Field note / 15 January 2016
When SharePoint 2013 stops following sites after patching
A patched profile service can leave the follow button looking healthy while the request fails underneath it.
The follow feature is easy to treat as a small social extra until people depend on it. In one farm, following a site or a document began to fail after a set of security updates. The browser offered a vague apology and the usage logs held the more useful clue: a method expected by one profile assembly was not present in the other.
The mismatch was not caused by a broken server or a bad user profile. It came from installing one part of the update chain while leaving another part behind. That is an important distinction because it changes the fix from profile repair and cache clearing to a careful review of the patch baseline.
Treat the patch baseline as a set of parts
SharePoint updates are not a single, uniform package. A cumulative update, a public update and a security fix can all touch the same product area while carrying different assembly versions. The support statement and the binaries need to agree with what is actually installed on every server in the farm.
Start by recording the exact build on each machine rather than trusting a deployment report. Then compare the profile related assemblies across the farm. If one machine has a newer stub, stop there and decide whether the correct move is to complete the chain or to remove the partial step. Repeating a repair on the application server will not fix a binary that is absent from the global assembly cache.
The short list
Checks worth running
- Capture the installed update list and the file version of the profile assemblies on every server.
- Reproduce the failure in a test farm that mirrors the production patch level, not just the product version.
- Read the usage log entry in full and identify the missing member before changing configuration.
The practical lesson is simple: patch levels are part of the application contract. Treat an update as a coordinated change, test the social features as well as the obvious login path, and keep enough evidence to explain which binary changed.
Outside reading
Reference shelf
Official documentation and independent community reading for the subjects in this note.
- Microsoft Learn: SharePoint administration (opens in a new tab)Operational guidance for service settings, site management and the modern admin experience.
- Microsoft Security Response Center (opens in a new tab)Security advisories, update guidance and vulnerability response information.
- Microsoft Support (opens in a new tab)Support articles, troubleshooting steps and product help from Microsoft.
- Microsoft Learn: SharePoint documentation (opens in a new tab)The starting point for current SharePoint administration, development and hybrid guidance.
- Microsoft Tech Community (opens in a new tab)Community discussion, product announcements and practical posts from Microsoft teams.
- Microsoft Tech Community: SharePoint (opens in a new tab)SharePoint announcements, community articles and product team updates.
- Microsoft Learn Q&A (opens in a new tab)A community question and answer space hosted by Microsoft.
- SharePoint Stack Exchange (opens in a new tab)An independent question and answer community for SharePoint practitioners.
- Microsoft Learn: Microsoft 365 documentation (opens in a new tab)Product documentation for Microsoft 365 services, administration and adoption.
- Microsoft Learn: PowerShell documentation (opens in a new tab)Language reference, cmdlet documentation and guidance for repeatable automation.
- Microsoft Learn: Windows Server documentation (opens in a new tab)Current guidance for Windows Server roles, networking, storage and management.
- Microsoft Security blog (opens in a new tab)Microsoft guidance on security research, response and platform protection.
- Microsoft Learn: SharePoint search (opens in a new tab)Documentation for search architecture, crawling and result management.
- PowerShell Gallery (opens in a new tab)A public repository for PowerShell modules and scripts. Review package provenance before use.
- Microsoft Learn: SQL Server documentation (opens in a new tab)Official reference material for database engine configuration, performance and recovery.