Microsoft Dynamics AX Lifecycle Services: Operate Phase Last Updated: June 2014 AX 2012 R3 / Version 1.0.0
Demo Overview... 3 Introduction... 3 Target Audience... 3 Demo Scenario... 4 Background... 4 Problems this demo addresses... 5 Purpose of demo (solutions to pains, benefits, value proposition)... 5 List of Personas... 6 Technology... 6 Microsoft Technology... 6 Demo Pre-steps... 6 Demo of System diagnostics... 8 Demo of Issue Search... 15 Demo of Cloud Powered Support... 20 Demo of Updates... 30 Disclaimer... 37 2 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Lifecycle Services: Operate Last Updated: June 2014
Demo Overview Introduction Lifecycle Services (LCS) is a set of tools that helps you manage the application lifecycle of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 and later implementations. It is a cloud-based service that runs on Microsoft Azure and helps proactively manage all the application lifecycle phases, including Define, Develop, and Operate, of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 and later implementations to help them to repeated and predictable success. LCS is focused on, and continuously developed for, project managers, business analysts, developers and IT administrators so they get the right information, at the right time, delivered to the right person. This document and its four included scripts will introduce you to the Operate phase of Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) in LCS. When you complete this document and demo scripts, you will be able to demonstrate the features and functionality of the following services that comprise the Operate phase of LCS: System diagnostics Issue search Cloud powered support Update installer Target Audience The included script should be used to demonstrate the value of the services in the Operate phase of ALM in LCS to both information technology decision makers (ITDMs) and business decision makers (BDMs), including CIOs, CFOs, and CEOs. The executives that you are presenting to will find value in this script if they are challenged with: Managing near-flat budgets that force them to have to do more with less and lower return on investment (ROI) Meeting expectations of customers (both internal and external) to deliver the support they need when they need it and exceed their expectations Providing solutions that deliver greater uptime and instill confidence in the organization to support their needs now and in the future so they can realize business value faster Reducing implementation cycles to be more agile and better serve the needs of the organization faster Providing faster times to resolving issues so systems stay up longer with less downtime Making sure they achieve rapid time to value 3 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Lifecycle Services: Operate Last Updated: June 2014
Demo Scenario Background Companies are looking for ways to make sure they are successful in their implementation projects and achieve rapid time to value for their implementations of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 and later. LCS was designed to help organizations have repeatable and predictable success by creating a series of tools that help them step through the different phases of ALM. This series of scripts is for the Operate phase. System diagnostics System diagnostics helps IT administrators proactively monitor and understand the health of one or more Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 and later environments. It is a cloud-based tool that has a locally-installed component that can be configured to automatically and periodically gather system information about your implementation. The information is run against built-in rules to gauge performance, identify potential issues, offer suggestions on solutions, and identify links to relevant KB articles to help manage your implementations. For more information on System diagnostics, click here. Issue search Issue search is a search engine that you can use to quickly search a Microsoft database for KB articles, hotfixes, fixes in-progress, and workarounds for reported issues in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R1, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Feature Pack, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2, and higher implementations. View the status of reported issues, download hotfixes, and see which code objects and actual lines of code are affected before installing to understand the impact to your implementations. For more information on Issue search, click here. Cloud powered support Cloud powered support is designed to prevent and resolve incidents. This reengineered, collaborative support process simplifies self-diagnosis, the communication between the customer and Microsoft, and the option to replicate a customer s environment and issue in a collaborative virtual machine (VM) hosted in a Microsoft datacenter. For more information about Cloud powered support, click here. Updates Updates and the downloadable Update installer help keep your Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 implementations current by using the new update experience powered by LCS and Microsoft Azure. Install cumulative updates (CUs) easily and quickly to your Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 implementations. It also facilitates slipstreaming to help speed the installation and setup of new instances and environments. For more information about the numerous scenarios that Updates supports and enables, click here. This script focuses on the following processes in each service: - System diagnostics - Main dashboard Describing what users see, including switching between environments 4 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Lifecycle Services: Operate Last Updated: June 2014
