Hi CRMers!!!

More jazzy stuff packed into the dialog.

A new version was just published which has these enhancements incorporated:

•  Generate Implementation Documentation
  Saves you time documenting your installation. It puts all the configuration settings and values of your particular deployment into a nicely formatted Word document and sends it to you via email
• Language Packs and non-English Org Base Languages
  User-selected Lang Packs are downloaded and installed with a PowerShell. Then it allows you to create new Orgs with non-English Base Languages
• Apply Rollup Updates (if applicable)
  Before, it just pointed you to the download page for the RU. You had to know what to install where. Now it takes care of it for you, including the MUI updates for the Lang Packs
• Do not allow Reserved Words as Org names
  Avoids installation errors, because some words are just not allowed
• Get Report Server URL PowerShell bug fixed
  This was not working if there were more than one instance of RS on same machine. Now it does.

And here is a complete list of all the pending enhancements, in no particular order:

• Include Outlook Client installation and configuration (Work in Progress)
• Include BIDS installation
• Allow adding additional Deployment Administrators
• Allow selecting CRM Server Roles per server
• Add CRM Upgrade Wizard (from CRM 2013 to 2015 or 2016)
• SubDialog for NLB Configuration
• Execute AD scripts remotely
• Optionally Enable Tracing
• Remove HTTP binding after HTTPS binding is set up
• Install with all Firewalls On (set Firewall Rules)
• Extend or Disable ADFS Certificate Rollover
• Automate USD 2.0 installation
• Install and configure Dynamics CRM List Component for SharePoint

Keep the feedback coming and Happy Installing!!!

Since the release of the CRM Installation dialog/wizard (find it here) to the CRM Community a month ago, we have had hundreds of instances executed and have received a lot very heartening and useful feedback:

This one, we particularly liked (Thanks Jukka) :

Apart from some minor changes, like allowing Report Server Instance Name to be different to the SQL Server Instance, users have asked for the following enhancements:

• Include Outlook Client installation
  This is currently being done and will be available soon. Also there will be pages for the installation of Report Authoring Extensions.
• Translate dialog to other languages
  The Spanish-speaking community asked for this one. The same dialog can be translated to different languages and Spanish is being done right now and will be available soon.
• Add CRM Upgrade Wizard (from CRM 2013 to 2015 or 2016)
  We will consider this for a future enhancement.
• SubDialog for NLB Configuration
  We did not originally include this, as from our experience, clients usually have a more powerful load balancing solution in place and we have never seen MS NLB being used. However we will consider it for a future enhancement as it will be useful for setting up non-production environments.
• Install CRM 2016 on Windows Server 2012 R2 Core
  Theoretically, the dialog as it is, can be used for this purpose, but when we tried it, we hit issues regarding access to Windows installation media, and even with following many suggestions on the internet, we were unable to make it work. So if anyone knows how to make the following PowerShell work remotely on a Windows Server 2012 R2 Core, comment below and we will incorporate it in the dialog:

  Install-WindowsFeature Web-Server -IncludeManagementTools -IncludeAllSubFeature;

• Execute AD scripts remotely
  Right now, you need to execute the scripts locally. This will be done soon.

Please keep the feedback coming!

Happy installing!!!

Just type How to install Dynamics CRM in your search engine and you get back a huge number of hits. And another massive set of pages if you search for CRM issues that are installation-related.

When we arrive at a client, Dynamics CRM is usually already installed there. We just need to connect to it to add our business process functionality. However nearly every time, there are issues. To make it worst client would say “Look, I navigate to CRM and it is working, so the issue is on your side”. Just because CRM Web app is working, does not mean CRM is properly installed and everything else in CRM is also working.

We are yet to find a 100% clean CRM installation (I am sure yours is one of the 100% ones 🙂 ). So we ended up troubleshooting their CRM installation and fixing them until it became clear that if we could find a way to help clients install their CRM properly in the first place, everyone would benefit. No more finger-pointing and joy for all.

So we thought why not use our own dog-food and create a wizard (a dialog) that guides the user with installing CRM in any type of deployment.

The first person we approached (no names) to ask his opinion, if this was doable, told us “It is impossible. Don’t waste your time”. He became our first beta-tester, and an avid fan.

So judge for yourself. Try the dialog and install a fully working environment:

• Production-ready
• All best practices incorporated
• Muti-Server set ups (from 1 to up to 26 servers)
• Automated through Remote PowerShell
• Separation of Roles
• Proper Kerberos
• Right Service Principal Names
• DNS
• HTTP/HTTPS/Calims/IFD
• Optimizations
• more…

Of course, do send your feedback (in the dialog itself) for enhancements or bug fixes.

We will try to keep this dialog up-to-date for upcoming version/rollups of the best CRM out there in the market: Dynamics CRM.

Happy installing!