Enterprise Portal Deployment
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009
Mey Meenakshisundaram
May 04 2009
http://blogs.msdn.com/solutions
http://blogs.msdn.com/epblog
Some Quick Tips
 If you have a smaller screen resolution,
please scroll horizontally to see the
whole screen.
 All lines are on mute. Please hold on
your questions till the Q&A Session.
 You can also use the Q&A option of the
Live Meeting to note your questions.
Influence the Future!
Customer & Partner Research Councils
 Interact directly with Microsoft Dynamics product team
 Provide feedback only when relevant to you/your company
 Influence the future of your Microsoft Dynamics solution
 Roadmap “previews” helping you better plan your business
 Peer interaction giving you deeper insight into best practices
 Attend invite-only advisory board meetings
SIGN UP TODAY! EMAIL US AT dynresch@microsoft.com
EP deployment Steps
Pre Requisites
Configuration
Deployment
Site Creation / (User Provisioning)
Prerequisites
 WSS 3.0 SP1 or MOSS 2007 SP1
 IIS 6/7
 .NET 3.5 / SP1
 ASP.net 2.0/3.0/3.5
 SQL AMO
 ADOMD.net
 AOT Classes fully compiled without errors
 Make sure you compile in a machine where .NET BC
is installed
EP Prerequisites
Auto Install WSS
 Specify the download location
 Make sure it’s SP1
 Specify the SQL Server
 Must have db_creator access
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Web
Server Extensions\12.0\Version
and expects the value to be greater than 12.0.0.6039
What does EP deploy do?
What does EP deploy do? – contd…
AxUpdatePortal Utility
The AxUpdatePortal utility, installed with Service Pack 1 of Microsoft Dynamics AX, is often needed when deploying
changes, such as modifications, or additions from AOT to Enterprise Portal Server and to the Sites. It will help you deploy
Web-related changes to all Enterprise Portal sites on an IIS server in just one step. Without this tool, to deploy files either you
need to rerun Ax Setup on EP server or use Manage Deployment UI from the Ax Client on the web server. To deploy selected
pages, you need to go to AOT and deploy from the page definition node. This little tool which is a command line tool
automates all this in one single step.
What does AxUpdatePortal do?
Note : In Windows 2008, Run this command
prompt utility in Administrator Mode
http://<centraladminsite>/_admin/Solutions.aspx
Central Administration > Operations > Solution Management
What does AxUpdatePortal do?
AxUpdatePortal utility
For more info refer to http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd261467.aspx
Some general Q&A about this tool

[Q]So going forward, if you create another website or site collection for EP, do you
have to run AXUpdatePortal ?
[A]No. If you are just creating a site or site collection, you don’t need to run
AxUpdatePortal. AxUpdatePortal is required only if you have made changed in AOT and you want to push these
changes to the web server you would use this utility. Earlier you would push the changes from AOT to web server
, by rerunning AxSetup or by using the Update button in Manage Deployments.You can still do the same way or
use the AxUpdatePortal Utility.
Other Advantage of AxUpdatePortal utility is if you have number of page definitions changed in AOT and you
want to deploy these changed pages to the existing EP sites, earlier you need to right click each one of the
changed page definition node in AOT and deploy. The AxUpdatePortal utility simplifies this.So, if you are going to
just create a new site or site collection, you don’t need to run AxUpdatePortal. Only if something is changed in
AOT after the site is created and you need to push these changes, then you would use this utility
 [Q]‘Manage deployment’ does not work on 64 bit machines – is that correct?

