Fixing SharePoint 2010 Configuration Wizard error: WEBCONFIG.ACCSRV.XML, does not have element “configuration/configSections/sectionGroup[@name=’SharePoint’]” or it is invalid

While installing SharePoint 2010 Server Service Pack 2 update (and December 2013 CU), I ran into the following error while executing SharePoint Configuration Wizard:

Exception: System.IO.InvalidDataException: The web configuration file, C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\config\WEBCONFIG.ACCSRV.XML, does not have element “configuration/configSections/sectionGroup[@name=’SharePoint’]” or it is invalid.

My troubleshooting steps:

1. Some online posts suggested removing all comments from the affected web applications. I tried it, but it did not work.

2. Ran psconfig from the command line: psconfig -cmd upgrade -inplace b2b -wait -force

3. Three new errors showed up in the logs:

Error # 1: An exception of type Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPUpdatedConcurrencyException was thrown. Additional exception information: An update conflict has occurred, and you must re-try this action.

Error # 2: Exception: Microsoft.SharePoint.Upgrade.SPUpgradeException: Action 4.0.21.0 of Microsoft.SharePoint.Upgrade.SPIisWebSiteWssSequence failed. —> System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

Error # 3: Exception: Action 4.0.21.0 of Microsoft.SharePoint.Upgrade.SPIisWebSiteWssSequence

failed.

4. Error # 1 above was resolved by following the steps from this post: http://www.saintchad.org/sharepoint-psconfig-and-the-dreaded-concurrency-error. Executed this command: stsadm –o setproperty –propertyname command-line-upgrade-running –propertyvalue no

5. Re-ran psconfig command from step 2 above. This time, a new error showed up:

Application Resource Web Config for this IIS site (524709402) could not be found at (path)\wwwroot\wpresources\web.config.

6. It looks like the web.config file for this site is corrupt and needs to be re-created.

7. First, back up the IIS directory in question (including the web.config file).

8. Next, remove the IIS site using Central Admin: Central Admin > Web Application Management > Click on the web application > In the ribbon, click on the “Delete” button drop-down and select “Remove SharePoint from IIS website”. Select the appropriate site in the next dialog and make sure to select “Delete IIS websites”.

9. Re-extend the web application and re-create the IIS site. In CA Web Application management, click on the web application, then click on “Extend” button in the ribbon and fill out the appropriate fields. Click OK.

10. Make sure that the IIS site is accessible and working as expected.

11. Re-run the SharePoint Configuration Wizard (using GUI or command line psconfig).

Fix “Content database with modified database schemas” issue when upgrading to SharePoint Server 2010

Problem:  You’re trying to upgrade your farm from MOSS 2007 to SharePoint Server 2010.  When you run stsadm preupgradecheck tool, it reports the following:

Issue : Content database with modified database schemas       
User modifications to the SharePoint content database, including but not limited to table schemas, index, stored procedures, are not supported and will cause upgrade to future versions of SharePoint to fail. The databases in the following list seem to have been modified from the original schema:

Data Source=YourDBServer;Initial Catalog=ProblemDB;Integrated Security=True;Enlist=False;Connect Timeout=15

If you did not make any manual changes to your database schemas, then see MS article http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc262967.aspx.  

Otherwise, you can resolve this issue by following the steps below. Make sure to test this out in your test environment and create backups of all production databases before making any changes. 

1. Let’s say your problem database is called “ProblemDB”.  In Central Administration, in the same web application where your ProblemDB resides, add a blank content database.   Go to Central Admin site > Application Management > Content Databases.  Switch to the web application in question, click on “Add a content database”.  Use the same settings as your ProblemDB, but let’s call this database “GoodDB”.

2. Run the following command for each site collection found in the ProblemDB.  This command will move site collections from ProblemDB to GoodDB.

stsadm -o mergecontentdbs -url <site collection URL> -sourcedatabasename ProblemDB -destinationdatabasename GoodDB -operation 2

3. Go to Central Admin site > Application Management > Content Databases and confirm that ProblemDB does not contain any sites. Remove ProblemDB in CA.

4. Restart IIS.

5. Run stsadm preupgradecheck tool again to confirm that the issue has been resolved. 

Acknowledgements:  I’d like to thank Joseph Yi (Datacure, Inc.) for proposing and developing this solution.

 

Note:    If you did not make any manual changes to the database schema, you may want to reference the following Microsoft article:

From http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc262967.aspx:

Upgrading data from SharePoint Portal Server 2003: pre-upgrade checker reports corrupted databases

When a content database in an Office SharePoint Server 2007 farm was upgraded from a Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003 content database, you might see the following error when you run the pre-upgrade checker:

Failed : Content database with modified database schemas

If you did not make any manual schema changes to the database, you can ignore this error and continue with the ugprade. This is a residual error from the upgrade process from SharePoint Portal Server 2003 to Office SharePoint Server 2007. For more information, see the Microsoft Knowledge Base article 954772.