Carlos's blog

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Test Environment

http://blog.customereffective.com/blog/2008/09/best-practices.html

Best Practices For Refreshing Data in a Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Test Environment

For high availability CRM deployments, it is recommended that you have additional environments for test, Dev, and QA, so you can manage changes to your configuration without impacting users.  This is also a good idea for disaster recovery, so if the production environment fails you can roll over to one of the other environments.

To have a valid test environment, you need to closely approximate your production CRM environment, with current configuration and data.  So what is the process to "refresh" the data and configuration in your test environment to match the production environment?

Step 1. Deactivate test CRM organization using CRM deployment manager.  On the test CRM server, open Deployment Manager by going to Start-->All Programs-->Microsoft Dynamics CRM-->Deployment Manager.  Open the Organizations folder, select your MSCRM test organization, and click Disable from the right side menu.  Note you will need to be a deployment admin to perform this step.

2. Delete test CRM organization in Deployment Manager.  Once you have disabled the Organization, you will be able to delete it.

3. Drop test MSCRM database in SQL Server Management Studio on the test SQL environment.

4. Restore backup of prod MSCRM database to the test SQL Environment

5. Import organization to the test environment using the CRM Deployment Manager.  In Deployment Manager, click Import Organization, and follow the wizard to point it to the the restored MSCRM database.

The attempt to connect to the report server failed. Check your connection information and that ...

If you get the error message: The attempt to connect to the report server failed. Check your connection information and that the report server is a compatible version.

If you then scan the recent logfiles in C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\Reporting Services\LogFiles and find the following exception: Microsoft.SqlServer.ReportingServices2005.RSConnection+MissingEndpointException: The attempt to connect to the report server failed.  Check your connection information and that the report server is a compatible version. ---> System.Net.WebException: The request failed with HTTP status 404: .

it means that you have configured the /reportserver/ app to not be reachable via http://localhost/... - there are two options from here:

1) add the localhost hostheader to the web-site which hosts the /reportserver/ and make sure the app is then reachable via that path

2) edit the file C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\Reporting Services\ReportManager\RSWebApplication.config and add the full url to the ReportServer into the ReportServerUrl tag (no ending / nessesary) AND remove the value from ReportServerVirtualDirectory (otherwise you get nasty, unprecise exceptions). THEN you must recycle the app-pool used by the Report-Manager so that config file is being reloaded.

MS Dynamics CRM 4.0 Email Router Settings (ReDux)

Below are the Email Router Settings:

 

Configuration Profiles tab (Incoming profile) (Advanced tab has default settings)

E-mail server Type: Exchange

Authentication Type: Windows Authentication

Location Server: http://exchangeservername

Access Credentials: Other specified Specified

Domain administrator login account (have set that account to have full permissions for all mailboxes)

 

Configuration Profiles tab (Outgoing profile) (Advanced tab has default settings)

E-mail server Type: SMTP

Authentication Type: Windows Authentication

Location Server: mail.domain.com

Access Credentials: Local System Account

 

Deployments tab

MIcrosoft Dynamics CRM server: http://servername:5555/company_name

Access Credentials: Local System Account

And to use my profiles for incoming and outgoing described above.

 

Test Access:

Name: Christine Andersson

Incoming Status: Failure - The remote server returned an error: (503) Server Unavailable.

Name: Niklas Lepistö

Incoming Status: Failure - The remote server returned an error: (503) Server Unavailable.

Name: Tech Support

Incoming Status: Failure - The remote server returned an error: (503) Server Unavailable.

Server: mail.navaero.com

Outgoing Status: Succeeded

 

 

Service:

Microsoft CRM Email Router Logon: Domain administrator account

"Unable to validate SQL Server Reporting Services Report Server installation"

Error message in the Environmental Diagnostic wizard when you try to install the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Connector for SQL Server Reporting Services: "Unable to validate SQL Server Reporting Services Report Server installation"

After you install Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0, you try to install the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Connector for SQL Server Reporting Services. When you run the Environmental Diagnostic wizard, you receive the following error message:

Unable to validate SQL Server Reporting Services Report Server installation. Please check that it is correctly installed on the local machine.

CAUSE

This problem may occur if one of the following conditions is true:

• You try to install the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Connector for SQL Server Reporting Services on a server that is not running Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services (SSRS).
• You try to install the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Connector for SQL Server Reporting Services on a named instance of SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services.
• You try to install the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Connector for SQL Server Reporting Services on a SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services installation that uses a nondefault Web site.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, use one of the following methods.