[A] Yes on 64 bit machine, it does not work. It does work in 32 bit machines. That is one of the
reasons why AxUpdatePortal utility was released in SP1 which provides the same functionality and works in both
32 and 64 bit env.
EP Site Definition
 EP site definition - AOT under Web\Web Files\Site Definition
 Contains two configurations
 Microsoft Dynamics Enterprise Portal – for authenticated users
 Microsoft Dynamics Public – for anonymous users
 Custom templates – AOT under Web\Web Files\Site Templates.
 Deployed to
 <drive>:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server
extensions\12\TEMPLATE\SiteTemplates\AXSITEDEF folder
 EP master page (defaultax.master)
 default.aspx,
 onet.xml files.
 <drive>:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server
extensions\12\TEMPLATE\<lcid>\AXSITEDEF
 Web Part page templates are deployed to the language specific site definition folder:
EP Features
 A SharePoint feature represents a modular server-side, file system-level customization
that contains items that can be installed and activated in a SharePoint environment. The
feature definitions are deployed to <drive>:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft
Shared\web server extensions\12\TEMPLATE\FEATURES
 DynamicsSearch
For enabling EP search control on EP Sites which enables
searching across Ax and SharePoint data.
 DynamicsAxEnterprisePortal Basic EP deployment steps such as
deploying master and other files and components, setting navigation providers
and registering to Ax is packaged as this feature. This is for Windows SharePoint
Services environment.
 DynamicsAxEnterprisePortalMOSS This is for Microsoft Office
SharePoint Server environment specific deployment steps.
 DynamicsAxDataConnection This is for deploying the Office Data
Connection fields ( odc) used by KPI lists and Business Overview Web Part in
Role Centers.
EP Static Files
 Proxies is an text file which is used by EP deployment to generate C#
proxy files for the X++ class and table methods and enums.
 EPSetupParams is an XML file used to define the default EP site
attributes such as title, description, url when the Site is auto created
through EP setup.
 The Static files node also has other infrastructure related files such as
 the aspx file used for import/export of page and list definitions
 search control
 doc handling infrastructure files
 master page
 common ASP.NET pages
 images
 style sheets and configuration files
EP Style sheets
 Each Web Part applies the current theme and uses it to refer to the
corresponding EP style sheets.
 For example, if the folder name of the currently applied theme in
the EP site is called Afternoon, the Web Part refers to the
AxEPAfternoon.css file from the EP’s Stylesheets folder. This
folder is found on the Web server under
 <drive>:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web
server extensions\12\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\ep\stylesheets.
 For each theme , EP has four style sheets.




AXEP.css is the base style sheet used by EP.
AXEP_RTL.css is for Right-to-Left languages
AXEP_CRC.css for AX Client Role Center
AXEP_CRC_RTL.css for Right-to-Left languages
Web Part Page
Templates
Feature
Definitions
EP Web user
controls and static
files
Site Definition
Common Issues/Questions
 EP installation fails with below error msg
"Entering function Remove40WPPackage
Entering function Is40WPPackageInstalled
Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 Web Part package axwebparts.cab installation status False
Leaving function Is40WPPackageInstalled
Leaving function Remove40WPPackage
Leaving function RemoveOldWebPartPackage
Could not load file or assembly 'Microsoft.Dynamics.AX.Fim.PaymentService, Version=5.0.0.0,
Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file
specified."
The above error msg is misleading. If you go further down in the setup log file you will see the
SysDevelopmentProxy error .
So to resolve this issue, you just to recompile this class in a
machine with .NET BC
Common Issues/Questions
 The w3wp.exe process crashes during installation. You get the following error in the
application event log:Faulting application w3wp.exe, version 7.0.6001.18000, time stamp 0x47919ed8, faulting
module kernel32.dll, version 6.0.6001.18000, time stamp 0x4791ada5, exception code 0xe053534f, fault offset
0x000000000002649d, process id 0x%9, application start time 0x%10.
Install SQL AMO (Analysis Management Objects Collections) depending on the SQL
version installed that is hosting the AX databases.
The new updated AX 2009 Installation guide reflects the requirements for installing AX 2009 Role Centers and Enterprise Portal.

