Book Image

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Cookbook

By : Dipankar Bhattacharya
Book Image

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Cookbook

By: Dipankar Bhattacharya

Overview of this book

Without a comprehensive understanding of deployment scenarios and steps, it is really difficult to install and maintain Dynamics CRM 2011 within complex IT infrastructures. Done badly, it can cause serious future maintenance and optimization issues. Administration of CRM systems is equally complex and important; unless efficiently done, it can create fuss in the system and potentially bring down end user satisfaction. Configuration and customization of the system has to be done very carefully too so that it can meet the functional needs appropriately.“Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Cookbook" is a hands-on guide, providing clear, step-by-step instructions to deploy, maintain, optimize, and administer Dynamics CRM 2011 along with advanced configuration and customization processes, to give us a strong advantage in creating successful CRM applications.This book introduces Dynamics CRM 2011 by describing the important aspects of the system. It will take you through a number of clear and practical recipes from successful deployment, hassle-free maintenance, and effective administration to advanced level configuration and customization techniques.You will learn from a range of deployment and maintenance topics such as how to configure CRM to use claim-based authentication using AD FS, how to enable tracing in CRM servers, how to recover from server failures, and how to optimize server performance. This book will also discuss how to schedule Data Duplication detection jobs, enable auditing, export and import managed/unmanaged solutions, create 1:N, N:1, or N:N relationships between entities, configuring role based forms, adding a new button in the ribbon, SharePoint integration with CRM, and configuring a dialog or workflow.You will learn everything you need to know, from deployment, administration, and maintenance to configuration, integration, and customization for your Dynamics CRM 2011 application.

Related Content you might be interested in

Current Title:

Small book image
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Cookbook
Dipankar Bhattacharya
Jun, 2013 | 406 pages
No titles found
Table of Contents (18 chapters)
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Cookbook
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Cookbook
Credits
Credits
About the Author
About the Author
Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments
About the Reviewers
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Preface
Free Chapter
1
Installing Dynamics CRM 2011
Installing Dynamics CRM 2011
Introduction
Installing Dynamics CRM Server
Installing Microsoft Dynamics CRM Reporting Extensions
Installing Dynamics CRM for Outlook
Installing a Dynamics CRM language pack
Installing Microsoft Dynamics CRM E-mail Router
Configuring Microsoft Dynamics E-mail Router
Installing Microsoft Dynamics CRM E-mail Router on multiple computers
Deploying Microsoft Dynamics CRM on multiple servers
Creating a new organization
Editing the organization's details
2
Maintaining and Optimizing Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Server
Maintaining and Optimizing Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Server
Introduction
Backing up Dynamics CRM 2011 Database Server
Backing up Dynamics CRM 2011 Server
Recovering from a Dynamics CRM 2011 Database Server failure
Recovering from a Dynamics CRM 2011 Server failure
Enabling server-level tracing
Enabling deployment-level tracing
Enabling tracing on the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 E-mail Router machine
Monitoring Dynamics CRM 2011 Server performance
Optimizing Dynamics CRM 2011 Database Server performance
Optimizing Dynamics CRM 2011 Server performance
3
Administering Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011
Administering Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011
Securing Dynamics CRM 2011 deployment with SSL/HTTPS
Configuring Claims-based authentication (AD FS) for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011
Configuring Internet-facing Deployment (IFD)
Creating a new deployment administrator
Creating a new system administrator
Creating a new business unit
Configuring a security role
Creating a custom administrator security role
Creating a field-level security profile
Adding a new user account in the Dynamics CRM 2011 system
Adding multiple users in the Dynamics CRM 2011 system
Creating a new team in the Dynamics CRM 2011 system
Configuring autonumbering formats
Configuring system-wide settings
Configuring fiscal-year settings
Configuring error-notification preferences
4
Data Management
Data Management
Introduction to data import
Importing data into Dynamics CRM 2011 with Import Data Wizard
Exporting Dynamics CRM 2011 data to Microsoft Excel
Cleaning data using Bulk Deletion Wizard
Creating duplicate detection rules
Scheduling duplicate detection jobs
Enabling auditing in the Dynamics CRM 2011 system
Viewing and cleaning audit records
5
Solution Management
Solution Management
Introduction to solution management
Creating a solution publisher
Creating a new unmanaged solution
Adding an item in the unmanaged solution
Removing/deleting an item from the unmanaged solution
Exporting a solution
Importing a solution
Updating a managed solution
Deleting components from a managed solution
Uninstalling or deleting a solution
Exporting translations from an unmanaged solution
Importing translations to an unmanaged solution
6
Entity Customizations
Entity Customizations
Introduction to entities
Creating a custom entity
Updating the icon of an entity
Creating a custom field for an entity
Creating a global option set
Creating a new one-to-many (1:N) or many-to-one (N:1) relationship
Creating a new many-to-many (N:N) relationship
Creating a relationship field mapping
7
Form and View Customizations
Form and View Customizations
Introduction
Creating and customizing an entity main form
Controlling form behavior using JScript
Customizing the process-driven form (Dynamics CRM 2011 Online only)
Creating and customizing the mobile form
Configuring a form to be role-based
Creating and customizing a public view
Customizing search criteria for the Quick Find view
Creating a user's personal view
Deactivating or deleting a user's personal view
8
Site Map and Ribbon Customizations
Site Map and Ribbon Customizations
Introduction to Site Map and Ribbon
Editing the Site Map
Preparing for editing the ribbon
Adding a new button to an existing ribbon group for all entities
Adding a new button to an existing ribbon group of a specific entity
Hiding a ribbon button
Importing the modified ribbon definition
9
Office and SharePoint Integration
Office and SharePoint Integration
Introduction
Creating Mail Merge templates using Microsoft Word
Integrating Microsoft SharePoint Server (2010/2013) with Dynamics CRM 2011
10
Processes
Processes
Introduction to processes
Creating a workflow using the Dynamics CRM 2011 web interface
Index
Index

