This article outlines the recommended methods for performing a successful upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0. To minimize downtime, the overall process is divided into tasks that you should perform before the upgrade, followed by tasks to perform during and after the upgrade.
Note
The only supported upgrade path to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 is from Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0.
We recommend that you run at least one successful test upgrade before you upgrade your production environment. After you run a test upgrade, verify the product configuration by performing operations that you would typically use in your production environment. For example, for a service organization, you may want to create an e-mail activity related to a case, and then verify the functionality by sending a test e-mail that contains text from an existing case. If you receive any errors while you are using the product in a test environment, make sure that you resolve them before you upgrade your production environment.
Important
Always run a full backup of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM databases before you upgrade to a new version of the product.
Before the upgrade
This section outlines the planning and preparation tasks that you should perform before the upgrade. For detailed information about how to plan and perform the upgrade, make sure that you have the latest version of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Implementation Guide.
For the latest product information, see the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Server Readme.
User permissions and privileges
To perform a successful upgrade, the user who runs Setup must:
- Have an account in the same Active Directory domain as the server or servers that are being upgraded.
- Be a member of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM System Administrator security role.
- Have administrator rights on the SQL Server and Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services associated with the deployment that is being upgraded.
- Have sufficient permissions to create new security groups in the Active Directory organizational unit that contains the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 groups.
For more information about the permission requirements for performing an installation or upgrade, see KB Article 946677: How to install Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 with the minimum required permissions.
Note
If you use pre-created groups in conjunction with a configuration file, the user who runs the upgrade does not have to have permission to create security groups. For more information, see "Server XML Configuration File" in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Installing Guide section of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Implementation Guide.
Licensing
Before the upgrade, obtain the license key that you will enter during the upgrade. In Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0, the server and client keys are combined so that you enter only one key.
For more information, see "Licensing" in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Planning Guide section of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Implementation Guide. Also, verify that the license key that you will enter is valid for use during an upgrade. For detailed information, see KB Article 947272: Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Deployment Manager Error: "The license code entered is not valid for upgrade." If you will be making any system changes that require changes to your existing Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 licensing agreement, see How to buy Microsoft Dynamics.
Multiple Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server deployments
If your environment has multiple Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server deployments, follow these guidelines.
- Multiple versions in the same domain
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 1.2, Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0, and Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 can coexist in the same Active Directory domain. However, each version must be installed on a separate Microsoft Dynamics CRM server.
Note
After you upgrade, your Microsoft Dynamics CRM deployment from the earlier version is no longer available.
Tip
We recommend that you associate each version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM with a separate Active Directory organizational unit. This can prevent confusion if you have to add users or troubleshoot Active Directory issues.
- Upgrading multiple servers
If your environment has multiple Microsoft Dynamics CRM servers, either stand-alone or in a Network Load Balancing (NLB) cluster, we recommend that you perform the upgrade tasks in the following order. For example, to upgrade a two-node NLB cluster, follow these steps:
- Shut down one of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 servers (or stop the IIS service).
- Upgrade the other server from Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0.
- Uninstall Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 on the server that you shut down in step 1.
- Perform a new installation of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 on the server where you uninstalled Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0. During the upgrade, select the option "Connect to Existing Deployment" to connect to the databases that were upgraded in step 2.
Performing the upgrade steps in this order enables you to roll back to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 if you encounter problems during the upgrade.
Note
For more information about how to configure Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 in an NLB cluster, see "Install Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Server on Multiple Computers" in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Installing Guide section of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Implementation Guide.
Microsoft SQL Server
If an upgrade to your database server is required, follow these guidelines.
- Sharing a SQL Server
Only one Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 deployment per instance of SQL Server is supported. This is because each Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 deployment requires its own MSCRM_Config database, and multiple instances of MSCRM_Config cannot coexist on the same SQL Server. If you have multiple SQL Server instances running on the same computer, you can host the databases for multiple Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 deployments on the same computer. However, this might decrease system performance.
Note
If you want to host multiple organizations in a single Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 deployment, see Multi-Tenancy: Use a single hardware group for separate data and processes.
Because Microsoft Dynamics CRM 1.2 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 do not have a database named MSCRM_Config, you can configure the databases for these versions of the product to coexist on the same SQL Server as Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 databases. However, to optimize performance we recommend that each version have its own SQL Server.
For detailed information about the options available for upgrading multiple Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server deployments that share a SQL Server, see "Upgrade Multiple Deployments of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 That Share an Instance of SQL Server" in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Installing Guide section of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Implementation Guide.
- Database upgrade
If a Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 deployment that you plan to upgrade uses a version of SQL Server that is not supported for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0, follow these steps before you run the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server upgrade:
- Upgrade SQL Server to a supported version.
- Upgrade your Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services Web sites to a supported version.
Important
If you plan to upgrade from Microsoft SQL Server 2000 to Microsoft SQL Server 2008, you should first upgrade to Microsoft SQL Server 2005, then upgrade the deployment to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0, and then upgrade to Microsoft SQL Server 2008. If you migrate databases to Microsoft SQL Server 2008, one or more database updates may be required. If the updates are required, they will be installed when you run Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Setup and Microsoft Dynamics CRM Connector for Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services Setup. For more information, see KB article 957053: Support for running Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 together with Microsoft SQL Server 2008.
- Moving the database during an upgrade
In some cases, you may want to move your databases to a new SQL Server during the upgrade. If your upgrade strategy involves moving the Microsoft Dynamics CRM databases, we recommend that you perform the required tasks in the following order:
- Move the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 databases to the new SQL Server.
