selected in this step.
2.	During the upgrade process or before, retrieve the installation package and license keys for the SharePoint 2010 version of the Bamboo products you are migrating. See Migrate My Existing Bamboo Product License Key From SharePoint 2007 to SharePoint 2010 for additional details.
3.	After successfully upgrading to SharePoint 2010 and after all sites have completed their conversion to the new user experience, run the SharePoint 2010 Bamboo product installation package that you retrieved in Step 2. On the Repair, Remove or Install screen, choose to Upgrade/Repair Existing and Install New. For more information, refer to Upgrading your Bamboo Web Part.
4.	Select and upgrade the Bamboo Web License Manager component provided in the same installation package. On the Repair, Remove or Install screen, choose to Upgrade/Repair Existing and Install New. NOTE: The Bamboo Web License Manager only needs to be installed once per farm. Skip this step for subsequent Bamboo product installations on the farm.
5.	Activate the SharePoint 2010 versions of Bamboo products. See Install and Activate a License for Bamboo Products in SharePoint 2010 for more information.
6.	Refer to specific migration steps for the Bamboo product(s) you are migrating. There may be some extra steps required to overcome a known migration issue.

How to move your Bamboo Product License to a new server

Overview of Licensing and and Product Activation

You must have a Bamboo product license for each Web Front-end (WFE) server in the SharePoint farm that serves web content. If you replace a server with another physical device, you can move the license from the old server to a new one. To do so, first deactivate the license and then re-activate by following the instructions below.

Step	Action
1.	Go to Central Administration and under the Bamboo Solutions section, click Manage My License Keys. NOTE: If you are using SharePoint 2007, in Central Administration, go to the Bamboo Solutions Corporation heading on the main page and click Bamboo Web License Manager. Locate the product that you need to deactivate and click the product name link. The license Status Page will be displayed. Each server that is licensed for that product is listed on the page. NOTE: If the License Key is not listed on the license status page, see Is there a way to find a lost or unknown Bamboo product license key.
2.	In the Status Page, copy the license key from the server that will be deactivated to a safe location so you can use it on the new server (see Step 4 below). Then, click the Active status link. The Activation Page will be displayed.
3.	On the Activation Page, click the Deactivate button. Your license is now deactivated on that server. NOTE: If your SharePoint WFE server doesn’t have access to the Internet, you will not be able to deactivate from this page. However, it is important to deactivate the license. Please see How to deactivate your Bamboo Product License if your server doesn’t have access to the Internet for a way to deactivate from a PC that does have access to the Internet.
4.	When the new server is ready, see Activating Your Bamboo Product License for information about activating the license key for that server. Use the license key you copied to a safe location in Step 2 above to activate the product on the new server.

Manually uninstall using PowerShell

IMPORTANT: As of April 2017, Bamboo no longer includes ManualUninstallation.ps1 file in product download packages. An updated uninstall script is included instead. Please see Overview of the Updated Installation Process for Bamboo components and Uninstalling using the updated process for details.

Typically, Bamboo products are uninstalled from a server simply by selecting the Uninstall button for the product components in the Setup program. If you choose, however, you may also uninstall our products via another simple method. In this article, I will show you how to manually uninstall a Bamboo product with PowerShell.

Step	Action
1.	Access the installation files for the product you want to uninstall. They are usually on the WFE Server where you installed. Go to the Misc folder and locate the file ManualUninstallation.ps1 This is a PowerShell script. NOTE: Not all Bamboo products include a PowerShell script for uninstalling.
2.	Next, open the SharePoint 2013 Management Shell program and Run as administrator:
3.	In the SharePoint 2013 Management Shell, go to the Misc folder of the Bamboo product installation files. Then run the script by entering: `.ManualUninstallation.ps1`
4.	A warning is displayed telling you to do the following before proceeding: Deactivate the site collection feature for the product you are uninstalling. This script does not deactivate the features. They must be deactivated on all site collections where they have been activated. Recycle the App Pool or reset IIS on all WFE servers before continuing.
5.	Press Enter when ready, and the script will start. Wait for it to report Solution Removed Successfully, and then press Enter to exist.
6.	Check that the solution is successfully removed. In Site Collection features, the solution should no longer appear. In Solutions Management in Central Administration, the solution should no longer be listed.
7.	Notice that the Bamboo.Core.v2.wsp solutions remains on the list in Solution Management. This solution is part of other Bamboo products and is left intentionally. If you have no other Bamboo products on your farm, please see What is left behind after uninstalling to learn how to remove the Bamboo.core.v2.wsp also.

