Initialization Checklist

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Initialization checklist January 30th, 2015 | Author: admin

Agenda1. Introduct ion2. Init ializat ion checklist

Before you beginCompileAct ivate applicat ion funct ionalityConfigure dataConfigure accounts and profiles

3. Part it ion init ializat ion checklist4. Summary

IntroductionInstalling Dynamics AX is the first step of installat ion process. Follow the link to refresh the info about this process.After Dynamics AX is installed, it should be init ialized. After the init ializat ion, Dynamics AX should be populated w ithdata (manually or by import ing demo data). In this training lesson, we w ill go through Dynamics AX 2012 Init ializat ionchecklist . It is a common procedure for all versions of Dynamics AX. Let s begin.

A license file is required to complete this lesson. If you have access to the Microsoft Partner or Customer sources,you can download the license file from here (the Demo Virtual Machine Licenses sect ion). Microsoft has uploaded anew license file that expires on December 31, 2015.

Initialization checklistMake sure that the Microsoft Dynamics AX object service is running in W indows services. Launch the Dynamics AXclient. The Dynamics AX client w ith the Init ializat ion checklist opens.

Before you begin

When you expand the Before you begin node, you see the Lifecycle services and Customer feedback menuitems. Click the Lifecycle services menu item. As a result , the node is marked as completed and you are proposedto join the Microsoft Lifecycle service. The service is more applicable for project management. It is opt ional and upto you to use it .

The Customer feedback menu item is also opt ional. You can click the Mark as complete menu item.

When both menu items are marked as complete, the Before you begin node is also marked as complete.

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Compile

Open the Compile node. It contains two menu items: Compile application, Compile into .NET Framework CIL.Both steps are mandatory and by the way t ime consuming.

Click the Compile application menu item. You are prompted that it can take long t ime. Click Yes. The systemstarts compiling the applicat ion. On average it takes up to 6 hours.

When the compilat ion process is finished, the Compile application menu item is marked as complete.

Click the Compile into .Net Framework CIL menu item. You are prompted that it can take long t ime. Click Yes.The system starts compiling CIL. On average it takes up to 30 minutes.

When CIL is compiled, the infolog w ith the information about the started services is shown. Now both menu itemsand parent node are marked as complete.

Activate application functionality

Open the Activate application functionality node. It contains two menu items: Provide license information,Configure application functionality.

I have downloaded the Dynamics AX license file from the Partner source.

Click the Provide license information menu item. The License information form opens. Click the Load licensefile button, select the license file, and click OK.

As a result , the Infolog w ith the messages appears and the License information form looks as follows:



On the Feature sets tab, you can find all modules that are enabled.

TIP: If you want to disable some module, the easiest way is to clear the License code field. (You can reload thelicense file at any t ime).

Click the Configure application functionality menu item. The License configuration form opens. You canenable or disable some module features but you cannot disable the ent ire module.

Usually it is required to have either all module features or none. Use the t ip above for instruct ions.

Click OK. We have both menu items and the node marked as complete.



Configure data

Open the Configure data node. It contains three menu items: Modify data types, Synchronize database,Create partit ions.

The Modify data types is an opt ional step. The user can change the default length of any data type. For example(from TechNet): To change the number of decimal values of the Amount data type, enter the number of decimalvalues you require in the Decimals field. If you change the number from 2 to 0, the amount that inherits from theAmount data type appears as 200 instead of 200.00. The change is reflected throughout the system where theAmount data type is used.

Each Dynamics AX table field should have a data type assigned.

Note that it is not about how this type is displayed rather how this type is stored in the SQL. So the TechNetexplanat ion is a bit confusing.

For example the user specifies 20 decimals for the Amount data type. The customer transact ion amount field usesthe Amount data type. The customer transact ion amount is saved in the SQL as 200.0000000000000000 (notethere are no 20 decimals because the SQL maximum size of decimals is 16) and is shown to the User as 200.00.

Because the display format is set up in W indows:

Control Panel\Clock, Language, and RegionChange date, t ime or number format menu buttonAddit ional sett ings buttonof digits after decimal field

Click the Modify data types menu item. The Modify data types form opens.

Leave all values by default and click OK.

On the Synchronize database step, the system creates tables and views (CustTable, CustTrans, SalesTable etc)



in the MicrosofDynamicsAX database from the metadata. For the DAX 2012R2 and above versions, the metadata isstored in the MicrosoftDynamicsAX_model database. For the lower DAX versions, metadata is stored in the sameMicrosoftDynamicsAX database.

Click the Synchronize database menu item. The system starts synchronizat ion. This is a t ime consuming processwhich usually takes up to 30 min.

Start ing from DAX 2012 R2, the Create partit ions menu item is added. For development, test, or educat ionenvironments, it is enough to have one Init ial part it ion that is created by default . Part it ion is a logical split of data.Data from different part it ions is stored in the same database and tables use the same AOS instance. Each datacontains information about its part it ion. Each user has access to one or many part it ions.

Click the Create partit ions menu item. The Partit ions form opens. The form contains one default part it ion. Closethe form.

As a result , we have all three menu items and the node marked as complete.

Configure accounts and profiles

Open the Configure accounts and profiles node. It contains three menu items: Initialize user profiles, Set upApplication Integration Framework, Configure system accounts.

Click the Initialize user profiles menu item. The Initialize user profiles form opens.



