This package includes several accumulative hotfixes and updates for Dynamics CRM 4.0 Server, Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Microsoft Office Outlook, and Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 E-mail Router.  It is also designed to work with versions of x86 processors and x64 as it includes both versions available.

As before this Update will not require Update Rollup 1, Update Rollup 2 and Update Rollup 3 as they are not prerequisites for installing Update Rollup 4. Also the Update Rollup 4 client can be deployed before the server is upgraded to Update Rollup 4 and Update Rollup 4 can be uninstalled.

The Update Rollup 4 is available for download here : Microsoft Download Center: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=0ddf8e83-5d9c-4fe7-9ae6-f2713a024071

For more information over this update i advice reading this official CRM blog team entry : link

Best Regards,

Paulo J. Mendes

Best Regards,

Paulo J. Mendes

1X Application and Plataform Role Server named ZEUS

1X CRM Email Router on Exchange Server named ATHENA

1X SQL Server ( Reporting Services ) named REPOR

1X Testing SQL 2005 Enterprise Server – named ZOUN

1X Production SQL 2005 Enterprise Server ( Cluster ) – named ZELDA

The objective is to move the current CRM SQL deployment and databases from the test environment (ZOUN) to the production environment (ZELDA).

1 ) As a first step we are going to login into the Testing SQL 2005 Enterprise Server and perform the following Tasks :

             1.1 ) Firstly we will need to perform a backup of the CRM databases : “Organization”_MSCRM (in where “organization” is the name of your CRM organization name) and MSCRM_Config database.

To perform this tasks open SQL Server Management Studio, expand databases and select each of the databases, and right click over them, point to tasks and click on backup. On the backup window verify if the database name is correct, and select a FULL backup and choose a destination backup point (Strongly recommend a tape device or a different server such as a backup repository server if you dont have a network tape device) and press ok. This will make the needed backups. Examples of screenshots below for this process.

       Screenshot 1 : LINK  ::::: Screenshot 2 : LINK

·         1.2 ) As soon as the backup is done. Logoff from the SQL Test Server 2005.

2 ) As a second step we will be needing to create and restore those backup databases on the new SQL Server 2005 Enterprise – Production.

·         2.1 ) To Perform this action open SQL server management studio, go to databases and right click over it and click on option “restore database”. On this restore window Select on the Source for restore the option “From device” click on the path button and select the tape directory or backup server path from where you have saved the previous backups on point 1.1. This process will restore the backup databases and create them on the new SQL Production Server. Examples of screenshots below for this process.

Screenshot 3 : LINK ::::: Screenshot 4 : LINK

·         2.2 ) As soon as the restore of the databases is done. Logoff from the SQL Production Server 2005.

3 ) Thirdly we will need to configure the CRM redeployment on the CRM Dynamics Application and Plataform Role Server. In order to perform this reconfiguration we will have to do 2 step as follows:

·         3.1 ) Firstly we will need to go to the server registry entries by typing on the run menu Regedit and go to the following Registry section “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftMSCRM” and make the following changes in this entries :

configdb :

TEMPLATE : Data Source=”SERVERNAME”;Initial Catalog=MSCRM_CONFIG;Integrated Security=SSPI

OLD ENTRY : Data Source=ZOUN;Initial Catalog=MSCRM_CONFIG;Integrated Security=SSPI

NEW ENTRY : Data Source=ZELDA;Initial Catalog=MSCRM_CONFIG;Integrated Security=SSPI

 Screenshot 5 : LINK

Database :

TEMPLATE: Provider=SQLOLEDB;Data Source=”SERVERNAME”;Initial Catalog=”organazation”_MSCRM;Integrated Security=SSPI;Pooling=false

OLD ENTRY : Provider=SQLOLEDB;Data Source=ZOUN;Initial Catalog=CORP_MSCRM;Integrated Security=SSPI;Pooling=false

NEW ENTRY : Provider=SQLOLEDB;Data Source=ZELDA;Initial Catalog=CORP_MSCRM;Integrated Security=SSPI;Pooling=false

Screenshot 6 : LINK

Metabase :

TEMPLATE :  Template : Provider=SQLOLEDB;Data Source=”SERVERNAME”;Initial Catalog=”organazation”_MSCRM;Integrated Security=SSPI;Pooling=false

OLD ENTRY : Provider=SQLOLEDB;Data Source=ZOUN;Initial Catalog=CORP_MSCRM;Integrated Security=SSPI;Pooling=false

NEW ENTRY : Provider=SQLOLEDB;Data Source=ZELDA;Initial Catalog=CORP_MSCRM;Integrated Security=SSPI;Pooling=false