How to Migrate a Bamboo Web Part from SharePoint 2007 to SharePoint 2010 using the Database Attach Upgrade Method

When you upgrade by using database attach upgrade, you detach the databases in the old farm and then attach them to the new farm. When you attach a database to the new farm, the SharePoint upgrade process runs and upgrades the whole database. The database attach upgrade process is similar to the in-place upgrade process. The difference is that the database attach upgrade process is performed manually, and is performed in a separate environment.

Using the Database Attach Upgrade method, the following products migrate to SP2010 with no errors or additional steps:

Chart Plus
Cross List
Column Level Security
Custom Identifier Column
Data-Viewer
Group Email
Group Redirect

List Search Simple
List Search Advanced
Mini-Calendar
Site Creation Plus
Task Master
Tree View
User Manager for Sites

Password Expiration
User Redirect
Validator Column
Visual Indicator Column
Wiki Publisher
World Clock and Weather

NOTE: If you are using a Bamboo product that is not on the above list and you are considering using the Database Attach Upgrade method to migrate your farm, refer to the specific migration information for your product to learn more about possible limitations before proceeding with a migration.

Step	Action
1.	The first step in the process is to set up a new environment to host the upgraded content. See Prepare the new SharePoint Server 2010 environment for a database attach upgrade for additional information from Microsoft.
2.	After you set up the new environment, use the procedures in Microsoft’s Attach Databases and Upgrade to SharePoint 2010 article to detach and then reconnect the databases to perform the actual upgrade. NOTE: When attaching the databases, you must choose to update to the new user experience. Your Bamboo products will not perform correctly if you choose to remain in the old user experience after upgrade.
3.	During the upgrade process or before, retrieve the installation package and license keys for the SharePoint 2010 release of the Bamboo product(s) you are migrating. See Migrate My Existing Bamboo Product License Key From SharePoint 2007 to SharePoint 2010 for additional details.
4.	After successfully upgrading to SharePoint 2010 and after all databases have been attached and converted, run the SharePoint 2010 Bamboo product installation package that you retrieved in Step 3. Since this will be a new install on new hardware, you will be asked to choose the Web Applications to deploy to. Be sure to select the same Web Applications where the Bamboo product was deployed on the old farm. For more information about installation, refer to How to run the Installation-Setup Program.
5.	Install the Bamboo Web License Manager provided in the same installation package. NOTE: The Bamboo Web License Manager only has to be installed once. Skip this step for subsequent Bamboo product installations.
6.	Activate the SharePoint 2010 versions of Bamboo products. See Activating Your Bamboo Product License for more information.
7.	Refer to specific migration steps for the Bamboo product(s) you are migrating. There may be some extra steps required to overcome a known migration issue.

How to find the release number of a Bamboo web part

NOTE: Since you need to access the web part tool pane, you must be user with Design permissions on the site in order to determine the web part version.
Not all of Bamboo’s products are Web Parts; some products are custom columns for SharePoint and some are desktop programs, so this information does not apply to those particular components.

Step	Action
1.	Navigate to the SharePoint page where the web part is used. It can be any page, on any site. Because web parts are installed on your farm, the version is the same in all web apps, site collections, and sites.
2.	Access the Web Part’s configuration tool pane. In edit mode (select Edit Page from the Site Actions menu), select Edit web part from the web part menu in the upper right corner.
3.	Locate the About Web Part section of the tool pane and expand it. The most important version is the File Version number for the first component listed. This is the current product version installed. See About Bamboo product Version Numbers for more information about how our products are versioned.

How to deactivate your Bamboo Product License if your server doesn’t have access to the Internet

If your SharePoint WFE server does not have Internet access, you will not be able to deactivate a Bamboo product license from Central Administration. Instead, you can access the My Bamboo area of the Bamboo Solutions web site to deactivate any Bamboo product license key.

Follow the steps below:

Step	Action
1.	Determine the license key you want to move or deactivate. Go to Central Administration and under the Bamboo Solutions section, click Manage My License Keys. NOTE: If you are using SharePoint 2007, in Central Administration, go to the Operations tab to see the Bamboo Solutions section and the Manage My License Keys link. Locate the product that you need to deactivate and click the product name link. The license Status Page will be displayed. Each server that is licensed for that product is listed on the page. NOTE: If you don’t see the License Key on this page see Is there a way to find a lost or unknown Bamboo product license key.
2.	Log in to My Bamboo from a computer with an Internet connection. NOTE: If you don’t have a login account, you can create one quickly. All you need is a valid email address.
3.	At the bottom of any My Bamboo page in the My Orders tab, locate the Manage License link and click it. The Manage License page will be displayed.
4.	On the Deactivate Your License side of the Manage License page, enter your license key and then click the magnifying glass (). The Assembly Name licensed with this key will be displayed. Ensure it is the product you expect and then click Deactivate. Once deactivated, the license key can be re-used on your new or changed server. A license key can be used on only one server at a time. Please see Activating Your Bamboo Product License for more information.