- Rules pages Navigating between the different types of rules, understanding what they are analyzing and how they can help connect to relevant KB articles based on the rules, and showing the suggestions or recommendations for reviewing for changes or updates based on the instance being analyzed - Issue search - Searching, including using the results filters - Reviewing the details of a hotfix, including the description of the change, the link to download the hotfix itself, and the objects the hotfix impacts, and showing the highlighting of code level changes - Reviewing the details of a workaround and the justification for what was not changed - Cloud powered support - Reviewing the Incident dashboard, including the Repro VM options - Stepping through the process of logging an issue, spinning up a collaborative VM, and working with Microsoft Support to reduce the time to resolution - Spinning up a collaborative VM to an already logged issue - Updates - Downloading the installer - Reviewing the interface - Stepping through how to select the different types of updates and how to filter them to meet the needs of the different systems in your environments - Downloading an update package and installing it on different systems Problems this demo addresses This demo walks the user through the Operate phase of ALM within LCS and how to use the services available. It highlights the steps to leverage the features and functionality of LCS to keep systems up and running longer, reduce downtime, and lower the time to resolution of any incidents that may come up. Proactively monitoring systems, having faster ways to resolve issues that come up, and utilizing tools to speed the upgrade process all combine to help keep systems up and running longer. Purpose of demo (solutions to pains, benefits, value proposition) The purpose of this demo is to provide a step-by-step guide in how to use the services within the Operate phase of LCS. It will show project managers and IT administrators how they can use LCS to drive the project to a successful completion and help in their never-ending efforts to keep the lights on. It highlights the steps to leverage the features and functionality of LCS to keep systems up and running longer, reduce downtime, and lower the time to resolution of any incidents that may come up. By proactively monitoring implementations, IT administrators can identify and resolve issues before they become major problems, helping to increase uptime. The ability to get answers to issues that come up is key, whether it is having a qualified database of answers to search through or a faster 5 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Lifecycle Services: Operate Last Updated: June 2014
way to collaborate with Microsoft support to resolve issues faster. And when doing updates, they can identify and install just those updates they need, saving time and resources and helping systems stay up and running longer. List of Personas Project Manager (Tim) Tim is the IT manager and owns the IT budget. Tim manages Chris (IT administrator) and completes some tasks to help balance his workload. Tim has overall responsibility for the success of the implementations. IT Administrator (Chris) Chris is the junior IT administrator who reports to Tim. He provides day-to-day management and troubleshooting of the network, servers, OS, applications, and end-user support. Technology Microsoft Technology - Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 - Microsoft Dynamics Lifecycle Services - System diagnostics - Issue search - Cloud powered support - Updates Demo Pre-steps - System diagnostics - Make sure you have configured System diagnostics to connect to a SQL instance and gathered data for analysis. Details on how to do this can be found here: System diagnostic service (Lifecycle Services, LCS) [AX 2012]. - Issue search - Make sure you are familiar with the interface and the updated features to properly show it. For more information on Issue search, click here. You want to find a good solution that has a good list of affected objects and shows code changes. You can find one or the other pretty easily, but finding both makes for a smoother demo. Examples: - General year-end close (choose KB2792352) good list of affected objects and code changes - Cloud powered support - Make sure you have created a project (Review Project Creation in the Define demo script available on InfoPedia or PartnerSource, or click here for more info) as well as configured System diagnostics (details are in the System diagnostics demo script because it is required to use the services and to show how it pulls the system information for the application build, kernel build, AX version, and hotfix state to spin up the collaborative VM. For more information on configuration and usage, click here. - Updates 6 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Lifecycle Services: Operate Last Updated: June 2014