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 RTM Enterprise Portal Site creation fails or the default page comes with
unexpected error in the UI and with “A Progress Template must be specified on
UpdateProgress control with ID ‘AXProgressControl’” error in the event log. How to
fix this?
.NET 3.5SP1 has a breaking change from .NET 3.5. So if you have installed .NET 3.5 SP1 instead of just .NET 3.5, EP will give “A
Progress Template must be specified on UpdateProgress control with ID ‘AXProgressControl’” error. There is a hotfix available for
Ax 2009 RTM. This is also fixed in the upcoming Ax 2009 SP1. So either uninstall .NET3.5SP1 and install .NET3.5 or get the hotfix
from Ax support or get Ax 2009 SP1. Either one of these three approaches will fix this issue.
So Ax 2009 RTM EP works with .NET 3.5 . It does not work with .NET 3.5SP1.
Ax 2009 RTM EP+ hotfix works with both .NET 3.5 and .NET 3.5SP1.
Ax 2009 SP1 EP will work with both .NET 3.5 and .NET 3.5SP1.
Common Issues/Questions

Installation of Enterprise portal component, gives the following error:Error executing code:
SysDevelopmentProxy (object) has no valid runable code in method 'generate'.
a. Go to Ax Client ( on a machine where Business Connector is installed)
b. Open the AOT\Classes node
c. Right click on the SysDevelopmentProxy class node and select compile
and
make sure it compiles correctly. Then run the EP deployment.

I have successfully created the EP Site and I can view the site. But other users are not able to view it.
a. Make sure the user is added to Ax and to the right AX user groups.
b. Make sure the user is configured as Employee or Customer or Vendor in User Relations form in Ax
c. Make sure the user is added in EP site using Site Settings
i. Click on the “Site Actions” tab, and select “Site Settings” from the drop down list
ii. Click the “People and groups” link
iii. Click the “New” button, in the “Add Users” page click the “Add all authenticated users” and check all the permissions boxes to
give all configured users full rights
iv. Click “OK”

In Enterprise Portal setup BC Proxy Account cannot be set if the FQDN is not a superset of the short domain
name
In Enterprise Portal setup BC Proxy Account cannot be set if the FQDN is not a superset of the short domain name
if the FQDN is different from the short domain name , for example
If the FQDN = XYZ.microsoft.com
and the short dominname = XYZCORP
then setting the BCProxy user during EP setup fails.
To workaround,
(1) change the app pool in IIS used by the EP Site to to be run by the bc proxy account with the FQDN specified.
(2) Also blank out the business connector proxy account in Ax.
(3) Then run EP setup and n the BC proxy user dialog , use the FQDN of the bc proxy.
Common Issues/Questions

EP Deployment is successful but when I try to navigate the site, I get 404
error
When EP Site is created, it activates number of EP features and one of them registers the site with Ax ( adds an
entry in WebSite table) and sets the master page. If the user that is set as the Primary administrator account for the
site during Site Creation does not have access to Ax, this fails but site creation does not return error. After the site
is created, it gives 404 error.
So if you get 404 error, make sure EP is deployed correctly and then when creating EP site ,
specify a valid AX user account as the administrator of the site.

When I create EP site , it creates immediately and when I navigate it displays
a team site
At the time of EP Site creation, if AOS is down or if .NET BC Configuration specified in Configuration Utility is
incorrect, EP Site creation does not report error but creates the site. Since it's not able to connect to AOS, it
appears as a team site. To resolve this problem, make sure the .NET BC configuration in Ax Configuration Utility
is correct and is pointing to a valid running AOS.

After I installed EP, the IIS Web site on which I installed EP appears to be in
stop mode.
When an IIS Web site is not yet extended with SharePoint and when you run EP setup on this site, EP Setup
extends the IIS Web site using SharePoint object model. SharePoint actually creates a new IIS Website using the
same port and extends it and installs EP on it. The old site is stopped because it uses the same port. SharePoint
does it this way, later you have some other system installed on the old site, you could just change the port and
restart it.
So this is not an error. This is the behavior of SharePoint installation. When you install SharePoint on existing
IIS Web site, it creates a new IIS web site.
Common Issues/Questions

Manage Deployments dialog in Ax Client for Enterprise Portal may not function correctly on
64 bit machine
Manage Deployments dialog in Ax Client for Enterprise Portal may not function correctly on 64 bit machine
Administration->Setup -> Internet -> Enterprise Portal -> Manage deployments on 64 bit machine may give
"Manage Deployment can not run because Enterprise Portal is not deployed on this computer" even though
Enterprise Portal is deployed and working fine. Manage Deployment is used to update the Enterprise Portal web
server with the changed made in AOT web files and resources. To workaround this problem, use the alternate way
of publishing these changes to the web server, which is running Ax Setup and deploy EP without recreating the
site.
Or use AxUpdatePortal utility shipped in SP1.

