Connector for Microsoft Dynamics V3 CU 4 released

  • Article

Support for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 is the primary new feature in Connector for Microsoft Dynamics V3 CU4 (3.4.304.1) which was posted today, December 10th, 2014.

Important release information: 

This version of Connector NO LONGER supports integrations with CRM 2011 or CRM 4.0.  If you have existing integrations to CRM 2011 or CRM 4.0, DO NOT apply this update to those integrations or upgrade the integrated CRM organizations to CRM 2013 or CRM 2015 before applying this update.  Creating a new integration to CRM 2013 or CRM 2015? Then this is the version of Connector that you will want to use.  Creating a new integration to CRM 2011?  Then you will need to use the CU 3 version of Connector which is still available at the download sites listed below. If you have been upgraded to CRM 2015 and have an existing integration using Connector, see the upgrade section below.

Note: The support for creation of new integrations to CRM 4.0 was discontinued several releases ago.

New features with this release include:

  • Support for CRM 2015, which requires the updated CRM solutions included in this release (1.0.1603.5) - these CRM solutions include "CRM2015" in their file names
    • These solutions also provide support for both the summary and information forms for the targeted entities within CRM 2015
  • New mappings for Microsoft Dynamics AX and CRM Contact integration that handle the new address 3 fields included in CRM 2015 contacts properly.  Those changes can be found in the map changes section.
  • The required Microsoft .NET Framework versions (3.5 and 4.5.2) are checked for during installation.  The Microsoft .NET Framework version 4.5.2 can be downloaded here: web installer or offline installer.
  • The new integration template for creating and integration between Microsoft Dynamics GP and CRM using CRM contacts has been removed 
  • All previous updates for CU 3 have been incorporated into this release

Downloads:

To download this release for your Microsoft Dynamics ERP system, go to Customer Source:

  • Connector for Microsoft Dynamics AX
    • If you have applied AX 2012 R2 CU 6 or later or if you are targeting AX 2012 R3, an XPO is no longer needed.  You can run the ConnectorHelper class that is included in those releases to accomplish the required setup tasks in AX 2012 R2.
    • Any release after Connector V3 CU2 (3.2.606.2) will support AX 2012 R3
    • AX 2012 R3 CU 8 is fully supported
    • The contact integration maps have been updated to include mappings for the new CRM 2015 address 3 fields, see the map changes section for more information on these changes
  • Connector for Microsoft Dynamics GP
    • All previously supported versions of GP 2013 are supported
    • GP 2015 is fully supported
    • The ability to create an integration from a template using GP customers and CRM contacts has been removed
  • Connector for Microsoft Dynamics NAV
    • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2015 and all previously supported versions of Dynamics NAV are supported with this release
    • If you are targeting a multi-tenant deployment of Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 R2 this release will make that configuration and integration process easier.  The steps outlined in this post are no longer need with this release of Connector for Microsoft Dynamics.
  • Connector for Microsoft Dynamics SL
    • Previously supported versions of SL continue to be supported by this version

Would you like to know more?  Check out the User Guide for your ERP system and begin your installation preparation. I know, I know; reading documentation can be arduous. But you know what they say: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. So read the provided documentation to avoid the common mistakes and save yourself the support call.  The user guides for all of the ERPs have been updated for this release and all include a V3 upgrade sections that you should be familiar with before upgrading your existing integrations.  All of the known issues documents have been updated as well so please have a look at those too, they can all be found on the Connector download pages. 

Upgrade information:

If you have an existing integration between a Dynamics ERP and CRM and you have been upgraded to CRM 2015 please follow these steps to continue using Connector

  1. Deactivate all currently active maps in all integrations
  2. Stop the Connector for Microsoft Dynamics service
  3. Run the Connector V3 CU 4 MSI for your version of Connector to upgrade your installation of Connector
  4. Import the updated CRM solution into the integrated CRM 2015 organization for your targeted ERP integration
    1. In CRM 2015 navigate to Settings, Solutions
    2. Select to import a solution
    3. Select the updated Connector solution for your targeted Dynamics ERP.  For example in the case of an AX integration this would be C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Dynamics\Microsoft Dynamics Adapter\CRM2015ConnectorForMicrosoftDynamicsAx.zip
  5. Start the Connector for Microsoft Dynamics service
  6. Run the CRM configuration utility for each upgraded CRM organization, selecting to "Skip complete configuration and only generate entity configurations".
    1. This will re-generate the configuration files for all of the entities that they were previously generated for.  If you have hand-edited these files for any reason you will need to re-apply those edits by hand.
    2. Caution: If you do not select the "Skip complete configuration and only generate entity configurations" option in the configuration utility the targeted CRM organization's entire product catalog will be deactivated, re-named, and will need to be re-integrated.
  7. Update your existing contact integration maps if you are integrating with AX
  8. Re-run the Enumerated values to Picklist map
    1. In order to do this operation you will need to set the "check for data modified after" and the "Start date" to 1/1/1900 and then activate the map and save your changes
    2. The above sub step is required because the Enumerated values map is set to be a run once map by default
  9. Re-activate any maps that were active before

AX Map changes

If you have not edited your integration's contact maps you can delete the existing maps and import the news using the "Create map from file" feature within Connector.  You will want to do this after upgrading you integrations as noted above.  If you have customized the contact mappings then you can use the following section to update your existing maps to compensate for the new Address 3 fields in CRM 2015.

  • Contact Persons Service to Contact map
    • Address 3 Integration Key
      • =GetSecondaryAddressId(Person, 2)
  • Contact to Contact persons Service
    • Person\Item\Postal Address View\Item\Roles
      • =If(EqualTo(All Addresses\Customer Address\Address Number, 1), If(IsDefaultValue(Address 1 Address Type\Name), "Other", Address 1 Address Type\Name), If(EqualTo(All Addresses\Customer Address\Address Number, 2), If(IsDefaultValue(Address 2 Address Type\Name), "Other", Address 2 Address Type\Name), If(IsDefaultValue(All Addresses\Customer Address\Address Type\Name), "Other", All Addresses\Customer Address\Address Type\Name)))