HELLO ALL!
With the release of Microsoft Dynamics GP 2015, you will want to think about the steps you will have to take when upgrading the Web Client.
One thing to take into consideration when upgrading the Web Client is that, you will want to verify whether you are in a single or multi server environment. If you are running in a single server environment you will be upgrading the Session Central Service and Session Service on one server. If you are running a multi-server environment you will want to be sure that you are installing the Session Central Service update on the Session Central Server. The same goes for the Session Service server. Also, if you are running multiple Session Service Servers, you will want to be sure that you are upgrading all of them so that they are the same Web Client version.
You are going to notice a couple differences between GP 2013 and GP 2015 install/upgrade process. The first thing is that you will see two different options in the initial installer screen. There is one for Web Client and one for Web Components. For all intents and purposes, they will do the same thing. We just thought we would save some confusion by keeping the Web Client option there until the next release where you will only see Web Components.
The second difference is that you will notice is that there are options to install Service Based Architecture (SBA). This part of the installation is not covered in this particular article, but I want you be aware that these options will be there. If you are not using SBA, you can right click on Service Based Architecture and SBA Session Manager and select ‘Not Available’.
Please see below for instructions on how to upgrade a single server environment and a multi-server environment. I’d like you to note, there are special instructions if you happen to be running Tenant Services. You would want to refer to the Install and Administration Guide.
Link to the Web Client Install Admin Guide:
https://mbs.microsoft.com/customersource/northamerica/GP/downloads/service-packs/MDGP2015_WebClientServicePacksHotfixes
Tenant Services Documentation: You can find the Tenant Services upgrade documentation on the install media if you go to Documentation\Manuals. The file is called TSInstallAdminGuide.
Before you perform the upgrade for the Microsoft Dynamics GP web client, you must perform the upgrade for the database and the desktop client components. Use
Microsoft Dynamics GP Utilities to upgrade the system database and the company databases. Refer to the procedures described in the upgrade documentation for Microsoft Dynamics GP to complete this process. You can find the documentation at the link below.
GP Upgrade Documentation:
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj673201%28v=gp.20%29.aspx
You should verify that the desktop client is working properly before you continue with the Microsoft Dynamics GP web client upgrade. Resolve any issues before you continue.
Be sure that all of the users have signed out of the system before you start the web client upgrade process.
Installing the upgrade
To install an upgrade of the Microsoft Dynamics GP web client in the single machine configuration, complete the following procedure.
From the Microsoft Dynamics GP installation media, double-click the Setup.exe file to open the Microsoft Dynamics GP installation window.
Click Web Components and then click Install.
Select to upgrade your existing web client installation.
4. The installation wizard will default with the selections from the installation being upgraded. You can change settings as needed. You can also select to add
the service based architecture components to the installation. Upgrading the database will ask you for a new database name, defaulting to GPCONFIGURATION. The data will be migrated to the new database when running the configuration wizard.
5. When the installation is complete, run the Dynamics GP Web Components Configuration Wizard. You can access this from the Start menu.
6. At the Welcome screen, click Next.
7. Click Exit.
8. The Microsoft Dynamics GP Web Client Help installer will be started. Click Install to complete the help installation process.
9. Click Finish to close the installer.
Updating the online help
If a web client upgrade has updated help content, use the following procedure to install the updated help content.
Open the Programs and Features control panel.
Select Microsoft Dynamics GP Web Client Help, and then click Change.
Click Remove to remove the existing web client help. The process may take a few minutes.
Click Finish.
Start the installer for the updated help content. The installer has the following name: Microsoft_DynamicsGP12_GPWebClientHelp.msi.
At the Welcome screen, click Install. The installation process may take a few minutes.
Click Finish.
Client machine update steps
To ensure that the updated Microsoft Dynamics GP web client is working properly, you should perform the following steps on each of the client machines that access the web client.
1. Clear the Internet Explorer browser cache. This helps to ensure that the updated Application and help
files are being used for the web client. To clear the browser cache, open Internet Explorer. In theTools menu, choose. Internet options. In the Browsing history group, click Delete
2. In the Delete Browsing History window, be sure to remove the temporary Internet files. Click Delete.
3. After the browser cache has been cleared, click OK.
4. In Internet Explorer, go to the Microsoft Dynamics GP web client site. Sign in to the web client.
5. If you watch closely, you should see a new Silverlight application is downloaded for the Microsoft Dynamics GP web client
6. Look in the lower-right corner to verify the trust level for the web client. If you see the icon indicating that the web client is running in sandboxed mode, you have an additional step to perform.
The Silverlight application included with the updated web client may have been signed with a security certificate that is not available on the client machine. To get this certificate, you must run the DynamicsGPTrustedApp.msi that is included with the updated web client code. Use the procedure described in Trusted Mode on page 121 on the Web Client Install Admin Guide to install the needed security certificates and enable trusted mode.
