Background

I had someone ask me "why are the version numbers in central administration different to the version numbers listed in site settings?" At first I was really bewildered by what them meant and I initially thought they might just be looking at the wrong environment. But sure enough a few screen shots later it was confirmed that the settings listed in Central Administration were very different to the numbers listed in the Site Settings.

Issue

Since being asked the original question I have come across a few other installations with the same issue, so I thought it would be worth a post.

Central Admin reports a version number that is higher than the version number reported in Site Settings.

Same farm, same content dbs..

Cause

The root of the problem is caused by not successfully completing the process of applying the WSS & MOSS service packs. You need to remember after applying the WSS or MOSS Service pack you MUST runt the "SharePoint Technology & Configuration Wizard" to "APPLY" the changes to SharePoint. In both of the environments that I came across this issue it was painfully obvious when I ran the "SharePoint Technology & Configuration Wizard" (aka PSConfig) what the issue was because the wizard offers to "apply updates" rather than the usual "Add/remove from farm" options.

Please, Please remember that you must also SUCCESSFULLY run the Wizard. Sometimes the wizard does bomb out with permission or connectivity issues, but you can simply run it again to re-try the updates.

Solution

Successfully complete the "Apply Update" phase by running the wizard. If it bombs out read the log and resolve the issues then run the wizard again. It must make it though the "apply updates" phase 100% (90% or "near enuf" wont do!) J