Troubleshooting Microsoft Dynamics GP Service Pack Installs

With the upcoming release of Service Pack 3 for Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 many of you will be looking to update your environments.  In order to ease this process I wanted to give you some of the pro-tips we use in support to troubleshoot service pack installation issues.

There are two parts to each service pack install: Windows Installer and Microsoft Dynamics GP Utilities. The process for troubleshooting these two areas follows.

1) Windows Installer:  Service packs for Dynamics GP are .msp files, so as such you can use a simple Fix It in the following KB article to turn Windows Installer logging on and off:

How to enable Windows Installer logging

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/223300

If you have any errors during the installation portion of the service pack process you can enable this log file, recreate the error and then review the log file, which is found by clicking on Start, then Run, typing %temp% and clicking OK.  Look for a msi*.log file with the correct timestamp in this folder and open it in Notepad.  A quick search for "Return Value 3" will take you to where the install rolled back. If you read up from there you will see a stack trace with the details of the error you can work with to resolve the issue.

Another piece of the Windows Installer puzzle that can cause issues is the fact that running a Dynamics GP service pack MSI file on a server will patch all instances of that major version that are installed on the server.  If you want to patch one specific instance of Dynamics GP you'll want to use Q&A 13 from the following KB article:

Frequently asked questions about the Windows Installer .msp files for Microsoft Dynamics GP

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/912997

Q13: If I have a test server that has multiple installations of Microsoft Dynamics GP will the .MSP installation patch all the installations?

A13: Yes. If you run the .MSP installation, all Microsoft Dynamics GP installations will be patched. If you want to patch only one Microsoft Dynamics GP installation, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.

2. Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
32-bit environment

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Business Solutions\Great Plains\1033

64-bit environment

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Business Solutions\Great Plains\1033

3. Expand the folder for the instance of Microsoft Dynamics GP you want to patch.

Note The DEFAULT folder is for the default installation. The Inst01 folder is for the second instance of Microsoft Dynamics GP. For example, if you want to patch the second installation, expand the Inst01 folder.

4. Click the SETUP folder, double-click the Product Code, and then copy the code.

5. Exit Registry Editor.

6. Click Start, and then click Run.

7. To install the .MSP file, type the following, and then click OK:

C:\updatename.msp /n {E979C594-95F9-4E3A-985D-A1DFDF403227}

Note Replace "C:\updatename.msp" with the path to the .MSP file and the name of the .MSP patch file. Replace "{E979C594-95F9-4E3A-985D-A1DFDF403227}" with the Product Code the you copied in step 4.

2) Dynamics GP Utilities: Any errors that you run into in Dynamics GP Utilities can be treated like a major version upgrade.  You will need to capture a DEXSQL.LOG of the process using the following KB article:

How to create a Dexsql.log file to troubleshoot error messages in Microsoft Dynamics GP

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/850996

You will cross-reference that with the tables listed when you run the following Failed Tables script in SQL Server Management Studio:

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

The specifics of troubleshooting table conversions is a larger topic than this blog post, but you can certainly contact Dynamics GP support if you need any assistance with that.

Enjoy!

Lucas