- Make sure you have downloaded the Update installer and made sure your systems are properly configured to demonstrate it. For configuration information, click here. Please Note: LCS sessions time out after 20 minutes, but this is changing with the July 8, 2014 update. This will change to 12 hours. The reason that a sessions times out is to prevent hundreds of sessions from remaining open indefinitely, and more importantly, if others are working in a project, things may have changed so it is a way to make sure the user s view is up-to-date. 7 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Lifecycle Services: Operate Last Updated: June 2014
Demo of System diagnostics Operate Phase System Diagnostics This series of demos is for the Operate phase of ALM for LCS. LCS is a cloud-based, continuously updated set of services that helps you achieve repeatable and predictable success with Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 and later implementations. This demo will highlight the features and functionality of System diagnostics. Tip: Make sure to review the System Diagnostics Demo Pre-Steps prior to demoing to make sure you have everything configured correctly for the type of demo you will be doing. For more details about System diagnostics, click here. To learn more about the Operate phase of ALM, view this video on YouTube: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Lifecycle Services (LCS) Operate Phase Demo and Discussion 1. Go to lcs.dynamics.com and log in. Tip: Skip this step if you are already logged on to LCS. You do not need to exit and reenter LCS to go between services or projects. 2. Click the Projects tile. Tip: Skip this step if you are already logged on to LCS. You do not need to exit and reenter LCS to go between services or projects. 8 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Lifecycle Services: Operate Last Updated: June 2014
3. Select the project you want to use for your demonstration in the project list. Tip 1: Remember to choose a Learn-phase project to have access to all LCS services. Tip 2: Skip this step if you are already logged on to LCS. You do not need to exit and reenter LCS to go between services or projects. System diganotics helps IT adminstrators proactively monitor and understand the health of one or more Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 and later environments. By capturing system data from each implementation and running it against a set of predefined rules, it provides not only insights and suggestions, but also highlights areas for you to investigate for further action along with links to relevant KB articles. 4. Click the System diagnostics tile. 5. Alternatively, click the down arrow to the right of the project name at the top of the page. 6. Click Lifecycle Services and it takes you to the main LCS screen (see step 2). 7. Click System diagnostics. 9 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Lifecycle Services: Operate Last Updated: June 2014
The first time you go into System diagnostics, you will have to configure the data collector so it can gather the data that is run against the built-in rules. 8. Click Download the System diagnostic setup wizard package. Tip: For assistance with installing and configuring, click here. After you have configured the data collector and run it, you will be able to access the dashboard by using the System diagnostics navigation bar. 9. Click Dashboard. In the Dashboard view, there are four sections: the System diagnostics navigation bar, the Environment field, the dashboard itself with the graphical results, and the Last 5 messages section. The Dashboard view lets you quickly see the health of your implementations and easily identify problem areas. To change the environment that the dashboard is reporting on: 10. Click the Environment field. 11. Select the environment you want the dashboard for. 10 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Lifecycle Services: Operate Last Updated: June 2014
To view the messages for the environment that is being viewed: 12. Click Messages on the System diagnostics navigation bar. or Click one of the messages in the Last 5 messages section. In the Messages view, you will see the list of rules and the rule details. 13. Select a set of rules to view in the list next to the Show field. 14. Select different ones to show how the list of rules displayed changes when the set of rules to display changes. Tip: When displaying specific message sets (Failed, Passed, Rule ignored, Result unknown), only those that are selected to be displayed will be seen. If you click Ignore rule, that rule is automatically removed from the view, unless you select All in the Show field. There you can toggle between the two choices. 11 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Lifecycle Services: Operate Last Updated: June 2014
