Setup Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations, Enterprise Edition, On Premise

In my previous post, I highlighted the setup for Microsoft Dynamics 365 On-Premises, Enterprise Edition.  Find out step by step instructions to know how to set up Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations, Enterprise Edition, On-Premise Edition. Here we go!

Microsoft Dynamics 365 On-Premises

Hardware Layout:

Plan the infrastructure and the Service Fabric cluster, based on the recommended hardware sizing for on-Premise.

Setup:

Before starting the installation, the following pre-requisites must be in place.

• ADDS (Active Directory Domain Services) must be installed and configured.
• ADFS (Active Directory Federation Services) must be deployed.
• SQL Server 2016 Service Pack 1 on BI (Business intelligence) machines.
• SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) must be installed in native mode on BI machines.

Lifecycle Services:

1.   Login to https://lcs.dynamics.com/v2 and create an On-Premise project.

2.   Create a project and select the following components.

In this case, we have named the project as D365 On-Premise methodology.

3.  Once the On-Premise project is created, in the phases section select the following tasks highlighted in the screens below. Here,

The above displays, Fig 2 – Analysis Phase and Fig 3 – Design and Development Phase, highlights the functions and the status of those tasks that define the phases.

4.   The next step is to choose the platform, where we need to setup Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations, Enterprise Edition and in this case, we are going to be adopting Microsoft Azure as the platform to deploy the on-premise version.

5.  On choosing Azure as a platform to deploy Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations, Enterprise Edition, we will receive the following error. The reason this error occurs is that our Lifecycle Services project can’t find a valid Azure subscription which is Azure Resource Manager (ARM) enabled.

The next few steps will highlight how to link the Lifecycle Services project with a valid Azure subscription. This will be done through the Azure connector to be set up on Microsoft Dynamics Lifecycle Services. 

6.  The first step is to download Microsoft Dynamics Lifecycle Services certificate and upload it to the Azure portal. This certificate will hold the credentials and the service required to deploy Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations, Enterprise Edition to Microsoft Azure. Before uploading the certificate, follow the steps mentioned below which will enable the deployment team/ administrator to download the Lifecycle Services certificate to Microsoft Azure.

Make a note of the Azure subscription id after logging into the Azure portal (https://portal.azure.com). A valid Azure subscription can be found in the subscriptions section after logging into the Azure portal. On selecting the subscriptions section, one can see the list of valid Azure subscriptions.

Once a valid Azure subscription is found, go back to the Lifecycle Services project, which in this case is “D365 On-premise methodology” and head back to the Project settings section and set up the Azure connector. The Azure connector is located under LCS Projects ->Project settings -> Azure connectors. Provide a name to the connector and then add the Azure subscription id in the Azure subscription id section.

Table 2 – Microsoft Azure details

Once the Azure subscription id is entered, ensure that the Azure Active Directory tenant id details are entered.  AAD Details can be found under User section -> Properties -> Directory ID. It is the AAD Tenant Domain. The AAD tenant and the Azure Tenant ID where Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations, Enterprise Edition will be hosted. A tenant is a component in Azure that holds all critical details like your subscription details, Active Directory credentials metadata and can also be used to determine which tenant a particular user resides in the Azure Active Directory, etc.

Once the Azure subscription id is entered, ensure that the “Configure to use Azure Resource Manager (ARM)” is enabled. This is required to setup the Azure connector successfully.
Note:
All the Azure connector setups in the Lifecycle Services (LCS) projects are ARM (Azure Resource manager) enabled. This is a mandatory step and the steps highlighted below explain the approach to set up the Azure connector in LCS projects. This will authorize Lifecycle Services Deployment service to work on the Azure subscription.7.

7.   Once the details as mentioned above are entered, hit Next and the LCS Certificate will be generated with a download option, as highlighted below.

The certificate file will be in .cer format. Once it is downloaded, upload the same certificate to the Azure subscription section, after selecting the subscription.

Upload the .cer file, after selecting the Azure subscription. The upload option will be visible after picking the Azure subscription. This certificate will hold the Azure subscription details and the tenant details.

8.   Follow step no.4, where we choose Azure as the platform and hit Next. There will be two options that pop-up as shown below, where the administrator or the On-Premise deployment team needs to
choose the environment topology. The Environment topology will be either Demo or DevTest. 

The Environment topology, in this case, is either Demo or DevTest.  Here a development machine will be set up, in order, to do customizations and integrations within Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations, Enterprise Edition. In this case, we are choosing DevTest.

Table 2 – Environment Topology for Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Operations

Once the DevTest environment is set up, Hit next and select “Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations, Update 10” as the environment topology. In this case, we are choosing Platform Update 10. 

9.   After choosing the environment topology, the next step is to select the Azure connector to facilitate the deployment of Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations, Enterprise Edition.
Note:  Starting Update 8, all the deployments for Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations, Enterprise Edition have been ARM (Azure resource manager) enabled. To enable the Azure
resource manager, the step is to allow the dynamics deployment Service (wsfed-enabled) in the Azure subscription.

