SharePoint Server 2010 Update and PSConfig Issue

Question

Downloaded and installed the February CU for SharePoint Server 2010 (KB 2597150), all went well, until running the config wizard and it failed!

So to the logs!!

psconfig log:

03/17/2012 13:53:50 8 ERR Task upgrade has failed with an unknown exception. 
03/17/2012 13:53:50  8  ERR Exception: 
Microsoft.SharePoint.Upgrade.SPUpgradeException: 
Upgrade completed with errors.  Review the upgrade log file located in [log Location].
The number of errors and warnings is listed at the end of the upgrade log file.
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Upgrade.SPUpgradeSession.CheckPoint()
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Upgrade.SPUpgradeSession.LogEnd()
at Microsoft.SharePoint.PostSetupConfiguration.UpgradeTask.Run()
at Microsoft.SharePoint.PostSetupConfiguration.TaskThread.ExecuteTask()

Upgrade Error log:

[PSCONFIG] [SPHierarchyManager] [INFO] [3/17/2012 1:52:57 PM]: SPWebApplication Name=[AppName]
[PSCONFIG] [SPHierarchyManager] [ERROR] [3/17/2012 1:52:57 PM]: Attempt to register null pointer at:    
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Upgrade.SPHierarchyManager.AddNextLevelObjects(Object current, IEnumerable nextObjects)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Upgrade.SPWssWebApplicationSequence.AddNextLevelObjects()
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Upgrade.SPHierarchyManager.Grow(SPTree`1 root, Boolean bRecursing, SPDelegateManager delegateManager)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Upgrade.SPHierarchyManager.Grow(SPTree`1 root, SPDelegateManager delegateManager)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Upgrade.SPUpgradeSession.Upgrade(Object o, Boolean bRecurse)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPPersistedUpgradableObject.Upgrade(Boolean recursively)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Upgrade.SPUpgradeSession.ReflexiveUpgrade(Object o, Boolean bRecurse)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Upgrade.SPUpgradeSession.Upgrade(Object o, Boolean bRecurse)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPPersistedUpgradableObject.Upgrade(Boolean recursively)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Upgrade.SPUpgradeSession.ReflexiveUpgrade(Object o, Boolean bRecurse)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Upgrade.SPUpgradeSession.Upgrade(Object o, Boolean bRecurse)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPPersistedUpgradableObject.Upgrade(Boolean recursively)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Upgrade.SPUpgradeSession.ReflexiveUpgrade(Object o, Boolean bRecurse)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Upgrade.SPUpgradeSession.Upgrade(Object o, Boolean bRecurse)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPPersistedUpgradableObject.Upgrade(Boolean recursively)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Upgrade.SPUpgradeSession.ReflexiveUpgrade(Object o, Boolean bRecurse)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Upgrade.SPUpgradeSession.Upgrade(Object o, Boolean bRecurse)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.PostSetupConfiguration.UpgradeTask.Run()
at Microsoft.SharePoint.PostSetupConfiguration.TaskThread.ExecuteTask()
at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.runTryCode(Object userData)
at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.RuntimeHelpers.ExecuteCodeWithGuaranteedCleanup(TryCode code, CleanupCode backoutCode, Object userData)
at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state)
at System.Threading.ThreadHelper.ThreadStart()

There was also an error regarding the update of the timer, but this with

psconfig -cmd upgrade -inplace b2b -wait

Completely stumped at the moment, pls help!!

Answer 1

Sounds like you have an orphaned database, try running this SQL statement on your content database.

select name, CAST(properties as XML) from objects where Properties like '%SPIisSettings%'

If you find an entry like

<sFld type="Guid">2FD90694-8C16-4582-AEFB-75F0915BA745</sFld>
<fld type="null"/>

then you can remove it by doing

$wa = get-spwebapplication | ? {$_.displayname -eq "WEBAPPNAME"}
$wa.contentdatabases.delete(‘2FD90694-8C16-4582-AEFB-75F0915BA745’)

Answer 2

Give this a shot...

1. Launch an elevated (Run as Administrator) SharePoint 2010 Management shell from start, All Programs, Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Products, SharePoint 2010 Management Shell.
2. Once the shell opens, type the following command followed by enter:
3. (get-spserver $env:computername).NeedsUpgrade

and if that returns true

1. Open an Administrative command prompt.
2. Change directory to C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\BIN
3. Run PSConfig.exe -cmd upgrade -inplace b2b -force -cmd applicationcontent -install -cmd installfeatures

from http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/smallbusinessserver/thread/94c5f178-f020-4d0f-ba7c-11c415d0d862

I realize this isn't the exact type of issue, but it may help to pinpoint possible direction to search for a solution. Or if we are really lucky, this will fix it outright.

Good luck!

Answer 3

I know this is old, but I opened a ticket w/ MS for this, and they said it was safe to ignore the error.

Symptom: Null Pointer error when running PSCONFIG following December 2010 cumulative update Cause: As per the Upgrade logs, following are our findings:

1. SPHierarchyManager when it is calling AddNextLevelObject which adds a specified object to the upgrade hierarchy as the child object of the specified object that is being upgraded.

2. The sequence when error is generated is during the process of web application getting upgraded.

3. But if we run through the log right after the error; SPHierarchyManager which calls Microsoft.SharePoint (in Microsoft.SharePoint.dll) and Microsoft.SharePoint.Upgrade.SPWssWebApplicationSequence.AddNextLevelObjects() is initiated and completed with the following entry in log: at Microsoft.SharePoint.Upgrade.SPHierarchyManager.Grow(SPTree1 root, Boolean bRecursing, SPDelegateManager delegateManager) at Microsoft.SharePoint.Upgrade.SPHierarchyManager.Grow(SPTree1 root, SPDelegateManager delegateManager)

So conclusion would be we can safely ignore the error message.