Is the CRM Outlook Client Doctor In?

Since I’ve been successful correcting many Dynamics CRM Outlook issues, some with the help of my friends at Microsoft Support (you peeps rock!), I frequently get asked to assist when clients encounter an unexpected issue.  I recently ran into a new issue so I thought I would share the resolution.

The Issue was that the client was unable to install the CRM Outlook Client.  The installation would fail at the Prerequisite step which is basically the first step in the process.  Following is the error message with screenshot:

The error message from the log file was:

Microsoft Online Services Sign-in Assistant did not download successfully.  To try again, ensure your internet connection is working, then try again.

Since the internet connection was working, I first tried the suggestion from the CRM Wiki which was to run a repair on the Windows Live ID Sign-in assistant.  I also downloaded the Microsoft Online Services Sign-in Assistant in hopes that it would not need to look for it and download it if it was already present.  Unfortunately, in this scenario neither solution worked.  Since I had already burned a few hours troubleshooting the issue, I decided to try my fallback solution which is to download the RTM version of the product then apply updates.  If you don’t have a link to that version then you can contact Microsoft Support and see if they have one that they can give to you.

Cheers

Configuring Cascading Entity Relationship Behavior

As we know, CRM is a highly configurable application.  One of the configurable options is to configure the behavior of related records when a CRM record is assigned, merged or some other action is taken.  This is a very important concept in CRM because the decisions and actions you take will affect your Organization’s data. 

By default, when you install CRM,  the cascading relationship of entities is generally set to Parental for actions like Assign, Share, Unshare, Reparent, etc. where there is an option to modify the relationship behavior.  Some entity relationships are not available for modifications because there are System dependencies.  The “Type of Behavior” will appear as System and you will not be able to modify those relationship behaviors. 

So what does this mean?  Let’s use the Contact entity as an example to understand how cascading behavior impacts CRM data.  

A common action that users might take on a Contact record is to reassign the record.  By default, that means that when a Contact record is reassigned to someone else (ownership change) other related record ownership will also be updated to the new Contact owner.  Ownership for related records like a Case, E-mail, Task, etc. will change to the new Contact owner for those records that are in an Active or Open status.  This can be confusing for the end user when viewing the records because it can appear that someone different from the original owner (created by) created the record.  We can modify this behavior to alleviate the confusion and ensure that the related record maintains its original owner. 

Here are the steps to configure the cascading behavior of the Contact entity relationship with the E-mail entity.  This examples assumes that you know how to open the Contact entity to customize it.

From the Contact entity, select 1:N Relationships.  Find the row named Contact_Emails and open it.  Notice that the default behavior is set to Parental.

After opening the relationship record, select Type of Behavior and change it from Parental to Configurable Cascading.

Change the remaining behaviors from Cascade All to Cascade None.  Save your changes and Publish. 

You can repeat these steps for other entities like Accounts, Cases and their relationships with Activities and other CRM entities.

Generally speaking, when I install a CRM application, I modify the system to set the cascading relationship of related Activities (E-mail, Appointments, Phone Calls, etc.) to System Configurable, change the behavior from Parental to Configurable Cascading, and set the Assign, Share, Unshare, and Reparent behavior to Cascade None. 

Now that we have CRM 2011, this is much easier to manage as we can create a ‘Default Solution’ that contains the default Cascading behavior desired and import that into each new CRM implementations as a starting point for the project.  This is a significant productivity gain.

If you would like to learn more about CRM Customization, check out the 11 Things to know about Customization on the Resource Center.  See # 5 for more information about Cascading Behavior.

Cheers

Migrate CRM SQL 2005 32 bit to SQL 2008 64 bit Environment

I recently migrated a Dynamics CRM 4 implementation installed on a Windows Server 2003, 32 bit environment to a Windows Server 2008, 64 bit environment.  I decided to document the process in the event that the information might be helpful.

Please keep in mind that CRM environments vary and the steps you take to complete a similar migration might vary depending on the environment that you’re migrating.

• Review the article “Support for running Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 together with Microsoft SQL Server 2008”
  • Save the link for later use as needed
• Install Windows Server 2008 64-bit OS
• Review
  • Planning a SQL Server Installation
  • Installation Details
    • How to: Install SQL Server 2008 R2 (Setup)
  • Support for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 on Windows Server 2008-based computers
    • Apply any changes to the Server referenced
    • Save link for later reference
• From the SQL media, right-click the Setup Application and select Run As Administrator
• If you see the following, select the option to Check for Run the Program
  • You’ll need to install SQL 2008 SP 2 after you finish the install

• If you receive the following message

• You must enable .Net Framework 3.5.1 from Server Manager
• Select Features, Add Features

• Select to Add Required Features

• Select Next & Install
• From the SQL media, right-click the Setup Application and select Run As Administrator
• If you see the following, select the option to Check for Run the Program
  • You’ll need to install SQL 2008 SP 2 after you finish the install
• Review through the articles & run the Tools from the SQL Installation Center (at a minimum)
  • Security Documentation
  • Online Release Notes
  • System Configuration Checker

• Select “Installation” from the left navigation menu of the SQL Installation Center Window
• Select “New SQL Server…….

