Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Server RC

CRM 2011 Server Release Candidate (RC) has been announced. Get it here. http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=c3f82c6f-c123-4e80-b9b2-ee422a16b91d&displaylang=en.

More information about the release, further releases and other download links:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/crm/archive/2010/12/14/microsoft-dynamics-crm-2011-release-candidate-rc-announcement.aspx

CRM 2011 Build Versions:
http://mscrmnovice.blogspot.com/2010/09/crm-2011-release-versions.html

Microsoft offering $200 Rebate on CRM Online

"Cloud CRM for less" was the offer announced by Michael Park to all customers who make a switch from Salesforce.com and Oracle. Here is the press release and get more information about the offer on this page.

Working with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011

Technology News: Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 Beta Available

If you are the one keeping up with developments within Microsoft then you know about the new Internet Explorer 9 Beta. I have downloaded and installed it and must say it is a massive improvement over it's previous (IE 7 and 8). It is lite, clean and fast to name a few.

Something disappointing though for the CRM community is as per Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 readme "Internet Explorer 9 Beta is not supported with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011.

There is a good news though, that you have a workaround you'll find it here Pablo Peralta's Blog which I haven't tried it myself yet. You can if you will.

IE9 would need some work before it's final release which Microsoft continues to do.

CRM 2011 Release Versions

This post will no longer be updated. To view the latest mapping for both CRM 4.0 and CRM 2011, visit here.

However, here I provide the mapping of the build version to future updates on CRM 2011.

• CRM 2011 Beta - Version 05.00.9585.101
• CRM 2011 RC - Version 05.00.9688.34

This post is intend to change from time to time (how often? , depends on future update releases on CRM 2011 by Microsoft).

So, Stick around!

CRM 2011 beta released!

The wait has come to an end to the beginning of whole new level of business productivity, user interactivity and tight auditing and security.

Microsoft has recently released the fifth version of CRM, the "Dynamics CRM 2011". Still in it's Beta, CRM 2011 boasts a handful of features that were in much demand in CRM 4.0. Here are a few happy bunch spreading the word of new inclusions and enhancements in CRM 2011.

• Everyone have their personal favorites and these will be almost everyones favorite.
• What's new in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Deployment Manager?
• A few feature videos to watch here.

To help you get started with CRM 2011, you can download these documents, ask your questions as also keep yourself updated with the latest

Update Rollup vs. Build Version comparison for Microsoft Dynamics CRM

To determine which update rollup is installed on your server or client, the below table provides a precise mapping between the update rollup version and CRM build version.

(This post is regularly updated to keep current with the latest releases)

The updates documented in this blog for:

• Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0
• Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011
• Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013
• Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015
• Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2016

You can use the below command using SQL Server Management Studio on your CRM database to determine the current version of CRM.

select * from BuildVersion



If you're unable to view the above table, click here to see it in a new page.

As mentioned earlier, I'll try to keep this post updated. In case of any delays, thank you for leaving a comment below. This will keep other visitors updated while notifying me too to take an action.

Who has the Outlook Client Installed

There could be times when you would want the list of User's using the CRM Client for Office Outlook. Here is a small script which you could execute on CRM's Organization database. This script will give you the machine name and user's fullname.

SELECT dbo.Subscription.MachineName,
dbo.SystemUserBase.FullName
FROM dbo.Subscription, dbo.SystemUserBase
WHERE dbo.Subscription.SystemUserId = dbo.SystemUserBase.SystemUserId

Uploading Attachments using Data Migration Manager

If you want to upload Attachments in bulk into the CRM system, Data Migration Manager comes handy if you know the tricks. Let me summarize the procedure here:

1. List your attachments in a CSV file as shown in the figure below. Let it contain these columns

#Filename, The name of the attachment file.

#Document, Give each attachment a unique name and store it in the file system organized in one of the following ways.

1. Store attachments in the folder which contains the CSV file where you listed your attachments.
2. Store them in the sub-folder named Attachments. It must be a sub-folder of the folder where the attachments list CSV file is stored.
3. Store them in a sub-folder named Documents. It must be a sub-folder of the folder where the attachements list CSV file is stored. (I've used this option as shown below)

#Regarding, Is the name of the record in CRM (Account, Contact etc.) against which this attachment will be stored.

#Title, The title of the Attachment in CRM.

#Here I show the attachment file that is being uploaded. Notice that I've given it a unique name and mentioned the same in the excel file above.

#You are ready to begin the Migration. Here map the CSV file that contains the annotations to the Note entity. If the CSV file contains attachments, check the "Includes Attachments" checkbox as shown below.

