Tag Archives: Security

VBA Customisation To Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 Login Window To Display Desktop Alert If Caps Lock On

Posted on 25th October 2012 by Ian Grieve

In 2009 Patrick Roth, on the Developing for Dynamics GP blog, posted a customisation for the Microsoft Dynamics GP login window which displays a message box if the caps lock is on when the user goes to enter their password.

Then, back in July, Aaron Berquist on his blog High Dynamic Range, posted an article on using VBA to create a desktop alert to users which doesn’t take focus away from the application.

I decided to take a look and see if I could combine these two ideas into one and have a desktop alert displayed when the user has caps lock on when logging in, which is far less intrusive than the message box approach by Patrick.

The result is a customisation of the login window (which you can download at the end of the post) to display an alert if the user has the Caps Lock on using the desktop alert code Aaron posted.

The code displays a message to the user if they have Caps Lock on when the login window displays, or when they tab into the Password field if they haven’t already seen the message;

The customisation was created in GP 2013 and has only been tested in this version of GP but has been tested on Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 8. As with everything I post here, it is supplied entirely without warranty and you use it at your own risk.

However, if you do have problems let me know and I’ll see what I can do to fix them.

Download

How To Install The GP Web Services – Configure Management Tools

Posted on 28th August 2012 by Ian Grieve

This is the seventh, and final, post in the series on installing, configuring and preparing the Web Services for Microsoft Dynamics GP for use. So far I’ve covered the prerequisites, installation process, configuration, verification of the install, security configuration and client Management Tools installation.

To configure the Management Tools, launch the Dynamics Security Console (Windows Start menu >> All Programs >> Administrative Tools >> Dynamics Security Console) and select the Microsoft Dynamics Security node;

$DynamicsSecurityConsole - [Console Root\Microsoft Dynamics Security]$

Continue reading →

Posted in Dynamics, GP, Microsoft, Web Services | Tagged Configuration, eConnect, GP, Installation, Installation & Configuration, Integration, Microsoft, Microsoft Dynamics, Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010, Security, Web Services | 2 Comments

How To Install The GP Web Services – Management Tools Installation

Posted on 24th August 2012 by Ian Grieve

This is the sixth post in the series on installing, configuring and preparing the Web Services for Microsoft Dynamics GP for use. So far I’ve covered the prerequisites, installation process, configuration, verification of the install and security configuration.

In this post, I’m going to show the installation of the Management Tools on a client machine; in this case AZC-DESK1 which is running Windows 7 Enterprise.

The Management Tools are installed off the Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 installation media. When you run up the setup utility, the standard Microsoft Dynamics GP 210 Bootstrapper Setup will run to install the prerequisites;

Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 Bootstrapper Setup

Continue reading →

Posted in Dynamics, Microsoft, Web Services | Tagged Configuration, eConnect, GP, Installation, Installation & Configuration, Integration, Microsoft, Microsoft Dynamics, Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010, Security, Web Services | 3 Comments

How To Install The GP Web Services – Security Configuration

Posted on 23rd August 2012 by Ian Grieve

This is the fifth post in the series on installing, configuring and preparing the Web Services for Microsoft Dynamics GP for use. So far I’ve covered the prerequisites, installation process, configuration and verification.

In this post, I’ve going to give a run through of configuring of Web Services Security Administrators.

Open the Dynamics Security Console (Windows Start menu >> All Programs >> Administrative Tools >> Dynamics Security Console) and select the Microsoft Dynamics Security node;

$DynamicsSecurityConsole - [Console Root\Microsoft Dynamics Security]$

Continue reading →

MDGP 2013 Feature of the Day: Alternative/Modified Forms and Reports

Posted on 31st July 2012 by Ian Grieve

Microsoft have started the Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 Feature of the Day series on the Inside Microsoft Dynamics GP Blog.

The tenth feature they’ve announced is some enhancements to the Alternative/Modified Forms and Reports window.

This feature covers several enhancements to the window to improve usability.

