Manual installation / deployment of our SharePoint WSP Solution Packages

All our Web Parts and SharePoint solutions come with a Inst_2013 (and Inst_2010_2007 for older SharePoint versions) wizard to achieve streamlined installation and deployment. This wizard works smoothly and pleasantly for approx. 99.8% of users.

Except when it doesn't. With a growing user base, a tiny minority of edge-case users or misconfigurations that prevent the wizard from completing are to be expected, and this article applies only to them.

Always try Inst_2013 (or Inst_2010_2007) first. As a reminder, when you download one of our SharePoint tools, you get a roxority_<Product>Zen.zip file, ie. roxority_FilterZen.zip, roxority_PeopleZen.zip etc.

• Log in to Windows on your SharePoint server (or in a multi-server farm environment, to the primary/"original" farm server, ie. the one hosting your SharePoint Central Administration) as a Farm Adminstrator—meaning a Windows account that is indeed also a member of your SharePoint's Farm Administrators group.
• Copy the roxority_<Product>Zen.zip setup package to that server and extract it right on there.
• Now, don't just simply double-click the Inst_2013 / Inst_2010_2007 to run it: instead, right-click it and depending on the Windows Server version, you'll see either a 'Run as administrator' or a 'Run as...' option.
• If it's the latter ('run as...'), pick that option and then specify a user account that (A) has administrative rights on the machine AND (B) is also a member of the SharePoint Farm Administrators group (review it in Central Administration if unsure). Both conditions should be met for best results. (Better yet, you're already logged in to your Windows Server as such as user account.)
• If the former ('run as administrator'), be sure you're logged in to the server as a user account that (A) has administrative rights on the machine AND (B) is also a member of the SharePoint Farm Administrators group (review it in Central Administration if unsure). Both conditions should be met for best results.

Things should be smooth sailing from here, but if you belong to the less-than-1% of users where the deployment wizard does not complete successfully, read on.

Manual step 1 — install via STSADM:

If you are about to install one of our add-ons, we have to assume you're already at least remotely familiar with the STSADM tool that ships out-of-box with every SharePoint installation. No need to be a command-line ninja, you'll just need one command:

• STSADM -o addsolution -filename c:\fantasypath\<WspFileName>.wsp

Replace c:\fantasypath with the full directory path of the extracted setup package, which will contain between 2 and 4 WSP files. For <WspFileName>.wsp, substitute the WSP file appropriate for your environment:

Product	SPF 2013/2010	SPS 2013/2010	WSS 3.0	MOSS 2007
roxority_ExportZen_…	…xiv.wsp	…xiv.wsp	…xii.wsp	…xii.wsp
roxority_FilterZen_…	…xiv.wsp	…xiv.wsp	…xii_wss.wsp	…xii.wsp
roxority_PeopleZen_…	…xiv_wss.wsp	…xiv.wsp	…xii_wss.wsp	…xii.wsp
roxority_PrintZen_…	…xiv.wsp	…xiv.wsp	…xii.wsp	…xii.wsp
roxority_UploadZen_…	…xiv_wss.wsp	…xiv.wsp	…xii.wsp	…xii.wsp

Manual step 2 — deploy via Central Administration:

In SharePoint 2007 (WSS 3.0 or MOSS 2007), go to Central Administration / Operations / Solution Management — in SharePoint 2013 or 2010, go to Central Administration / System Settings / Farm Management > Manage Farm Solutions.

Next, select the WSP file you just installed in step 1 with STSADM. Click Deploy Solution and follow the on-screen instructions. Do this repeatedly UNTIL you have fully deployed the WSP to:

• all your content Web Applications applicable for this WSP
• the Central Administration Web Application (MANDATORY!)
• all Shared Service Provider (SSP) and Shared Resource Provider (SRP) Web Applications (MANDATORY!)

Manual step 3 — enabling, and then IISRESET:

Using farm-administrative credentials (best to follow the recommendations from the beginning of this article regarding the deployment wizard), open any one page linked under the <Product>Zen Studio section on the Central Administration / Site Settings page. This should "enable" the software for full use in this SharePoint server farm, AND notify you about the success of this "enabling" operation too.

The software will not work unless and until this "enabling" procedure has been completed (just opening any <Product>Zen Studio page under Central Administration as per above should do this) and all web front-end servers in the SharePoint server farm have been IISRESET afterwards.

Manual step 4 — activate Site Collection Features:

In the root Web Site of your content Site Collection, go to the Site Settings page. In the Site Collection Administration section, click Site Collection Features (NOT Site Features!) and on the next page, activate the Site Collection Feature(s) you need.

Uninstalling our SharePoint WSP Solution Packages

Just like installation, your best choice for a clean and full de-installation is our Inst_2013 / Inst_2010_2007 wizard that is part of the downloaded roxority_<Product>Zen.zip setup package. Do note it always begins with a complete de-installation before prompting you for a re-install, which in this case you would simply cancel. But if you need to uninstall the solution package manually:

• first perform manual step 4 above, but instead of activating the Site Collection Features, deactivate them.
• then perform manual step 2 above, but instead of choosing Deploy Solution, repeatedly Retract Solution until it is no longer deploy to any Web Application.
• then perform manual step 2 above, but instead of choosing Deploy Solution, click Remove Solution.
• IISRESET all web front-end servers in the SharePoint server farm