How to check the status of your trial license

Overview of Licensing and and Product Activation

To check the status of your trial, follow these steps:

NOTE: If you are trialing a Bamboo Desktop application, please see Checking the status of a Bamboo Desktop application trial.

Step	Action
1.	Open SharePoint Central Administration. Notice the Bamboo Solutions heading on the page with the Manage My License Keys link beneath it.
2.	Click Manage My License Keys. On the page that appears, expand the Individual Products section and locate the product you are trialing.
3.	Click the product name or select Status from the associated menu to view the license status.
4.	If you are running a trial, your license status will be Trial. The status page will show when your trial started and when it will end. Bamboo Product Trials last 30 days from when the product is installed on your SharePoint farm.

How many License Keys do I need for my SharePoint farm?

Overview of Licensing and and Product Activation

For most products, you will need one Bamboo product License Key per Web Front End (WFE) server. A WFE server is any farm server running the Microsoft SharePoint Foundation Web Application (or Windows SharePoint Services Web Application in WSSv3/MOSS).

CA-servers on farm.jpg To determine which servers on the farm run these services, go to Central Administration > System Settings > and then Manage servers in this farm. If you are using WSSv3/MOSS, this page is accessed in Central Administration through Operations > Servers in Farm. In this example, there are two WFE servers on the farm.

Some SharePoint farms have WFE servers that do not serve content to users, even though they are running the Microsoft SharePoint Foundation Web Application. You will not need a license key for WFEs that do not deliver content to end users.

Desktop applications, such as List Bulk Import and List Bulk Export require only one license per instance.

Some products, such as List Rollup and Alert Plus may include optional components that run on application servers in addition to WFE servers. To use these product features, you may need an additional server license for each separate (non-WFE) application server on which you would like to run the associated service for that product. Using application server features on already licensed WFE servers does not require any additional licensing.

How to Add a web.config Modification Using PowerShell

Background

Please see How to modify a web.config file using PowerShell for some additional background information about why you should modify your web.config file(s) programmatically.

Many Bamboo products implement Telerik controls and install a specific version of Telerik.Web.UI assembly to the SharePoint farm. If the farm already has a different version of Telerik.Web.UI assembly, this may cause a conflict and you may see errors on SharePoint pages where you use these controls.

Resolution

To resolve this problem, we need to add an assembly binding to the web.config to specify which version to use. However, adding text by manually editing a web.config file is not recommended because it is not synced across the servers in the farm and is not saved in the SharePoint configuration database.

The best way to modify a web.config file programmatically is via PowerShell.

NOTE: Be extra careful when making changes to the web.config. Backup your file before changing it. Do not add or remove something unless you are absolutely sure what it is.

To demonstrate, we will use an example with Telerik controls. Consider this scenario:
Before a Bamboo product is installed, a server has Telerik.Web.UI version 2012.3.1016.35 previously installed. During the Bamboo product installation process, Telerik.Web.UI version 2011.2.915.35 was installed. Although it is OK to have multiple Telerik versions on a single server, it may cause a conflict in SharePoint.

We need to add an assembly binding to the web.config to tell the assemblies looking for version 2011.2.915.35 to use version 2012.3.1016.35. The assembly binding addition to the web.config file will look like this:

<dependentAssembly>
    <assemblyIdentity name "Telerik.Web.UI" publickKeyToken "121fae78165ba3d4" culture "neutral" />
    <bindingRedirect oldVersion "2011.2.915.35" newVersion "2012.3.1016.35" />
</dependentAssembly>

NOTE: Always redirect all versions found to the newest version of Telerik.Web.UI on the system, for backwards compatibility of functionality.