This is where you start to see the power of delivering the right information at the right time. The information for each rule changes depending on the rule that is selected. Information is displayed in the Observation and Recommendation panes, and there are also links to relevant KB articles. 15. Click Number sequence cache candidates. You see the rule details at the bottom for that specific rule. Scroll down and you will see the Observation and Recommendation panes and the link to the relevant KB article for the rule that is being viewed. Click the link for the KB article to show how it opens the link on a new tab. If there are recommendations of items that have been identified to investigate, that information will be shown in the lower left. 16. Click Environments on the navigation bar. This view shows all the environments that have been configured to work with System diagnostics. 17. Click the arrow to the left of an environment. This will display the name and type of each server in the environment. This makes it easier to identify which servers might need attention, especially in larger environments or data centers. 12 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Lifecycle Services: Operate Last Updated: June 2014
18. Click Jobs on the navigation bar. You will see what resource jobs are being run against. 19. On the navigation bar, click Collectors. You will see the data collectors and the jobs. 20. Select the job you want to review in the Jobs list. 21. Search the data collector by name. or Click through to find the data collector you want, and then click it. You see the report detail for that specific collector. 22. On the navigation bar, click Report to see the Diagnostics report. 23. Right-click, and then click Export on the menu at the bottom to export it in HTML format and save the file to the location you choose. Then you can open it and review it. 13 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Lifecycle Services: Operate Last Updated: June 2014
This is a view of the exported HTML report. 24. On the navigation bar, click Admin. This is where you would download the System diagnostics setup wizard, run it, and then upload a certificate to allow it access to the system to do the data gathering for analysis. System diagnostics helps IT administrators proactively monitor their Microsoft Dynamics AX instances across the enterprise. By highlighting and identifying potential problems before they become an issue, it allows resolutions to be done quickly and, many times, before any impact to the systems or users. This helps keep systems up and running longer and provides confidence in their ability to deliver the functionality to customers when they want it, where they want it, and how they want it. 14 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Lifecycle Services: Operate Last Updated: June 2014
Demo of Issue Search Operate Phase Issue Search This series of demos is for the Operate phase of ALM for LCS. LCS is a cloud-based, continuously updated set of services that helps you achieve repeatable and predictable success with Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 and later implementations. This demo will highlight the features and functionality of Issue search. Tip: Make sure to review the Issue Search Demo Pre-Steps prior to demoing to make sure you have everything configured correctly for the type of demo you will be doing. For more details about Issue search, click here. 1. Go to lcs.dynamics.com and log in. Tip: Skip this step if you are already logged on to LCS. You do not need to exit and reenter LCS to go between services or projects. 2. Click the Projects tile. Tip: Skip this step if you are already logged on to LCS. You do not need to exit and reenter LCS to go between services or projects. 15 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Lifecycle Services: Operate Last Updated: June 2014
3. Select the project you want to use for your demonstration in the project list. Tip 1: Remember to choose a Learn-phase project to have access to all LCS services. Tip 2: Skip this step if you are already logged on to LCS. You do not need to exit and reenter LCS to go between services or projects. Issue search is a search engine that you can use to quickly search a Microsoft database for KB articles, hotfixes, fixes in-progress, and workarounds for reported issues in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 and later implementations. View the status of reported issues, download hotfixes, and see which code objects and actual lines of code are affected before installing to understand the impact to your implementations environment. 4. Click the Issue search tile. 5. Alternatively, click the down arrow to the right of the project name at the top of the page. 6. Click Lifecycle Services and it takes you to the main LCS screen (see step 2). 7. Select Issue search. 16 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Lifecycle Services: Operate Last Updated: June 2014
8. With Issue search, just type your topic and click the Search button. To search for a solution to an issue you are having: 9. Type in the subject of your search (year end close). 10. Click the Search button. Along with the results, you will see the option to filter the responses in the Advanced search section. 11. Clear any of the check boxes to narrow the results to suit your needs. 12. Click the Search button again and the refined results will be displayed. Tip: The responses are color-coded and correspond to the selections in the Advanced search section. You can also sort the responses. 13. Click one of the three options below the Advanced search selections. 17 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Lifecycle Services: Operate Last Updated: June 2014
