Update existing AX 2012 R3 CU10 environment to CU12

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Posted on by JoshE

We are currently running AX 2012 R3 CU10 and want to update to CU12 as there are a number of hot-fixes that address issues we are experiencing.

I'm not exactly new to the update process. I applied numerous hot-fixes and CUs to our environment while we were still on FPK, I upgraded our FPK environment to R3 CU10 (slipstreamed), and I have applied a couple of hotfixes since the upgrade. However, this is the first CU I have tried to apply since upgrading.

As I have always done for CU's, I went to the Overview of Microsoft Dynamics AX build numbers and clicked the download link for CU12 (KB3199741). I received the normal email from Microsoft with the download link. I downloaded and ran the self-extracting zip file, which gave me DynamicsAX2012R3-KB3199741.EXE. I ran that which gave me axupdate.exe and two directories ("licenseterms" and "support"). Normally I would have run the AxImpactAnalysis tool, but that wasn't included. No "databaseupgrade", "models" or "msi" folders were included either. So I run AxUpdate and the AX Update Installer launches.

Not what I was expecting, but okay. I accept the terms and conditions, and apparently the next thing I have to do is download updates. I thought that is what I already did, but whatever? I click Next, sign into LCS, pick "Cumulative update 12" from the drop down and click "OK". The AX Update Installer now shows "Downloading ...." so I assume I am downloading the CU12 update. The download completes, both "Binary updates" and "Application updates" are selected, so I click "Next". I get a "Processing..." dialog for a minute or so, and now I have to point the Update Installer to a model store so it can show me "which application updates are more relevant". Now I'm skeptical, but I point it at the model store of my DEV instance and click "Next". After several minutes, I now have to select which application updates I want. Ummm....excuse me, but the concept of a "cumulative" update would imply ALL previously released updates; if I am picking and choosing, its no longer "cumulative". I digress. "Select all" is marked by default, so I click "Next". There are a number of conflicts shown, so I click the button to run the Impact Analysis tool. After 2+ hours of it telling me it's installing models to the baseline database, I know something isn't right. I attach the SQL Profiler to the baseline db, and sure enough, it is installing models. I pull a list of models installed on the baseline db using AxUtil, and it shows 4500+ models and still going! It is installing individual models for EVERY hot-fix!

WTH? This can't be right. The purpose of a CU is to roll all of the previously released "Hotfix" models into one big "Update" model. It shouldn't be individually installing the "Hotfix" models for EVERY hotfix included in the CU! I am completely lost. What am I missing? What do I need to do to setup the Update Installer so it installs the CU12 update models rather than individually installing the hotfix models for every hotfix?

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Martin Dráb 237,976 Most Valuable Professional on at

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It seems that you're not aware of the existence of Cumulative Update 12 Installation Guide, which you should have been following from the very beginning. If you look at it now, you'll see that your process is generally correct - I don't see any problem so far.

Your idea about how it should work doesn't necessarily have to correspond to how it really works.

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Vilmos Kintera 46,149 on at

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Microsoft has decided based on a former request of ours that hotfixes included in binary and application updates should be traceable. The latter requirement is fulfilled by separating the hotfix models, so you know what exactly is applied within your system. This is also assisting your Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) routine on the LCS portal and the axupdate util, in order to figure out what is already in the system and what needs to be deployed still, if you do not install a CU but a group of hotfixes only.

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JoshE 5 on at

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Thanks for the replies guys. If I understand you correctly, then selecting "All updates" and letting the installer do it's thing is the equivalent of installing the complete CU12 update and it is expected to see individual hotfix models for all of the hotfixes included in the CU installed in the model store rather than a large update model. Is that correct?

Understand where I am coming from being on the customer side. Microsoft's own definition of a CU "is an update that contains ALL previous hotfixes to date." The document "Apply updates and hotfixes" spells this out and is even linked to in the installation guide you reference.

To date, every CU I have installed has removed all previously installed update and hotfix models and replaced them with new update models. The "Apply updates and hotfixes" document still carries a warning alerting users to this as well.

This is not my idea of how it should work. This is how it is supposed to be working according to Microsoft's own documentation. Unfortunately it seems their documentation frequently does not correspond to how things really work.

I actually did read the installation guide and the release notes. I also spent a number of hours scouring the web for insight. I did not find mention anywhere that "Cumulative Updates" now only contain the hotfixes selected in the installer rather than truly being cumulative and containing all of the hotfixes previously released. I also did not find mention anywhere that Cumulative Updates are no longer released as an update model (at least not for existing installations), but instead are released as 1,000's of individual hotfix models.

This would be good information to include in the release notes or the installation guide. Then users would have an idea of what to expect and not be alarmed when their model store explodes from 14 models to 5,000 models.

A quick walk-though of how to install the entire CU from the Update Installer would also be a nice addition to the installation guide. Using the Update Installer to install a CU for the first time really is not an intuitive process. Just as a quick example, I am picking "Cumulative update 12" from LCS, so I assume the list of hotfixes I can choose from are all of those included in CU12. Looking through the list, one of the hotfixes listed is KB3199741, but that is the same as the CU12 KB#. Is that the complete CU12 update whereas the rest are the individuals hotfixes? In other words, can the entire CU be installed by just selecting that hotfix instead of selecting all and having them installed individually? It is confusing....at least to me.

I know you guys did not write the documentation or make the tools, but sometimes a little insight from people with more experience is helpful because the documentation and tools are not always clear or intuitive.

--Josh

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JoshE 5 on at

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Please tell me that traceability is not the only reason that CUs are now installed as individual hotfix models instead of one large update model. As you well know, elements can only exist in one model within a layer. Most of those hotfix models are only going to contain a fraction of the elements that were modified as part of the hotfix. I truly hope that bloating the model store and spreading elements across 1000's of hotfix models was not the best solution MS could come up with for providing metadata to track application updates and included hotfixes that are installed on a system.

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Martin Dráb 237,976 Most Valuable Professional on at

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I think that the guide make clear (at page 7) that you can choose individual hotfixes.

Your confusion probably comes from the fact that you consider "cumulative" not as "containing all previous hotfixes", but as "forcing me to install everything and not giving me any option to opt out". I agree that it may be confusing, as it's not the same as it used to be, but I don't think that Microsoft would change it if it wasn't required by other customers.

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Vilmos Kintera 46,149 on at

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One additional note on the assumption that it contains everything is that there are experimental, regional, or private hotfix updates available on LCS as well, which can be individually installed, but is not part of the main hotfix stream or official fixes.

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paulrybski 25 on at

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Hey I ran into the same issue and came across a method to combine all models when updating.

This might address your problem. Let me know what you think!

Clean model store upgrade to CU 10

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