Screenshot 7 : LINK

·         3.2 ) Secondly we will need to run the CRM Dynamics 4.0 Deployment Manager on the server. Go to start menu, All Programs, Microsoft Dynamics CRM and click Deployment Manager. Go to organizations and click on yours, right click and Disable it. Right Click again and Edit Organization. Change the SQL server name to the new SQL Server name and click next and the redeployment shall start. Please do bear in mind that you will need the CRM Dynamics Service Account to be sysadmin on the SQL Server or it will give error on requisites checking. Examples of screenshots below for this process:

Screenshots :  8 - LINK :: 9 – LINK :: 10 – LINK :: 11 – LINK :: 12 – LINK ::

4 ) After the redeployment of the server is done. Restart the Application and Plataform Server. After it reboots the CRM will be fully running with the new SQL Server and operational. This conclude our Redeployment of DYNAMICS CRM 4.0 – SQL SERVER AND CRM DATABASES MIGRATION

Any doubts of questions feel free to send them to me, I will help as soon as possible.

Best Regards,

Paulo J. Mendes

With the Release of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 several editions of the product were offered such as :

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Workgroup : This edition is limited to five, or fewer, users. It can be installed on Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition, any of the supported Windows Server 2003 editions, or Windows Server 2008

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Professional : This edition has no user limit and is limited to a single organization, but Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Professional can be installed on more than one computer in the same deployment.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Enterprise : There is no user limit for this edition. Additional features include support for multiple organizations, multiple server instances, and role-based service installation. Role-based services let you increase performance by installing component services on different computers.

This three versions gave us, new insights and new ways of implementing CRM Dynamics 4.0. On this post i am going to cover a example of implementing the enterprise edition.

As described above the Enterprise edition of CRM Dynamics 4.0 offered us server roles, this roles are :

• Application Server Role. This server role provides the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Web user interface and services.
• Platform Server Role. This lets you deploy the asynchronous services, such as the Workflow and Bulk E-mail services, to a separate computer.  

With these we can now offer to a big corporation, flexibility and scalability on our CRM Dynamics 4.0 Infrustructure design. Below follows a example of a implementation example of those roles which i made following those rules :

As we can see on the picture (fullsize image) i have applied :

·         Two Servers with : CRM Dynamics 4.0 Application Role – These ones with Network Load Balancer (NLB) to improve performance and to maintain service operational in a case of maintenance or a server crash.

·         One Server with : CRM Dynamics 4.0 Plataform Role – with the asynchronous services such as the Workflow and Bulk E-mail services. On this model all Workflow services will be handled on the CRM Platform Server improving performance. This feature also releases processor and memory from the Application Servers making either the Application or Plataform Servers more usable on their own resources.

·         Two Servers with SQL Server 2005 Enterprise – This ones acting as failover Cluster, hosting the CRM Databases. This improving the uptime of the service and performance also.

·         One Server with SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services – To run the Dynamics Reports.

·         One Server with CRM E-mail Router – Connecting to Exchange Server 2007.

To sum up this kind of design is a perfect match for a Enterprise Corporation, who wishes a CRM solution offering them, quick response time with excellent performance and also service uptime with redundancy ( NLB and failover clusters ), making CRM Dynamics 4.0 a perfect solution and choice in the CRM world.

I will cover the process of the installation and implementation of a CRM Dynamics Professional Edition in a next post.

Best Regards,

Paulo J. Mendes

Microsoft has made available for download Update Rollup 3 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 on Thursday March 12, 2009.

This package includes several accumulative hotfixes and updates for Dynamics CRM 4.0 Server, Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Microsoft Office Outlook, and Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 E-mail Router.  It is also designed to work with versions of x86 processors and x64 as it includes both versions available.

As requisites this new Update Rollup 3 will not see a “need basis” for the previous Update Rollup 1 and 2 , since this latest package includes all the fixes that were brought on its predecessors ( Update Rollup 1 & 2 ).

In addition Microsoft also explained how to avoid a required reboot when installing a patch for the CRM Outlook Client as it follows below :

“Before starting the update process, go to Options from the CRM menu. On the “General” tab, uncheck the bottom checkbox that says “Always run the…Host process” and then click “Ok” button. When manually checking for updates, go ahead and close Outlook by choosing Exit from Outlook’s File menu. This will close Outlook along with the CRM add-in and the Hoster process. Now check for updates by selecting All Programs from the Start menu. Then select Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 and choose Update. Restart Outlook after the patch is installed.”

Adicional information over this package can be found here . I strongly recommend the upgrade since it solves a lot of issues.

Best Regards,

Paulo J. Mendes