Thursday, December 20, 2007

Top 5 CRM 4.0 Installation Tips n Tricks

We have been in the Beta test programs for CRM 4.0 for the last 6 months.  It has been great to get in there and bang around and build out our test environments.  This has also afforded us the opportunity of doing installations and test conversions from 3.0 etc.  Some random thoughts as we get closer to GA of the 4.0 product will follow.  We will start posting a lot more about the new product and movement from 3.0 to 4.0.  Here is a first installment of some tips and tricks. 

One of the coolest things about 4.0 is the Multi-tenancy aspect.  MSFT invested a lot in this and it is really cool, extremely powerful and easy implement.  I have personally tested the multi tenancy features and was shocked at hose simple it was to create an entirely new and separate instance of CRM 4.0.  Especially when I consider the complexity of the 1.0 and 1.2 days.  3.0 installation was greatly simplified, basically you conditioned the domain properly and then ran the install.  4.0 is a huge step forward too.  Congrats CRM team on more great leaps and bounds.

Below are the Top 5 CRM 4.0 Installation Tips n Tricks from Tricia one of our top CRM consultants.  She has been working regularly on CRM 4.0 for the last few weeks.  Here are some quick thought from her:

1.      Connector for Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services

a.      After the CRM 4.0 installation, don’t forget to run the setup for the Connector for Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services.  Found in the installation files (CRM 4.0\srsdataconnector\setupsrsdataconnector.exe)

b.      It must be installed on the computer that has SQL 2005 Reporting Services installed.

c.      Without this connector, the CRM reporting feature will not work.

d.      The Connector for Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services eliminates the Kerberos double-hop authentication that was required for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 deployments when SQL Server Reporting Services was installed on a separate computer.

2.      Data Migration Manager

a.      Although Data Migration Manager and Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook can be installed on the same computer, they cannot run at the same time.

b.      Data Migration Manager must be installed on a computer that has a connection to the Microsoft Dynamics CRM server.

c.      We do not recommend that you install the Data Migration Manager on a computer that is running Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server.

3.      Microsoft Dynamics CRM E-mail Router Setup

i.      If one or more Microsoft Dynamics CRM users will have their e-mail settings set to use the E-mail Router or a forward mailbox, you must run and complete E-mail Router Setup to enable Microsoft Dynamics CRM e-mail message tracking.

ii.     It consists of two main components:

1.      E-mail Router component (installs the E-mail Router service and E-mail Router Configuration Manager)

2.      Rule Deployment Manager component (deploys the rules that enables received e-mail messages to be tracked)

iii.    Microsoft Exchange Server is only required if you want to use the E-mail Router to connect to an Exchange Server e-mail messaging system.

4.      Pre – CRM 4.0 Install

a.      On a clean Windows Server Install, you must install a couple of Windows Components, and have the Windows Server installation CD on hand.

b.      CRM 4.0 requires that Internet Information Services and the SMTP services be installed and the services running before CRM 4.0 is installed.

1.      Go to Add/Remove Programs, then Install Windows Components.

2.      Click on Application Server and click “Details…”

Ø       Check Internet Information Services (IIS)

3.      Click on Internet Information Services (IIS0 and click “Details…”

Ø       Check SMTP Service

4.      Insert Windows Server Installation CD to install the components

5.      Make sure the services are running (Administrative Tools à Services).

5.      CRM 4.0 requires SQL Server 2005 to have the SP2 installed BEFORE CRM is installed.  CRM 3.0 did not require this service pack before installation.

Regards, Jon Petrucelli

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