EP Site creation is successful. But when trying to browse the EP site, the below error in eventlog
System.NotSupportedException occurred
Message="Enterprise Portal digest requires ASP.NET view state MAC to be enabled."
Source="Microsoft.Dynamics.Framework.Portal"
StackTrace:
at Microsoft.Dynamics.Framework.Portal.UI.WebControls.AxDigest.OnInit(EventArgs e)
InnerException:
EP requires EnableViewStateMac set to true in your web.config. So check your web.config and set it to
true. In case of Web farm , make sure the machinekey in web.config on all front-end web servers use the same key.

Deploying Ax 2009 SP1 EP
Setting Up New Enterprise Portal Servers in new Ax installation
1. Install Dynamics AX 2009 AOS and Client
a. Do not install EP during this step.
2. Complete the Initialization Checklist.
3. Run the SP1 patch on the AOS and Client.
4. Complete the Update Checklist. Now the AOS is ready with SP1.
5. Now Install Enterprise Portal and create EP Sites on the EP Server using Ax Setup. ( Make sure all the X++ classes are successfully compiled in a
machine where .NET BC is installed, before starting EP deployment)
6. Run SP1 patch on every EP Server

Setting Up New Enterprise Portal Servers in existing Dynamics AX 2009 RTM installation (
but EP was not deployed before)
1. Run the SP1 patch on the AOS and Client
2. Complete the Update Checklist
3. Now Install Enterprise Portal and create EP Sites on the EP Server using Ax Setup. ( Make sure all the X++ classes are successfully compiled in a
machine where .NET BC is installed, before starting EP deployment)
4. Run SP1 patch on every EP Server

Upgrading from Dynamics AX 2009 RTM Enterprise Portal Server/Site to Dynamics AX 2009 SP1 ( EP
was deployed and sites have been created in Ax 2009 RTM)
1. Run the SP1 patch on the AOS and Client
2. Complete the Update Checklist
3. Run the SP1 patch on every EP Server.( Make sure all the X++ classes are successfully compiled in a machine where .NET BC is installed, before
starting EP deployment)
4. Redeploy EP Components to every EP Server by running the below command
a. Run the following from a command prompt: AxUpdatePortal –iisreset –verbose >>”C:\EPUpdate.log”
Kerberos
Setting up EP in NLB Clutser
 Install SharePoint
 on the Farm Admin IIS Server ( one of the IIS Server where EP will be
installed and additionally where SharePoint Central admin will be installed) ,
when installing SharePoint create new Server Farm
 Install SharePoint on all servers that will be part of the web farm. All the
steps are the same as the admin server, except connecting to a server farm.
You want to connect to an existing farm.
 Create a Web Application on the Farm Admin server
 Do not configure the Service Credentials, choose predefined
 Deploy EP on all servers, but do not use the create website option.
 Run EP deployment on all servers in the farm After installation is complete
on all servers .
 Run EP deployment on the farmadmin server, and check SharePoint and
create the website
Useful Links
 EP install guide
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=4B681C44-D944-4B3F-B846-1E2A025569FD&displaylang=en
 EP Admin guide
http://download.microsoft.com/download/f/9/1/f91ba83c-7937-4f8e-a5d6-d9ef990330cb/EPAdmin.pdf
 Kerberos
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=be720eb3-649a-49ff-b019-a1e4e7af6b47&displaylang=en&tm
 SSL
http://blogs.msdn.com/solutions/archive/2008/10/23/ep-ssl-https-setup.aspx
https://mbs.microsoft.com/downloads/customer/AX/WhitePapers/How%20to%20make%20an%20existing%20Enterprise%20
Portal%20site%20SSL%20enabled.docx
 NLB
http://blogs.msdn.com/solutions/archive/2008/10/17/setting-up-ep-in-nlb-cluster.aspx
 SP1
http://blogs.msdn.com/solutions/archive/2009/02/04/deploying-ax-2009-sp1-ep.aspx
EMAIL US AT
dynresch@microsoft.com