14. Click the response KB 2792352, because it provides a number of details that demo well. You can review the details (Problem, Description of change, Download hotfix, and View changes), which show the power of Issue search and how we deliver so much value with our qualified database of responses. 15. Click Download hotfix. This provides a simple and easy way to get the download screen for that hotfix. 16. Fill in the appropriate information, and then click Request hotfix. 17. Scroll all the way down to see the affected and dependent objects. Tip: Keep scrolling down to show the level of detail that is included. 18 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Lifecycle Services: Operate Last Updated: June 2014
18. Click View changes to see the actual lines of code that are affected by this hotfix. By seeing this, IT administrators can understand the impact to their systems before they even download the hotfix, so they can plan accordingly for applying it to reduce downtime. Tip 1: Move the pointer over the far left column and the code column shifts to the right to display the full name of the objects. Tip 2: For the code that is highlighted, the darker ones are changes and lighter ones are adds/removes. 19. Clear All. 20. Select Workarounds (brown color). 21. Click Search. 22. Click Unable to close a period due to error message. This is an example of what a workaround looks like. Tip 1: This is a good example of the solution and the explanation of why this is by design. Tip 2: You can get to this workaround by scrolling down in the original search details and looking for the color coding to help you find it. Issue search provides a quick and easy way to find the solutions to issues that may come up. Not only does it allow you to sort through the qualified responses to your query, but makes it easy to find answers and see the code-level impact of a hotfix before it is even downloaded. 19 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Lifecycle Services: Operate Last Updated: June 2014
Demo of Cloud Powered Support Operate Phase Cloud Powered Support This series of demos is for the Operate phase of ALM for LCS. LCS is a cloud-based, continuously updated set of services that helps you achieve repeatable and predictable success with Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 and later implementations. This demo will highlight the features and functionality of Cloud powered support. Tip: Make sure to review the Cloud Powered Support Demo Pre-Steps prior to demoing to make sure you have everything configured correctly for the type of demo you will be doing. For more details about Cloud powered support, click here. 1. Go to lcs.dynamics.com and log in. Tip: Skip this step if you are already logged on to LCS. You do not need to exit and reenter LCS to go between services or projects. 2. Click the Projects tile. Tip: Skip this step if you are already logged on to LCS. You do not need to exit and reenter LCS to go between services or projects. 20 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Lifecycle Services: Operate Last Updated: June 2014
3. Select the project you want to use for your demonstration from the Project list. Tip 1: Remember to choose a Learn-phase project to have access to all LCS services. Tip 2: Skip this step if you are already logged on to LCS. You do not need to exit and reenter LCS to go between services or projects. Cloud powered support is designed to help prevent and resolve incidents. This reengineered, collaborative support process simplifies self-diagnosis, the communication between the customer and Microsoft, and the option to replicate a customer s environment and issue in a collaborative VM hosted in a Microsoft datacenter. 4. Click the Cloud powered support tile. 5. Alternatively, click the down arrow to the right of the project name at the top of the page. 6. Click Lifecycle Services and it takes you to the main LCS screen (see step 2). 7. Click Cloud powered support. 21 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Lifecycle Services: Operate Last Updated: June 2014
The first screen displayed is the list of the support incidents that have been filed by your organization. For the demo, take a moment to highlight the columns to show what information is displayed, including the integration with Yammer on the far right. Note: Yammer integration is only available for Microsoft logins. For Cloud powered support, the Repro VM column is very important. This shows whether there is a collaborative VM associated with the incident. Users can choose whether to spin up the collaborative VM when the incident is submitted. If they choose not to, but later on realize it could be helpful to get a solution, they can add one after the fact. Tip: A VM can also be added to incidents that were created from CustomerSource or PartnerSource as well. Four labels are displayed: - Details (the VM is deploying) - Customer repro (the customer needs to reproduce the problem in the collaborative VM) - Submitted (Microsoft Support is reviewing to find a solution) - Customer verify (the customer needs to confirm that the proposed solution solves the issue that was logged) 22 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Lifecycle Services: Operate Last Updated: June 2014
