Fix for Riva Connection for Dynamics CRM 2011 Failure After Applying Roll Up 10+

Issue

A successful Riva connection to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 experienced a connection error after applying Roll Up 10 or higher to the CRM system.  This article includes:

• Before implementing Dynamics CRM Roll Up 10.
• After implementing Dynamics CRM Roll Up 10.
• Explanation.
• New Riva XRM-based connection for Dynamics CRM.
• Difference between the two CRM connections.
• Switching to the Riva XRM-based Dynamics CRM connection.

Before implementing Dynamics CRM Roll Up 10

Examination of crmex-log files reveals that standard CRM connections worked as expected.

After Implementing Dynamics CRM Roll Up 10

Examination of the crmex-log files reveals the following CRM connection error:

Explanation

The Riva server used a connection to Dynamics CRM that consumed standard web service "endpoints". We refer to that client as the "Legacy" client, which supports Dynamics CRM 4 and 2011.

Dynamics 2011 also included support for XRM web service endpoints, which have been supported since the RTM release. The Riva "Legacy" connection to Dynamics CRM does not support XRM web service endpoints.

With the conversion of CRM Dynamics Online to Office 365, Microsoft removed support for standard web service endpoints and switched to using XRM web service endpoints. After Office 365 and Dynamics Online customers with Riva servers were transitioned to those new instances, their Riva "Legacy" connection failed.

New Riva XRM-based Connection for Dynamics CRM

Riva 2.4.35 includes a new XRM-based Riva connection to Dynamics CRM. In some circumstances, you can choose which Riva connection to use:

• For Dynamics CRM 2011 Roll Up 10 or higher, use only the Riva XRM-based client.
• For Dynamics CRM 2011 RTM to Roll Up 8, you can use the Riva "Legacy" client or the Riva XRM-based client.
• For Dynamics CRM 4, use only the Riva "Legacy" client.

Differences between the two Riva CRM Connections

There is one major difference between the "Legacy" and XRM-based CRM connections.

• The "Legacy" CRM connection supports the Outlook Plug-in by offering a "compatibility" mode that enables using Riva and the Plug-in concurrently. This mode supports such CRM-Outlook features as "follow me".
• The XRM-based CRM connection does not support plug-in "compatibility" mode. If you need to switch Riva from the "Legacy" connection to the XRM-based connection, CRM users need to disable the Dynamics plug-in to prevent Riva from creating duplicate records of items that are synced between Exchange and the CRM. For more information, contact the Riva Success Team.

If you are considering applying the Dynamics Roll-up 10 or higher, be aware of the requirement to switch to using the Riva XRM-based CRM connection and the lack of plug-in "compatibility" mode.

Switching to the Riva XRM-based Dynamics CRM connection

If the Riva server was originally configured with a "Legacy" CRM connection and an Office 365 Dynamics Online refresh (upgrade) or applying Dynamics CRM 2011 Roll Up 10 or higher has resulted in CRM connection errors, use the following procedure to upgrade to the XRM-based CRM connection.

To replace a "Legacy" connection with a "XRM-based" connection:

1. In the Riva Manager application, disable the CRM sync policies.

2. In the Riva CRM Service Monitor application, stop the service.

3. Make a complete backup of the \Riva\Transactions folder structure.

4. Critical requirement: Disable / Discontinue use of the Dynamics Outlook plug-in by users that will be synced by Riva.

5. On the Windows system hosting Riva, install the required .NET Framework version.

6. Create an XRM-based Riva connection to Dynamics CRM. You can use the same user credentials that are configured in the "Legacy" CRM connection.

7. Configure each sync policy to reset the CRM connection to use the new XRM-based connection. Edit the Riva sync policies: on the General page, select the Select >> link for the CRM connection, and select the new XRM-based connection (created at step 6). Save the sync policy, but DO NOT start the sync service.

8. Highly recommended: Run a "Dry Run Mode" sync for the sync policy with the least number of target users.

   This will confirm if there are potential data sync issues.

9. If a "Dry Run Mode" sync shows errors for a large number of item deletes or creates, stop the sync service, disable all sync policies, and contact the Riva Success Team.

10. After successfully completing your data sync testing and you are prepared to enable data sync for production Riva sync policies, disable "Dry Run Mode" in the sync policy tested (at step 8), and enable the remaining sync policies.

    Note: After a Riva sync policy is modified to use the new XRM-based connection and it is enabled, Riva should start to sync users from the point that the last successful Riva sync was completed with the Legacy CRM connection.