Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Reporting Extension (SRS Data Connector) Installation Service Account Warning

Heather Reynolds — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 08:50:00 -0500

The Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Reporting Extensions, previously known as the SRS Data Connector, will sometimes return an error message during installation that is intended to be a warning, not an error. The message that you see is ‘A Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server component is using the same account as the instance of SQL Server Reporting Services.’

There are several conditions which will provoke this message

· A Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server 2011 component is installed on the computer where Microsoft Dynamics CRM Connector for SQL Server Reporting Services Setup is being run.

· The SQL Server Reporting Services account is a member of the Active Directory SQLAccessGroup security group. This can occur when the Reporting Services is running under the same account as another Microsoft Dynamics CRM component.

· All Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server 2011 components, SQL Server, and Reporting Services are installed on a computer that is running Microsoft Windows Server Small Business Edition where Microsoft Dynamics CRM Connector for SQL Server Reporting Services Setup is being run.

· The SQL Server Reporting Services account is set as "Local Service."

To get around this error, follow the steps below. Once this is completed, you will still see the error message however the ‘Next’ button will be available and you can continue with the installation. This does require a registry setting change, so it is recommended that the registry be backed up PRIOR to making any changes. One thing to note before using this, if you change this key on your CRM server, any checks that are supposed to take place during the CRM installation will also be ignored. This should only be used with great care and turned off after the Reporting Extensions installation is completed. Failure to do so may result in checks being ignored during other installations and could have negative consequences.

1. Close the installer window

2. Find the MSCRM key in the HKLM\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT directory

3. If the MSCRM key does not exist, create it in the HKLM\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT directory

4. Once you have the key, create a new DWORD value named IgnoreChecks and set the value to 1

5. Launch the installer and follow its instructions. When you get to the environment checks the ‘Next’ button will be available.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Email Router Throws 5.7.1 Client Could Not be Authenticated When Sending Emails

Heather Reynolds — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 08:54:00 -0500

I was working on a 2011 upgrade and came across an issue when running the Email Router on a Windows Server 2008 R2 machine. I installed the router with no issues, but when someone sent an email it failed. The following message was in the event viewer of the machine the router was installed on:

‘5.7.1 – Client could not be authenticated.’

During our troubleshooting, we found that the Email Router worked on a Windows Server 2008 machine with no Exchange authentication challenges. A Network Monitor trace confirmed the authentication challenge on the Windows Server 2008 R2 machine as an Exchange challenge. Research confirmed that Exchange 2007 was setup to accept anonymous users.

The solution to this was to set the authentication method to ‘Anonymous’ in the email router configuration manager. On the Windows Server 2008 machine, the authentication method was set to ‘Windows Authentication,’ however there is a conflict when sending authentication from a Windows Server 2008 R2 machine to an Exchange Server 2007 environment which is configured to accept anonymous users. It is also important to note that in this particular environment the Exchange server as well as the server with the Email Router are on the same network.

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Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Reporting Extension (SRS Data Connector) Installation Service Account Warning

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Email Router Throws 5.7.1 Client Could Not be Authenticated When Sending Emails