Step	Action
1.	First, open the SharePoint 2010 Management Shell. From the Start menu, select All Programs > Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Products > SharePoint 2010 Management Shell.
2.	Next, create the SPWebConfigModification object for the assembly binding Where: Path: A string that contains an XPath expression that specifies the node. If the Type property specifies EnsureChildNode, the Path property contains the XPath expression for the parent node under which the node is created. In this example, the runtime element of the web.config file is placed in another xml-namespace, so we have to identify the namespace. Otherwise, that element will not be found. Name: A string that contains the name of the attribute or section node. When the type of web.config modification is EnsureChildNode, the Name property refers to an XPath expression that uniquely identifies the node under the parent node, as identified by the Path property. Sequence: A 32-bit unsigned integer between 0 and 65536. This property throws an InvalidOperationException if the number is outside this range. A sequence is used only if there is more than one modification of the same type to the same node or attribute. In this case, modifications with lower sequence numbers are applied first. Owner: A string that specifies the owner of the modification. You can use the Owner property to track ownership of modifications. Type: An SPWebConfigModification.SPWebConfigModificationType value that specifies the type of modification. There are 3 types: EnsureChildNode: Specifies that the web.config modification must ensure the existence of a child node of the node to which the XPath expression points. Value = 0. EnsureAttribute: Specifies that the web.config modification must ensure that there is a value for a particular attribute. Value = 1. EnsureSection: Ensures a singleton node. This node is only written once, even if multiple entities register multiple instances of EnsureSection to ensure the existence of a section. Value = 2. Value: If the Type property specifies EnsureChildNode, the Value property contains an XML string that represents the node to be populated as a child of the specified parent node. If the type is EnsureSection, Value contains the name of the section. If the type is EnsureAttribute, Value contains the value set in the attribute.
3.	Then, apply the modification to the Web application (replace ‘WebApplicationURL’ with the actual URL of the Web application). NOTE: Bamboo products are only tested with the Telerik version that they install. Therefore, if a newer Telerik version is used, there might be some unexpected problem.

Step

Action

First, open the SharePoint 2010 Management Shell. From the Start menu, select All Programs > Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Products > SharePoint 2010 Management Shell.

Next, create the SPWebConfigModification object for the assembly binding

Where:

Path: A string that contains an XPath expression that specifies the node. If the Type property specifies EnsureChildNode, the Path property contains the XPath expression for the parent node under which the node is created. In this example, the runtime element of the web.config file is placed in another xml-namespace, so we have to identify the namespace. Otherwise, that element will not be found.
Name: A string that contains the name of the attribute or section node. When the type of web.config modification is EnsureChildNode, the Name property refers to an XPath expression that uniquely identifies the node under the parent node, as identified by the Path property.
Sequence: A 32-bit unsigned integer between 0 and 65536. This property throws an InvalidOperationException if the number is outside this range. A sequence is used only if there is more than one modification of the same type to the same node or attribute. In this case, modifications with lower sequence numbers are applied first.
Owner: A string that specifies the owner of the modification. You can use the Owner property to track ownership of modifications.
Type: An SPWebConfigModification.SPWebConfigModificationType value that specifies the type of modification. There are 3 types:
- EnsureChildNode: Specifies that the web.config modification must ensure the existence of a child node of the node to which the XPath expression points. Value = 0.
- EnsureAttribute: Specifies that the web.config modification must ensure that there is a value for a particular attribute. Value = 1.
- EnsureSection: Ensures a singleton node. This node is only written once, even if multiple entities register multiple instances of EnsureSection to ensure the existence of a section. Value = 2.
Value: If the Type property specifies EnsureChildNode, the Value property contains an XML string that represents the node to be populated as a child of the specified parent node. If the type is EnsureSection, Value contains the name of the section. If the type is EnsureAttribute, Value contains the value set in the attribute.

Then, apply the modification to the Web application (replace ‘WebApplicationURL’ with the actual URL of the Web application).
apply mods.jpg

NOTE: Bamboo products are only tested with the Telerik version that they install. Therefore, if a newer Telerik version is used, there might be some unexpected problem.

How to activate a Bamboo Site Feature

NOTE: In order to activate a site feature, you need to have at least the Manage Hierarchy level of permission for the site.

Step	SharePoint 2007	SharePoint 2010/2013
1.	From a page on the site where you want to activate the feature, click Site Actions > Site Settings > Modify All Site Settings. In the Site Administration columnn of the Site Settings page, click Site features.	From a page on the site where you want to activate the feature, click Site Actions > Site Settings. In the Site Actions section of the Site Settings page, click Manage site features.
2.	Find the appropriate feature. If it hasn’t yet been activated, click the Activate button. The features available depend on the Bamboo products installed on your farm and deployed to your web application.

Step

SharePoint 2007

SharePoint 2010/2013

From a page on the site where you want to activate the feature, click Site Actions > Site Settings > Modify All Site Settings. In the Site Administration columnn of the Site Settings page, click Site features.
sp2007 site features.jpg

From a page on the site where you want to activate the feature, click Site Actions > Site Settings. In the Site Actions section of the Site Settings page, click Manage site features.
site settings - site actions2010.png

Find the appropriate feature. If it hasn’t yet been activated, click the Activate button.
sp2010 site features.jpg

The features available depend on the Bamboo products installed on your farm and deployed to your web application.

