CREATING A VIRTUAL MACHINE

Transcription

1 CREATING A VIRTUAL MACHINE A STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO SETTING UP A VM PRIOR TO INSTALLING INFOR CRM To create a Virtual Machine (VM) from scratch in VMware, make sure that the latest version of VMware is installed on the server. The user will need to connect directly to the server or access it via remote desktop. While creating a VM is certainly a more daunting task than cloning an existing VM, this process removes the margin of error that generally occurs with a cloned environment. An original is almost always better than a copy or a copy of a copy. SETTING UP THE MACHINE First, start VMware on your server. Existing VMs may already exist, but we are going to ignore those for now. Once VMware is running follow the steps below. From the Menu, select File Select New Virtual Machine o The shortcut for this is Ctrl+N Select Typical (recommended) > Select the radial button for Installer disc image file (iso): o If a windows server installation ISO is not available, it can be obtained from the user s MSDN account. Click Browse Locate the Windows Server ISO o The latest version of Windows Server is best, the latest version as of the time of this document s creation is Windows Server 2012 R2 Open the Windows Server ISO > Enter the Windows product key o The product key is also available from the user s MSDN account. Select the version of Windows Server to Install o Ensure that the version matches the product key, if it does not match the installation will fail. Enter an Administrator name under the Personalize Windows section Enter a Password o Because this is a virtual test machine, password security can be more lax, a password such as Password! Or P@ssw0rd is okay. Confirm the Password Check the Log on automatically checkbox

2 o This will speed up the entire process by automatically logging the user in once the installation is complete Give the Virtual Machine a name o The name at this junction does not matter as it can be changed later. However, this is what the folder it is saved under will display. The default Maximum disk size (GB): is 60.0, this can be increased to any value o Please note that it cannot exceed the available disk space on the host server Select the radial button for Split virtual disk into multiple files > Select Customize Hardware In the Memory for this virtual machine, enter 4112 o This sets the Memory to 4 GB, which should be enough to run most Infor CRM applications. However, this can be increased as long as it does not exceed the available memory on the host server. Select Processors Change the number of processors to 2 o This can be increased higher, but must not exceed the number of available processors on the host server. Select Network Adapter Select the Radial button for Bridged: Connected directly to the physical network o This will allow your machine to be accessible by other users within the network. Click Close Click Finish At this point, the new Virtual Machine will begin installing the Windows Server Operating System. Once the operating system has been installed the VM will log into Windows and set up of the environment can begin. PRECONFIGURING THE ENVIRONMENT There are a few settings that will assist with the installation of Infor CRM applications. Additionally, some of the standard windows configurations should be changed for ease of use. CONFIGURING THE VIEW The new VM will display in a condensed format. Follow the instructions below to configure the view for easier use. From the Menu, select View Select Fit Guest Now The Virtual Machine will adjust to fit the monitor size o This can be done multiple times. This is especially useful if accessing the VM from different locations that may have different monitor sizes. 2

3 RECONFIGURING WINDOWS SETTINGS Some of the Windows Server settings are not intuitive and often are counterproductive to an environment. This section will discuss how to manually configure the settings to be more conducive to working with an Infor CRM environment. The user created in the previous section will be automatically logged in, if this user is going to be the primary administrative user, then there is no need to create any additional users. If this user will not be the primary administrative user, follow the steps below. If it did not open automatically, open the Server Manager o This is the first icon on the task bar next to the windows menu icon. Navigate to Tools Select Computer Management Expand Local Users and Groups Double-click the Users folder Right-click, select New User Fill out the New User form Uncheck User must change password at next logon Check Password never expires Click Create Double-click the Groups folder Double-click Administrators Select Add Locate the newly created user Log out of the VM Log in as the new user Once you are logged in as the administrative user for the VM there are a few key steps that need to be taken so that the VM is usable. Follows the instructions below. ADDING ROLES AND FEATURES If it did not open automatically, open the Server Manager o This is the first icon on the task bar next to the windows menu icon. Select Manage Select Add Roles and Features Check the Skip this page by default > Select the radial button for Role-based or feature-based installation > Select the radial button for Select a server from the server pool 3