To file a new incident: 8. Click Create. The screen will look familiar because Issue search is integrated into Cloud powered support. 9. Follow the instructions for Issue search (see step 8 in the preceding "Issue search" section) to find a solution. If you do not find one: 10. Click Create incident at the bottom of the page. Tip: If you want to create an incident without searching, click Search, and then click Create incident at the bottom of the page. Note: If you have not set up and configured System diagnostics and this point, you will get a warning that says you must do so. You cannot continue forward and log an issue until you do. 11. Select the environment you are filing the issue for from the list. You can see how the integration with System diagnostics gathers the application build, kernel build, and the Microsoft Dynamics AX version of your environment to spin up a collaborative VM in a Microsoft Data Center. This shows how LCS is using the metadata in Microsoft Dynamics AX to simplify ALM. If installed hotfixes are detected in the diagnostic data, that information is used to spin up the VM. To view which hotfix models 23 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Lifecycle Services: Operate Last Updated: June 2014
are installed: 12. Click Show installed hotfix models. The information will open on a separate tab. Back in the original tab: 13. Click Continue. Note: The bars under Create incident at the top of the screen show the progress through the four steps that are required to submit an issue. The subject of the search you did before is automatically added in the title field, which can be edited. 14. Select the account that the support incident will be charged against. 15. Select the topic of the incident from the list. 16. Click Upload to attach up to three documents, each with a maximum size of 5 MB. Note: If you did not enter anything to search for before clicking Create incident: 17. Delete the current text. 18. Enter the title before submitting the incident. Tip: Partners will be able to see their own account as well as their customers' so they can properly charge the support incident to the correct account. 24 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Lifecycle Services: Operate Last Updated: June 2014
19. Select whether you would like to create a virtual machine when the incident is logged. (Remember, you can add one later from the main Incidents list screen). If you previously filed a support issue on the same environment you selected on the previous screen, and you created a snapshot of that collaborative VM, the option will appear for you to use that snapshot to spin up a new collaborative VM for this incident. Tip: Using a snapshot uses the previously saved configuration information and can be up to 80 percent faster, helping to further reduce the time to resolution. 20. Select the Topic from the list. After you select the topic, the other fields to file your incident appear. 21. Select the sub-topic from the list. 22. Enter the appropriate information in the text boxes to provide additional detail about what you are trying to find a solution for. 23. Answer the three Yes or No questions at the bottom. 24. Click Submit. Tip: Submit will only be clickable when all the required questions (those with the red asterisks) have been answered or filled in. 25 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Lifecycle Services: Operate Last Updated: June 2014
When the incident has been logged, you will get the confirmation screen with a contact-by date and the support ID. 25. Click Done. In addition to creating the incident and spinning up a VM if you chose to, you will get two e-mails: one when the VM has been created inviting you to access it, and the other from the Microsoft Support Engineer who is working on your case. This message asks you to grant the engineer access to your project in the Project contributor role. If you do not grant access, the engineer cannot work on your case. For more information about how to grant access, click here. You are returned to the incidents list where you will see the new incident listed. 26. Under Repro VM, click Details. You will see the Incident screen that gives you all the information about the incident and what project it is associated with and shows that the VM status is Provisioning. 26 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Lifecycle Services: Operate Last Updated: June 2014
If an incident was logged without a VM being spun up at the same time, and you now need to add one, from the incidents list: 27. Click Add VM. 28. Select Create a virtual machine from the snapshot or Create a new virtual machine for your environment. When creating a new one: 29. Select the correct environment to base the VM on. 30. Click Submit. Once the VM is provisioned, the customer needs to reproduce the issue to share it with Microsoft Support through the collaborative VM. From the incidents list: 31. In the Repro VM column of the incident you want to work on, click Customer repro. 32. Click Start VM. 33. Click Connect. Tip: You can reset your password if you forget it. Some test data is already loaded. There is a recorder that records all the steps you are taking to reproduce the issue, and that recording is shared with Microsoft Support. This helps them to understand what steps you took to get to the error and captures the Microsoft Dynamics AX metadata, which can help find a solution faster. Before submitting to Microsoft Support, you 27 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Lifecycle Services: Operate Last Updated: June 2014
