SharePoint Foundations 2013 - Trigger Workflow with Workflow

To start, there are multiple ways to do this, however I am only going over the method I used.

To append to my previous post about turning on the ability for an incoming email to trigger a workflow, that same project required an additional step so that after the email triggered a workflow to create a new task on a separate SharePoint List it would also trigger a notification of the newly created task.
For a Visual:
This is how its working prior to this fix
Email In > 'New Item' workflow triggered > Workflow Creates New Item and fills in details within another SharePoint List > New item created on list, there is a workflow set to trigger on 'new item creation' however this was done as a Service Admin (normal operation) so do not trigger workflow | STOP
This is how its working after the fix
Email In > 'New Item' workflow triggered > Workflow Creates New Item and fills in details within another SharePoint List > 'New Item' workflow triggered > email notification sent that a new item has been added to the list.

Unfortunately by default the workflow (email to task) runs as an administrator after being published if created through typical methods. An administrator of that level will not however trigger a workflow so even though the workflow was creating a 'new item' and I already had a workflow that triggers on 'new item creation' it ignored the new item creation as it was done by a admin (the SharePoint admin, not the same as a page/site owner - has to do with the account used within the services of SharePoint for backend operations). The workflow needs to have the 'create new task' steps on the 'email in' workflow within a 'impersonation step' as opposed to a standard step. The only issue with this is an impersonation step takes the currently logged in users credentials and impersonates them. If you are in a situation where your user accounts have password change requirements or you do not want to make a web of numerous different user being attached to different workflows because different persons are administering workflows the below steps would be beneficial.

A way around this is to create a new domain account for 'workflow triggering'. This is suggested so that the account may be setup without password expiration constraints (not sure if this will become an issue once the password expires - i.e. will it render the workflow inoperable until the workflow is republished with proper credentials? etc.) and all workflows can be related to one account for simplicity of management. Now, the fun part is publishing as this user. There are a couple of options - 1. Login to a system as the user (simpler if you have a development system to login with specifically for development of this and other systems) or 2. Use a function of Windows where you can 'Run as' another user whichever application you choose. I will be going over the latter as the first is fairly straight forward.

Run Application as another user-
-I apologize for being a little tunnel visioned but I will only be going over a Windows 7 environment for this situation and if you are running another flavor (XP, Vista, 8, Servers, etc.) you may or may not be able to follow the same instructions but the proper methods for your version are just a search away on the net.

On Windows 7 I could not 'Run As another user' from a shortcut to the application, I had to go find the actual '.exe' file. you must hold Shift and right click the executable and then an option will become available to run as another user. Input the credentials of the 'workflow user' and voila! Once you have completed the process of updating the regular step to an impersonation step simply publishing or re-publishing (in the situation that you already updated and published prior to this) the workflow will update the 'Published By' and those are the credentials used when the workflow triggers. Now your workflow can successfully trigger another workflow if it meets all of the requirements (New item created, item updated, etc.).

Hope this helps.

SharePoint Foundations 2013 - Email-To-Task

I was recently confronted with a problem after upgrading from WSS 3.0 to SharePoint Foundations 2013 (yes I know, quite a leap) where our previous system allowed us to email into an 'Announcements' list which would then create a 'Task' item in our 'Task' list on SharePoint/WSS, the Post-Upgrade version did not. I had scoured the internet in search of a fix because I recall there being a similar problem initially with WSS 3.0 and knew there just had to be an option/setting that could be adjusted to fix the issue where an emailed item would trigger the 'New Item Creation' so that a workflow could activate. Finally I found it.
Resources:
http://sharepoint.stackexchange.com/questions/6713/how-can-i-make-a-workflow-automatically-start-when-an-email-is-received
http://sharepoint.stackexchange.com/questions/5402/workflow-not-triggering-on-new-item-in-e-mail-enabled-list
which sent me to: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/953289

The specific command that I ran was that of the first link above:

stsadm.exe -o setproperty -propertyname declarativeworkflowautostartonemailenabled -propertyvalue yes

