SharePoint - SandBox solutions Vs Farm Solutions

In this blog post, documenting the quick notes that I made during my learnings on SharePoint SandBox solutions Vs Farm Solutions.

Farm Solution

• Farm admin needs to deploy
• Deploy WSP
• Add WSP to Solution Store using AddSolution
• Deploy Solution using solution store management page in Central Admin or through Powershell

Sandbox Solution

• Site Collection Owner can deploy
• Runs inside a secured monitored process
• Have Limited Resource Access
• When deployed will not show up in
• GAC or in FileSystem
• Deploy Sandbox solution to Site Collection
• Site Settings --> Galleries - Solutions --> Upload
• 14 hive --> UserCode
• SPUCWorkerProcess.exe is where the Sandbox solution runs not inside the W3WP.exe
• Web.config --> Trust Level defined as wss_sandbox
• Central Admin
• System Settings
• Services --> Start --> MS SharePoint Foundation Sandboxed Code service
• Configure Quotas and Locks
• CA --> Application Management
• Load Balancing
• CA --> System Settings --> Manager User Solutions
• Not allowed (Restrictions)
• Objects over SPSite
• SPSecurity (No Impersonation)
• No FileSystem access
• WebPart Communications not allowed (As WP comm uses Reflections internally)
• Solution Validator
• SPSolutionValidator
• Using Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration;
• Using Microsoft.SharePoint.UserCode;
• Sandbox Solutions Full Trust Proxies
• Instead use WCF service

Debugging SharePoint Solutions

In this blog post, summarizing quick hint of attach to process and debugging sharepoint solutions

• Farm Solutions
• Attach to process W3WP.exe
• Attach to process OWSTimer.exe
• Sandbox solutions
• Attach to process SPUCWorkerProcess.exe
• Client Side Code
• Silverlight or Javascript
• Attach to particular browser process
• iexplore.exe

Check SharePoint Build version

In this post documenting following three ways of checking the SharePoint build version

1. Using PowerShell script
2. Using Central Admin
3. Using SharePoint Admin database Versions table sql select query

1. Using PowerShell Script

Get-SPFarm | Select BuildVersion

2. Using Central Admin

a. Open Central Admin and go to Upgrade and Migration

b. Under Upgrade and Patch Management click on link "Check product and patch installation status" and now you can now view the patch status for products installed on servers in the farm.

3. Using SharePoint Admin database Versions table sql select query

Log in to SharePoint database server and select the SharePoint Admin database.

select * from Versions