Method 1: Install the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Connector for SQL Server Reporting Services on a server that is running SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services

To install the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Connector for SQL Server Reporting Services, you must run the installation on a server that is running SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services.

Method 2: Modify the Install-config.xml file

Use this method to install the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Connector for SQL Server Reporting Services on a named instance. Additionally, use this method if the Reporting Services installation uses a nondefault Web site.

Modify the Install-config.xml file. Then, run the SetupSrsDataConnector command. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Copy all the files in the SrsDataConnector folder on the installation CD to a folder on drive C. For example, copy the files to the following folder:
   C:\SrsDataConnector
   Note The SrsDataConnector folder is located in the following folder on the installation CD:
   drive:\Server\i386
   The drive placeholder represents the CD drive.
2. Locate the folder in which you copied the installation files. Right-click the Install-config.xml file, and then open the file in Notepad.
3. Add the following information to the Install-config.xml file:
   • The reportserverurl tags
   • The URL for the server that is running SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services
   For example, if the server that is running Reporting Services has a named instance of Titan, the reportserverurl tags resemble the following example.

   <reportserverurl>http://servername/Reportserver$Titan</reportserverurl>
   

4. If the server that is running SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services has a named instance, modify the instancename tags.
   
   For example, if the server that is running Reporting Services has a named instance of Titan, the instancename tags resemble the following example.

   <instancename>Titan</instancename>
   

5. After you complete steps 3 and 4, click Save on the File menu, and then close the Install-config.xml file. The Install-config.xml file should resemble the following example.

   <crmsetup>
     <srsdataconnector>
       <configdbserver></configdbserver>
       <autoupdateconfigdb>1</autoupdateconfigdb>
       <reportserverurl>http://servername/Reportserver$Titan</reportserverurl>
       <autogroupmanagementoff>0</autogroupmanagementoff>
       <instancename>Titan</instancename>
       <configsku>OnPremise</configsku>
       <!-- Set enabled = true for DB webstore integration.  Set configdb="true" for config db webstore integration-->
       <webstore enabled="false" configdb="false" />
       <monitoring>
   <!-- Monitoring service account name and password. It can not be local system or network service account -->
         <serviceaccountname></serviceaccountname>
         <serviceaccountpassword></serviceaccountpassword>
       </monitoring>
     </srsdataconnector>
   </crmsetup>
   

6. Open a Command Prompt window, and then locate the folder in which you copied the installation files in step 1.
7. At the command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:
   C:\SrsDataConnector> SetupSrsDataConnector /CONFIG path of the folder that contains the Install-config.xml file\install-config.xml

---

APPLIES TO

• Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0
• Microsoft Dynamics CRM Connector for SQL Server Reporting Services, when used with:
  • Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0

KB947060

The recipient does not receive an e-mail message when a Microsoft Dynamics CRM user sends an e-mail.

KB: 915827

SYMPTOMS

When a Microsoft Dynamics CRM user sends an e-mail message by using the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 Web client, the recipient does not receive the e-mail message. This problem occurs when the following conditions are true:

•	The Microsoft Dynamics CRM server components and Microsoft Exchange Server are installed on separate servers.
•	During the installation of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM server components, you typed the name of the Exchange server as the incoming Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) server name and as the outgoing SMTP server name.
•	The Microsoft Dynamics CRM server has a local SMTP service installed.

Note On the Microsoft Dynamics CRM server, you can see the unresolved e-mail messages in the following directory:

C:\Inetpub\mailroot\Badmail

Additionally, you may receive the following error message:

“Failed to Initialize Token” Initialize Token Failure

When a Microsoft Dynamics CRM user sends an e-mail message by using the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Web client, the e-mail message is sent or queues up. However, if an issue occurs when the user sends the e-mail message, the user receives one of the following error messages in the e-mail activity:

Error message 1

This message has not yet been submitted for delivery. 1 attempts have been made so far.

Error message 2

The message delivery failed. It must be resubmitted for any further processing.

