LCS environment for Modern POS (MPOS) / Retail Server

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Hi guys,

I've deployed the AX 2012 R3 CU9 environment. I wanted to run the Modern POS and check using fiddler or other tool how it is communicating with the Retail server.

I can see the normal POS application (folder on desktop), but also I can see that the Retail server is installed (in IIS) and that there is Retail Modern folder:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Dynamics AX\60\Retail Modern POS

I didn't expect it to work so simply, but I just tried to open following URL directly in Internet Explorer and it returns a 401 error:
localhost/.../Customers

Do I need to install the Modern POS on this demo VM or am I just missing something?

Thanks!

Waldemar

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SergeyP 2,928 on at

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Logically, the request you sent to RS says "I am anonymous, show me all Customers" which has 2 issues:

1. That is security issue to return any customer information to an anonymous user

2. That is a performance issue to return all customers without any filter at all

So, that specific operation is not allowed on RS Would be good if you could describe what you are trying to achieve.

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Hi Sergey,

I thought that since I am logged in as system administrator, authentication shouldn't be an issue anywhere on this demo LCS box. But I kind of new that I am being too naive and calling this URL in IE wouldn't work that simply.

But anyway... what I am trying to achieve at the end, is to prove (or disprove) that we can leverage the Retail Server to integrate our eCommerce system. Both, the actual eCommerce system as well as our middleware (something like BizTalk) are Java based.

So, to achieve that, as first step I wanted to make sure I have a properly working RS by performing some operations in MPOS (and maybe intercepting some HTTP messages using Fiddler or similar tool).

But if I can skip this step and validate that the RS is running correctly, so I can directly start building a client to call the RS, that would be great. Otherwise I don't know whether my client is broken or the RS is not set up correctly.

Do you know how I can validate the RS is running properly?

Or shall I install the MPOS?

I am quite excited to do it because I heard from several Retail companies that although the whole CDX/CRT is designed by Microsoft for integration with other systems (channels), you still have a hard life if you are trying to integrate a third-party eCommerce (especially if it is not Windows/.NET/ASP based).

Thank you,

Waldemar

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SergeyP 2,928 on at

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>... Do you know how I can validate the RS is running properly? ...

There are at least 3 options:

1) The easiest way to have some high level idea about RS availability you can point your browser to the following URL which can in fact be thought of like "health check endpoint":

https://YourServerNameIsHere.cloudax.test.dynamics.com/healthcheck?testname=ping

It could take some time to create a response if RS or CDX were not used for awhile but eventually you should see something similar to:

If you prefer to do this check in any kind of automation you might want to use an additional parameter which will tell the check to return result as XML, in this case you should add the following at the end of the Url above:

&resultFormat=xml

2) You have probably seen the very last post (sent on on 23 Dec 2015 2:06 PM) to this thread which explains how to send couple of requests to RS, as was mentioned there that could be done by leveraging any language/framework which is capable of issuing HTTP requests and analyzing response.

3) If you are using the LCS VM or deployed not only RS but also ecommerce or MPOS - then of course just use them (by interacting with the UI) - that will be good indication that Retail Server is in working condition.

>... you still have a hard life if you are trying to integrate a third-party eCommerce (especially if it is not Windows/.NET/ASP based ...

In addition to a Managed proxy mentioned in the above referenced forum thread, there is one more type of proxy which doesn't have any dependency on .Net: How to access Retail Server in TypeScript(JavaScript) application.

I would like to hear more specific details if you/anyone else still believe something is still coupled with .NET from Retail Server endpoint point of view in such a way that it blocks certain 3rd parties to achieve their goal. Just in case, again, the Retail Server is standard ODATA Service which is an open protocol and has nothing to do to Microsoft/.Net which means that Retail Server can be consumed by any client capable of issuing/handling HTTP Requests.

If, by any reason, you still cannot/don't want to use those 2 proxies mentioned above you can generate/build your own by writing everything (sending and handling HTTP requests) from scratch or by leveraging one of ready to reuse libraries which exists for several different languages: http://www.odata.org/libraries/ so you could just generate your proxy based on the metadata available at:

https://YourServerNameIsHere.cloudax.test.dynamics.com/Commerce/$metadata

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My experience is that you need to install the MPOS to the on the tablet simulator or on a physical tablet. If you install on a physical tablet, you will most likely need to work with the certificate.

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Community Member on at

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Sergey, thank you for as always detailed information. I found the MPOS installed on the LCS Demo VM for AX 2012 R3 CU9 and was able to intercept a few messages in Fiddler.

But you information is very useful to progress.

We will continue to evaluate CRT/Retail Server as a possible way to integrate our eCommerce.

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Community Member on at

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Frederik, see my reply to Sergey. The MPOS is already installed on this LCS VM, but I had to activate it.

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Hi Sergey. Thanks for the links again. I've started to look into some of the libraries.

Also I managed to run MPOS on the LCS VM, which is probably enough to see that RS is working. But I still wanted to open the healthcheck URL and tried the ones below. I copied the first part from the AX Channel profiles entry for Retail server:

401 error (authentication): http://localhost:35080/Retailserver/v1/healthcheck?testname=ping 404 error: http://localhost:35080/healthcheck?testname=ping 404 error: http://localhost/healthcheck?testname=ping

I wonder if I will have the same issue (authentication) if I start building the client in Java or my URLs for the healthcheck are just wrong.

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SergeyP 2,928 on at

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Are you using R3 or AX7 (CTP8)? The health endpoint was not available in R3 so if you can please migrate to AX7 CTP8.

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Sergey, I've spun up the AX 2012 R3 CU9 demo VBM in LCS. So no AX 7.

It would be nice if it was that simple to just upgrade to AX 7, but we are live with AX 2012.
I managed to change the IIS config and get the metata for the Retail Server API:
http://localhost:35080/Retailserver/v1/$metadata

So it is a step forward and I think this post can be actually closed as my original question is answered.
I will probably open a new one (or write a blog post) on how actually consume the API.

Do you think the CRT/Retail Server HTTP/ODATA APIs are mature enough in AX 2012 R3 CU9 (or CU10) to integrate 3rd party non-.NET web shop?
(I fully understand you cannot make any generic statements for Microsoft; I am just trying to make sense of all that.)

Thanks!
Waldemar

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SergeyP 2,928 on at

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AX 2012 R3 version of Retail Server didn't have support for anonymous and C2 authentications, it had C1 (means Employee) only. So, if you absolutely cannot/don't plan move to AX7 then you have 2 options:

a) Make your app to always work in a C1 context (like MPOS does)

b) Customize Retail Server's authentication so the version you have supports C2 and Anonymous

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