Microsoft Dynamics GP Upgrade 2023 - Upgrade Troubleshooting

Knowing how to perform a Dynamics GP upgrade is only part of what you will need to do a successful upgrade.  You may encounter some errors or issues during the upgrade process and knowing what to do to troubleshoot them is important. 

For this troubleshooting blog I will concentrate on the table conversion steps in the upgrade where a certain set of tables go through a conversion process for the required Microsoft Dynamics GP feature changes. Not each and every table gets updated each time a database goes through an upgrade to a new version/build of Microsoft Dynamics GP.

Microsoft Dynamics GP Utilities uses the DU000010 table in the DYNAMICS/system database, which contains a list of table updates, and it uses the version/build that you’re starting from and then the version/build that you’re upgrading to for Microsoft Dynamics GP. Using that information, it gets a list of tables that need to be updated between the original and new versions. Sometimes one table can go through more than one update during a database upgrade.

You can run the scripts below to find the list of tables that are converted for each Microsoft Dynamics GP release:

Microsoft Dynamics GP 2018 >>Select fileOSName from DYNAMICS..DU000010 where CodeName like 'GP18%'

Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016 >>Select fileOSName from DYNAMICS..DU000010 where CodeName like 'GP16%'

Microsoft Dynamics GP 2015 R2 >> Select fileOSName from DYNAMICS..DU000010 where CodeName = ‘GP14R2’

Microsoft Dynamics GP 2015 >> Select fileOSName from DYNAMICS..DU000010 where CodeName = 'GP14'

Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 R2 >>  Select fileOSName from DYNAMICS..DU000010 where CodeName = 'GP12%'

You can also refer to the Microsoft Dynamics GP 2018 Software Development Kit (SDK) for detailed table changes from the prior release:

--In the Dynamics GP DVD, go into the Tools > SDK > Dynamics GP directory and you'll find the SDK.exe and Microsoft_DynamicsGP18_SDK_x86_en-us.msi files to install it with.

If you are currently on Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016 and are upgrading to Microsoft Dynamics GP 18.6, the table updates mentioned in the DU000010 table for Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016, Microsoft Dynamics GP 2018, Microsoft Dynamics GP 2018 R2, and Microsoft Dynamics GP 18.XX will all be run against your databases even though you are not actually installing those prior versions of Microsoft Dynamics GP client application for the upgrade.

The key to troubleshooting table upgrade errors is to first understand what happens to each table. You can then trace those steps in the Dexsql.log. The Dexsql.log is a tracing tool that will log everything that Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016 Utilities is doing during the upgrade process. This includes the table conversion process itself. If a table fails during the table conversion, you can use the steps to find where the failure happened in the Dexsql.log.

Table Conversion Steps for Each Table

The first step that occurs for a table going through an upgrade is that it gets renamed. This is done so that the new Microsoft dynamics GP table can be created. This is also important because it is like creating a backup of the table. An example of the naming convention that Dynamics GP Utilities uses to rename tables is the following:
 
GL00100 >> G00100L
SOP10100 >> S10100OP

As you can see with this example, the tables that start with 2 letters have the second letter placed at the end of the table. Those tables that begin with 3 letters have the second and third letter placed at the end.

**TIP: When looking at a Dexsql.log to troubleshoot a failed table upgrade error, always search on the renamed table. For example, if the GL00100 failed, you would start your search with G00100L to get to the start of the conversion process for that table.

Dexsql.log Snip It – Rename Table

Primary Key is Renamed: Key Word ‘RENAME’

The primary key for each renamed table is also renamed so that the new primary key for the new Microsoft Dynamics GP table can also be created. This doesn’t necessarily mean the primary key is different than the previous release.
 
 Dexsql.log Snip It – Rename Primary Key

New Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016 table is created: Key Word ‘CREATE’
Microsoft Dynamics GP Utilities uses the Dynamics.dic to create the new table in the required structure for Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016. The primary key, secondary indexes, dexterity procedures and bindings are also created during this process.

Dexsql.log Snip It – Create Table

**NOTE: **The ‘CREATE TABLE’ process can will show up as several lines in the log file. In the Dexsql.log, you will see the start of the process with the CREATE TABLE. The end of the table creation process will be several “Default bound to column” messages.

Check structure of new table, old table and/or dependent tables if applicable: Key Word ‘SELECT’

During the table upgrade process, Microsoft Dynamics GP Utilities may run SELECT statements against the original/renamed table, the newly created table, and/or even completely different tables that the current table being upgraded depends on. The SELECT statements are to validate the table structure of one or more tables.
 
Dexsql.log Snip It – Select Table

**NOTE: The ‘select’ statement can also be after the Insert statement as well

Records Inserted from Old Table to New Table: Key Word ‘INSERT’

After the new Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016 table is created and verified as being correct. Microsoft Dynamics GP Utilities will then insert any records that were in the original/renamed table. This is an important point of failure during the table upgrade process because if the old/renamed table is not in the correct structure, the insert will fail. Also, if the newly created table for Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016 is not in the correct structure, the insert will also fail.
 