Installing Microsoft Dynamics CRM E-mail Router on multiple computers

To install E-mail Router in a failover cluster environment, the minimum requirements are as follows:

  • At least two Windows servers to support clustering

  • A common storage I/O technology between the nodes in the cluster, such as Parallel SCSI or Fiber Channel

  • Cluster configured in an active/passive manner; installing E-mail Router on nodes operating in an active/active cluster, such as an Exchange Server active/active cluster, is not supported.

To install Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 E-mail Router on multiple computers, the following main steps have to be followed:

  • Installing E-mail Router to the active primary node in the cluster

  • Installing E-mail Router to the passive nodes in the cluster

  • Creating the generic resource service for the cluster

How to do it…

Please perform the following steps to install E-mail Router to the active node in the cluster:

  1. Run the E-mail Router setup in the active primary node in the cluster by following the Installing Microsoft Dynamics CRM E-mail Router recipe.

  2. Configure E-mail Router using the E-mail Router Configuration Manager by following the Configuring Microsoft Dynamics E-mail Router recipe. Verify that E-mail Router is routing messages correctly to and from Microsoft Dynamics CRM and the e-mail systems.

  3. Create shared storage on a secondary node in the cluster and grant full access to the service account running the E-mail Router service and those administrators who may have to update configuration files manually.

    Note

    By default, the E-mail Router files are located in the folder \%Program Files%\Microsoft CRM Email.

  4. The following files have to be copied manually to the shared storage. This is essential because these files can be moved to a secondary node in the cluster in the event of a failover.

    • Microsoft.Crm.Tools.EmailAgent.Configuration.bin

    • Microsoft.Crm.Tools.EmailAgent.SystemState.xml

    • Microsoft.Crm.Tools.EmailAgent.xml

    • EncryptionKey.xml (if it exists)

  5. Then update the following registry subkey, so that E-mail Router uses the shared location to load the E-mail Router settings.

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSCRMEmail

  6. Finally, restart the Microsoft CRM E-mail Router service.

Next, we will install E-mail Router on each of the passive nodes of the cluster using the following steps:

  1. Run the E-mail Router setup in the passive node of the cluster.

  2. Update the Windows Registry subkey as mentioned in the previous steps on the primary node.

  3. Restart the Microsoft CRM E-mail Router service.

Finally, we will create a generic resource service for the cluster by following these steps:

  1. On each node in the cluster, start the Services MMC snap-in. On the list of services, right-click on Microsoft CRM Email Router, click on Properties, and then set Startup Type to Manual. Close the Services MMC snap-in.

  2. Launch Active Directory Users and Computers. Locate the PrivUserGroup {GUID} security group for the deployment. Add the computer accounts for each node in the cluster. Close Active Directory Users and Computers.

  3. If Windows Server 2003 is used here, start Cluster Administrator—if Windows Server 2008 is used, start Failover Cluster Management—and create a generic resource service. Use the following parameters:

    • Name: Create a descriptive name for the generic resource service, for example, MSCRM E-mail Router

    • Resource type: Enter the generic service

    • Group: Enter the cluster group name

    • Possible owners: Add all nodes in the cluster

    • Dependencies: If Exchange Server is used and E-mail Router has been installed on Exchange Server (not recommended), add Microsoft Exchange Information Store

    • Service Name: Mention the Microsoft CRM E-mail Router service

    • Start Parameters: Leave this field blank

    • Use Network Name for computer name: Leave this field unchecked

    • Do not checkpoint any registry keys

  4. Bring the resource online. If it is necessary, configure the resource properties, such as the failover policies.

  5. Close the Cluster Administrator/Failover Cluster Management window.

How it works…

We achieve high availability for the Microsoft Dynamics CRM E-mail Router service by deploying it on multiple computers by using Windows Server's clustering technology. The server cluster has to be configured in an active/passive manner. In case of an active node failover scenario, the passive node becomes the primary node and the common storage or shared disk resources will move from active node 1 to the passive node.

Previous Section
End of Section 9
Next Section