How long do trial versions of Bamboo software last and when do they start?

Overview of Licensing and and Product Activation

Currently, trials for Bamboo products run for 30 days, and begin when the product is installed. So if you download the software today, but don’t actually install for two weeks, that’s OK.

If you need an extension to a trial, contact your Bamboo Sales Representative (Sales@bamboosolutions.com).

Highlights of Knowledge Base

Knowledge Base: Share knowledge. Save time and costs through self service. More features. No code.

Bamboo’s Knowledge Base provides you with the infrastructure for a centralized, easy-to-use, searchable, secure Knowledge Base that can be set up in minutes—saving you valuable time and costly development resources. Whether used internally or as part of a customer-facing site, Knowledge Base offers a flexible, scalable and affordable knowledge management application for internal or external users that is both simple to set up and easy to use for training, support or case management or as a document repository.

Export, Print, and Email KB Articles

Knowledge Base Overview

KB end users (client site) can directly export, print, and email articles from the article page using the share bar.

Share URL: Clicking on the link button displays a direct url to that article.
Print & PDF: Printing & PDF exports include all content, including related articles, links, and content from the Custom Section. Printing does not include Comments.
Email: The email icon opens a form to customize the recipients and email body. The article will be included as a link.

Additional Email Configuration

In the email prompt, select recipients for the To: field with the ‘people picker’ or hardcode individual email addresses. Customize the email subject and body or keep the default message. Users can add column tokens or one of the default tokens ([recipient], [article], [sender]) to the subject or body.

The sending address of the E-mail Article feature can now be configured similarly to Send Message (Send from logged-in account, use SP’s outgoing email settings, allow user to enter ‘From’ address, or specify a user or SP group as the fixed sender).

Error Log Files

Applies To

Bamboo Products
Windows SharePoint Services v3 and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007
SharePoint Foundation 2010 and SharePoint Server 2010
SharePoint Foundation 2013 and SharePoint Server 2013—Standard Edition
SharePoint Server 2016

While troubleshooting issues, the Bamboo support team may request a copy of the log files for your Bamboo product(s). Many licensing, functionality and access issue information is captured in the log files found in the BambooSolutions file folder.

This directory is located at C:WindowsTempBambooSolutions

The log files are named in this format: bsc_bamboo_{processID}.log

where {processID} is the ID of the w3wp.exe process which was handling the request at the time of the error

NOTE: These files will be created on any farm server running the Microsoft SharePoint Foundation Web Application (on SharePoint 2010 or SharePoint 2013) or the Windows SharePoint Services Web Application (on SharePoint 2007).

To determine which servers on the farm run these services:

SharePoint 2007:

Go to the page Central Administration > Operations > Servers in Farm

SharePoint 2010:

Go to the page Go to the page Central Administration > System Settings > Manage Servers in this Farm

SharePoint 2013:

Go to the page Central Administration > System Settings > Manage Servers in this Farm

There may be many log files. When reporting a problem to support, attach the most recent file(s) to your support ticket. If you know the time at which the error occurred, choose the file with the corresponding date/time.

Refer to Topology and Services in SharePoint Central Administration for a list of servers running this service. Learn more…

Error Using the KB Creation Utility

kb create util error.jpg When you run the KB Creation Utility from the Web Front End (WFE) Server where you installed the Knowledge Base on your farm, you might see this error and the new KB sites will not be created.

This may happen if you are creating a KB on a site in a new site collection.

To resolve the issue, follow these steps:

Step	Action
1.	From the top level/root site of the site collection where you want to create the KB site, go to Site Settings and then Site collection features under the Site Collection Administration heading.
2.	Check the features for the Bamboo Knowledge Base solution. If you are running SP2013, the two templates highlighted below will be included. Make sure they are activated. The four features that must be activated in Sp2013 are: – Bamboo KB Accelerator Reporting Web Part – Bamboo KB Admin Site Template R2 SP2013 – Bamboo KB Client Site Template R2 SP2013 – Bamboo Knowledge Base Accelerator If you are running SP2010, make sure the four features highlighted in yellow below are activated. They are: – Bamboo KB Accelerator Reporting Web Part – Bamboo KB Admin Site Template R2 – Bamboo KB Client Site Template R2 – Bamboo Knowledge Base Accelerator NOTE: You may see other KB templates listed if you upgraded your Bamboo Knowledge Base from an earlier version.
3.	When you have ensured the site collection features are activated for the site collection where you want to create the new KB sites, re-run the KB Site Creation Utility.