I was very pleased. Thank you SharePoint StackExchange users and Microsoft.
Now to add to it the remainder of the topic 'Email-To-Task'. Once I got the trigger executing properly, it was just a matter of creating the workflow (using SharePoint Designer 2013 in 2010 Mode) that would 'On New Item' create a new 'List Item' within the 'Task' list and set the following:
Email Subject = Task Title
Body = Task Description

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Since there are not many other fields to work with there is little more you can fill out on the 'Task' item but to whichever person/group/team the 'Task' list is assigned to you could have an email trigger off from the 'Task' list (separate workflow recommended) which would trigger on 'New Item' and send an email notification to the user/group/team informing them of a new Task to work on which has some details to be filled out (assigned to, deadline, etc.).

Thanks for Reading!

Arch Linux - Must Install 'Eject'?

Ok, I've been working on my Linux skills a little bit and installed ArchLinux which installs to a CLI environment and I have to basically build the system from the ground up.  If I want a media player, I have to install it (using pacman... not 'Pac-Man', it is for 'Package Manager').  If I want my computer to use screensavers, I have to install the screensaver program...  Now this was a little bit crazier, if I would like to be able to eject the CD tray via the physical button on the device or through the software on the computer I have to install 'Eject'. Wow.

Diskless Remote Boot in Linux (DRBL)

I have recently undertaken the task of creating a cloning system for quickly replicating large quantities of PC's on our network.  The way I have gone about doing this is through an application called Clonezilla in conjunction with DRBL.  Below is a link to the instructions that I followed and I will detail later some of the things that I ran into and how best to configure it and so forth that specifically helped me and my situation that may or may not also apply to you.

http://geekyprojects.com/cloning/setup-a-clonezilla-server-on-ubuntu/

Happy Cloning!

~Kale

Overclock - P4 2.66Ghz to 3.00Ghz

Ok, it's been a long time since I posted something, way... too long.  I recently overclocked my first (get the boo's and ahh's out of the way...) processor today.  It was an old machine that was parts leftover from an overhaul I did to someone's computer some time ago and an old server that had an Intel P4 in it.  It's an old Gigabyte motherboard Socket 478b and entertained myself today overclocking it from its 'stamped' frequency of 2.66Ghz to 3.00 Ghz.  It was basic overclocking, just what was in the standard Award BIOS on the system after I made sure it was updated to the newest version of its BIOS.  Attached is the device manager showing the stamped frequency and the CPU Speed Pro application I used to measure its actual processing power.

Here is a link to the program I used to measure with.  !CAUTION! - This application does appear to try and entice you to download additional programs or purchase a fuller/paid version of the application when you close it down.

http://cpuspeedpro.com/

Thanks!

Another Great Flash Drive Deal on Buy.com

Buy.com is selling a 8GB Kingston (good brand!) DataTraveler for $8.95 + FREE SHIPPING!!


Be warned, free shipping usually means slow shipping but if you can be patient, you can win!





Too all the bargain hunters out there, Bag 'n' Tag 'n' Share!



~KHaleTech

iPhones and iPad's meet.... iOS 5

I finally upgraded my iPhone 3GS to iOS 5.  Can I say, Wow!?

I have been waiting FOREVER (and so have a lot of other users) for the iPhone's messaging system to have some way to hide the keyboard after you've finished texting so you can read through all of the texts on the page (in case you forgot what you were talking about, haha).

Before, you had to click 'messages' to return to the screen containing all of your conversations and then go back into the conversation you wanted and it would (by default) open without the keyboard visible. But as soon as you open the keyboard to send a message, you must redo the whole procedure to get it to disappear again. NOT ANYMORE!

With iOS 5, when you scroll through the messages (which normally would scroll the messages in the small area above the keyboard which would show about 3-4 lines of text) it hides the keyboard at the same speed that you scroll until it totally disappears and then stays away until you open it again.

It's been a while since I posted (I've been too involved in my quest for Pocket Watches lately) but I hope this is a good bit of information for those of you, like I was a few days ago, still debating whether or not to upgrade.

Good Luck out there!

~KHaleTech