How Business Central Can Transform Your Business

In today’s fast-paced world, business models are evolving rapidly. Now is the perfect time to move to the cloud and implement a solution that drives greater value for your customers. Companies that have implemented Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central are already seeing significant growth.

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is a powerful digital platform designed to help small and medium-sized businesses streamline their operations and fuel growth.

 

It brings together all your essential business functions such as Finance, Purchase, Sales, Service, Production, Inventory, Warehouse management, Project management, Planning, Human resources, and Fixed assets, into one unified solution.

 

With Business Central, your teams can collaborate more effectively, respond faster to changes, and achieve better results.

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Key Benefits

 

Streamlined Business Processes

 

Business Central simplifies your operations by automating and integrating various processes and tasks. This not only boosts efficiency but also frees up your team to focus on more strategic activities.

 

Its cloud-based flexibility means you can manage your business from anywhere, on any device, keeping you competitive in today’s remote work environment. Plus, Business Central grows with you, easily scaling as your business expands.

 

Enhanced Financial Management

 

Gain real-time insights into your financial performance with Business Central’s robust financial tools. From automating financial reports to managing cash flow and handling multi-currency transactions, Business Central helps you maintain accurate financial records and make decisions.

 

Optimized Supply Chain Management

 

Manage your supply chain like never before with advanced tools that track inventory in real-time, automate reordering, and streamline logistics.

 

Business Central helps you ensure timely deliveries, reduce shipping costs, and optimize warehouse storage, all while predicting stock needs and improving overall efficiency.

 

Automated Sales and Service

 

Boost your sales and service operations with features that manage the entire customer lifecycle. From automating sales processes to tracking service contracts and resolving issues quickly, Business Central provides valuable insights to better understand and meet your customers’ needs.

 

Cost-Effective Solution

 

With Business Central, you get the benefits of a powerful cloud ERP without the high costs. The subscription-based model eliminates the need for large upfront investments, and you can avoid the expenses of servers, IT resources, and maintenance.

 

You can start using Business Central right out of the box and be up and running in no time.

 

If you’re ready to see how Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central can revolutionize your business, reach out to us for a personalized consultation.

 

Error During Platform Update – “UpdateRetailSelfService.ps1 failed”

Starting the process of digital transformation for your company it’s not easy. In one of our previous blog posts, we shared how to install a deployable package like platform update/D365 version, and one of the errors we encountered in the Sync AX Database step.

 

As many of you know during the installation of the platform update you might encounter various errors. This time we would like to share a quick fix for the following error: “UpdateRetailSelfService.ps1 failed”

 

 

For this error try to start the Azure Storage Emulator on your D365 environment. As soon as you get the confirmation that the storage emulator is running you can click on the resume in LCS or rerun the failed step in your already opened cmd:

 

AXUpdateInstaller.exe execute -runbookid=”runbook1″ -rerunstep=52

 

 

Now the error is fixed.

 

No need to thanks us, we are glad to help you. So, if you are in need of someone to upgrade your systems from Microsoft Dynamics AX to Dynamics 365, we are open to future collaboration. Reach out to us here.

Sync AX Database Error – Installing Platform Update Deployable Package

If you are reading this blog post, you have encountered the same issues as us, so don’t worry you are not alone in this process.

 

For you who are for the first time here, you should check our previous blog post, learn how to install a deployable package like platform update/D365 version, and start the digital transformation of your company.

 

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During the installation of the platform update package on your environment, you might get an error in the Sync AX Database step. Although there might be different errors when this step is executed the most common is the following (usually if you perform the installation on a local VM):

 

 

“The running command stopped because the preference variable “ErrorActionPreference” or common parameter is set to Stop: System.Management.Automation.RuntimeException: An exception of type System.Net.WebException occurred when making an http request to: http://127.0.0.1:80/ReportServer. Refer to the log file for more details.”

 

The error can easily be resolved following the steps below.

 

1. Open the SQL Reporting Services Configuration Manager (as an administrator).

 

 

2. Before clicking on the connect button check if the “Server Name” is the same as Computer Name.

 

 

3. The next step would be starting the SSRS server. If the server is already up and running please stop it and then again click on the start button.

 

 

4. As soon as you get a confirmation that the Report server is up and running you can continue with the installation of the deployable package using the command:

 

AXUpdateInstaller.exe execute -runbookid=”<name of the runbook>” -rerunstep=<step id where the update failed>

 

In our case this would be:

AXUpdateInstaller.exe execute -runbookid=”runbook1″ -rerunstep=25

 

Another error you can encounter in the process is “UpdateRetailSelfService.ps1 failed”, and here you can find our solution for it.

Installing a Deployable Package – Platform Update D365 Version

The digital transformation of your company will fundamentally change how you operate and deliver value to the end customer. No matter the industry you are in if you are using an older version of Dynamics, you should consider updating to Dynamics 365 version.

 

So, in this blog post, we are sharing the steps for installing a deployable package like platform update/D365version.

 

1. Download the deployable package from LCS.
2. Customize the necessary files for the update.
3. Execute the commands using the axupdateinstaler.exe.