Step

Action

kb create utili site coll feature option.jpg

From the top level/root site of the site collection where you want to create the KB site, go to Site Settings and then Site collection features under the Site Collection Administration heading.

Check the features for the Bamboo Knowledge Base solution.

If you are running SP2013, the two templates highlighted below will be included. Make sure they are activated. The four features that must be activated in Sp2013 are:
– Bamboo KB Accelerator Reporting Web Part
– Bamboo KB Admin Site Template R2 SP2013
– Bamboo KB Client Site Template R2 SP2013
– Bamboo Knowledge Base Accelerator

If you are running SP2010, make sure the four features highlighted in yellow below are activated. They are:
– Bamboo KB Accelerator Reporting Web Part
– Bamboo KB Admin Site Template R2
– Bamboo KB Client Site Template R2
– Bamboo Knowledge Base Accelerator

NOTE: You may see other KB templates listed if you upgraded your Bamboo Knowledge Base from an earlier version.

When you have ensured the site collection features are activated for the site collection where you want to create the new KB sites, re-run the KB Site Creation Utility.

Edit Knowledge Base Article

Edit articles

Click Article Control to locate the desired article, or click Manage Articles and use the search options to enter in your search criteria.

Click the Edit icon in the Update column to edit the article. A new window opens with the article in edit form.
Make your changes and click Save. Click Cancel to cancel the changes.

Do Not Use a Designated Account to Access Data

Knowledge Base Administrators can choose not to use a designated account to access data, but they must make the following configurations:

KB Client site: Grant Read-Only access to the KB Client site for SharePoint users/groups
KB Admin site: Grant the following permissions to the same SharePoint users/groups:
- Read-Only access to the following:
  - Bamboo KB Articles List
  - Bamboo KB Categories List
  - KB Picture Library
- Limited access to the KB Admin site

Knowledge Base Administrators can also break item permissions for the KB Articles and KB Categories lists and allow certain groups to see those items. For example, an Administrator wants to allow the SharePoint group “Sales” to have read access to the Sales KB category and to all KB articles in the Sales category. The Administrator filters the list view of the KB Articles List to locate these items. Then the Administrator breaks item permissions for each item and removes access for all SharePoint groups except the Sales group. The Administrator then applies the same permissions in the KB Categories List.

Security Configuration for Other Lists in the KB Admin Site

The Administrator does not need to grant permission to any user/group from the KB Client site to the following lists:

Bamboo KB Configuration List
Bamboo Article Questions and Answers

SharePoint Knowledge Base Solution Accelerator reverts to the application pool account to read and write information to these lists. Administrators can stop inheriting site permissions for these lists and can remove KB Client users/groups’ access to these lists as desired.

Security Configuration for Group Redirect Web Part and Bamboo Navigator TabStrip in KB Admin Site

Knowledge Base Administrators can use the Group Redirect Web Part to redirect end users back to the KB Client site if they try to access the KB Admin site. See Configuring the KB Admin Site for more information.

Configuring Site Permission for the KB Admin Site

Knowledge Base Administrators should grant Read-Only access to SharePoint groups with Limited Access so that this group can view the home KB Admin site home in order to redirect end users to the KB Client site using the Group Redirect Web Part. This redirection is only performed at the KB Admin site home. Users in the SharePoint group can still access other pages in the KB Admin site if they know the URLs for those pages. The Administrator can choose to remove this group from other lists and libraries.

Bamboo Navigator List and Item Permissions in the KB Admin Site

By default, SharePoint groups with Limited Access will have Read-Only permissions to the Bamboo Navigators List. Knowledge Base Administrators are not required to perform additional steps for this list.

Bamboo Navigator List and Item Permissions in the KB Client Site

SharePoint groups with Limited Access should already have access to the KB Client site’s Bamboo Navigators List. Administrators can remove this group’s permission to the KB Admin site by performing the steps below:

From the KB Client site, select All Site Content > Lists > Bamboo Navigators.
Click the KB Admin item. From the item context menu, select Manage Permissions.
Select the desired users/groups and select Remove User Permissions from the ribbon to break permissions. Members of this group will only see the KB Client site tab when they log in.

Working with the Display Article Page in Knowledge Base

Overview of Knowledge Base Solution Accelerator

Users can e-mail, print and view the number of times the article has been viewed directly from the article itself.