Dexsql.log Snip It – Insert into new Table

 Renamed table is dropped: Key Word ‘DROP’

Once the INSERT statement finishes inserting all records into the new table without any issues, then the old/re-named table is dropped.
 

Dexsql.log Snip It – Drop Table

At the point of a table upgrading successfully and all data being inserted without issues, Microsoft Dynamics GP Utilities will set the Status for the table to a 0 in the DU000030 system table indicating the table was upgraded successfully

Dexsql.log Snip It – DU000030 insert indicating table upgrade success

The Beauty of the Upgrade – The db_status & Rollback! – You Don’t Need to Restore!

An important part of the upgrade process is that each step is tracked by the DB_Status column in the DB_Upgrade system table. This allows Microsoft Dynamics GP Utilities to ‘remember’ where it stated and left off for an upgrade. The DB_Status of 23 is the table conversion step. Since Utilities remembers where it left off, you do not need to restore the database(s) if the upgrade fails. If the upgrade does fail, you can close out of Utilities, fix the issue and then re-launch Utilities again. Because of the number in the DB_Status column in the DB_Upgrade system table, Utilities knows where it left off and will pick up from that step.

Microsoft Dynamics GP Utilities does a great job when individual tables fail. If a table fails to convert, Utilities will roll-back the table by deleting the new table and primary key, and then re-naming the old table and primary key back to their original name. For example, if the GL00100 table failed the upgrade conversion for any reason, Utilities would delete the new GL00100 table and primary key, and then rename the old G00100L table back to GL00100 along with its primary key. This way we don’t have to worry about losing any records in the upgraded tables and it allows you to close out of Utilities, fix any issues causing upgrade failures, and then launch Utilities again without needing to restore. Pretty AWESOME, eh?

Let’s Troubleshoot a Table Conversion Failure!

When the table conversion fails, the following window will appear in Microsoft Dynamics GP Utilities. Microsoft Dynamics GP Utilities will stop on the first company that fails. For example, if you mark to upgrade 15 companies and the 5^th company fails, Utilities will not continue to upgrade the remaining 10 companies.

Steps to Troubleshoot a Table Conversion Failure

 SELECT b.fileOSName, a.fileNumber, a.PRODID, a.Status, a.errornum, a.errordes, c.CMPANYID, c.INTERID
FROM DYNAMICS.dbo.DU000030 a
JOIN
DYNAMICS.dbo.DU000010 b
ON a.fileNumber = b.fileNumber
AND a.PRODID = b.PRODID
JOIN
DYNAMICS.dbo.SY01500 c
ON a.companyID = c.CMPANYID
WHERE (a.Status <> 0 or a.errornum <> 0) and a.Status <>15

Based on the results above, check the Known Upgrade Issues and Critical Upgrade Issues lists
Even if you checked the Known Issues List and Critical Upgrade Issues prior to the upgrade, it is a good idea to check them if tables failed during the table conversion.

Known Upgrade Issues listed in the Dynamics GP 2018 Upgrade guide:

'Upgrading to Microsoft Dynamics GP 2018' hot topic:

Upgrading to Microsoft Dynamics GP | Microsoft Docs 

Select * from DU000010 where fileOSName = 'SOP10200'

We see that fileNumber 497 and SOP10200 is the update that takes place at the '11.80.1' which means that it gets upgraded between Dynamic GP 2010 and Dynamics GP 2013. Since we're upgrading, in this example, from Dynamics GP 2010 to Dynamics GP 2015, we know that this upgrade is taking place during the upgrade we're currently doing, so we need to find out why this table is failing.

Since our 'failed tables' script mentions this table 'did not have the correct structure prior to the conversion', we would want to look at this table and compare it to the Dynamics GP 2010 version structure, since the tables get rolled back once they fail. If we find the structure is incorrect, we would need to re-create the table again and the Dynamics GP 2010 version, for this example, with any data it has in it, then delete the record for this failed table in the DU000030 table and continue with the upgrade to Dynamics GP 2015 R2, after fixing the two failing tables as well.

The DU000010 table can also be used to determine when a table gets upgraded, as to determine whether a table may be failing a current upgrade, due to not being correctly upgraded at a prior version.

Again remember, that each table is rolled back if it fails, therefore, right now the SOP10200, IV70500 and the GL00201 are set back to the Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 version, for this example.  All troubleshooting can take place right in the failed state.  DO NOT restore the database!

Ideally, if you are opening a support case for a Dynamics GP database upgrade issue/errors, we would like this information sent to us when the support case is created, as it will help expedite a resolution:

    KB article 850996 - How to create a Dexsql.log file for Microsoft Dynamics GP and Great Plains
       https://mbs.microsoft.com/knowledgebase/KBDisplay.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;850996

Once the upgrade fails again on this or any other errors, please send the dexsql.log file created, any error information from Utilities and then the results of the following scripts, because in the majority of upgrade cases, if it's failing on a table(s), this is what we're going to ask for:

Please continue to check out our Microsoft Dynamics GP 2023 Upgrade Blog Series Schedule for the remaining blogs! 

 Now with a deeper understanding of the upgrade troubleshooting process you are empowered to be able to accomplish more for you organization.