TIDBITS on the Microsoft Power Platform

MS CRM Pricing

Big webcast tomorrow, December 1st for partners looking for more information on MS CRM.  Including ..... <drum roll please!> pricing, licensing and other details around the MS CRM 3.0 release.            Link To Register

From the MBS eNewsletter

From the November 2005 issue of the Microsoft Business Insights Newsletter

"Editor's Note:
One of the most awaited product launches for Microsoft business customers occurs December 6 when Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 becomes available."

CRM Link List

In case you didn't notice the link list for other MS CRM resources has just doubled in size. Additionally for those reading this who have not discovered the Microsoft BUSINESS SOLUTIONS partner resources page. There are a TON of resources available on the MBS site.

SBS SP1 and MS CRM Install Issue Resolution

Did you happen to have problems when testing the Beta and Early Release Version of MS CRM 3.0 on an SBS environment with ISA 2004? Here are details for understanding and if needed resolution.

SBS 2003 sp1 resolution
Jeff Bakko
Microsoft

Issue:

The following error appears in the Microsoft CRM V3.0 Environment Diagnostic Wizard:

“The Web site for installing SQL Reporting Services was not found.  Setup requires the presence of the Web site configured to run at port 80 with an empty Host Header.”

Cause:

There are multiple identities that exist on the Default Web site.  This can be the result of installing Microsoft ISA Server on the Windows Small Business Server 2003 computer. 

Resolution:

Complete the following steps on the Windows Small Business Server 2003 computer:

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

2. Expand the <server name> node and then expand the Web Sites node.

3. Right-click on the Default Web site and select Properties.

4. Click the Advanced button on the Web Site tab.

5. Select the Identity with 127.0.0.1 as the IP address and then click Remove. 

6. Select the SSL identity with 127.0.0.1 as the IP address and then click Remove.  There should be one identity and one SSL identity remaining.

7. Click OK on the Advanced Web Site Configuration dialog box and then click OK on the Default Web site’s Properties dialog box.

Note:  If you encounter the error in the V3.0 Environment Diagnostic Wizard before completing these steps, you must close the installation wizard and restart the install.

8. Complete the steps in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;896861

After setup installs Microsoft CRM successfully you can add back the loopback identities to the Default Web site by completing the following steps:

9. 1. Follow steps 1-4 to open the Advanced Web Site Identification dialog box on the Default Web site.

   2. Click the Add button under the Multiple identities for this Web site area.

   3. Enter 127.0.0.1 for the IP address and 80 for the TCP port and then click OK.

   4. Click the Add button under the Multiple SSL identities for this Web site area.

   5. Enter 127.0.0.1 for the IP address and 443 for the TCP port and then click OK.

   6. Click OK on the Advanced Web Site Configuration dialog box and then click OK on the Default Web site’s Properties dialog box.

More Information:

The following error may appear if the installation of ISA Server creates a certificate on the Default Web site named publishing.<your domain>.<your domain suffix>:

“Activating SQL Server Reporting Services failed.  Setup failed to validate specified Reporting Services Report Server https://publishing.<your domain>.<your domain suffix>/ReportServer.

Error:  The request failed with HTTP status 401: Unauthorized”

Windows Server 2003 SP1 includes a loopback check security feature that is designed to help prevent reflection attacks on your computer.  The 401 error occurs because the name of the certificate does not match the name of the local computer.  For example:  The name of the Windows Small Business Server 2003 computer might be named MySBSServer.domain.local.  The certificate created on the Default Web site during the installation of Microsoft ISA Server will be named publishing.domail.local.  Following the Knowledge Base article in step 8 will resolve this issue.

Making MS CRM demos run faster

Ok, MS CRM 3.0 Beta is available for partners to download and demo, but how to do that efficiently? Well one technique to help the VPC option is to read up on a tip that just crossed my plate from the Mid Altantic MS CRM blog.