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Comment on MS KB Article 823287
I found something interesting this morning while working with STSADM.EXE to verify the installation of a web part package on Sharepoint Portal using the -enumwppacks command.
Every time I ran stsadm, I received the following error message:
Cannot connect to the configuration database. For tips on troubleshooting this error, search for article 823287 in the Microsoft Knowledge Base at http://support.microsoft.com.
So, I went and verified that all of the settings as specified in the article, mostly dealing with the application pool user and the database rights for that user. All seemed to be in order so I really couldn't figure out what was happening.
THEN I got to thinking about the fact that MAYBE, the information in the article was correct, but the context was not.
I was logged onto the server as a "development" user which doesn't actually have God-like powers to things. It also didn't have total access to the database either, I found.
So in a nutshell, here is the situation: when using stsadm on the command line, you are running under the security context of the currently logged-on user. That user must have proper access to the database in order for the command-line utilities to function as designed.
This is not a problem when performing administrative functions via the SPS/WSS web interfaces because at that point, you're running under the security context of the web site's Application Pool user.
Anyway, this was an interesting learning experience.
Misc
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Looking for beta testers
Afternoon Folks,
I have a small utility that allows you to enable or disable diagnostic tracing on Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 without mucking around in the Registry. ( basically, it does the mucking for you. )
Through the end of May, I would like to find CRM developers, administrators, etc. that can help me test it.
If you are interested, just send me an email:
mitch (at) infinite-x (dot) net
[coded to prevent screen scrapers]
It will be posted on the CRM Sandbox as a free download at the beginning of June.
Thanks, Mitch
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Redirecting Your Home Page with FrontPage
I ran across a really cool article today when I was researching how redirect people from my domain's main page ( www. infinite-x.net ) to this blog, which is in a sub-site.
http://www.webworkshop.org/frontpage/page_redirect.htm
Development (No Ratings Yet)1,234 views Loading ... -
Mind Mapping Revisited
Since I wrote my last post on Mind Mapping, I decided to switch from Visio to a real mind mapping product, MindJet's MindManager, to see if it would make a difference in the way I planned my week, my work, etc.
It has.
I found the mind mapping process to be very intuitive because I am a visual thinker and the MindManager software makes it very easy to create and maintain mind maps.
MindManager itself is a really cool piece of software. It's very well put together and is a delight to work with. I actually reminds me of Visio before they were purchased by Microsoft ( and the programmers who worked on the product actually knew what they were doing ).
If you are a visual thinker then I would highly recommend that you download and install the trail version of MindManager and take a look.
Misc (No Ratings Yet)1,353 views Loading ... -
Dynamics CRM 3.0 Outlook Rule Deployment Wizard Issue
Here is a strange little issue that you will run into when you run the Rule Deployment Wizard to place the CRM forwarding rule into each CRM user's mailbox.
At some point it will allow you to select the names of the people to deploy the CRM Rule to. When you click Next, it will do something magical and show you a list of people who have "passed" or something.
It is probably at this point where you see a list of users but the Next button is disabled.
This is where the issue lies. What the Rule Deployment Wizard has done is to show you a list of users it has approved to recieve the rule. To make it actually work, you have to select the users to which you would like to see the rule deployed.
Once you select the users, the Next button activates and you can continue on with the process.
Dynamics CRM (No Ratings Yet)3,565 views Loading ... -
Dynamics CRM 3.0 Outlook Client on Terminal Services
A couple of months ago I installed the CRM 3.0 Outlook client on a Windows 2003 Terminal Server using the using the TS Client Deployment Kit.
As part of the configuration, you need to modify the command script ( terminstall.cmd ) that actually does the work. Here is a segment of the customization area:
REM *** Set below values for your deployment ***
REM ********************************************************
REM *** SOURCE = Location where the PST file, mail merge templates and CrmForOutlookTsInstaller.exe are located ***
SET SOURCE="\crm1TSClient"
REM *** Path where Microsoft CRM is installed ***
SET CRMPATH="%ProgramFiles%Microsoft CRM\\"
REM *** CRM Server to use ***
SET WEBAPPURL="http://crm"
REM ********************************************************
I edited the required variables and values and ran the command file. Everything looked like it worked, but when I launched Outlook from a Terminal Server session, it didn't work. Actually, it was very irritated with something, but what, I could not quite figure out.
THEN, I look at the MSCRMClient registry hive and noticed there was a double-quote ( " ) within the values of two of the directory names that the CRM client used. That is a bad thing and it was causing the CRM client to fail.
After having wasted more time than I wanted to admit, I finally figured out what happened.
Do you see that pair of backslashes ( \\ ) at the end of the CRMPATH variable above? That is not a typo. The backslash character is used as an "escape" character that allows you to embed special characters in scripts, etc. The two backslashes will actually be converted by Windows into a single backslash.
But, since I didn't know that at the time, I removed it and made the remaining backslash an escape character for the double quote and it actually inserted that closing double-quote into the registry key.
Cleaning Up the Mess
If you have done the same thing that I did, here is how you fix it:
- Run terminstall.cmd again to uninstall the current installation.
- Manually delete any files it left in the installation directories you specified.
- Edit terminstall.cmd and restore the double-backslash you removed.
- Rerun the terminstall.cmd installation script.
Dynamics CRM (No Ratings Yet)3,754 views Loading ... -
Dynamics CRM Certification
Morning Folks,
Well, I took and passed the three CRM Certification tests over the past week: Applications, Customization, and Installation and Configuration.
Besides working daily with CRM since December, I used the Microsoft CRM Official course materials as study guides and they provided me with fairly ample reference for those CRM topics that I don't know like the back of my hand. This came in handy during the Service Scheduling and Service Maintenance sections.
The project I'm current involved with is ( so far ) restricted to Sales and Marketing efforts so I've only spent a fraction of my time working with the Services module. The course materials came in handy to fill in the gaps in my knowledge base.
I would also recommend downloading and reviewing the CRM 3.0 Implementation guide. Review it after you have read the Installation and Configuration training guide. That helped me a bunch because it let me see some of the finer points that I did not see covered in the training guide.
Good luck should you decide to take the tests yourself.
Mitch
Dynamics CRM, Misc (No Ratings Yet)1,325 views Loading ... -
Blog comment changes
Greetings Folks,
Well, I had to move to only allowing registered users to leave comments because I was getting upwards of 80+ SPAMs per day. Even though I get to moderate comments, it was making my administration duties overwhelming and I was worried that I may actually miss real comments and questions.
Have a good week.
Mitch
Misc (No Ratings Yet)1,349 views Loading ... -
Microsoft Dynamics Team Blog
[via Freaky]
Today we are launching the Microsoft Dynamics Team Blog. You can find all sorts of articles and posts from the PM Team. Read more on there site and ofcourse add it to your CRM bookmarks.
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Their first article out of the shoot deals with CRM 3.0 Filtered Views. Great work.
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