Tuning the startup and managing memory on AX-SRV-01

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A few internal folks and partners have commented about their usage of the AX2009 Demo VMs. They don't use all the applications and services that are installed and so have asked if they can tune the start-up time of the VM and better manage the memory. So here are some manual notes that we will incorporate into an update of the demo VM.

On a few differnet machines I've tried these notes with different disk configurations, it will get the cold start up time between 1-2minutes. Then turn on the services that you need for your demo.

1. Set the SQL Max Memory see note posted here

https://blogs.msdn.com/lcash/archive/2009/04/03/setting-the-max-memory-on-sql.aspx

2. Disable the second network card inside the VM. This will save the VM on start up getting an IP address. If you need to using external networking from inside the VM for your demo. Then best to get the machine started and enabled the card just when you need the external network access. Also avoiding using an external network will help reduce authentication problems with SSRS and SharePoint. See note on setting up AX-SRV-01 here

https://blogs.msdn.com/lcash/archive/2009/04/02/setting-up-the-microsoft-dynamics-ax-2009-demo-vms-in-vpc2007.aspx

3. Tune the list of services that you have starting up. The following list is some general guidance on which services you could turn off and set to manual. Then turn on just the ones that you want to use.

·         Demand Planner Collaborative Server

·         Dynamics AX 2009 Synchronization Services

·         Dynamics AX Object Server 5.0$01-AX593

 

  

·         IIS Admin Service

·         World Wide Web Publishing Service

·         Windows SharePoint Services Administration

·         Windows SharePoint Services Timer

·         Windows SharePoint Services Tracing

·         Windows SharePoint Service VSS Writer

·         Office SharePoint Server Search

 

          

·         SQL Server Agent (MSSQLSERVER)

·         SQL Server Browser

·         SQL Server Analysis Services (MSSQLSERVER)

·         SQL Server FullText Search (MSSQLServer)

·         SQL Server Reporting Services (MSSQLSERVER)

·         SQL Server VSS Writer

·         SQL Server (MSSQLServer)

      

          

·         Message Queuing

·         Microsoft Office Project Server Events Server

·         Microsoft Office Project Server Queue Server

 

 

·         Planning Process Service

 

 

·         Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)

·         Microsoft POP3 Service

          

          

·         Microsoft Single Sign-On Service

·         File Replication Service

·         Machine Debug Manager

·         Task Scheduler

·         Network Location Awareness (NLA)

·         Windows Internet Name Service (WINS)

 

·         Optional Print Spooler, only if you don’t do printing it your demos otherwise you won't be able to display report previews etc

You can turn on just the services that you need which will save you memory and help the start up time of the time.  

If you only want to use AX with out Role Centers then start these services :

  • SQL Server (MSSQLServer)
  • Dynamics AX Object Server 5.0$01-AX593

If you want to use Role Cetners then start these services after the AX AOS has started :

  • IIS Admin Service
  • World Wide Web Publishing Service
  • Windows SharePoint Service Administration
  • Windows SharePoint Services Timer
  • SQL Server Analysis Services (MSSQLSERVER)
  • SQL Server Reporting Services (MSSQLSERVER)

Note that event if you don't want to use Project Server because of the intergration with SharePoint these services will start as well, but you won't be able to stop then as SharePoint Admin will keep restarting them.

  • Microsoft Office Project Server Events Server
  • Microsoft Office Project Server Queue Server

If you want to use search in the Enterprise Portal then turn on these services :

  • Office SharePoint Server Search
  • Windows SharePoint Services Search

If you want to use email then start these services :

  • Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)
  • Microsoft POP Service

If you want to use PPS Planning then start this service :

  • Planning Process Service

If you want to use Project Server Integration then start these services. Before you do this make sure you start the Web Services and SharePoint as noted above :

  • Message Queueing
  • Microsoft Office Project Server Events Server
  • Microsoft Office Project Server Queuing Server
  • Dynamics AX 2009 Syncronization Services

If you want to use Demand Planner Collaboration then start this service :

  • Demand Planner Collaborative Server

If you want to use Version Control Integration with AX and the Mobile Framework then you will need this service :

  • SQL Server Agent (MSSQLSERVER)

If you want to use the System Center Operations Manager then turn on the Health Service on this VM will give the data to the services running on AX-SRV-03.

  • OpsMgt Health Service. - Not this service is disabled as it usesr a lot of CPU and Memory resources so only setup if you need to show this on the VMs.

 

With all the services listed above turned off then you can get the VM running in about 200MB of memory. If you turn on SQL and the AOS to use core AX application functionality then you can run the VM in about 1GB of memory. So if you only have a machine with 2GB of memory this is the best option for you.