In this case, the name given to the Azure connector is “NavD365Ops”. Once this screen pops up, the ARM-enabled error pops up. The reason this issue pops up is that the Dynamics Deployment Service (wsfed-enabled) is the service is used to deploy the Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations, Enterprise Edition virtual machines to Microsoft Azure and this service that is tied to the Azure resource manager is not added to the Azure tenant. To enable this service, the administrator or the deployment team must have the rights to deploy this service to Microsoft Azure. In addition to this, the service must be appended to the subscription. 

To enable this service and to deploy the Finance and Operations virtual machines, successfully, follow the steps highlighted below.

10.  Go to Lifecycle Services and select the Project and choose Project settings and go to the Azure connector settings. Then request the organization’s global administrator to authorize the LCS project user or project admin or project contributor to access the Dynamics Deployment Service (wsfed-enabled) service. Remember this user/LCS environment manager must be able to access the subscription section in the Microsoft Azure portal, else the user won’t be able to enable the Dynamics  Deployment Service (wsfed-enabled) in Azure.

Hit the Authorize link to link the Dynamics deployment (wsfed-enabled) service to the Azure connector in Lifecycle Services. On selecting authorize, the user will be re-directed to the Grant admin consent page. Select authorize to grant the LCS project team member/project owner or the deployment team access to use the Dynamics Deployment service (wsfed-enabled).The LCS team member/project owner or the deployment team will be re-directed to a page as shown below

Note:   One should be able to see an Accept button, as depicted below, but if you don’t see an Accept option there, then follow steps 11 and 12, else skip to step 13

11.  If you don’t see an Accept option, then do the following:

• Copy the URL from the browser. One should see a long URL, as highlighted in the notepad file if the Accept button is disabled.

• There is a section called Common in that URL. Replace common with the details mentioned in the Directory section of the user in the Azure Active Directory. The directory details are associated with the Azure subscription. In the new Azure portal, this option is available in the Azure Active Directory. Keep a note of the user’s or the administrator’s domain name who will be deploying Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations, Enterprise Edition virtual machine into Microsoft Azure.
• Replace the common with the <usernameoradminuesrid>.onmicrosoft.com

12.   In doing so, the Accept option will be re-enabled in the Dynamics Deployment Service[wsfed-enabled] page, but you need to go back and re-run step number 10, after completing step number 11.

13.   Now, when we head back to the Azure connector setup page under the Project setting page, we will see the following error while trying to re-run the Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations, Enterprise Edition, deployment to Azure (step no 6 and step no 7).

13.   We need to grant the administrator on the Azure portal access to the Dynamics Deployment Service [wsfed-enabled]. Log in to the Azure portal through the user id that will be deploying the Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations, Enterprise Edition virtual machine to Microsoft Azure. Assign the user permissions to access to the Dynamics Deployment Service [wsfed-enabled]. Post-deployment, the Azure storage account will hold the credentials to access the Dynamics Deployment service [wsfed-enabled]. Post-deployment, the Azure storage account will hold the credentials to access the Dynamics Deployment Service[wsfed-enabled]. Remember that this Azure portal user, must have rights to deploy a virtual machine from LCS and also the user must have an environment manager role for the LCS project.

14.  The next step is to add the Dynamics deployment service[wsfed-enabled] under the Identity Access Manager (IAM) section. IAM can be accessed by selecting Cost Management + Billing -> Subscription -> Access control (IAM).

15.  Add the Dynamics deployment service [wsfed-enabled] as a contributor under IAM.

Post addition, the Dynamics Deployment Service [wsfed-enabled] will be shown as a contributor.

16.   Once the Dynamics Deployment Service [wsfed-enabled] is added as a contributor, login back to the LCS portal and edit the Azure connector that is non-ARM and follows step number 10. On running the steps there and on hitting Next,  the screen below will be displayed.

The Dynamics Deployment Service [wsfed-enabled] will be checked and verified for existence, and then the valid option will be tested, if the service account exists in Azure.

This means that the Azure connector now has the credentials to deploy Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations, Enterprise Edition virtual machine to Microsoft Azure from Lifecycle Services. The Azure connector is now ARM enabled and is highlighted below.

17.  Now, follow the deployment steps by selecting the Environment option in the LCS project and choose the environment topology, the type of topology which is DEVTEST, in this case.

In this case, I have chosen Platform Update 10 (considering that I have some extension based customizations in there), based on which I will be upgrading to Platform Update 11 or 12.

18.    After choosing the environment topology and the virtual machines type to run the deployment on in Azure, select the virtual machine size. Check the pricing options before deciding the virtual machine size. By default, D13 is the virtual machine size that is chosen which can be changed.

19.   Select Yes, in the message window, and this will show up the deployment status on the Deployment summary page in Lifecycle Services. This will showcase SQL Server Cluster details, the Azure virtual machine details.

20.    The deployment summary page under Lifecycle service will show the SQL Server details, Azure connector details, and the Cloud hosted environment’s name and login credentials.

The Azure connector and the cloud-hosted environmental details will also be shown on the Lifecycle Services Deployment summary page, under the Azure connector and the Cloud Service name
sections.

21.   Post-deployment, the virtual machines, the load balancer, the network interface and the storage account will show up in Azure as displayed below.

Conclusion

This is a step by step guide to setup Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations, Enterprise Edition (On-Premise), to ensure that the guidelines are followed to ensure a smooth deployment.

Related Reading:

Pre-Requisites required to Setup Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Operations On Premise Edition