#If the CSV file contains notes you can ignore the checkbox. Here is a figure that shows how you can upload Notes.

#Map the columns as usual and if you are uploading attachments map the "Document" Column with the "Document" attribute in CRM.

You are done. The attachments are now accessible on CRM.

The length of the 'messageid' attribute of the 'email' entity exceeded the maximum allowed length of '100'

I was receiving this error often at the Event Viewer > Application Log of the CRM Server.

#9628 – An error occurred while delivering the e-mail message with subject "This is a second demo" in mailbox crmdemo@gmail.com for delivery to http://192.168.1.205:5555/crmdemo.System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapException: Server was unable to process request.
at System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapHttpClientProtocol.ReadResponse(SoapClientMessage message, WebResponse response, Stream responseStream, Boolean asyncCall)
at System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapHttpClientProtocol.Invoke(String methodName, Object[] parameters)
at Microsoft.Crm.Sdk.Proxy.CrmService.Execute(Request Request)
at Microsoft.Crm.Tools.Email.Providers.CrmPollingMailboxProvider.DeliverMessageInternal(EmailMessage emailMessage)
at Microsoft.Crm.Tools.Email.Providers.Pop3PollingMailboxProvider.DeliverMessageInternal(EmailMessage emailMessage)
at Microsoft.Crm.Tools.Email.Providers.CrmPollingMailboxProvider.DeliverMessage(EmailMessage emailMessage)
at Microsoft.Crm.Tools.Email.Providers.CrmPollingMailboxProvider.Run()\r\n
0x80044331
A validation error occurred. The length of the 'messageid' attribute of the 'email' entity exceeded the maximum allowed length of '100'.
Resolution:
Tweak the Message ID attributes Maximum Length from 100 - 200 or 250 and you are good to go.
Procedure:

1. Settings > Customizations > Customize Entities > Email > Attributes
2. Double click Message ID and change the Maximum Length
3. Save and Close
4. Publish

E-mail Sending Failed - Dynamics CRM 4.0 E-mail Router

Recently I had a chance to date with the E-mail Router for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0. I did not have an Exchange Server setup so I tried with the POP3 e-mail settings. Though it was straight forward and easy to configure the E-mail Router, I had some trouble sending an e-mail from CRM.

By the way, I am using Google Mail (Gmail) POP3 service to configure my environment.

I received the below error

#61042 - An error occurred while processing the outgoing e-mail
message with subject "xyz" for SMTP: http://localhost:5555/organizationName for
delivery through smtp.gmail.com. System.Net.Mail.SmtpException: The operation
has timed out.
at System.Net.Mail.SmtpClient.Send(MailMessage message)
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()

After trying things like re-configure E-mail Router, Gmail POP3 settings, E-mail Router service restart etc. something dawn'd on me.

I noticed that Gmail had provided with 2 port numbers, SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) and it's successor TLS (Transport Layer Security). I replaced the SSL port number with the TLS (ie 465 with 587) in the E-mail Router Outgoing Configuration Settings under the Advanced tab.

Result: The E-mail moved on and so did I. Happy e-mailing!!

Both 'amount' and 'percentage' cannot be set

There was a bit of learning involved last week when I was trying to update the Contract Line entity programmatically. I had a custom entity under the Contract Line entity. I had written web service code which inturn called the CRM Service to update the Contract Line entity with values from the custom child entity.

In my custom web service I was summing up the values from the child records and updating the 'Amount' and 'Discount Percentage' fields of the related Contract Line record.

While I was testing, the system generated the platform trace which said -

Both 'amount' and 'percentage' cannot be set.

I am assuming, CRM wanted to convey that both 'Amount' and 'Discount Percentage' fields of Contract Line entity cannot be calculated and updated using the CRM Service Update method.

I really don't know why was the system designed this way? All I do know is that I have to look for another way out.

I would appreciate if someone can reason this behavior!!

The SELECT permission was denied on the object 'Build Version', database ', schema 'dbo'.

• So you were trying to Restore CRM database on another machine?
• You used the Deployment Manager to Import Organization?
• You tried to load CRM using the browser but received something you didn't want to see

The SELECT permission was denied on the object 'Build Version', database ', schema 'dbo'.

No wonder you reached this blog post. Read on. This might help:

• Open SQL Server Management Studio
• Select the CRM Database you are working with
• Right-click the BuildVersion table from the CRM Database and click Properties
• Select Permissions tab on the left pane
• Click on View Schema Permission on the right pane
• Click on Add button
• Click Browse
• Select CRMReaderRole of type Database Role
• Click OK twice (Back to Table Properties Window)
• Check the intersection Select vs. Grant
• Click OK

You should be good to go.