Resolving the Error "Failed to find the XML file at location '12TemplateFeaturesFeature_Namefeature.xml'"
Introduction
If you install a feature in your MOSS 2007 farm and after that the feature folder or the feature manifest file accidently gets deleted from your Web Front End servers file system, you will get the error "Failed to find the XML file at location '12\Template\Features\Feature_Name\feature.xml" when you go to Site Settings --> Galleries --> Workflows. This is because your feature is still installed in the farm, and when you view the workflow gallery page, the page will go through all the features installed in your farm, and then read their corresponding manifest files from the file system to determine if the feature has a corresponding workflow associated to it. If the feature is installed and the corresponding manifest file has been deleted, this error will be thrown.
Possible Causes of the Error
There are a couple of reasons (that I can think of) why you might get this error:
- Your current MOSS 2007 farm is an upgrade from a previous version (MOSS beta or SPS 2003). Some features were part of the previus version of MOSS but now have been deprecated.
- You installed the feature in your farm and accidently deleted the feature manifest file from the file system of the web front end server. Feature folders are located at "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\12\TEMPLATE\FEATURES".
Resolving the Error
There are two possible resolutions to this problem:
1. If you have the original feature manifest file and the feature folder, just copy that entire folder back on the file system of all web front end servers at the path mentioned above (C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\12\TEMPLATE\FEATURES). Ask developers on your team if they have deployed any features in the farm and get the manifest file from them if you don't have them.
2. This second resolution is for the scenario if you have completely lost the feature manifest file, or if the feature was in an older version of MOSS, and now you have upgraded your MOSS farm and the feature has been deprecated. The only way out in this situation is to uninstall the feature using an stsadm comand. Normally, you can uninstall features by using the feature name and stsadm, but in this situation, because there is no feature manifest available, you will have to uninstall the feature using the feature GUID. Following is a sample code that you can use to figure out the GUID of the feature that has a missing manifest file. Just put this into a C# Cosole Application and execute on your web front end server:
List<Guid> featIDs = new List<Guid>();
foreach (SPFeatureDefinition featdef in SPFarm.Local.FeatureDefinitions)
{
try
{
Console.WriteLine(featdef.RootDirectory + "-------" + featdef.Id.ToString() + "-------" + featdef.GetTitle(System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture));
}
catch
{
//This code will be executed if the feature does not have the manifest file.
Console.WriteLine("################################################");
Console.WriteLine("Error Ocurrred! Attempting to get feature ID of the feature without manifest file...:");
Console.WriteLine(featdef.Id.ToString());
}
finally
{
Console.WriteLine();
Console.WriteLine("Press enter to view next feature");
Console.ReadLine();
}
}
Once you have the feature GUID, you can use the following stsadm command to get rid of this feature:
stsadm.exe -o uninstallfeature -id <feature_giud> -force.
Once you do this, we should be good!
Comments
Anonymous
March 31, 2009
Thanks for this pointer. Worked great to tie up the loose ends in developmentAnonymous
July 13, 2009
Great Post. Was struggling with this for a couple of hours. Started out with SPWeb.Features, but that collection is only accessible via guid, which is what I was trying to get.Anonymous
December 21, 2009
Thanks for this tip! Got me out of trouble fast!!!Anonymous
March 19, 2010
Thank you for posting this code. It identified the offending feature(s) to the degree that I was able to run stsadm.exe, as suggested, to remove them. Vielen dank!Anonymous
July 26, 2010
Create a new console application and change the code as :-
- Add the sharepoint references using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using System.Linq; using System.Text; using Microsoft.SharePoint; using Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration; namespace GetFeatureGuid { class Program { static void Main(string[] args) { List<Guid> featIDs = new List<Guid>(); foreach (SPFeatureDefinition featdef in SPFarm.Local.FeatureDefinitions) { try { Console.WriteLine(featdef.RootDirectory + "-------" + featdef.Id.ToString() + "-------" + featdef.GetTitle(System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture)); } catch { //This code will be executed if the feature does not have the manifest file. Console.WriteLine("################################################"); Console.WriteLine("Error Ocurrred! Attempting to get feature ID of the feature without manifest file...:"); Console.WriteLine(featdef.Id.ToString()); } finally { Console.WriteLine(); Console.WriteLine("Press enter to view next feature"); Console.ReadLine(); } } } } } Build the code and run the solution. You need to press the enter key for all the installed features n your farm. If any feature is missing the manifest.xml file , then it will show the error like "Error Ocurrred! Attempting to get feature ID of the feature without ......". There will be the GUID of that feature int the error. Remove that feature by hitting the following command :- stsadm.exe -o uninstallfeature -id <feature_giud> -force. Thanks -Shiv
Anonymous
October 27, 2010
You can also just use Sharepoint Manager to find the GUID. It even told me which Feature had an error and displayed the same error message for that feature.Anonymous
October 27, 2010
No you can't, it was giving me the wrong IDAnonymous
November 15, 2010
Nice one... and also superb solution.. thanksAnonymous
February 03, 2011
Thanks Yar, Nice Post... Really worked greatAnonymous
April 08, 2011
Hey am sorry for this question but i am all new to sharepoint. how do you run a console application on the web front end server thank youAnonymous
April 08, 2011
Hey John, When you compile/build a console application project in visual studio, you get an .exe file. All you need to do is copy your exe file on the SharePoint server and just double click on it (or run from command prompt). Hope it helps!Anonymous
July 23, 2012
Error 1 The type or namespace name 'SharePoint' does not exist in the namespace 'Microsoft' (are you missing an assembly reference?) c:usersgtate.ldidocumentsvisual studio 2010ProjectsSPFeature VerificationSPFeature VerificationProgram.cs 9 17 SPFeature Verification Error 2 The type or namespace name 'SharePoint' does not exist in the namespace 'Microsoft' (are you missing an assembly reference?) c:usersgtate.ldidocumentsvisual studio 2010ProjectsSPFeature VerificationSPFeature VerificationProgram.cs 11 17 SPFeature Verification Error 3 'GetFeatureGuid.SPFarm' does not contain a definition for 'local' c:usersgtate.ldidocumentsvisual studio 2010ProjectsSPFeature VerificationSPFeature VerificationProgram.cs 28 60 SPFeature Verification Error 4 Type expected c:usersgtate.ldidocumentsvisual studio 2010ProjectsSPFeature VerificationSPFeature VerificationProgram.cs 28 13 SPFeature VerificationAnonymous
July 11, 2013
The comment has been removedAnonymous
March 25, 2014
Actually Stsadm-O command will work for any feature no matter what ID you give. So basically it is not working. If you run the code again you will still find the missing feature. The code however is great, but not sure why the feature is not removed.