Additionally, you receive an error message that resembles the following in the MSCRMEmailLog event log:

Event Type: Error
Event Source: MSCRMEmailLog
Event Category: None
Event ID: 0
Date: Date
Time: Time
User: N/A
Computer: ComputerName
Description: #61042 - An error occurred while processing the outgoing e-mail message with subject "test 3 today CRM:0001011" for SMTP: http://adsrv:81/MS1 for delivery through adsrv. System.Net.Mail.SmtpException: Failure sending mail. ---> System.Net.WebException: Unable to connect to the remote server ---> System.Net.Sockets.SocketException: No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it
at System.Net.Sockets.Socket.DoConnect(EndPoint endPointSnapshot, SocketAddress socketAddress)
at System.Net.Sockets.Socket.InternalConnect(EndPoint remoteEP)
at System.Net.ServicePoint.ConnectSocketInternal(Boolean connectFailure, Socket s4, Socket s6, Socket& socket, IPAddress& address, ConnectSocketState state, IAsyncResult asyncResult, Int32 timeout, Exception& exception)
--- End of inner exception stack trace ---
at System.Net.ServicePoint.GetConnection(PooledStream PooledStream, Object owner, Boolean async, IPAddress& address, Socket& abortSocket, Socket& abortSocket6, Int32 timeout)
at System.Net.PooledStream.Activate(Object owningObject, Boolean async, Int32 timeout, GeneralAsyncDelegate asyncCallback)
at System.Net.PooledStream.Activate(Object owningObject, GeneralAsyncDelegate asyncCallback)
at System.Net.ConnectionPool.GetConnection(Object owningObject, GeneralAsyncDelegate asyncCallback, Int32 creationTimeout)
at System.Net.Mail.SmtpConnection.GetConnection(String host, Int32 port)
at System.Net.Mail.SmtpTransport.GetConnection(String host, Int32 port)
at System.Net.Mail.SmtpClient.GetConnection()
at System.Net.Mail.SmtpClient.Send(MailMessage message)
--- End of inner exception stack trace ---
at System.Net.Mail.SmtpClient.Send(MailMessage message)
at Microsoft.Crm.Tools.Email.Providers.SmtpPollingSendEmailProvider.SendMessage(MailMessage mailMessage)
at Microsoft.Crm.Tools.Email.Providers.SmtpPollingSendEmailProvider.ProcessMessageInternal(email emailMessage)
at Microsoft.Crm.Tools.Email.Providers.CrmPollingSendEmailProvider.ProcessMessage(email emailMessage)
at Microsoft.Crm.Tools.Email.Providers.CrmPollingSendEmailProvider.Run()

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

CAUSE

Microsoft Dynamics CRM relies on the local SMTP server to forward the e-mail message to the Exchange server. This problem occurs because of one of the following reasons:

•	The SMTP configuration on the Microsoft Dynamics CRM server is not configured to forward the e-mail messages to the Exchange server.
•	The Exchange server is not configured to allow relay messages from the Microsoft Dynamics CRM server.

 

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, follow these steps:

Configure SMTP on the Microsoft Dynamics CRM server to forward e-mail messages to the Exchange server

1.	On the Microsoft Dynamics CRM server, open Internet Information Services (IIS). To do this, click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then click Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.
2.	In Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager, expand Default SMTP Virtual Server, right-click Domains, point to New, and then click Domain.
3.	In the New SMTP Wizard, click Remote under Specify the domain Type, and then click Next.
4.	Type your domain name in the Name box, and then click Finish.
5.	In the right pane, right-click the domain name that you added in step 2 through step 4, and then click Properties.
6.	On the General tab, click to select the Allow incoming mail to be relayed to this domain check box, and then click Forward all mail to smart host. In the box under Forward all mail to smart host, type the Exchange server name, and then click OK.
7.	Restart the SMTP service on the Microsoft Dynamics CRM server. To do this, click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then click Services. Right-click Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), and then click Restart.

 

Configure the Exchange server to allow relay messages from the Microsoft Dynamics CRM server

To do this if you are using Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, you must first configure the Relay Restrictions. Then you must verify the Connections Control.

Configure the Relay Restrictions

1.	Click Start, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.
2.	Click Servers, click the name of the Exchange server, click Protocols, and then click SMTP.
3.	Right-click Default SMTP Virtual Server, click Properties, and then click the Access tab.
4.	In the Relay Restrictions area, click Relay.
5.	Verify that the Only the list below option is selected, and then add the Microsoft Dynamics CRM server to the list. If you are using Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0, make sure you add to the list the server that has the Exchange router installed.
6.	Restart the SMTP service. To do this, follow these steps: a. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Services. b. Right-click Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), and then click Restart.

