Friday 30 December 2011

How to Enable WCF Tracing for CRM 2011 Outlook Client

With CRM 4.0 I would use Fiddler to capture traffic to/from the client and server to see exactly what was happening. CRM 2011 Outlook client performance issues are not easy to tackle with Fiddler as The CRM 2011 Outlook client now uses WCF to request data from the CRM server. If you ever view the WCF traffic in fiddler or Netmon you will notice the request/response data is no longer in a readable format. In order to get details of the request/response you will need to use WCF tracing on the client machine. Below are the steps to enable and view the WCF tracing.

1. Create a folder directly on the c: drive called “log”. The name and location doesn’t matter as long as it matches the path provided in the config file.

2. Navigate to “C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Dynamics CRM\Client\” and open the “client{guid}.config” file in a text editor such as notepad.

3. Insert the following block of XML in the section of the CONFIG file. This XML will specify the WCF trace levels, trace name and location.










4. Save and close the CONFIG file.

5. Launch Outlook and you will see a trace file called CRMTrace.svclog will be created in the log folder you had created in step 1. All WCF traffic to the server will be logged while the client is running.

Viewing the WCF Traces

Once you have collected the trace it can be viewed using the SvcTraceViewer.exe utility which is only available in the .Net SDK. The SDK is an ISO file and can be downloaded at the following location.

http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?DisplayLang=en&id=11310

The SDK contains a lot of stuff, but if you just want the viewer you can select “Developer Tools \ .NET Development Tools” during the setup. The SvcTraceViewer.exe utility will then be located at C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.1\Bin

The SvcTraceViewer.exe can be found at the following location.

Download SVCTraceViewer.exe

1. Launch the SvcTraceViewer.exe utility and choose file – Open. Select the trace file and choose Open.

2. Once the trace is opened you can click on the Message tab and choose specific messages to see the details. The details can be viewed in a formatted view or raw XML. In the following screenshots you will notice the WhoAmI request/Response, each showing up as a separate message.

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Each request/response message pair will have a urn:UID that identifies them. This guid can be found in fiddler or netmon since it shows up as plain text in the WCF header. You can then match up the fiddler/netmon data to that in the WCF trace by searching on this guid as shown below. The combination of Fiddler and WCF tracing is very helpful with performance work. Using Fiddler you can identify large/long running requests and then use WCF tracing to get details of what the request is doing.

Capture

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For more information about tracing and using the tool you can refer to the following MSDN article.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms732023.aspx

XCEL Technologies Ltd, Microsoft Partner

CRM Online Document Management with SharePoint Online (365)

Configuration steps for CRM Online organizations with SharePoint Online for document management purposes. The following steps should walk you through this process:
  1. Create a CRM Online organization. If you need to create a 30 day trial organization, click here.
  2. If you haven’t already, set up an Office 365 organization. You’ll want to verify that you can reach the SharePoint site (ex. https://organization.sharepoint.com). To sign up for a free 30 day Office 365 trial,click here.
  3. Download and extract the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 List Component for Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010.
  4. Add the crmlistcomponet.wsp file to your SharePoint Online site:
    1. Click Site Actions, and then click Site Settings.
    2. Under Galleries, click Solutions.
    3. On the Solutions tab, in the New group, click Upload Solution.
    4. Click Browse, locate the crmlistcomponent.wsp file, and then click OK.
    5. On the Solutions tab, in the Commands group, click Activate.
  5. Add the SharePoint URL to the Document Management Settings area in your Microsoft CRM Online organization:
    1. Settings – Document Management Settings
    2. Select the entities you want to enable document management on
    3. Specify the SharePoint Online URL
    4. Select Next
    5. Select whichever option you’d like for the “Select folder structure” page. If you want to keep things basic where you have the following format, Contacts – [Contact Name] – [Documents], you’ll want to leave this section blank.
    6. Continue to select Next

At this point, you should be ready to add document storage locations to your enabled entities. You’ll need to open a document management enabled record (ex. Contact) and select the Documents are on the left-hand pane. If things are working correctly, you’ll be presented with a message that says the following “A folder will be created in the location: [SharePoint site] Click OK to continue.”

CRM 2011 Technical Documentation URLs to reference

Below are the important CRM 2011 technical documentation urls to reference:

TitlesDate Published

Optimizing and Maintaining Client Performance for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 and CRM Online

12/20/2011 (Refreshed)
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Software Development Kit (SDK)12/2/2011 (Updated Quarterly)
Using EFS and BitLocker to Protect Microsoft Dynamics CRM Data on Client Computers11/2/2011

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Implementation Guide

11/2/2011 (Updated Quarterly)
Deploying Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 and CRM Online Solutions from Development through Test and Production Environments10/25/2011
Optimizing and Maintaining the Performance of a Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Server Infrastructure10/21/2011
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Performance and Scalability with Intel10/4/2011
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 for Outlook Quick Start Guide9/29/2011
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Quick Start Guide for Business Users9/29/2011
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online: Security Features9/22/2011
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 for Outlook Installing Guide for use with Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online8/18/2011
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 User's Guide8/12/2011
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Performance Counters8/11/2011
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Administrator's Guide8/11/2011

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Configuring Claims-based Authentication

8/1/2011 (Updated)
System Center Monitoring Pack for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 20117/12/2011
Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Microsoft Office Outlook Compatibility with Citrix XenApp 67/5/2011
How to configure the Microsoft Dynamics CRM on-premises and Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online E-mail Router in different deployment scenarios5/2/2011
Microsoft CRM Online Data Migration to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 on-premises4/29/2011
Deployment and Operational Guidance for Hosting Microsoft Dynamics CRM 20114/5/2011
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Entity Relationship Diagrams3/24/2011
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 for E-mail Router Installing Guide for use with Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online12/9/2010
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 ISV White Paper11/4/2010