Some Philosophy for Today

When going gets tough, let there be Tougher Belief & Toughest Confidence!

Life's not always a Vanilla Implementation. It does require some complex customization(s). Depends on how efficiently we understand Life's requirement and customize it.

Alright, enough. Let me get back to work.

VAIDY

AD LDS & GP Web Service on Windows Server 2008 64 BIT- Workaround

Blown away by this issue and am feeling great to cross a mysterious hurdle.

I was trying to install GP Web Services 10.0 SP4 Hot Fix NOV2009 on the following environment:

1. Windows Server 2008 R2 64 Bit
2. GP 10.0 SP4
3. CRM 4.0 Rollup 9
4. SQL Server 2008 SP1 64 Bit

One of the pre-requisite for Web Services is AD LDS (Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services). This needs to be installed on Windows Server 2008 and no configuration required post installation. GP Web Services will take care of creating an Instance on AD LDS and use it for it's Data Storage on this AD LDS instance.

I crossed all those steps and started installing GP Web Services and got this message without any delay after double clicking the installer:

The Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services role must be installed on the computer before installing the Microsoft Dynamics GP Web Service.

Nothing other than the above message and I was quite blown away by it's vagueness. After much exploration, I got the following link from Sivakumar:

Description of the 64-bit operating systems that are supported together with Microsoft Dynamics GP

In that article there is a section called Web Services Runtime Workaround under which there is a subsection called Windows Server 2008 x64 or x86 and Microsoft Dynamics GP 10.0 only, which explains the workaround.

To Summarize the Workaround: With Windows Server 2008 R2 64 Bit, the GP Web Services installation does not identify the AD LDS being installed. It requires a Registry Entry called ADAM_Shared with a registry value, that needs to be created under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion.

We must be carefully following the steps to avoid any consequences.

For those who do not have access to CustomerSource / PartnerSource and are struggling with this issue, comment on this article or email me to my ID: vaidy.dyngp@gmail.com.

Thanks to Sivakumar & Prem (Elcome's Sys Admin), who were instrumental in sending this link to me on time and clearly saved my day.

VAIDY

ERP Implementation Strategies - Houston Neal

Those who are currently doing or planning implementation(s), a must read article by Houston Neal of Manufacturing Software Advise.

Houston walks us thru' 3 kinds of ERP Implementation:

1. Big Bang
2. Phase Out
3. Parallel Adoption

I voted for 2nd method, which is Phase Out, due to various practical reasons.

Check out his article, ERP Implementation Strategies - A Guide to ERP Implementation Methodology.

And people, don't forget to vote your kinda strategy. There is a poll waiting for you.

Very good article, Houston. Precise concepts being told in simple language.

VAIDY

MS Excel VLOOKUP - Learned it Finally

Don't be harsh on me of being so ignorant. But this concept is one thing which I never learned it quite right.

One of my colleagues, Nasir, used to teach me this wonderful VLOOKUP concept and I always got it wrong.

Today I decided to get it right once for all. Stumbled across this video, Brainstorm's VLOOKUP Tutorial Video, which is available directly from MS Excel Help Links.

This is exactly what Nasir also explained me, but somehow I missed something in this entire process.

Thanks for his patience and thanks to this video. I thought I would create a pointer to this Easy to Understand Video, for those out there who are struggling (like me till today) to understand this concept.

VAIDY

Caps Lock Reminder for GP Login

How many times have you entered your GP Password with CAPSLOCK on and got a Login Error Message?

Well I do, most times. I decided to write a code which would remind me of this at least once, like any other application.

Thought I would share that with all who need it. This particular code will display a message box like below when you launch GP with CAPSLOCK key ON.

This message will also be shown when you try to change the User after logged on to GP thru' different User Credential.

Kindly Note:

1. This message is displayed only once. You must hear what it says. If not, the message is of no use. :-)

2. This code is written on Microsoft Dynamics GP 10.0 SP4. I have not tested this on other Major as well as Minor versions.

Find your free package here: CapsLock Login Message Package File.

VAIDY