Setting Configuration Properties
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You can configure several features of Microsoft's SharePoint™ team Web sites and Microsoft® FrontPage 2002 Server Extensions by setting the values of server extensions properties. For example, you can set a property to:
Specify an SMTP Server to use for subscription notifications.
Set the expiration time for Web document discussion data (SharePoint Team Services only).
Specify whether to log server extensions data.
Require a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) connection between the client and server.
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Note For FrontPage 2000 Server Extensions and Office 2000 Server Extensions, you used the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) to perform certain administrative tasks, such as requiring SSL. With SharePoint Team Services and FrontPage 2002 Server Extensions, you now perform all administrative tasks from either HTML Administration pages or the command line.
Many properties are included as options in HTML Administration pages for your server or virtual server. Properties can also be set from the command line or manually in the Windows registry or the UNIX configuration files.
Note For a complete list of the properties you can set from the command line, see Command-line Properties.
You can set most properties for a single subweb, an entire virtual server, or for all virtual servers and subwebs on a server (globally). Not all properties are available for all levels; some are only global properties, and some are only applicable at the subweb level. For example, the RequireSSL property can be set for either the global- or virtual-server level, but not for a single subweb.
When setting properties at different levels, it is possible to introduce conflicting settings. However, if the same property is set at more than one level, SharePoint Team Services or FrontPage 2002 Server Extensions resolves the conflict automatically. The following hierarchy is used to settle conflicts between property settings at different levels:
Subweb properties take highest priority.
Virtual-server properties take second priority.
Global properties take third priority.
What do you do if a particular subweb has a property set, and you want to set a virtual-server property and have it take precedence? You simply delete the property at the subweb level, and the subweb will revert to the virtual server's property automatically.
Using the command line to set properties
Three new operations have been added to the SharePoint Team Services and FrontPage 2002 Server Extensions command-line tools to help you set configuration properties: GetProperty, SetProperty, and DeleteProperty. With these operations, you can query for, set, or delete property values directly from the command line. Previously, many of these properties had to be set by editing either the Windows registry or a UNIX configuration file. Because the properties are available through the command-line tools, you can set configuration properties and perform other operations by using a batch file.
When you get, set, or delete a property, you must specify the level of the Web server to which the property applies. You specify the level you want for the property in the syntax of the command. The following table lists the parameters to use to specify the level of a property.
Parameter |
Scope |
<none> |
Gets or sets the property globally. The property applies to all virtual servers and subwebs on the server computer. |
-port |
Gets or sets the property by virtual server. The property applies to a single virtual server. |
-web |
Gets or sets the property by subweb. The property applies to a single Web site of a virtual server. You must also specify the virtual server (by using the port parameter) when you specify a subweb. When you use the command line to get, set, or delete a property at the subweb level, you must type the property name as vti_propertyname. For example, to set RequireSSL, you would type vti_RequireSSL. |
Setting a property
When you set a property, you must specify the property as a string, although some properties are interpreted numerically. You must also specify the propertyname (-pn) and propertyvalue (-pv) when you set a property. In the following example, the RequireSSL property is turned on globally:
owsadm.exe -o setproperty -pn RequireSSL -pv enabled
The RequireSSL property specifies whether the server extensions require a Secure Sockets Layer connection between the FrontPage client and the server. To turn on this requirement, set it to enabled. To turn off this requirement, set it to disabled.
Querying for a property
You can retrieve the current state of a property by using the GetProperty operation. You specify the propertyname and the propertyvalue is returned. For example, to see what RequireSSL is currently set to globally, you type:
owsadm.exe -o getproperty -pn RequireSSL
Deleting a property
If you need to delete a property, you can use the DeleteProperty operation. For example, if you want a virtual server to inherit the MailReplyTo property from the global settings, you delete the property from the per-virtual-server area. The following example shows how to delete the MailReplyTo property from a virtual server on port 1088:
owsadm.exe -o deleteproperty -p 1088 -pn MailReplyTo
You can delete properties at any level global, per virtual server, or per web just as you can get or set a property at any of those levels.
Note For more information about the properties you can get or set by using the command-line tools, see Command-line Properties.
Setting properties manually
You can still set properties directly in the Windows registry or the UNIX configuration files. The following table describes the locations of server extensions properties on Windows and UNIX.
OS and Level |
Where set |
Windows Global |
In the Windows registry, at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Web Server Extensions\All Ports. On x64-based computers, at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\wow6432node\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Web Server Extensions\All Ports. |
Windows Virtual Server |
In the Windows registry, at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \Software\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Web Server Extensions\Ports\Port instance number. On x64-based computers, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \Software\wow6432node\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Web Server Extensions\Ports\Port instance number. For example: |
Windows Subweb |
In _vti_pvt/Service.cnf, in the subweb or root web. |
UNIX Global |
In /usr/local/frontpage/version5.0/frontpage.cnf |
UNIX Virtual Server |
On multihosted systems, in hostname:port.cnf where hostname is the fully qualified domain name of the server. On a single-host system, in wennn.cnf where nnn is the Web server's port number. In either case, the file is in /usr/local/frontpage by default. |
UNIX Subweb |
In _vti_pvt/service.cnf, in the subweb. |
Note SharePoint Team Services and FrontPage 2002 Server Extensions assign each property a default value internally. This is true even if the variable is not present in the registry (on Windows) or in the file frontpage.cnf (on UNIX).
Properties and HTML administration
Most properties that can be set from the command line are also available as options in HTML Administration pages. For example, the RequireSSL property can be set by using the Require SSL for authoring and administration option on the Set Installation Defaults page (in the Server Administration pages) or the Change Configuration Settings page (in the Virtual Server Administration pages). If you are mainly using HTML Administration pages to perform your administration tasks, most properties will be set for you when you select options on those pages.
Related links
For more information about using the command line to administer SharePoint Team Services and FrontPage 2002 Server Extensions, see Command-line Administration.
For more information about using HTML Administration pages to administer SharePoint Team Services and FrontPage 2002 Server Extensions, see HTML Administration.