Deploying a Bamboo solution to a new Web Application

Note: Perform these steps using an account that is a member of the SharePoint Farm Administrators group.

Step	for SharePoint 2007	for SharePoint 2010/2013
1.	In SharePoint Central Administration, click the Operations link. In the Global Configuration section, click the Solution Management link. A list of installed solutions is displayed.	In SharePoint Central Administration, click System Settings link. In the Farm Management section shown on the page, click the Manage farm solutions link. A list of installed solutions is displayed.
2.	Click on the name of the solution you want to deploy.	Click on the name of the solution you want to deploy.
3.	Click the Deploy Solution link.	Click the Deploy Solution link.
4.	Select the Web application to deploy to and a deployment schedule, and then click OK.	Select the Web application to deploy to and a deployment schedule, and then click OK.

Best Practices for Knowledge Management Using Knowledge Base

Knowledge Base Overview

Beyond what is visible to the end users in Knowledge Base, your KB administrator may want to control who has access to write the articles, review articles and publish them. These are the processes and business intelligence that go beyond the tool and are important considerations to think through before exposing a tool across the enterprise.

Start small. The best way to get good collaboration practices going so that a group is thinking of topics they can write about in Knowledge Base is to start with a group that has cohesion, a reason to work together, and where all members are committed to the group and the quality of its results. For example, you may have an internal SharePoint Users Group where members are committed to sharing knowledge about SharePoint. Knowledge Base is a great tool for this type of group. It could be a project team, for instance, or perhaps a management group. What is important, is to start with groups that are intrinsically motivated to capture and share their knowledge, rather than groups that only exist in the organizational charts but which do not function as groups in practice.

Why is this important? Because Knowledge Base is the kind of tool that can easily spread organically on the grassroots level in an organization. If there is an early adopter group using Knowledge Base in a productive way, it is likely that their best practices will be spread to other colleagues – simply because people in organizations these days typically belong to several groups and social structures.

In a committed group of early adopters, it is likely that best practices will be developed, and those practices may be useful also to other groups within the organization.

The KB Admin site allows:

Knowledge Base administrators to view data about articles and authors
Create new articles
Manage existing articles
Approve and manage article comments
Answer end-user questions
Manage images
Create and manage Knowledge Base article categories

The KB Client site lets users:

Submit questions to Knowledge Base Administrators
Quickly view recently added articles or most popular articles
Use a tree to navigate KB content by category
Search for and access articles directly from the search results
Submit ratings and comments on published articles using a 5-star interactive graphic
Display a tag cloud to enable users to quickly access the most-viewed articles by keyword
Export articles to PDF directly or e-mail articles to other users

Best Practices you may want to consider:

Identify an owner for your knowledge base. Whether this person is dedicated to the KB or wears many hats, you need one or two people on your team who are responsible for the KB content. The KB owners are the contacts for the team and can ensure that content is created and is consistent.
If you don’t designate people to write content for your KB, then chances are no one will write content for your KB. Creating KB content has to be a priority, and part of the regular responsibilities for specific people or a group.
Regardless of who is creating the content, it is vital that articles are clear, concise, and consistent.
Content needs to be easily searchable and categorized, but you don’t want your categories to get out of control. If users can’t easily find answers in your KB, they might get frustrated and stop using the KB. Ensure you have categories that are intrinsically useful to multiple groups and easily understood to have a similar meaning across groups.
Users trust that they are getting reliable information in a company’s knowledge base. But if they find too many errors or inconsistencies, they won’t trust the information and they won’t use the KB. So it’s important to have content reviewed by subject matter experts before it’s published.
Establish regular review processes and consider implementing a SharePoint approval workflow so that all articles go through a reviewer. Using SharePoint permissions, you can set up groups for those who will write content, those who review content, approve it and publish.

Many of the Best Practices listed above and others your organization implements will help your company benefit from a structured approach to knowledge management.

Decide Whether or Not to use a Designated Account

Knowledge Base Overview

Click a section below for more information on configuring security for Knowledge Base:

In general, users should follow SharePoint security trimming when setting up user permissions. Read the following Microsoft TechNet articles for more information:

SharePoint 2007:

SharePoint 2010 and 2013:

Protecting the Identity of the Access Account

Knowledge Base Administrators can remove SharePoint group/users’ access to the KB Client Configuration List to ensure that the identity of the access account remains unknown.

CSS Overview

Classes for customizing CSS in your environment are provided by Bamboo so that you can customize web parts to match your branding. We also provide skins that change the look and feel but these are used discretely. See the topic Skins Overview for more information.