can: 34. Click Take snapshot to capture the system state of the VM for future use. 35. Click Submit your virtual machine. When you have submitted the information to Microsoft Support (for more details about submitting the information, click here), they review the data submitted and, working with the VM, find a solution to the problem. Once they have a proposed solution, they notify the customer, which changes the status of the VM to Customer Verify. Tip: Microsoft Support has a Revert to initial state option. This way if something they try as a solution causes a problem, they can always go back and start over from the initial state. This also helps find a resolution faster. When the status is changed to Customer Repro, the customer: 36. Clicks Start the VM. 37. Clicks Connect to log on and review the proposed solution. If it solves the issue, the customer: 38. Clicks Yes to accept the proposed solution and can add any remarks. 39. Clicks Submit your response and the VM and all the data is erased and the incident is marked Closed. If the solution does not work, the customer hands it back to Microsoft Support, the status is changed to Submitted, and the collaboration continues until a solution is found. Cloud powered support allows self-service issue resolution either through searching for an existing solution or, if none is found, logging a support incident. Having the flexibility and option of spinning up a 28 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Lifecycle Services: Operate Last Updated: June 2014
collaborative VM based on the gathered system information either when the incident is logged or later on helps replicate the issue and provides a shared workspace to work with Microsoft Support to help speed the time to resolution. 29 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Lifecycle Services: Operate Last Updated: June 2014
Demo of Updates Operate Phase Updates This series of demos is for the Operate phase of ALM for LCS. LCS is a cloud-based, continuously updated set of services that helps you achieve repeatable and predictable success with Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 and later implementations. This demo will highlight the features and functionality of Updates. Tip: Make sure to review the Updates Demo Pre-Steps prior to demoing to make sure you have everything configured correctly for the type of demo you will be doing. For more details about Updates, click here. 1. Go to lcs.dynamics.com and log in. Tip: Skip this step if you are already logged on to LCS. You do not need to exit and reenter LCS to go between services or projects. 2. Click the Projects tile. Tip: Skip this step if you are already logged on to LCS. You do not need to exit and reenter LCS to go between services or projects. 30 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Lifecycle Services: Operate Last Updated: June 2014
3. Select the project you want to use for your demonstration from the project list. Tip 1: Remember to choose a Learn-phase project to have access to all LCS services. Tip 2: Skip this step if you are already logged on to LCS. You do not need to exit and reenter LCS to go between services or projects. Help keep your Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 implementations current by using the new update experience powered by LCS and Microsoft Azure. Install CUs easily and quickly to your Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 implementations. It also provides access to a group of updates that can be used for slipstream installations, all of which is designed to simplify and speed applying updates to your implementations, helping to reduce downtime. 4. Click the Updates tile. 5. Click Download and install the Update installer on those systems that might need updates. 31 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Lifecycle Services: Operate Last Updated: June 2014
6. Start the installer, and accept the license agreement. 7. In the left pane, click Download and install updates. 8. Select Download and install updates. Tip: Install updates is for when you have an update file that you have downloaded and are installing on another system in your environment. 9. Click Next. 10. Log on to LCS. 11. Choose which updates to download from the list. Details about the selection are displayed just below the field. If you want to use the business processes in a project to help select the appropriate updates: 12. Select the check box. 13. Select the appropriate one from the list. 14. Click OK. The updates package will download. 15. Select Binary updates, Application updates, or both. For information about the different hotfix types, click here. 16. Click Next. 32 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Lifecycle Services: Operate Last Updated: June 2014
For application updates: 17. Select the local instance to update from the list. or Click Find a different model store to enter the name of a remote database instance. 18. Click Next. Tip: You will see your progress shown as you move down the list in the left column 19. Select All updates or Application update. 20. Use the Fix type, Module, License code, Region/Country, or Business process (Lifecycle Services) fields to filter the application update. Under Search, to group application updates: 21. Select Fix type, Number of conflicts, Business process, or Configuration key. 22. Click the Details tab to display the KB number and title of the hotfix, the model and layers that the hotfix applies to, and any updates that are included. 23. Review the hotfix details. 24. Click the Conflicts tab to view the conflict summary. 25. Click Get conflict details to view additional detailed information, or open the Impact Analysis Wizard for a single hotfix. 26. Click Next. 33 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Lifecycle Services: Operate Last Updated: June 2014
