Data Events issues after refresh

In a previous article I wrote a bit about Data Events in Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations. Data Events is a really simple way to create event-based integrations based on changes in the different data entities in FnO. The Data Events functionality is based on functionality in Power Platform. The setup requires the installation of the Finance and Operations Virtual Entity solution in the Power Platform environment connected to FnO. When you create a trigger Data Event it also created a virtual entity in DataVerse. This creates a couple of challenges when it comes to refreshing databases between environments.

For FnO
The settings for the endpoints created in FnO are partially stored in FnO and partially stored in an Azure Key Vault. The settings stored in FnO are amongst others Key Vault URL, App registration ID and Secret. To make sure that these settings do not get extracted from the environment (or accidentally moved to another environment) they are encrypted using an environment specific key and are thus not readable in the destination environment for the refresh. To restore the functionality of Data Events in the destination environment the endpoints need to be removed and recreated. After that has been done, we can re-activate the triggers.

Note that broken endpoints create an issue even if they are not being used. It seems like all endpoints are being validated when you try to create a new one which results in the creation failing.

For DataVerse/CRM
Since the functionality of Data Events is based on Virtual Entities created in DataVerse these will be overwritten when a refresh is done from one DataVerse environment to another. The error message you will get when the event is triggered is this:

Response status code does not indicate success: 404 ({“error”:{“code”:”0x80048d02″,”message”:”Virtual entity ‘mserp_vendvendorbankaccountentity’ not found for external entity VendVendorBankAccountEntity”}}).

(of course, with a different entity name based on your scenario)

The solution is to go to the Active Data Events tab in the Business Events workspace and remove and recreate each Data Event Trigger.

Note. You might have to wait a moment (1 minuter or so) before you recreate the trigger in order for everything to be properly cleaned in DataVerse.

Note: I have not been able to verify what happens if the identical triggers are set up in both source and destination environments. It might be that there are no issues or we might have the same issue. If anyone knows, please let me know 🙂

Lessons Learned: There has always been a lot to think about when you do refreshes… And DataVerse integration/DualWrite adds even more. There is a great article by Faisal Fareed here that detail steps that needs to be done for DualWrite integrated environments.

Links:
Not able to activate Data Events for entities – JohanPersson.nu
Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Power Platform Library: Steps to follow when refresh dual-write integrated environments (FO and CE) (daxture.blogspot.com)

Problem starting Microsoft CRM 4.0 on a Terminal Server

This error occurred when I tried to start the CRM 4.0 client on a terminal server. The client stopped loading with the error message:

"An error occurred loading Microsoft Dynamics CRM functionality. Try restarting Outlook"

And in the toolbar it said:

Initializing MAPI sub-system

In the eventlog I got the following error:

Event Type:    Error
Event Source:    MSCRMAddin
Event Category:    None
Event ID:    5975
Date:        2009-02-26
Time:        00:41:04
User:        N/A
Computer:    CRMSERVER
Description:
An error occurred initializing a process that triggers Microsoft CRM actions based on Outlook events.  Some synchronization or tagging actions may not occur.  Try restarting Microsoft Outlook. HR=0x8007007e. Context=. Function=CAddin::HrActivateAddin. Line=697.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

I think the problem was due to the fact that Microsoft CRM 3.0 had been installer on the server and there was something left in the users profile.

The solution to the problem was to delete the local profile for the user in My Computer > Advanced Settings

Links:

http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.aspx?dg=microsoft.public.crm&tid=2b7957c4-d0fb-4689-918e-c3ab91736c42
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/948312
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/949087

Microsoft CRM Version Numbers

Here are the build number of of the different rollup fixes for Microsoft CRM

Version Build Number Released on Link
RTM 4.0.7333.3 12/19/2007  
Rollup 1 4.0.7333.1113 11/24/2008 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/952858
Rollup 2 4.0.7333.1312, 4.0.7333.1316 1/15/2009, 2/8/2009 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/959419
Rollup 3 4.0.7333.1408 3/12/2009 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/961768
Rollup 4 4.0.7333.1551 5/7/2009 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/968176
Rollup 5 4.0.7333.1644, 4.0.7333.1645 7/2/2009 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/970141
Rollup 6 4.0.7333.1750 9/27/2009 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/970148
Version Build Number Released on Link
RTM 4.0.7333.3 12/19/2007  
Rollup 1 4.0.7333.1113 11/24/2008 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/952858
Rollup 2 4.0.7333.1312, 4.0.7333.1316 1/15/2009, 2/8/2009 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/959419
Rollup 3 4.0.7333.1408 3/12/2009 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/961768
Rollup 4 4.0.7333.1551 5/7/2009 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/968176
Rollup 5 4.0.7333.1644, 4.0.7333.1645 7/2/2009 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/970141
Rollup 6 4.0.7333.1750 9/27/2009 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/970148

Microsoft CRM 3.0 RTM 3.0.5300.0
Microsoft CRM 3.0 Rollup 1 3.0.5300.1189
Microsoft CRM 3.0 Rollup 2 3.0.5300.1561
Microsoft CRM 3.0 Rollup 3 3.0.5300.1754

