Implementing SalesHQ Portal: Client First Run

SalesHQ PortalThis post is part of a series on Implementing SalesHQ Portal, which is one of the GP Elementz Portals from my new employer, ISC Software Solutions.

After installing the Microsoft Dynamics GP client component, you need to run Microsoft Dynamics GP as administrator as you will be prompted to include new code; click Yes to do so:

New code must be included...

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Implementing SalesHQ Portal: Install Dynamics GP Client Components

SalesHQ PortalThis post is part of a series on Implementing SalesHQ Portal, which is one of the GP Elementz Portals from my new employer, ISC Software Solutions.

The client component of SalesHQ allows you to configure the portal and grant access to customers and sales people and so needs to be installed on all Microsoft Dynamics GP client machines.

With the file you downloaded from ISC Software’s secure file transfer site, launch the Dynamics GP client MS installer and, on the Welcome step click Next:

Welcome to the Elementz - CustomerHQ Setup Wizard

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Implementing SalesHQ Portal: Start Connector Service

SalesHQ PortalThis post is part of a series on Implementing SalesHQ Portal, which is one of the GP Elementz Portals from my new employer, ISC Software Solutions.

The final step in configuring the connector service, is to start the Elementz CustomerHQ Connector; if you’ve used an account which is already has log on as a service rights, you will not need to perform this step.

To start the service, open Services (the easiest way is to launch the Run prompt (Win+R), type services and hit return). Scroll down and find the Elementz CustomerHQ Connector service, right-click and select Properties:

Servies window with Elementz CustomerHQ Connector selected

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More Changes for VAT in Microsoft Dynamics GP April 2019 Hotfix

Microsoft Dynamics GPSnuck out just before the Easter bank holidays was a new hotfix with some fixes in for the following in UK VAT:

  • To submit the file to HMRC you had to be logged into Microsoft Dynamics GP as user SA.
  • You may incorrectly receive an error in VAT Daybook Obligation period dates do not match with the VAT Daybook Calendar.
  • VAT submission changes required by HMRC.

The post on the Dynamics GP Support and Services Blog is here.

The hotfix is inclusive of the February hotfix changes and can be downloaded via these links:

Implementing SalesHQ Portal: Configure SQL Permissions

SalesHQ PortalThis post is part of a series on Implementing SalesHQ Portal, which is one of the GP Elementz Portals from my new employer, ISC Software Solutions.

In the last post in this series, I installed the Connector Service; as part of the installation a database was created and populated with the required tables. The service account is granted access to these tables, but also needs to be granted the DYNGRP role in the Microsoft Dynamics GP system and company databases as well.

You can do this via SQL Server Management Studio. Expand Security and Logins, find the service account, right-click and select Properties.

Select User Mapping and the the system database (which in my example is called D18R2.

In the Database role membership… section, mark the checkbox next to DYNGRP:

Login Properties window showing DYNGRP on system database being assigned

Repeat this action for the company databases and then click OK to commit the changes.

This action is only required to be done for the Domain account which will run the connector service as this service handles all connections to the database, including those from the Dynamics GP client.

Implementing SalesHQ Portal: Install Connector Service

SalesHQ PortalThis post is part of a series on Implementing SalesHQ Portal, which is one of the GP Elementz Portals from my new employer, ISC Software Solutions.

With the installers downloaded, the first one we’re going to install is the Connector Service. Do this by launching the the MSI installer using a Domain account which has permissions on SQL Server to create a database and tables, and, on the Welcome to the Elementz CustomerHQ – Connector Service Setup Wizard (as mentioned in a previous post, SalesHQ and CustomerHQ share a code base, with the license key differentiating which level of functionality is available, so this is the correct installer), click Next:

Welcome to Elementz CustomerHQ

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How To Install Windows 10

WindowsThe installation process of Windows has changed a lot over the years; when I started doing installs it was from a 3½ inch floppy disk, but these days it is from a bootable USB drive.

I have previously posted about how to install Windows 8 and even the Windows 10 Technical Preview, but the current Windows 10 install is much different from both.

In this post, I am going to step through the installation of Windows 10 (1607 released on 13/02/2019). Once you have the media available to install, most likely using the US Tool I linked to above), ensure your computer, or virtual machine, is set to boot from the required device.

In this example, I am actually creating a virtual machine so have mounted the ISO in Hyper-V. When the VM is started, hit a key to boot from the mounted ISO:

Press any key to boot from CD or DVD...

