Performance Point Strange Error

I'm more of a hard core SharePoint guy now a day than a SQL Server diehard, but having been in charge of a large SharePoint Enterprise allows me to keep the SQL skills sharp.    I came across this strange error today while trying to create a Report in Performance Point against an OLAP cube.   I couldn't find anything on the web for this particular issue so I thought I would post it here.


I created my datasource without issue pointed it to the SSAS server and picked the database and cube to use.   Saved the datasource and went upon my business of creating the report.    Upon trying to create the report against my newly created data source I came across the error below.

An exception occurred while rendering a Web control. The following diagnostic information might help to determine the cause of this problem:

Microsoft.PerformancePoint.Scorecards.BpmException: There was a problem setting the item location URL.

PerformancePoint Services error code 20700.


After searching the web and finding nothing I decided to circle back and double check things.   Sure enough after looking at the data source I noticed that the cube I had chosen earlier was now empty.   After I selected the cube again from the dropdown everything was fine and I was able to create the report.    Anyone familiar with Performance Point will know this is just yet another bug.

Hope this helps someone.

Can't Install SQL Server

This is the first time I have come across this, and I have been doing SQL work for some time.  I was consulting on a SQL Server install on a Windows Server 2003 R2 box.   Anytime you tried to install SQL it would fail.   It turned out someone had enabled the DisableMSI registry key.  This key will prevent any .MSI installation from running.

The fix.

Go into the registry and set DisableMIS key located in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer to 0

Database Mirroring Error on A cluster

Ran into a strange issue today on my cluster. We currently have a 3 node cluster in production which has been pieced together overtime with nodes going off of lease overtime and being replaced by new nodes. We have been moving more towards Database Mirroring over the past year and today when I came in the principal database in the cluster was in recovery and I couldn't do anything with it. After researching I could find anything that resembled my issue. I tried the standard fix which is breaking the mirror by running ALTER DATABASE SET PARTNER OFF, no dice. After looking around I noticed something strange. I knew they had done maintenance on Sunday which involved rebooting the boxes and when they did they left the SQL Cluster groups running on different nodes. This led me to the root of the issue. When SQL was installed on the newest node for whatever reason this instance was not patched to Service Pack 2 as it should have been. Therefore, my database when running on the proper node has the patched binaries of Service Pack 2 and database mirroring works fine. However, on the node without a service pack applied to the binaries Mirroring doesn't run unless you set the trace flag to allow it to. Once I failed the instance back to the proper node where the Service Pack has been applied no issue, business as usual. I just wanted to post this in case someone runs across a similar issue in a clustered environment. I am going to be applying Service Pack 3 to the entire cluster next week so that should prevent this from happening in the future.

Best Thing I Learned at PASS

The best thing I learned at PASS 2008 was in regards to the SQL Server Upgrade Assistant. I wasn't alone in the people that didn't know this tool existed. When the presenter asked for the hands of those who had used or knew of the tool, not many were raised. I knew of and had used the SQL Server Upgrade Advisor before, but this tool was the real deal and helped us get approval sign offs in record times. This tool saved my organization SAIC a great deal of time an effort in staging and testing for our upgrades from SQL Server 2000 to SQL Server 2005. We plan to make use of the tool again when we go from SQL Server 2005 to SQL Server 2008 sometime in the future.

Thanks PASS

WAHOO passed Exam 70–431 today

Man I hadn’t taken a Prometric exam in a long time and today was quite different from what I remember. I used to hit Prometric a lot when I was getting my Oracle Certified Professional (OCP) exams under my belt. Not sure why I went ahead and took this one. I was bored and before I decided to start the UCSD SE program I kind of decided I would at least take this one exam. I was very happy to see that Microsoft has made use of simulations and actually allow you to show that you can do something instead of just choosing a multiple choice answer. I’m happy to have it under my belt not sure if I will continue on with any other test, especially with SQL Server 2005 on its way out shortly. What does everyone think about certifications? I have been surprised as a professional how little of value they are. Even upper management that I have been around doesn’t care much for them.

Systems Engineering Assignment 2

This is the second major assignment completed as part of my enrollment at UCSD completing the Systems Engineering Certificate program. This assignment goes together with assignment one. This is my Systems Engineering Management Plan (SEMP) which goes together with the SRD from my first assignment. Out of the two I enjoyed the SRD more than the SEMP.


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Systems Engineering Assignment 1

Recently I started the Systems Engineering Certificate Program at the University of California San Diego. I am going to use my blog as a trapper keeper for the assignments I complete along the way. Here is the first major assignment I had to complete. I had a lot of fun wirting this System Requirements Document (SRD).

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