Installing Dynamics CRM 2013 Server

The process for installing Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 Server is very similar to the installation for CRM 2011, although there are a few new services that are installed. In this post, we will take a look at the CRM 2013 Server installation process. Note that I am installing the CRM 2013 Server Beta edition, so it is possible that the installation process changes slightly with the final release.

Step 1 – Extract Files

This is very self-explanatory. I have created a new folder in C drive called CRM Server which will hold the extracted installation files.

Step 2 – Get Updated Installation Files

It is recommended that you check for the latest installation files by selecting Get Updates for Microsoft CRM (recommended).

Step 3 – Insert Product Key

Enter the product key for your Workgroup or Server edition. Note that you can obtain a 90-day trial product key from the Microsoft Download Center.

Step 4 – Accept the License Agreement

Of course, you need to accept the license agreement before you can proceed with the installation.

Step 5 – Install Prerequisite Software

The installation process will check if any required software prerequisites are installed. If not, they will be downloaded and installed for you.

Step 6 – Specify Installation Directory

If you wish, you can choose to install CRM 2013 in a different location to the one selected by default.

Step 7 – Specify Server Roles

Here you can specify the server roles to install on the current server if you wish to split the installation up across multiple servers. Notice that there are two new services as part of the Back End Server roles and the Deployment Administration Server roles. These are the Email Integration Service and the VSS Writer Service. I will explain these two new services in an upcoming blog post.

Step 8 – Deployment Options

Here you must specify whether you are creating a new deployment or connecting to an existing deployment of CRM 2013. You must also specify the name of the computer where SQL Server is installed.

Step 9 – Select Organization Unit

Select the OU where the CRM 2013 Security Groups will be setup.

Step 10 – Specify Service Accounts

It is recommended that you create dedicated user accounts in AD for each of the CRM service accounts. The user accounts for the Application Service and Asynchronous Processing Service must be added to the Performance Log Users security group in AD. Notice that there are two additional services with CRM 2013 – the VSS Writer Service and the Monitoring Service. I will explain each of these in an upcoming post.

Step 11 – Select Web Site

Specify whether you want to install CRM on the default website in IIS, or let the server setup create a new website for you on a selected port. It is recommended that you install CRM on the default website (port 80).

Step 12 – Specify Email Router Settings

If you have already installed the Email Router, specify the name of the computer where the Email Router is installed.

Step 13 – Specify Organization Settings

Specify the details of the default organization you wish to create. Notice that the ISO currency code and Currency name is automatically prefilled based on your regional settings.

Step 14 – Report Server

The URL for the report server will be automatically prefilled for you based on the selected SQL Server in step 8. It is recommended that you copy-paste the URL into a browser to check that it resolves.

Step 15 – Customer Experience

Select whether or not you wish to participate in the Customer Experience Improvement Program.

Step 16 – Select Microsoft Update Preference

Choose if you want to use Microsoft Update when checking for CRM 2013 updates.

Step 17 – System Checks

A number of checks will be performed to ensure that all necessary settings are correct. If you haven’t added the user accounts for the Application Service and Asynchronous Processing Service to the Performance Log security groups in AD, you will see an error with the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server User Input check.

Step 18 – Service Disruption Warning

This step indicates which services will be stopped and restarted during the installation process.

Step 19 – Ready to Install

This screen acts as a summary screen for you to review before CRM 2013 Server is installed.

Possible Errors During Installation

You may encounter the following error during installation:

If you check the Event Viewer, you will see that it is a permission issue with the user account that you have selected for the VSS Writer Service.

Volume Shadow Copy Service error: The process that hosts the writer with name Microsoft Dynamics CRM and ID {74bf91e0-e0fa-4ba9-9258-48f4fd1d0445} does not run under a user with sufficient access rights. Consider running this process under a local account which is either Local System, Administrator, Network Service, or Local Service.

To assign the necessary privileges, visit this link.

That’s all there is to it! In my next post, I will show you how to install CRM 2013 Reporting Extensions. It is likely that the setup program for this component will execute automatically once CRM 2013 Server is installed, provided that CRM and SQL are installed on the same machine.