The Review conflicts page lists the number of conflicts that are associated with each model file that will be installed. 27. Click Export to Excel to view the conflicts in Excel. Use the report to help analyze the impact of the updates and plan the installations to reduce system impact and maximize uptime. 28. Click Impact Analysis wizard to review the conflicts in detail. Tip: For information about how to run the Impact Analysis Wizard, see Apply updates to database, AOS, and clients. Here you can review the updates to see the total that will be downloaded into the update package. 29. Click Next. To save the package so you can install it on another computer in your environment: 30. Click Save custom update package. 31. Click Next. You will review and then install the files on the current computer. 34 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Lifecycle Services: Operate Last Updated: June 2014
To install the saved update: 32. Open the wizard, and then accept the software license terms. 33. Select Install updates, and then browse to and select the downloaded update package. 34. Click Next. 35. Select Binary updates, Application updates, or both. Unlike the preceding scenario, you will also see Express and Custom options. 36. Select Express if you want to install the entire download package. 37. Select Custom to choose the specific updates to install. 38. Click Next. For application updates: 39. Select the local instance to update from the list. or Click Find a different model store to enter the name of a remote database instance. 40. Click Next. 35 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Lifecycle Services: Operate Last Updated: June 2014
The Review conflicts page lists the number of conflicts that are associated with each model file that will be installed. 41. Click Export to Excel to view the conflicts in Excel. Use the report to help analyze the impact of the updates and plan the installations to reduce system impact and maximize uptime. 42. Click Impact Analysis Wizard to review the conflicts in detail. Tip: For information about how to run the Impact Analysis Wizard, see Apply updates to database, AOS, and clients. On the Review updates page: 43. Click Next. 44. On the Review components page, make sure the correct ones are selected. 45. Click Next. 46. On the Ready to install page, review the summary. 47. Click Install. There are a number of other update scenarios that are supported, including slipstreaming. When you are installing Microsoft Dynamics AX components for the first time, and cumulative updates, binary hotfixes, or service packs for Microsoft Dynamics AX are available, you can incorporate the updates into the installation by using a process that is known as slipstreaming. When updates are slipstreamed, Setup automatically detects and applies them. In this way, the time that is required to install the whole Microsoft Dynamics AX solution is reduced. For more information about slipstreaming and the details of other updates installations, click here. Updates and Update installer help simplify the process of keeping your systems current. Whether you are updating a few servers or hundreds, the Cloud powered support update experience allows you to easily select the application updates to install based on criteria, even down to the region or business process, to easily identify only the updates relevant to your systems. This helps you plan what updates will be installed and when, helping you keep your systems up and running longer and reduce downtime. 36 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Lifecycle Services: Operate Last Updated: June 2014
Disclaimer 2014 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista, Microsoft Dynamics and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others. The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. Sample code included in this presentation is made available AS IS. THE ENTIRE RISK OF THE USE OR THE RESULTS FROM THE USE OF THIS CODE REMAINS WITH THE USER. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION. NO LICENSE, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, BY ESTOPPEL OR OTHERWISE, TO ANY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS IS GRANTED BY THIS PRESENTATION. Microsoft products are not intended for use in medical, life-saving, or life-sustaining applications. Microsoft Dynamics is a line of integrated, adaptable business management solutions that enables you and your people to make business decisions with greater confidence. Microsoft Dynamics works like and with familiar Microsoft software, automating and streamlining financial, customer relationship and supply chain processes in a way that helps you drive business success. U.S. and Canada Toll Free 1-888-477-7989 Worldwide +1-701-281-6500 www.microsoft.com/dynamics 37 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Lifecycle Services: Operate Last Updated: June 2014
38 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Lifecycle Services: Operate Last Updated: June 2014