4 > Under Roles, check the following checkboxes o Remote Desktop Services o Web Server (IIS) Check the Include management tools (if applicable) checkbox Click Add Features > Expand.NET Framework 3.5 Features o Check the.net Framework 3.5 (includes.net 2.0 and 3.0) checkbox Expand.NET Framework 4.5 Features o Check the following checkboxes.net Framework 4.5 ASP.NET 3.5 Check the checkbox for Telnet Client Check the checkbox for Telnet Server > > Check the checkbox for Remote Desktop Connection Broker o Check the checkbox for Include management tools (if applicable) o Click Add Features > > Check the following checkboxes o HTTP Redirection o WebDAV Publishing o Basic Authentication o IIS Client Certificate Mapping Authentication o Windows Authentication Expand IIS 6 Management Compatibility Check the following checkboxes o IIS 6 Metabase Compatibility o IIS 6 Management Console o IIS 6 WMI Compatibility > Check the checkbox for Restart the destination server automatically if required o Click Yes on the Add Roles and Features Wizard popup Click Install 4

5 MACHINE NAME AND THE AZSCSS DOMAIN After the Roles and Features have been installed it is time to personalize the server name and attach the server to the azscss.local domain. Follow the instructions below. If it did not open automatically, open the Server Manager o This is the first icon on the task bar next to the windows menu icon. Select Local Server Click on the Hyperlink for Workgroup o This will bring up the System Properties window Click Change o Under Computer Name: enter a Unique name i.e. ICRM82 o Under Member of, select the radial button for Domain: o Enter the following: azscss.local o o Enter the azscss username and password supplied to the user o Click Close Click Restart Now INTERNET EXPLORER, IESC, and WINDOWS FIREWALL By default, Internet Explorer settings in a Windows Server environment prevent most web browsing. To fix this follow the instructions below. If it did not open automatically, open the Server Manager o This is the first icon on the task bar next to the windows menu icon Select Local Server Click the hyperlink (On) by IE Enhanced Security Configuration o Select the radial button for Off under Administrators o Select the radial button for Off under Users Click the hyperlink (Domain: On) by Windows Firewall Click the hyperlink Turn Windows Firewall on or off o Select the radial button for Turn off Windows Firewall (not recommended) under Domain network settings o Select the radial button for Turn off Windows Firewall (not recommended) under Private network settings o Select the radial button for Turn off Windows Firewall (not recommended) under Public network settings o 5

6 Close the Windows Firewall window Refresh the Server Manager by clicking on Dashboard and then back to Local Server Verify Windows Firewall shows Domain: Off Verify IE Enhanced Security Configuration shows Off Close the Server Manager DISABLING UAC SERVER 2012 and ABOVE With the introduction of Windows Server 2012, the ability to completely shut off UAC was moved to a registry entry, instead of being available to all users. For the proper installation of Infor CRM, UAC must be turned off. This particular set of instructions is available in an existing Knowledge Base Article (KBA) titled How to Disable User Account Control in Windows Server This KBA can be found in the InforXtreme Knowledge Base under KBA number USEFUL TOOLS AND PROGRAMS GOOGLE CHROME Windows Server usually only comes with Internet Explorer installed. For the purpose of testing, sometimes a different browser is needed. Open an Internet Explorer Browser o Feel free to close or answer the Internet Explorer 11 popup window Navigate to Google.com Click Yes, get Chrome now in the upper right corner o Click Download Chrome o Click Accept and Install o Click Run o Click Run o o Choose a Default Browser Close Internet Explorer ISO OPENER Infor introduced the utilization of iso files for downloading patches and installations for Infor CRM, because of this there are some additional tools that can be downloaded for extracting and automatically placing the iso files. Search in Chrome for ISOOpener Click Download Mirror Open the download Click Run 6