Continue reading →

Posted in Dynamics, GP, Microsoft | Tagged GP, MDGP 2013 Feature of the Day, Microsoft, Microsoft Dynamics, Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013, Modified Reports, Security, System | 1 Comment

How To Copy Shortcuts Using PSTL

Posted on 25th April 2012 by Ian Grieve

After installing the Professional Services Tools Library earlier this week, I’m doing a series of posts on the different functions available, for free, within.

This post covers the Copy Shortcuts options. This function allows shortcuts to be copied from on user to another.

Continue reading →

Posted in Dynamics, GP, Microsoft, Professional Services Tools Library | Tagged GP, Installation, Installation & Configuration, Microsoft Dynamics, Microsoft Dynamics GP 10, Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010, Professional Services Tools Library, PSTL, Security | 2 Comments

How To Disable A Database Using PSTL

Posted on 24th April 2012 by Ian Grieve

Now that the Professional Service Tools Library (PSTL) has been installed it’s time to take a look at some of the functionality available.

The first one I’ll look at is how to disable a database so users cannot log in. Without using PSTL, to deactivate a database requires you to use the User Access window (Microsoft Dynamics GP menu >> Tools >> Setup >> Administration >> User Access) and select each user in turn and uncheck the company to be disabled. If you have more than a handful of users, this can take a long time to do but with PSTL all users can be disabled very quickly.

Continue reading →

Automate Login To Microsoft Dynamics GP 10

Posted on 5th September 2011 by Ian Grieve

Microsoft Dynamics GP Clients who have upgraded to Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 can use the new remember user and password functionality, but what about those who have not yet upgraded?

Well, in Microsoft Dynamics GP 10, and before, you can use a login macro to automate the login process. A macro can be created by pressing Alt + F8 on the login screen and following the normal login process before pressing Alt + F8 again to stop recording. Continue reading →

Posted in Dynamics, GP, Microsoft | Tagged Configuration, GP, Macro, Microsoft Dynamics GP 10, Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010, Security, System | 3 Comments

Resetting the dynsa password

Posted on 15th August 2011 by Ian Grieve

Microsoft Dynamics I was working on a client’s system the other day and discovered that no-one knew the dynsa password. Bearing in mind my minor crusade to get clients to stop giving the SQL sa password to the GP administrator, instead giving them the dynsa password, I needed to reset the password.

In theory this should be possible from the User Security window (Microsoft Dynamics GP menu >> Tools >> Setup >> System >> User). However. after changing the password I was unable to log into Microsoft Dynamics GP with the dynsa user.

In the end the solution is to remove the password using the SQL Server Management Studio. Next time dynsa logs in the following message will be displayed and force the password to be changed;

Blank passwords are not allowed. Do you want to change your password now?

Posted in Dynamics, GP, Microsoft | Tagged GP, Security, System | Leave a comment

To sa, or not to sa? That is the question.

Posted on 8th August 2011 by Ian Grieve

Microsoft Dynamics Actually, that’s not the question at all; as a general rule of thum, the sa user should not be used by anyone within Microsoft Dynamics GP. The sa user is the SQL System Administrator user whereas Dynamics GP has it’s own System Administrator user; dynsa.

So, what is the difference between these two system admins? Well, to start with, sa is the SQL Server database administator and, as such, has access too all databases, including non-Dynamics databases, on the SQL Server instance. Instead dynsa should be used as it is the GP database administrator and only has access to the GP databases.

While sa is needed for initial system instllation and configuration, and for some third party add-on administration, it should not be used for day-to-day administration of Dynamics GP. As dynsa is a database owner it can be used for most security and maintenance tasks within GP and, like sa, is granted the Poweruser role automatically.

I have to admit, this is more “do as I say, than as I do” because we have been slightly lax in getting this message out to clients. This is something I fully intend to put right this year as I travel around client sites doing upgrades to Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010; in some cases this may lead to entertaining discussions with various Heads of Finance or Directors of Finance or Resources. However, I think in all cases the clinching argument is that using dynsa instead of sa minimises the possibility of tampering with non-GP databases should the password be accidentally leaked.