- Install Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 to the databases that you moved in step 1.
- Upgrade the deployment to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0.
For detailed information about this process, see KB article 917948: How to move Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 SQL databases from one server to a different server that is in the same domain.
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server preparations
To prepare a Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server for the upgrade, follow these guidelines.
- Software prerequisites
We recommend that you install the following components on the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server before you run the upgrade:
- SQL Reporting Services Report Viewer
- XML Core Services
- .NET Framework 3.0
- SQL Native Client
- Microsoft Application Error Reporting Tool
If these components are not present when you run the upgrade, Setup will install them. However, to reduce the upgrade processing time, consider installing these components in advance.
- Reports
To prepare reports for the upgrade, back up any Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 custom report .RDL files that you have created and delete all out-of-box reports that you are not actively using. Another copy of the out-of-box reports will be installed during the upgrade. For more information, see FAQ: Why do I have two copies of every report after upgrade?
- Customizations
To prepare customizations for the upgrade, export any product customizations that you have implemented. The exported customizations are for reference only. They cannot be upgraded outside the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server upgrade process.
- Workflows
To prepare workflows for the upgrade, stop all workflows and delete the workflow log files. This can speed up the installation process. For instructions about how to remove the workflow log records, download the Optimizing the Performance of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 white paper.
Note
If Setup detects unprocessed events during the upgrade, you will receive a "time-out expired" error message and will have to exit Setup while the pending events are processed. Otherwise, all unprocessed events will be lost.
For more information about how workflows are processed during an upgrade, see "What happens to workflows?" in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Planning Guide section of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Implementation Guide.
E-mail Router
If your upgraded Microsoft Dynamics CRM deployment will use the E-mail Router, follow these steps:
- Install the E-mail Router. For detailed information, see "Microsoft Dynamics CRM E-mail Router Installation Instructions" in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Installing Guide section of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Implementation Guide. Note that you must first uninstall the E-mail Router from the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 deployment before you upgrade and install the E-mail Router for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0.
- In the E-mail Router Configuration Manager, do the following:
- Configure the outgoing e-mail profile to use SMTP server.
- If you plan to use a forward mailbox, specify the mailbox.
- If you have configured a forward mailbox, verify that you can access that mailbox with Outlook Web Access.
After you complete these tasks, stop the E-mail Router service. You will complete the E-mail Router configuration after you have completed the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server upgrade.
For information about how to perform these tasks, see the E-mail Router Configuration Manager Help. Also see How to configure the On-premise and Online E-mail Router in different deployment scenarios.
Additional downloads and information resources
Gather the following tools and documentation:
During the upgrade
This section outlines the tasks that you must perform to run the actual upgrade on a Microsoft Dynamics CRM server.
To run the upgrade, follow these steps:
- If you run SQL Server replication, disable replication.
- Make sure that the Microsoft Dynamics CRM server that you are upgrading is connected to the Internet. If you do not have Internet access on that server, see KB article 948917: How to obtain the setup updates for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0.
- Run ServerSetup.exe on the server that you are upgrading and follow the instructions on the Setup wizard pages.
Important
On the Setup wizard's Welcome page, select the "Update installation files" option. This makes sure that Setup will use the latest version of the installation files.
For more information about how to run and troubleshoot an upgrade, see "Upgrade from Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0" and "Troubleshooting Installation and Upgrade" in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Installing Guide section of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Implementation Guide.
After the upgrade
After Setup has upgraded the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server, perform the following post-upgrade tasks.
Servers
For servers, follow these steps:
- Restart the Web server.
- Complete the product registration. (Note: If you are installing a trial or prerelease version of the product, skip this step. Those versions are not registered.)
- If you have additional servers, upgrade or uninstall and reinstall Microsoft Dynamics CRM on those servers as previously described in the "Upgrading multiple servers" section of this article.
- If your deployment uses the E-mail Router, complete the configuration as explained in Microsoft Dynamics CRM: How to configure the On-premise and Online E-mail Router in different deployment scenarios.
- Install the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Connector for Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services.
- Install the latest Update Rollup or server hotfixes.
- If you have an Internet Facing Deployment, run the IFD Configuration Tool.
- In Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services Report Manager, re-create any custom data sources under the 4.0 folder.
- Verify that the system jobs and workflows are running. If they are not running, download and run the DeploymentConfigTool to configure the settings correctly in the MSCRM_CONFIG database. For detailed information about this task, see KB article 950416: System Jobs are in a waiting state and Outlook clients cannot connect after you set the CRM Web site to an assigned IP address.
Clients
To be compatible with a Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 server, Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 clients must be upgraded.
To upgrade clients, follow these steps:
- If you use Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook or Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Microsoft Office Outlook with Offline Access, install it.
- If you use AutoUpdate, run the configuration tool to publish client updates to clients.
- Test the functionality from Outlook and from the Web client.
Note
If you are using Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook, you must upgrade the clients immediately after the server upgrade so that they can access Microsoft Dynamics CRM functionality. If you use Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Microsoft Office Outlook with Offline Access, users can remain offline until they are ready to upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0.
For more information, see "Upgrade the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 client for Outlook to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0" in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Installing Guide section of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Implementation Guide.
Related Links
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Implementation Guide
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Server Readme
How to buy Microsoft Dynamics