7 Click Install Click Finish NOTEPAD++ While notepad is preinstalled in Windows Server, there is another application that is helpful, Notepad++. The utility of Notepad++ to view text in specific programming or markup languages makes it an invaluable tool for testing. Search in Chrome for Notepad++ Select the Notepad++ v#.# - Current Version hyperlink Click Download Open the Download Click I Agree Click Install Click Finish MICROSOFT OFFICE SUITE The multiple versions of Microsoft Office can be found on the users MSDN account. This guide will address the latest supported version of Microsoft Office Using the ISO Opener downloaded earlier, click Open under the ISO File heading Locate the Network location with the Microsoft Office 2016 installation iso file Click Open Click Select under the Output Folder heading Expand This PC Expand Local Disk (C:) Make sure the Local Disk (C:) is selected Click Make New Folder o Enter Microsoft Office 2016 Installation o Press the enter key Select the Local Disk again Select the Microsoft Office 2016 Installation folder o Ensure that Microsoft Office 2016 Installation displays next to Folder: Click Extract 7

8 INFOR CRM INSTALLATION FILES To be as prepared as possible, it is best to know which version of Infor CRM this VM will be housing. Locate the installation iso on InforXtreme and download it to your host server. Then use the ISO Opener to extract and place the files the same way we did with the Microsoft Office Suite. OTHER PROGRAMS and TOOLS Download any other tools that are deemed necessary. USEFUL SYSTEM SETTINGS Every user will have their own preferences on how their system is configured. Some of the settings laid out here will not be for everyone. However, I will be listing those that make navigation and overall workability better. NETWORK DISCOVERY Enabling network discovery is not a requirement of Infor CRM, but it does make using the program to find shared directory paths much easier. Click the Windows Start Menu Icon Click the Magnifying Glass o Enter Network and Sharing Let the search go without pressing enter, otherwise the search looks up the parameters on the internet. o Once the Network and Sharing Center displays below the search bar, click on it o Click the hyperlink for Change advanced sharing settings Select the radial button for Turn on network discovery Click Save Changes POWER OPTIONS By default, windows will put the VM to sleep after 15 minutes. When doing builds and deploys in the Application Architect, this can sometimes cause your machine to go to sleep. It does not have any effect on the processes, but it can be annoying to have to log in all over again. Click the Windows Start Menu Icon Click the Magnifying Glass o Enter Power Options Let the search go without pressing enter, otherwise the search looks up the parameters on the internet. o Once the Power Options displays below the search bar, click on it o Select the hyperlink for Change when the computer sleeps Select the dropdown for Turn off the display: Select Never Click Save Changes 8

9 ADDING APPS TO THE START MENU AND TASK BAR Not all apps need to be added to the task bar, and not all need to be on the start menu. I will list out the specific programs I link to the task bar and those I decided to link to the start menu, based on how often they are used. Please note that you can find most of these programs using the search functions, for versions of Windows prior to Server 2012, the search is in the start menu. Start Menu Services Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager Internet Explorer Microsoft Excel Microsoft Word Notepad Regedit Task Bar Infor CRM Administrator Infor CRM Application Architect Infor CRM Architect Infor CRM LAN Client Notepad++ ISO Opener Microsoft Outlook Google Chrome Internet Explorer Command Prompt SNAPSHOTS AND MULTIPLE UPDATE VERSIONS Once everything is set up the way the user wants it, it is best to take a snapshot of the environment, prior to installing Infor CRM. This will allow the use of this snapshot in the instance an installation fails or is corrupted. CREATING A SNAPSHOT From the menu, select VM o Point to Snapshot o Select Snapshot Manager The shortcut for this is Ctrl+M Select Take Snapshot Enter a name for the Snapshot 9

10 Enter any details pertinent to understanding how this snapshot is configured o Note the presence of multiple snapshots can slow down system performance. RESTORING A SNAPSHOT When selecting to restore a snapshot, any version of the current view will be lost. If a user needs to save information on a VM, take a new snapshot, prior to restoring the old. From the menu, select VM o Point to Snapshot o Select Snapshot Manager The shortcut for this is Ctrl+M Select the Snapshot to be restored Click Go To The system will then be restored to whatever state it was in when the snapshot was taken KEEPING SNAPSHOTS OF UPDATES AND VERSIONS Because the VM is used for testing, it may be necessary to keep multiple update versions of a single Infor CRM installation version. When doing so, best practice is to label each Snapshot with the version of installation. An example: Snapshot for Infor CRM v This tells us that the snapshot is for Infor CRM version 8.3 with Update 03 Another example: Snapshot for Infor CRM v SNC/Core Only This tells us that most of Update 03 has been installed, but only SNC and Web Core bundles have been applied. 10