Calendar Plus

CSS for Calendar Plus

Chart Plus

Cross List

CSS for Cross List – this topic covers the classes you would need to modify for Cross List.

Navigators

Password Change

CSS for Password Change Web Part

PM Central

PMC Skin Templates

Team Calendar

CSS for Team Calendar

Virtual Map View

CSS for Virtual Map View

Create the KB Admin Site

Knowledge Base Overview

Note: The default configuration requires that the KB Admin Site be a sub-site to the KB Client Site.

Step

Action

Result

In SharePoint 2013, in the KB Client site that you just created, create the KB Admin site. Navigate to Site Collection Features and ensure the KB Site Templates features are activated.

On SharePoint 2010 or 2007, select Site Actions > New Site.

Under Sites, select the Bamboo KB Admin.R2 site template. Give the site a name and a URL, then click Create.

Important: The default configuration requires that the KB Admin Site URL end with “/admin/”. For example: http: //Server/ClientSite/admin/

SharePoint 2010

SharePoint 2013
On SharePoint 2013, navigate to your Custom tab and select Bamboo KB Admin SP2013.R2 to create a new KB Admin site.

If you don’t see the site template, navigate to the Site Collection features of the site collection and confirm that the KB Site Templates features are active.

Create the KB Client Site

Knowledge Base Overview

The KB Client site enables end users to search for articles and content; print or e-mail articles or export them to PDF; submit questions to Knowledge Base Administrators; rate and comment on articles; view the most popular and recently added articles; and more.

Step	Action	Result
1.	Navigate to the top site in the site collection where you want to create the KB Client.
2.	Select Site Actions > Site Settings > Site Administration > Sites and workspaces.	In SharePoint 2013, navigate to your Create menu and select + new subsite.
3.	Enter a Title, an optional Description and a URL name in the Web Site Address container for your site.
4.	Under Template Selection > Custom Select Bamboo KB Client Site Template R2.
5.	Choose your permissions and navigation.	NOTE: If you select Use same permissions as parent site, one set of user permissions is shared by both sites. Consequently, you cannot change user permissions on your new site unless you are an administrator of this parent site.
6.	Click Create.	When your site is created, SharePoint opens up your new site, which you need to begin configuring:

After you create the KB Client Site, Create the KB Admin Site.

Note: The default configuration requires that the KB Admin Site be a sub-site to the KB Client Site. If you select an alternative configuration, read Configuring the KB Client Site for information on configuring the KB Client site.

Configure the KB Tree View Web Part

Knowledge Base Overview

One of the first things you will notice when you create a Knowledge Base site is the home page looks quite empty. There are a couple of web parts already added to the page and one of them is the Tree View web part. You need to configure this web part to suit your environment.

From the KB Admin site, edit the Tree View web part.

Step	Action	Result
1.	Enter the site URL for the Bamboo KB Admin site:	This field is already populated for you with the relative path URL. See Using Relative Paths for more information on the syntax for relative paths.
2.	Select a Display List:	This field is already preselected for you with the Bamboo KB Articles list.
3.	Select Default View:	Select the list view that you would like displayed in the Most Popular Articles list and the Latest Additions list. For now, you can leave this as All Items; later you may want to change this after you have configured other items.
4.	Show Tree View:	Toggles showing the category for navigating the Knowledge Base content.
5.	Show Edit Buttons:	Toggles showing the Edit button for each article in the Most Popular Articles list and the Latest Additions list.
6.	Show Delete Check Boxes:	Toggles showing the check boxes used for selecting and deleting articles in the Most Popular Articles list and the Latest Additions list.
7.	Show Most Popular Articles:	Toggles showing the Most Popular Articles list, which shows articles that have had the most views.
8.	Show Latest Additions:	Toggles showing the Latest Additions list, which shows the articles that were recently added to the Knowledge Base.
9.	Show All Articles:	Select this option to show the All Articles list, which displays all articles in the Knowledge Base with paging according to the Records per Page value. When you select a category in the tree, the All Articles list shows all articles for that category and all of its subcategories.
10.	Records per Page:	Enter the number of articles you want listed at a time in the Most Popular Articles list, Latest Additions list and the All Articles list.
11.	Automatically expand level:	Choose how many items you want to be displayed by default in the tree view.
12.	Enter the URL to the page that contains the Bamboo Display Article Web Part for displaying article content:	This field is used for the KB Client site only. Make sure that you enter a relative path for the URL; for example, /sites/Authors.
13.	Select a Language:	Select this option to set the language used on the user interface of this Web Part. See Localize Bamboo Web Parts for your Language for more information.
14.	Click Apply and then OK to save your changes.