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Office SP2 patches for SharePoint & WSS V3.0New SharePoint service packs - to patch or not to patch? The release of Microsoft Office Servers Service Pack 2 (SP2) is expected soon, including Service Packs for SharePoint 2007 and WSS V3.0.Ballard Chalmers Principal SharePoint Consultant Stuart Fieldhouse comments on Office Servers SP2. To patch or not to patch is always a tricky question with SharePoint. Just when you've finally got your customisations bedded in and the site is stable, do you then risk applying the latest hotfix or do you wait for the next service pack? Sadly there is no right or wrong answer here, you simply have to make the decisions which is best for your individual situation. At Ballard Chalmers we always try to take a pragmatic stance. Our general rule is patch to the latest service pack level, and then only apply hot fixes if they specifically address a problem which needs addressing. The exceptions to that rule are inevitably many and varied, and even the general rule becomes slightly suspect when you recognise that the post SP1 hotfixes are cumulative. So, the correct patch level for you is simply the one where your site works. When you are reviewing your current patch level relating to SharePoint, the first stage of finding out where you are currently is easy. Open your SharePoint site and navigate to the Site Settings page. The version number is shown in the top panel of the screen (see example below).
Every update to SharePoint changes the version number. The table below shows the version numbers associated with the major updates issued to date:
Hot fixes give their own version numbers, so if you have a version other than one of those shown above, hot fixes have been applied to your installation. Enter the full version number into any search engine and you will quickly find the details of the hot fix applied. So, now that you know what your patch level is, what should it be? Again, that depends on your circumstances. The important thing is that all instances of SharePoint should be patched to the same level. If you regularly backup and restore sites between environments, this is essential. A backup taken from a SharePoint installation patched to a certain level cannot be restored to an installation with a lower patch level. If your Dev environment is patched to SP1 and your Live environment is RTM then you will never be able to restore from Dev to Live. At Ballard Chalmers we have settled on IU as our current standard patch level. However, we have clients working at SP1 and even RTM, so we keep Virtual Machines ready which are patched to these levels in order to ensure that we are working at the same level as our clients. For those clients with no special circumstances or requirements we recommend going to IU. This was a significant release which rolled up all the previous patches and added improved functionality, particularly in the area of Search. We will always encourage clients to be patched to at least SP1 unless this is simply impossible for them. So, what's coming with SP2? With a name-check to the Microsoft SharePoint Team blog, SP2 includes:
The expert technical team at Ballard Chalmers will be putting SP2 through its paces in the next few weeks and we'll be reporting back any important findings in future newsletters. However, we appreciate Service Packs are often problematical and we welcome contact from clients who would like advice on optimising their Service Pack levels and implementing updates. Read more about our SharePoint solutions here If you would like to know more about new Microsoft products or technologies, or how Ballard Chalmers can help you, please contact Andrew Chalmers on andrew.chalmers@ballardchalmers.com or call 01342 410223. Related links
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