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Implementing SalesHQ Portal: Download SalesHQ Software

SalesHQ PortalThis post is part of a series on Implementing SalesHQ Portal, which is one of the GP Elementz Portals from my new employer, ISC Software Solutions.

Once you have signed up for the Sales HQ portal, including for a free trial, ISC Software will make contact with details for a secure file transfer site where you can download the two components which will need to be installed:

  1. Dynamics GP client component which needs to be installed on any client which will be used to update the configuration of SalesHQ and assign access to customers and sales people.
  2. Connector Service on a server; this server does not need to be a new one. If an existing server is used it should ideally be a web server or integration server; never a SQL Server or Domain Controller.

With these components downloaded, it is time to implement SalesHQ.

Implementing SalesHQ Portal: Prerequisites

SalesHQ PortalThis post is part of a series on Implementing SalesHQ Portal, which is one of the GP Elementz Portals from my new employer, ISC Software Solutions.

The Sales HQ portal is a fairly simple install (which I’ll be covering in this series of posts). However, there are a number of prerequisites which need to be met for the SalesHQ portal to be used.

Supported Version of Microsoft Dynamics GP

The following versions of Microsoft Dynamics GP are supported with SalesHQ:

  • Dynamics GP 2013 R2
  • Dynamics GP 2015
  • Dynamics GP 2015 R2
  • Dynamics GP 2016
  • Dynamics GP 2016 R2
  • Dynamics GP 2018
  • Dynamics GP 2018 R2

.NET Framework

SalesHQ requires the NET Framework 4.6.1.

Server With Compatible Windows Server Version

SalesHQ is only compatible with versions of Windows Server which supports .NET Framework 4.6.1.

Available RAM

Depending on usage the connector service requires around 500MB of available RAM.

SSL Certificate

An SSL certificate to be used by the Connector Service.

SQL Server

An SQL server compatible with the supported versions of GP to host the Configuration database.

Active Directory Service Account

An Active Directory Service Account to be used to run the service as, the user name and password will be required in the SalesHQ Connector Service. The account must have access to the Dynamics GP System and Company Databases as well as the database which will hold the SalesHQ configuration.

Sales HQ URL

The URL of the SalesHQ Web Portal so customers and sales people can easily access the portal; a default URL can be provided, but a user-friendly one is recommended.

Azure Connection Details

The Azure name space, relay name and the access key required to connect to the web portal. These details will be supplied via email by ISC Software.

With the prerequisites met, you are ready to download, install and configure SaleHQ.

Implementing SalesHQ Portal: How SalesHQ Works

SalesHQ PortalThis post is part of a series on Implementing SalesHQ Portal, which is one of the GP Elementz Portals from my new employer, ISC Software Solutions.

in the last post in this series, I covered what the SalesHQ portal is, and in this post I’m going to go into a little detail as to how it works.

SalesHQ technical diagram showing components and how they interact

There are five main components to the SalesHQ portal:

  1. The Dynamics GP client component which allows configuration of the SalesHQ portal and allows granting of access to customers and sales people.
  2. The SQL Tables which stores the configuration of the SalesHQ portal; these tables can either be in a new database or can be added to the Dynamics GP system database (typically called DYNAMICS).
  3. The Connector Service which serves two purposes:
    1. The Microsoft Dynamics GP client talks via the Connector Service with the database.
    2. The Connector Service initiates communication with the Azure Relay; this means all communication is outbound meaning no inbound ports need to be open on the firewall.
  4. The Azure Relay which receives information from the Connector Service.
  5. The Web Portal which is hosted by ISC Software on Microsoft Azure. The Web Portal is responsively designed to work on any device from PCs to laptops to tables to mobiles/cellphones.

As mentioned, the SalesHQ web portal is hosted by ISC Software on Microsoft Azure; organisations using the portal can supply their own URL for user-friendly naming and access to the portal; for example, I could use https://mobilesales.azurecurve.co.uk/ to give a friendly name for accessing SalesHQ.

The implementation of SalesHQ is a task split between ISC Software and either you or the consultant from your Dynamics GP partner; you, or your partner will install the Connector Service, update the Dynamics GP clients and configure SalesHQ while ISC Software will deploy and configure the Azure components including the web portal.

The key advantage of how SalesHQ has been designed, is that it does not require any incoming ports opened on the firewall as all communications between the portal and Dynamics GP, is initiated by the ,em>Connector Service.