 

Before we jump into the process of installing a deployable package we would like to point out that you’ll need to:

 

1.1. Download the deployable package from LCS. When the file is downloaded check the general properties and make sure that they are like in the photo. (if there is a checkbox “unlock” make sure it’s marked)

 

 

1.2. Unzip the file in a new location. For example, C:\package. This should be done because of the length of the file path (just avoid using downloads or temp and MAKE SURE your folder doesn’t have space characters)

 

1.3. The package should look like this:

 

 

2.1. In that folder find the file: DefaultTopologyData.xml Right click and edit. Leave the notepad window open.

 

 

2.2  In the same folder open cmd as an administrator

 

 

2.3. Execute the command: AXUpdateInstaller.exe list

 

 

2.4. Copy all of the services you’ve got from the cmd command into the DefaultTopologyData.xml file ( <string>XXX</string> ) and save the file.

 

<ServiceModelList>

<string>AOSService</string>

<string>DevToolsService</string>

<string>ALMService</string>

<string>BIService</string>

<string>DIXFService</string>

<string>MROneBox</string>

<string>PayrollTaxModule</string>

<string>PerfSDK</string>

<string>ReportingService</string>

<string>RetailCloudPos</string>

<string>RetailHQConfiguration</string>

<string>RetailSDK</string>

<string>RetailSelfService</string>

<string>RetailServer</string>

<string>RetailStorefront</string>

<string>SCMSelfService</string>

<!– DefaultTopologyData are only for dev vhd, which we only support AOS update–>

<!– Create a new topology data for your Cloud AX topology–>

</ServiceModelList>

 

3.1. On the currently running cmd windows execute this command:

 

AXUpdateInstaller.exe generate -runbookid=”runbook1″ -topologyfile=”DefaultTopologyData.xml” -servicemodelfile=”DefaultServiceModelData.xml” -runbookfile=”runbook1.xml”

 

(note: the “runbook1” and “runbook1.xml” are just an example, type your text as you want)

 

This command would generate the runbook that will provide step-by-step instructions for updating the environment.

 

3.2. Next, execute the following command:

 

AXUpdateInstaller.exe import -runbookfile=”runbook1.xml”

 

3.3. And the last step is:

AXUpdateInstaller.exe execute -runbookid=”runbook1″

After successful deployment, the cmd will look like this (the number of steps may vary but you need to get the last step completed and get a clean command line)

 

 

After all the steps are done the D365 should have the desired platform update/ version.

 

*Note: If any of the steps fail you can use this command to rerun the deployment from the step that failed after troubleshooting it:

 

AXUpdateInstaller.exe execute -runbookid=”runbook1″ -rerunstep=25

 

If you are in need of someone to upgrade your systems from Microsoft Dynamics AX to Dynamics 365, we are open to future collaboration.

 

Reach out to us here, and if you are interested in potential career opportunities, check out our careers page.

AZCOPY for Easier and Faster Download of Files

Those of you who are familiar with the struggle of waiting hours for downloading a file from LCS (either for the Platform Update zip files or the Database backups from the Asset Library) can now benefit from the AzCopy app.

 

First things first and that means downloading the azcopy application which can be found here.

 

After downloading it, extract the zip file into the desired location (in my case is the “C:\” Drive).

 

 

 

 

Now, to use it we need to open cmd from the folder where you’ve extracted the zip file (or open cmd and navigate to that folder).

 

 

The command that we are going to use is:

 

azcopy copy “<Source Destination>” “<Desired/Target Destination>” –recursive=true

 

Based on the command above we can see that we have two parameters which be changed based on our activity.

 

As an example, I am trying to download the PlatformUpdate package to my local VM and for that first, I’ve logged in to the LCS and picked up the desirable package from the AssetLibrary but only to get the download link which I’ll use in the command.

 

 

Now equipped with what we need we can modify the command to suit us.

 

*NOTE: Please look at the end of the second parameter. You can notice that I’ve named my file as “pu10_16.zip”. If you don’t specify the name and especially the type of file your downloading, the azopy will download it as type “file” and you don’t want that cause it will be of no use for you.

 

azcopy copy “https://uswedpl1catalog.blob.core.windows.net/product-navproductname/6567e2af-004a-4f7b-91a1-d41fcca4e095/NavProductName-22-10-6ffd92c1-b99d-4d62-9a2c-4f3278adc44d-6567e2af-004a-4f7b-91a1-d41fcca4e095?sv=2015-12-11&sr=b&sig=yTbGuo9taddUO%2FtpUzrr65XZkTE58O5rA9PEhU9dVjc%3D&se=2021-01-29T09%3A37%3A05Z&sp=r” “C:\Platform_Update\pu10_16.zip” –recursive=true

 

 

You can see that my 5GB were downloaded in less than 20 minutes (way faster than using the regular download). Satisfied with the results I can now continue with deploying the platfrom_update package to my local D365 VM.

If you need to do the same there is another blog regarding the installation of platform update packages on the following link.