Verify the Connections Control

1.	Click Start, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.
2.	Click Servers, click the name of the Exchange server, click Protocols, and then click SMTP.
3.	Right-click Default SMTP Virtual Server, click Properties, and then click the Access tab.
4.	In the Connections Control area, click Connection.
5.	By default, the All except the list below option is selected. If the Microsoft Dynamics CRM server is added to this list, you must contact the Exchange administrator to determine the reason that the Microsoft Dynamics CRM server was added. Note For Microsoft Dynamics CRM e-mail messages to work correctly, the Microsoft Dynamics CRM server must be able to connect to the Exchange server.
6.	If the Only the list below option is selected, you must add the Microsoft Dynamics CRM server to the list to allow it to connect to the Exchange server.
7.	If you made any changes to the Connection Control settings, restart the SMTP service. To do this, follow these steps: a. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Services. b. Right-click Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), and then click Restart.

To do this if you are using Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, you must first create a new Exchange receive connector. Then, configure the connector for the anonymous user. Next, configure protocol permissions for the connector. Finally, restart the Microsoft Exchange Transport Service.

Create an Exchange receive connector

1.	Open the Exchange Management Console.
2.	Expand Server Configuration.
3.	Click Hub Transport.
4.	Right-click Receive Connectors, and then click New Receive Connector.
5.	Type a name in the Name box.
6.	In the Select the intended use for this Receive connector list, click Internal, and then click Next.
7.	In the Remote Network Settings section, click Add, and then type the IP address of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM server. Note If you see the value 0.0.0.0-255.255.255.255, click Delete.
8.	Click Next, click New, and then click Finish.

Configure the connector for the anonymous user

1.	Right-click the Exchange receive connector that you created, and then click Properties.
2.	Click the Permission Groups tab.
3.	Make sure that the Specify who is allowed to connect to the Receive connector option is set to Anonymous users, click Apply, and then click OK.

Configure protocol permissions for the receive connector

Note You must have Windows Support Tools installed to complete these steps. Only an experienced administrator should use the Adsiedit.msc tool.

1.	Start the Adsiedit.msc tool.
2.	Expand Configuration, expand Services, expand Microsoft Exchange, expand CN= First Organization, expand Administrative Groups, expand Exchange Administrative Group, expand Servers, expand Protocols, and then expand SMTP Receive Connectors.
3.	Right-click the Exchange receive connector that you created, and then click Properties.
4.	Click the Security tab.
5.	Click Anonymous Logon.
6.	Click to select the Submit Messages to any Recipient check box and the Accept Authoritative Domain Sender check box, click Apply, and then click OK.

Restart the Microsoft Exchange Transport Service on the Exchange server

1.	Click Start, click Run, type services.msc, and then click OK.
2.	Right-click Microsoft Exchange Transport Service, and then click Restart.

 

MS CRM 4.0: Invalid action. The selected action was not valid. (Event Source: MSCRMKeyGenerator)

CRM 4: Event Log MSCRMKeyGenerator

Your here because you got an CRM 4 error ‘unable to load’

Below the event log you should be seeing:

Event Type:    Error
Event Source:    MSCRMKeyGenerator
Event Category:    None
Event ID:    18949
Date:        16/07/2008
Time:        10:47:26 AM
User:        N/A
Computer:    ETDC2
Description:
Current active key (KeyType : CrmWRPCTokenKey) is expired.  This can indicate that a key is not being regenerated properly.  Current Active Key : CrmKey(Id:7ca9e53d-db38-dd11-9398-003048781151, ScaleGroupId:00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000, KeyType:CrmWRPCTokenKey, Expired:True, ValidOn:06/12/2008 23:56:58, ExpiresOn:07/15/2008 23:56:58, CreatedOn:06/12/2008 23:56:58, CreatedBy:NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE.  Key Setting :

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

 

easy fix

Start the CRM Asynchronous service.

------------------------ Also, try this manual solution -------------------------

Execute:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics CRM\Tools >Microsoft.Crm.Tools.WRPCKeyRenewal.exe /R

The MSCRM 4.0 E-Mail Router service stops processing e-mail messages after a specific period of time

Error Message:

This message has not yet been submitted for delivery CRM 4.0

You use the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 E-Mail Router service to process e-mail messages. After a specific period of time, the service stops processing e-mail messages. Then, after the same period of time, the service starts to process e-mail messages again.

Note The value of the specific period of time is the same as the ConfigUpdatePeriod value that is set in the Microsoft.Crm.Tools.EmailAgent.xml file. For example, if the ConfigUpdatePeriod value is one hour, the service stops processing e-mail messages after one hour. Then, after another hour, the service starts to process e-mail messages again.

This problem is fixed in the latest cumulative update rollup for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

949256  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/949256/ ) Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 updates and hotfixes

Download here!

