Had a customer that had WSS v3.0 installed on an SBS 2003 box (side by side install) that used SQL Express 2005. They ran into the 4GB database limit so I installed a fresh copy of WSS v3.0 on a second server using a host header they have in their environment (a terminal server) and detached the database and reattached on the new server. Changed the DNS and the client could access the the new WSS site like they could the old one. However, there is an issue. When they go and try and set an alert, after pressing the OK button the browser simply seems to be loading i.e. the page does not change. If I close the browser and examine the alert set set for that area I see an alert has been created yet no email is received. Outgoing emails point to the SBS box (where Exchange is loaded) and I can telnet there and run an SMTP session fine. When I open Central Admin and Look in Operations | Timer Job Status I see Timer Job initializing 0%. So I tried: stsadm -o updatealerttemplates resetting the cache stsadm -o setproperty -pn alerts-enabled stsadm -o setproperty -pn jobs-immediate and nothing makes a difference. Interestingly, if I change the default zone in the Alternate Access Mapping to the name of the server rather than the DNS name The timer service seems to run successfully although no alerts seem to still be emailed. If I do this however the crawling of search fails and search does work. When I return the mappings back so the DNS name is the default search works but the Time Service gets stuck at 0% again. I have rebooted the server and am still seeing the same issues. Does anyone have any suggestions of what else I can try? It seems to have something to do with the name of the server and DNS name. ThanksThanks Robert Crane [MVP-Office365] www.ciaops.com

I'm curious about how you solved the 4GB limit -- what SQL Server edition did you move the database into? SQL Server 2008 R2 Express supports databases up to 10 GB. Hindsight and all (and this doesn't solve your current problems in any way), but you may have saved yourself some troubles by upgrading SQL Server instead of moving the content. Jason Warren Infrastructure Specialist Habanero Consulting Group habaneroconsulting.com/blog

The customer is running other applications on SQL 2005 Express and didn't want that instance upgraded. They didn't want another instance of SQL installed as it would consume additional memory given SBS 2003 (Windows 2003 base) is limited to 4GB of RAM. By doing a clean install with WSS v3 I can take advantage of SQL Server 2005 Embedded Edition (##SSEE) which allows unlimited database sizes at no cost. Thanks Robert Crane [MVP-Office365] www.ciaops.com

Hi, This issue occurs if the URL of the Windows SharePoint Services 2.0 server differs from the URL of the Windows SharePoint 3.0 server. For example, this issue occurs if the URL of the Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 server is http://ServerNameVersion3, and the URL of the Windows SharePoint Services 2.0 server is http://ServerNameVersion2. The ImmedSubscription table in the content database has a Siteurl column. If the value in the Siteurl column does not match the URL of the Web application, Windows SharePoint Services does not send e-mail notifications when content in a list or in a document library changes. For this you may find a little sample code chunk here, which should you help to fix such an issue: E-mail notifications for alerts are not sent when content in a migrated list or in a migrated document library changes after you perform a database migration to upgrade to Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 (KB 936759) Thanks, Rock Wang Forum Support Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help and unmark them if they provide no help. If you have feedback for TechNet Subscriber Support, contact tnmff@microsoft.com.Rock Wang TechNet Community Support

The original site was WSS v3 installed as side by side on SBS 2003. Thus, it had ALREADY been converted to WSS v3 and alert we working without issue. So I don;t think the article is applicable. However, I have run the stsadm -o updatealerttemplates it mentions and still have the same issues. The database Immedsubscriptions has the correct URL in the SiteURL column = http://companyweb so the alert are point to the correct URL from what I can see. Thanks Robert Crane [MVP-Office365] www.ciaops.com

Hi, The command you run is different from the one I told you, The new stsadm -o updatealert command was released in the SharePoint Administration Toolkit. SharePoint Administration Toolkit x64 http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=F8EEA8F0-FA30-4C10-ABC9-217EEACEC9CE&displaylang=en (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=F8EEA8F0-FA30-4C10-ABC9-217EEACEC9CE&displaylang=en) SharePoint Administration Toolkit x86 http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=263CD480-F6EB-4FA3-9F2E-2D47618505F2&displaylang=en I suggest you give it a try. Thanks, Rock Wang Forum Support Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help and unmark them if they provide no help. If you have feedback for TechNet Subscriber Support, contact tnmff@microsoft.com. Rock Wang TechNet Community Support

Ok I see that now. However, can I ask whether this tool does anything apart from making changes to the Immedsubscriptions database. In my case aren't the URLs for the oldsite and newsite the same (i.e. it was http://companyweb before and is http://companyweb now? Thus would I run: stsadm -o updatealert -url http://companyweb -oldurl http://companyweb Will that actually do anything? Thanks Robert Crane [MVP-Office365] www.ciaops.com

Hi Robert, I feel confused about your question. You said that you changed the DNS record in the first post, but now you mentioned the URLs of oldsite and newsite are the same. Could you please explain it a bit more? Note: In order for the updatealert operation to work correctly, the URLs specified with the url and oldurl parameters must reside in the same site collection. This is necessary to allow proper updating of alerts in a specific zone. Alerts for each zone must be updated individually using the proper new zone URL to that of the original (old) zone URL. For more information, see the "Microsoft SharePoint Administration Toolkit" white paper. To do this, visit the following Microsoft Web site: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=117212&clcid=0x409 Thanks, Rock Wang Forum Support Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help and unmark them if they provide no help. If you have feedback for TechNet Subscriber Support, contact tnmff@microsoft.com.Rock Wang TechNet Community Support