Dynamics AX suggests creat ing listed user profiles (user roles) in the system.

For development, test, educat ion environments, the SYSADMIN user role is used. This role is hardcoded and alwaysexists in Dynamics AX. The user w ith the SYSADMIN role has the maximum permissions in Dynamics AX.

For product ion environment, user profiles can be used to restrict access to some data. For example, a sales managershould only see his/her own sales orders and not the orders of another sales manager. Or a billing clerk has accessto Invoices but doesnt have access to the company revenue information.

In any case having suggested user profiles does not harm our Dynamics AX applicat ion. Click the Select all checkbox in the Initialize user profiles form and click OK.

Click the Set up Application Integration Framework menu item. The process takes about 20 minutes. Duringthis t ime, some standard services are published to the AOS. Start ing from DAX 2012, the WSDL services are hostedon the AOS.

For example, you can check that the BI service has been deployed:http://localhost:8102/DynamicsAx/Services/BIServices. Note that in my case, the 8102 port is used (by default it is8101). The port is configurable in the Dynamics AX Client configurat ion (can be run from the Control panel).

The Application Integration Framework is used to exchange data in XML format. Third-party applicat ions canrequest some data from Dynamics AX or send some data to Dynamics AX.

Note that in AIF data is transferred in XML format only. User cannot change the file structure.

AIF is not about the file format it is about data transfer. So, for example, if it is required to export data to the CSVformat, AIF cannot be used.

Click the Configure system accounts menu item. The System service accounts form opens. It is required tospecify the Business connector account.

Dynamics AX Business connector uses this account to log in to Dynamics AX. (So this user should have access toDAX).

Business connector is used by a third-party applicat ion to access the DAX data or run the DAX business logics. It isthe .Net library w ith a set of classes that can be used in third-party applicat ions.

By the way, Business connector is used by SSRS when Dynamics AX reports is run.

I specify my domain account as Business connector account.

Click OK.

As a result , we have all three menu items and nodes marked as complete.



Partition initialization checklistStart ing from DAX 2012 R2, the Part it ions are introduced and the new Partit ion init ialization checklist is added.

Now Dynamics AX has the Companies and the Part it ions. Both are a logical split of data. Data from differentpart it ions and companies is stored in the same database and tables and use the same AOS instance.

A Company is a low level ent ity which contains one-company specific information (for example Sales orders). Someinformation is cross company for example Users, i.e. users are shared between all companies.

A Part it ion is a high level ent ity that has its own set of companies. Part it ion contains mult iple-companies specificinformation plus cross company information. Cross company information from one part it ion is not accessible fromanother part it ion.

For development, test, or educat ion environments, it is enough to have one Init ial part it ion that is created bydefault .

Let s run Dynamics AX. After you complete the tasks in the Initialization checklist, the Partit ion init ializationchecklist opens automatically when you first start the Microsoft Dynamics AX client. You can also open thePartit ion init ialization checklist by clicking System administration > Setup > Checklists > Partit ioninitialization checklist .

The Partit ion init ialization checklist has the following view:



Basically this checklist contains the same steps that were in the Init ializat ion checklist of the previous version ofDynamics AX. You can check it here.

Click the Configure partit ion accounts menu item. The System service accounts form opens. You are askedto enter the Workflow execut ion account. It is an opt ional step. If you do not use the Workflow, you can leavethis account empty. Otherw ise fill it in. Click OK.

Click the Create reference data menu item. The job is run. As a result , all parameters tables are populated w ithdefault values (for example, the CustParameters table), and some default data is populated (for example theCurrency and Language tables).

Click the Create legal entit ies menu item. The Legal entit ies form opens. The default company is alreadycreated in the previous step. It is the DAT company. In the next training lesson we w ill load demo data (w ithcompanies). Click Close.

Click the Setup system parameters menu item. The System parameters form opens. Populate the Systemlanguage field w ith the required language. Note that languages already exist in the Dynamics AX (they werepopulated on the Create reference data step). The rest parameters are opt ional. Close the form.

The The Report data clean up job is added to the batch queue message appears. This job runs recursively toclean up report data. The report data is collected and stored in special tables. When the report is printed, thecollected report data can remain in the Dynamics AX tables. Since this data is no longer required, it can be cleanedup automatically. For this purposes this job is added to the batch queue. You can cancel this and any jobs from thebatch queue later through the User interface: System administration > Inquiries > Batch jobs > Batch jobs.

Click the Import data menu item. The Import options form opens. Microsoft has not prepared the demo data inthe DAT format for this version of Dynamics AX. We w ill import the demo data in the next training lesson. Close the



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form. Mark this step as complete.

Close the Dynamics AX and run again. The Microsoft Dynamics AX w ith all modules opens.

SummaryCongrats! We have completed the Init ializat ion checklist .

Compilat ion and synchronizat ions are the most t ime consuming processes. And at last we did it !

In the next training lesson, we w ill load demo data for the Dynamics AX.

Posted in Installat ion & Configurat ion | Tags: Dynamics AX configurat ion, Dynamics AX init ializat ion

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Dynamics AX TrainingInitialization checklistAgendaIntroductionInitialization checklistBefore you beginCompileActivate application functionalityConfigure dataConfigure accounts and profiles

Partition initialization checklistSummaryLeave a Reply

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Initialization Checklist