Agent for SharePoint Guide › Troubleshooting › How to Reduce People Picker Timeouts with Large Databases on UNIX/Linux Operating Environments

How to Reduce People Picker Timeouts with Large Databases on UNIX/Linux Operating Environments

Sometimes the SharePoint people picker times out if the user database is large. This situation occurs because the CA SiteMinder Agent for SharePoint is searching a large group of users in a database.

To reduce these timeouts, you can change a setting in the registry.

Follow these steps:

1. Open the sm.registry file with a text editor.
2. Add the setting in the registry file.
3. Restart Your Policy Server.
4. Repeat Steps 1 through 4 for all your Policy Servers.

Open the sm.registry File with a Text Editor

Change this setting on UNIX or Linux operating environments by opening the sm.registry file with a text editor. The sm.registry file is stored on your Policy Server.

Follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the following directory:

   Installation_Directory/registry
   

   installation_directory

   Specifies the location in the file system where the Policy Server is installed.

   Default: /opt/CA/siteminder

2. Open the following file with a text editor:

   sm.registry
   

   You can now change the settings.

Add the Setting in the Registry File

The following registry key controls people picker sorting and reduces timeouts:

EnableSorting

Specifies the sorting method the product uses when searching your Active Directory database. The following methods are available:

• Disabled. Set the value to 0.
• Enabled for unknown directories. Set the value to 1.
• Enabled for all directories. Set the value to 2.

Default: 2

Follow these steps:

1. Locate the following section of the sm.registry file:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Netegrity\SiteMinder\CurrentVersion\Ds\LDAPProvider=
   

2. Add the following line in the LDAPProvider section:

   EnableSorting=	0; REG_DWORD
   

3. Change the zero in the previous line to one of the following values:
   • 1 (enables sorting for unknown directories)
   • 2 (enables sorting for all directories)
4. Verify that the line in your sm.registry file matches one of the following examples:

   EnableSorting=	1; REG_DWORD
   

   EnableSorting=	2; REG_DWORD
   

5. Save the changes to the sm.registry file, and then close the text editor.

   The setting is added to the registry file.

Restart Your Policy Server

Apply the changes that you made previously by restarting your Policy Server.

Follow these steps:

1. Log in to the system hosting the Policy Server with the same user account that installed the Policy Server originally.
2. Stop all Policy Server processes, with one of the following actions:
   • Open the Management Console, click the Status tab, and then click the Stop buttons.
   • Use the following script. This script also stops the UNIX executive so that the processes do not restart automatically.

     installation_path/siteminder/stop-all
     

   • The following script can stop the Policy Server processes. The UNIX executive starts with the script (if it is not already running). The script can be invoked using the command line with the following options:

     installation_path/siteminder/smpolsrv -stop
     

   The Policy Server logs all UNIX executive activity in the installation_directory/log/smexec.log file. Log entries are always appended to the existing log file.

3. Start all Policy Server processes, with one of the following actions:
   • Open the Management Console, click the Status tab, and then click the Start buttons.
   • Use the following script. This script also starts the UNIX executive.

     installation_path/siteminder/start-all
     

   • The following script can start the Policy Server processes. The UNIX executive starts with the script (if it is not already running). The script can be invoked using the command line with the following options:

     installation_path/siteminder/smpolsrv -start
     

   The Policy Server logs all UNIX executive activity in the installation_directory/log/smexec.log file. Log entries are always appended to the existing log file.