Ok, Originally: SharePoint = WSS v3 Server = SBS 2003 URL = http://companyweb Now: SharePoint = WSS v3 Server = Terminal Server URL = http://companyweb Originally http://companyweb pointed to the WSS v3 instance on the SBS 2003 box. Now it is pointing to the WSS v3 instance on the Terminal Server. Thus, from a users point of view it seems to be the same site even though now it is on a physically different box. Thanks Robert Crane [MVP-Office365] www.ciaops.com

Hi Robert, From your reply, I think you dont need run the stsadm -o updatealert command, since the old and new url are the same. In addition, you can try to run the following commands: stsadm -o setproperty -pn alerts-enabled -pv yes -url <site url> stsadm -o getproperty -url <http://problemsite> -pn alerts -enabled stsadm -o setproperty -url <http://yourserver/problemsite> -pn alerts-enabled -pv true stsadm -o setproperty -url <http://yourserver/problemsite> -pn job-immediate-alerts -pv "every 1 minute" Thanks, Rock Wang Forum Support Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help and unmark them if they provide no help. If you have feedback for TechNet Subscriber Support, contact tnmff@microsoft.com.Rock Wang TechNet Community Support

Rock, Tried all that. Any other suggestions? Thanks Robert Crane [MVP-Office365] www.ciaops.com

Hello, Thank you for your reply. I am trying to involve someone familiar with this topic to further look at this issue. Thanks, Rock Wang Forum Support Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help and unmark them if they provide no help. If you have feedback for TechNet Subscriber Support, contact tnmff@microsoft.com.Rock Wang TechNet Community Support

Hello Robert, So, the alerts stopped working after you detached and attached the Content Database to new WSS 3.0 environment, is that correct? If so, can you use the stsadm updatealert command (introduced by SharePoint Administration Toolkit) and provide the *same* values for "url" and "oldurl" and see if that 'triggers' the alerts? If it does not then provide a fake value for "url" and replace with original value in the next run of updatealert. Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc508980(v=office.12).aspx At Central Admin > Operations > Timer Job Status you said you see Timer Job initializing 0%, which timer job is it? Also, to confirm you are able to receive emails which are sent by Telnet to Exchange <imp> from new server hosting WSS </imp> as mentioned in http://support.microsoft.com/kb/153119 correct? SharePoint uses Default AAM zone to send out non-security trimmed alerts (like the initial alert email stating you have successfully subscribed to an alert) however apart from that Default AAM zone doesnt have significance for alerts. You can also have a look at http://blogs.technet.com/b/harikumh/archive/2008/05/25/troubleshooting-alerts.aspx to see if any steps can help.Please remember to click 'Mark as Answer' on the post that helps you or click 'Unmark as Answer' if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread. Regards, Nishant Shah Microsoft Online Community Support

I did not test the alert prior to migrating old site. I created a new clean WSS v3 site on new machine with a host header and the then did stsadm -o addcontentdb (after deletecontentdb of course). My understanding of that util is that it only sets the URLs in the database immedsubscriptions. I check this database and the URLs are correct. Sending an email via Telnet works as expected. The major issues as I See in order are 1. Why when you attempt to set an alert the browser 'hangs' and doesn't provide confirmation? 2. Immediate Alerts timer job stuck at initializing 3. Email alerts not being sent. The Timer Job that is stuck at 0% is Immediate Alerts. It will take me a while to work through all the options listed in that blog article. Thanks Robert Crane [MVP-Office365] www.ciaops.com

Hello Robert, Do you know if disabling and re-enabling alerts from SharePoint Central Admin helps (for the hang)? Do you know if deleting the alert (Site Settings > User alerts) and re-creating helps? Also, I would suggest you enable Verbose diag logging for Alerts under SharePoint Foundation category and look for an event such as below. <Date Time> OWSTIMER.EXE (PID) TID SharePoint Foundation Alerts 95lg Verbose Alertsjob results for immediate delivery: 10 prematches, 10 passed filtering, 10 of 10 passed security trimming, 10 final after rollup <Corelation ID> Please remember to click 'Mark as Answer' on the post that helps you or click 'Unmark as Answer' if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread. Regards, Nishant Shah Microsoft Online Community Support

Nishant, The issue is on a WSS v3 server not SharePoint Foundation. The line you have me looking for says SharePoint Foundation. Is that relevant to WSS v3? Doesn't seem so. I don't believe you can globally enable or disable alert from CA in WSS v3? If so can you please indicate where. Site Setting from the actual site only allows you to delete existing alerts. I think you have my issue confusion with SharePoint Foundation. My issues is on WSS v3. If I look at the logs iogs it seems to me the error is: w3wp.exe(0x175C) 0x19F0 Windows SharePoint Services General 75ko High Unknown change Microsoft.SharePoint.SPChangeAlert Thanks Robert Crane [MVP-Office365] www.ciaops.com

Robert, Yes, please replace the words SharePoint Foundation in above statement with Windows SharePoint Services, the alerts get logged in the same way in WSS 3.0 as well. You can remove the SMTP Server name and from email address from Outgoing Email Settings and click OK and re-enter and click OK again to disable and re-enable alerts. I did mean to delete the alerts for a user and re-subscribe and see if that helps. I hope this clarifies any confusions... If any of these steps do not help especially the blog link; your issue requires a more in-depth level of support which cannot be achieved here. Please visit the below link to see the various paid support options that are available to better meet your needs: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?id=fh;en-us;offerprophone. If you are a MSDN / TechNet subscriber, you can also contact our support by using your free support incidents. However, other members of the community may still have encountered the issue you're seeing, and have a solution to offer!Please remember to click 'Mark as Answer' on the post that helps you or click 'Unmark as Answer' if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread. Regards, Nishant Shah Microsoft Online Community Support

I have tried all those suggestion to no avail. I will inform the customer that they need to consider a paid support option if they wish to take this matter further. Appreciate the suggestions.Thanks Robert Crane [MVP-Office365] www.ciaops.com