• Walk through the Installation Setup Wizard
• Complete the installation by selecting the correct options
• Open SQL Management Studio and ensure the settings are as expected
• Download & Install SQL 2008 SP2
  • or the latest SP for SQL 2008
• Ensure you can access the Report Server
  • URL = http://CRMSQLServerName/Reportserver
  • Resolve any security issues to obtain access
  • You may need to open IE using the Run As Administrator feature to make changes
• Install .Net Framework 3.5 feature if it is not already added
  • Open Server Manager
  • Select Features
  • Select Add Features
  • Select .Net Framework 3.5.1
  • Select Install
• Install IIS 7 if it is not already added
• Install IIS 6 Compatibility components if they are not already added
  • Open Server Manager
  • Select Roles
  • Right-click Web Server (IIS)
  • Select Add Role Services
  • Select IIS 6 Metabase Compatibility and IIS 6 Management Console
  • Select Install
• See Support for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 on Windows Server 2008-based computers for a list of all 2008 Server Roles required and troubleshooting tips
• Download & Install the CRM Application
  • Select the option to Run as Administrator by right-clicking setupserver.exe.
    • Be aware that the user login used to install CRM will, by default, be assigned a System Admin user account
    • This will help to minimize any unexpected rights issues
    • Select Update Installation files when you receive the prompt
      • If you receive an error during the update process you can manually download and install the Setup Update files
      • http://support.microsoft.com/kb/948917
  • Open CRM from the IE browser to confirm everything is working as expected
  • Follow-up with any final changes need documented
    • Support for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 on Windows Server 2008-based computers
  • Apply the Update Rollups that match your current CRM installation
    • This is a good time to get your CRM applications updated to the latest or close to the latest Update Rollup release for all components
      • SSRS, E-mail Router, Server…
  • Open CRM and ensure everything is working
  • Check the Event Viewer and address any errors in the Application Log
• Review the steps in this article to move your CRM application from one server to another and save for reference as needed
  • See the section, “Redeploy the Microsoft Dynamics CRM deployment that includes the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server within the same domain or to another domain.”

• Prep Work before attempting the Import
  • Ensure all Custom Code to include Plug-Ins and other customization is removed from the database.  This will increase your chances of having a successful import.  The current Organization database should be in a fully supported state.
  • Ensure you have at least rollup 8 on both servers (your current CRM server and the server where you plan to run the import
    • You may need to right-click the Update Rollup file and select Run as Administrator
  • Ensure the database on the new server is set to Simple Recovery mode and your log files are set to allow for growth
    • You can change these settings as needed after the import is completed.
  • Set the registry key on the new CRM server as explained in KB Article 977867
  • Ensure the users who are performing the restore have full permissions on the SQL and CRM server directory files
• Backup your current Organization database and place the backup in a directory that you can access from the new CRM machine.
  • You only need to back up the CRM Organization database, OrgName_MSCRM. 
    • Do not backup the MSCRM_CONFIG database
  • Restore the OrgName_MSCRM to the new SQL Server.
    • I am not going into the restore steps in this article with the exception of mentioning that you should not select to overwrite the existing database when you do the restore of select any of the other checkmarks available on the Options page. 
      • Once you have a successful Organization Import, you can come back to SQL and remove the initial (temp) database that was related to the initial CRM installation as you will no longer need it. 
    • Restart your SQL machine or the services to ensure everything is working as expected.  I prefer to reboot the machine(s) to ensure everything is working as expected
    • Ensure you can still access CRM from the Web browser
      • Check the Application Log on the Event Viewer and resolve any issues
      • You want to ensure both your SQL and CRM environments are working as expected.  If both applications are on machine then you have only one environment to check.
• Open Deployment Manager on the CRM machine
• Select Organizations from the left navigation menu
• Select Import from the right navigation menu

• Walk through the Import wizard.  It is fairly self explanatory. 
• Select Yes to Create a new Organization
• Enter the SQL server name where you restored the OrgName_MSCRM backup
• Select the Organization Database from the drop down
• Select Next and enter your Display Name
• This will be your CRM Organization name so you may want to keep it the same as your existing Organization. 
• Select Next and enter your Report Server URL http://CRMSqlServerName/ReportServer
• Select Next and leave the default Auto Map Users
• Unless you need a different option
• Select Next and resolve any errors related to disabled users or users still in CRM but no longer in Active Directory.
• Review the User Mappings as needed and select Next
• Select Yes to this message unless you want to make additional changes to the User Mapping
• Select Next and resolve any Errors that display on the System Requirements dialog window
• You will receive the warning, “The organization database selected for import is a different version than the organization database that is currently deployed.”
• It is ok to ignore it
• Select Next and review the settings to confirm it is what you want
• Select Import and wait for the Import to complete
• Timeout Errors
  • How to resolve a timeout issue related to the following errors
    • Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 – Importing Organization fails with “The connection’s state is closed”
    • There are several steps in the article to include obtaining a hotfix.  Take all applicable steps
    • Restart the server as instructed and try the Import again
    • The following KB addresses other timeout error messages
      • A time-out occurs when you import large customization files into Microsoft Dynamics CRM
    • Ensure you have full rights to the CRM Directory folders.
      • I’ve found that sometimes adding the installing user to the Administrative Group is not sufficient.  In those cases, I add the CRM installing user to the CRM Directory folder by right-clicking the folder, selecting Properties, selecting the Security tab, add the user and give the user Full Control rights.
  • Always reboot the CRM server after these types of changes and check to ensure everything is working as expected when the server comes back online
    • Open the CRM application to ensure it is working, check the Application Log for errors, etc.  This helps to ensure you are working with a stable environment.
  • Certain custom reports can sometimes result in the error “The connection’s state is closed”
    • Please see this article for more information about the symptoms and resolution: Importing a Dynamics CRM SQL 2005 Org into a SQL 2008 Database