RTM  4.0.7333.3  12/19/2007  
Rollup 1 4.0.7333.1113
Rollup 2 4.0.7333.1312, 4.0.7333.1316
Rollup 3 4.0.7333.1408
Rollup 4 4.0.7333.1551
Rollup 5 4.0.7333.1644, 4.0.7333.1645
Rollup 6 4.0.7333.1750
 

RTM 4.0.7333.3 12/19/2007  
Rollup 1 4.0.7333.1113 11/24/2008 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/952858
Rollup 2 4.0.7333.1312, 4.0.7333.1316 1/15/2009, 2/8/2009 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/959419
Rollup 3 4.0.7333.1408 3/12/2009 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/961768
Rollup 4 4.0.7333.1551 5/7/2009 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/968176
Rollup 5 4.0.7333.1644, 4.0.7333.1645 7/2/2009 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/970141
Rollup 6 4.0.7333.1750 9/27/2009 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/970148

To find out your current build number, you may run the following query against your [ORGANIZATION]_MSCRM database.

Select * FROM BuildVersion

Links

http://msdynamicscrm-e.blogspot.com/2009/02/crm-40-build-versions.html
http://consulting.ascentium.com/blog/crm/Post545.aspx
http://vidmar.net/weblog/archive/2009/08/11/ms-crm4-build-numbers.aspx

Microsoft CRM 4.0 and Automatic Patching

This is a short description of how to rollout Rollup Fix 1 for Microsoft CRM using the automatic update feature in Microsoft CRM 4.0.

 

  1. Create a folder for the patches (example: C:Program FilesMicrosoft Dynamics CRMServercrmpatches)
  2. Create a virtual directory in the CRM website (or on another website) pointing to the folder created in paragraph 1.
  3. Copy the patch to the new folder.
  4. Get the patchid for the patch. To do this extract it to a temporary folder using: CRMv4.0-KB952858-i386-Client-INTL.exe /x. Open the config.xml in the temporary folder and copy the patchid (eg 9D28D100-595D-4CC4-AE00-6A90913B968D)
  5. Create an xml file that looks like this:

    <?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”utf-8″?>
    <ClientPatches>
      <Create>
        <ClientPatchInfo>
          <PatchId>9D28D100-595D-4CC4-AE00-6A90913B968D</PatchId>
          <Title>Microosft CRM 4.0 Rollup 1 Sw</Title>
          <Description>This is a rollupfix for Microsoft CRM 4.0 Swedish</Description>
          <IsMandatory>false</IsMandatory>
          <IsEnabled>true</IsEnabled>
          <ClientType>OutlookLaptop, OutlookDesktop</ClientType>
          <LinkId>CRMv4.0-KB952858-i386-Client-INTL.exe</LinkId>
        </ClientPatchInfo>
      </Create>
    </ClientPatches>

    Save the file as configtool.xml

  6. Start the configtool from command prompt

    [Path]Microsoft.Crm.Tools.ClientPatchConfigurator.exe [Path]configtool.xml

    This imports the patch into the CRMConfig db

  7. Run the following reg file on all client or roll it out using a GPO.
  8. Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftMSCRMClient]
    “AutoUpdateDownloadUrl”=”http://[crmserver]/crmpatches/”

Links

http://mscrm.m-seidl.com/2008/08/06/microsoft-crm-40-und-auto-update/lang-pref/en/
http://community.dynamics.com/blogs/cscrmblog/comments/3428.aspx
http://blog.powerobjects.com/2008/06/
https://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=1CEB5E01-DE9F-48C0-8CE2-51633EBF4714&displaylang=en

When I Try To Install Microsoft CRM On My Laptop I Get The Following Error There Is Already An Incompatible

When I try to install Microsoft CRM on my laptop I get the following error:

“There is already an incompatible version installed that needs to be removed before the CRM installer can continue.”

Here is an article on how to manually clean out a failed install of Microsoft CRM and manually uninstall Microsoft CRM

Links

http://www.microsoft.com/dynamics/crm/using/deploy/removeclient.mspx

User gets logon prompt when accessing Microsoft Dynamics CRM folders in Outlook

You are prompted multiple times for the user name and for the password when you start Outlook or when you click any of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM folders in Outlook. This happens the first time the user accessec Microsoft CRM in every Windows user session.

The solution is here:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/934243

Reports not working in Microsoft CRM

When you try to open the Reports folder in Microsoft CRM you get the error:

Error An error has occurred. For more information, contact your system administrator.

This happens sometimes if you have separated CRM, SQL and reporting Services

This hapaned on a clientcomputer with Windows 2000. The solution was to enable Integrated Windows Authentication in Internet Explorer under “Internet Options – Advanced – Security Section”

Links

http://microsoftdynamicscrm.blogspot.com/2007/11/error-message-when-you-try-to-access.html
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=51bf9f20-bd00-4759-8378-b38eefda7b99&DisplayLang=en