SharePoint 2013 with SQL Server 2014, Resolving “UserProfileApplication.SynchronizeMIIS: Failed to configure MIIS post database, will attempt during next rerun. Exception: System.Configuration.ConfigurationErrorsException: ERR_CONFIG_DB”

User profile service synchronization in SharePoint is not the favorite among administrators. If not its prerequisites are addressed properly it will definitely cause you problems. Fortunately those steps are discussed in Technet as well as in some technical blogs.

Although I’ve followed best practices, I had trouble in starting the “User Profile Synchronization Service” service in the services on this server section. It got stuck in Starting and later it showed as Error.

Luckily ULS logs came in to rescue. following is the full error message I received.

UserProfileApplication.SynchronizeMIIS: Failed to configure MIIS post database, will attempt during next rerun. Exception: System.Configuration.ConfigurationErrorsException: ERR_CONFIG_DB   
at Microsoft.Office.Server.UserProfiles.Synchronization.ILMPostSetupConfiguration.ValidateConfigurationResult(UInt32 result)   
at Microsoft.Office.Server.UserProfiles.Synchronization.ILMPostSetupConfiguration.ConfigureMiisStage2()   
at Microsoft.Office.Server.Administration.UserProfileApplication.SetupSynchronizationService(ProfileSynchronizationServiceInstance profileSyncInstance).

It seems that SharePoint Server 2013 farms without April 2014 Cumulative Update does not support user profile synchronization in SQL Server 2014. Following is the exact text from the CU download page (KB)

Once it is installed in all SharePoint servers I was able to easily start profile synchronization. I will dig little deeper in to the cause of the issue later. But for the time being will stop in this point. One thing to remember is that you should install SharePoint Server 2013 SP1 prior to the cumulative pack update

Presentation-Introduction to SharePoint 2013 at Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka

Following is the presentation I did at PUCSL, with some demonstrations using a sample Office 365 tenant created using www.microsoftofficedemos.com

Change existing application pool identity of a SharePoint web application

Following is the PowerShell script I used to change current application pool identity to a different managed account.

1. $web = Get-SPWebApplication "http://sp13"
2. $account = Get-SPManagedAccount -Identity "dev\portalapppool"
3. $web.ApplicationPool.ManagedAccount = $account
4. $web.ApplicationPool.Update()
5. $web.ApplicationPool.Deploy()

That’s all I had to do :)

I described how to change application pools for service applications in this article. It has answers to your questions like, “Why can’t I change the application pool identity directly from the IIS itself?”.