Preparing for the Scale out upgrade
The first step to performing the upgrade for a scale out installation is to upgrade for the database and the desktop client components for Microsoft Dynamics GP. Use Dynamics GP Utilities to upgrade the system database and the company databases. Refer to the procedures described in the upgrade documentation for Microsoft Dynamics GP to complete this process.
You should verify that at least one desktop client installation is working properly before you continue with the Microsoft Dynamics GP web client upgrade. Resolve any issues before you continue.
Be sure that all of the users have signed out of the system before you start the web client upgrade process.
If you are using Tenant Services with your Microsoft Dynamics GP web client installation, you must apply the update to Tenant Services before you update the web client components.
Refer to the Tenant Services Installation and Administration Guide for information about updating Tenant Services. The Microsoft Dynamics GP upgrade can take place after the upgrade of the web client since older versions of the Microsoft Dynamics GP runtime can be used with the latest version of the web components.
Updating the web site and Session Central Service
To install the upgrade for the web site and the Session Central Service, complete the following procedure.
Log in to the machine that is running the web site and the Session Central Service for the Microsoft Dynamics GP web client installation.
From the Microsoft Dynamics GP installation media, double-click the Setup.exe
file to open the Microsoft Dynamics GP installation window.Click Web Components and then click Install.
Select to upgrade your existing web client installation.
5. The installation wizard will default with the selections from the installation being upgraded. You can change settings as needed. You can also select to add the service based architecture components to the installation. Upgrading the database will ask you for a new database name, defaulting to GPCONFIGURATION. The data will be migrated to the new database when running the configuration wizard.
6. When the installation is complete, run the Dynamics GP Web Components Configuration Wizard. You can access this from the Start menu.
7. At the Welcome screen, click Next.
8. Specify the type of authentication you want to use to connect to the SQL Server where the database for the Web Components is located. Click Next to continue.
9. Review the configuration actions that will be performed. Click Next to
continue
10. Click Exit.
11. The Microsoft Dynamics GP Web Client Help installer will be started. Click Install to complete the help installation process.
12. Click Finish to close the installer
Updating session host machines
To install the upgrade for each session host machine in the scale out installation,
complete the following procedure.
Log in to the session host machine.
If you haven’t already done so, perform the update for the Microsoft Dynamics
GP desktop client components. Be sure that the desktop client on the session
host machine is working properly before you continue this upgrade procedure.
From the Microsoft Dynamics GP installation media, double-click the Setup.exe
file to open the Microsoft Dynamics GP installation window.
Click Web Components and then click Install.
Select to upgrade your existing web client installation.
The installation wizard will default with the selections from the installation
being upgraded. You can change settings as needed. You can also select to add
the service based architecture components to the installation. When asked for
the web components database, provide the new database name selected when
upgrading the web server.
When the installation is complete, run the Dynamics GP Web Components Configuration Wizard. You can access this from the Start menu.
At the Welcome screen, click Next.
Specify the type of authentication you want to use to connect to the SQL Server where the database for the Web Components is located. Click Next to continue.
Review the configuration actions that will be performed. Click Next to continue.
Click Exit.
Start the installer for the updated help content. The installer has the following name: Microsoft_DynamicsGP12_GPWebClientHelp.msi.
At the Welcome screen, click Install. The installation process may take a few minutes.
Click Finish.
Verifying the services
When all of the components of the web client installation have been updated, verify that the services are working correctly.
On the machine that is hosting the web site for the web client installation, verify that the Session Central Service is running.
On each session host machine, verify that the Session Service is running.
In the Session Management snap-in for the Web Management Console, all of the session host machines should be listed. Be sure that each machine is set to
allow new web client sessions.
At this point, you can allow users to sign in to the Microsoft Dynamics GP Web Client
Client machine update steps
To ensure that the updated Microsoft Dynamics GP web client is working properly,you should perform the following steps on each of the client machines that access the web client.
Clear the Internet Explorer browser cache. This helps to ensure that the updated application and help files are being used for the web client.
To clear the browser cache, open Internet Explorer. In the Tools menu, choose
Internet options. In the Browsing history group, click Delete.
In the Delete Browsing History window, be sure to remove the temporary Internet files. Click Delete.
After the browser cache has been cleared, click OK.
In Internet Explorer, go to the Microsoft Dynamics GP web client site. Sign in to the web client.
If you watch closely, you should see a new Silverlight application is downloaded for the Microsoft Dynamics GP web client
.Look in the lower-right corner to verify the trust level for the web client. If you see the icon indicating that the web client is running in sandboxed mode, you have an additional step to perform.
The Silverlight application included with the updated web client may have been signed with a security certificate that is not available on the client machine. To get this certificate, you must run the DynamicsGPTrustedApp.msi that is included with the updated web client code. Use the procedure described in Trusted Mode on page 121 on the Web Client Install Admin Guide to install the needed security certificates and enable trusted mode.
Happy Upgrading!!
Ross