Manual:

Following the procedure below will change the polling period from every 1,000 seconds to every 30 seconds:

 1. Go to the server where the e-mail router is installed.
 2. Go to C:\Program Files\Microsoft CRM Email\Service
 3. Edit the file Microsoft.Crm.EmailAgent.xml with Notepad
 4. Find the element SchedulingPeriod
 5. Change the value (most likely currently 1000) to 30
 6. Also, change the following keys:

<MaxMessageCount>30</MaxMessageCount>

<PendingStatusDelay>30</PendingStatusDelay>
<SendingStatusDelay>60</SendingStatusDelay>

 7. Restart the Microsoft CRM Email Router service.

References:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;952019

http://www.microsoft.com/Businesssolutions/Community/Newsgroups/dgbrowser/en-us/default.mspx?dg=microsoft.public.crm&mid=abe85190-ad54-41c2-b429-8d7606fefa60

http://nishantrana.wordpress.com/2008/09/24/this-message-has-not-yet-been-submitted-for-delivery-email-activity-status-pending-send/

http://www.techtalkz.com/microsoft-dynamics-crm/396263-message-has-not-yet-been-submitted-delivery-crm-4-0-a-2.html

Configuring CRM 4.0 E-mail...

Configuring CRM 4.0 E-mail Router

Maybe I'm just dense, but I had one hell of a time trying to get the new CRM 4.0 E-mail Router configured. My main problem was trying to figure out how to configure the Deployments section. In the new E-mail Router Configuration Manager there are three tabs.

The first is the Configuration Profiles tab. This allows you to define incoming and outgoing routes for messages. Outgoing is only SMTP so you simply configure it for whatever outbound SMTP service you have. If you are running Exchange, then point this to your Exchange server. You also configure your incoming service. This can be Exchange or POP3. These are relatively straight forward. I called my profiles LCS-OUT for my outbound and LCS-IN for my incoming mail. The real problem I encountered was trying to figure out how to configure the Deployments tab.

 

When you create a New Deployment, you get this window

The box where you enter the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server is where I had my problem/frustration. (Almost) No matter what I put in there, it didn't work in the final step. The dialog box recommends using https://discovery:80/. There apparently is a Discovery service for IIS but it doesn't relate to CRM. I tried many things. I eventually tried using my actual server name instead of 'discovery'. When I would put in the server name, "LCS-SBS", it didn't like that. If I did it with the fully qualified domain name, same result. Finally, after MUCH frustration, and after searching the web (Google) and the CRM Implementation Guide, none of which were helpful, probably because I must be dense as stated at the beginning, I finally stumbled upon the very simple and, I guess, obvious answer, of using the URL that is used to access my CRM locally, http://LCS-SBS:5555/ plus the name of my CRM organization, LentzComputerServices. Note, this is not the 'friendly' name ;-) So, my entry for the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server is http://lcs-sbs:5555/LentzComputerServices.

Once I did this, I went to the third tab and selected that deployment. Finally it was able to find and display the list of my CRM users and Queues. I completed the configuration.

The last step was to select the accounts I wanted to set up for the e-mail router and then Publish them. When I published, I noticed that numerous e-mail messages that should have been sent out over the last couple of weeks that I've been running CRM 4.0, mainly workflow generated, suddenly were sent! This brings ups good point. The E-mail Router in CRM 4.0 is needed not only for incoming but also for SENDING e-mail from CRM.

 

I searched the Internet a lot to resolve this issue but found nothing of use. I was lucky to stumble on the solution. Again, I'm probably dense, but perhaps there are other dense ones out there who will benefit from this tip.

Published Saturday, February 16, 2008 12:52 AM by LarryLentz

Change user in MSCRM 4.0 when information changed in Active Directory

 This information is to change user account and personal information for an AD account that was assigned as a user inside MSCRM 4.0. In case of any change (or previous mistake) during the account creation, MSCRM does not update the information on its user table (which is SYSTEMUSERBASE).

Supporting Information:1) Created a new user in AD
2) Created that user in CRM and gave an appropriate role
3) Logged into CRM as the new user
4) Created an account owned by the new user
5) Logged out and logged back in as administrator
6) Changed the new user's AD logon name
7) Verified that you could not change it in CRM
8) Changed the domainname field of the systemuserbase table in CRM so that it matched the new logon name in AD
9) Checked the user account to verify that the new logon name had stuck
10) Logged back into CRM as the new user with the new logon name
11) Accessed the account that the new user owned and updated it

Dynamic Picklist, load values from a XML file

Dynamic Picklist creation blog:

 

http://jianwang.blogspot.com/2008/01/dynamic-picklist-values-load-from-xml.html