Podcast and Overview: Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Update Rollup 6

We're proud to announce that Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Update Rollup 6 released Thursday, Jan. 12th,2012! 

On Friday Jan. 13th, 2012 at 8 AM Pacific Standard Time, Greg Nichols and Ryan Anderson from the Microsoft Premier Field Engineering team, as well as Corey Hanson, Supportability Program Manager for Microsoft Dynamics CRM, provided information about the recent release of Update Rollup 6 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011. They also discussed the upcoming release of Update Rollup 21 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 during their:

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Update Rollup 6 Podcast

The "CRM Update Rollup Collateral Page"

For pointers to download locations, release dates, build information, and CRM Premier Field Engineering blogs and podcasts for all Microsoft Dynamics CRM Update Rollups, visit the "CRM Update Rollup Collateral Page"

Note: The CRM 2011 Update Rollup 6 packages, originally released on Jan. 12th, 2011, were recalled early Jan. 13th. If you have downloaded any of these packages (build 1985) please discard them and download new versions available now (build 9692.1992). The new packages were released Saturday, Jan. 21st.

If you did new installs with the Update Rollup 6 "slipstream" packages that were released (these would be the packages that include the full install bits as well as Update Rollup 6) you will get an error trying to patch those components to the new Update Rollup 6 build. This Knowledge Base article describes the issue:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2668504 . This Knowledge Base article is live, as well as the updated Update Rollup 6 KB article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2600640.

The only workaround is to reinstall if you happened to use the Update Rollup 6 slipstream builds. For server you can connect to existing databases on the reinstall. The reinstall goes for any of the components that you installed with the Update Rollup 6 slipstream builds, (Client, Router, etc.). If you do not reinstall you will not be able to patch to the re-released Update Rollup 6 packages or future Update Rollups, as Update Rollup 6 represents a new baseline.

Related links you should know about: 

• Update Rollup 6 Microsoft Download Center page
• Update Rollup 6 "master" Microsoft Knowledge Base article (KB 2600640)
  • This article also contains links to related Microsoft Knowledge Base articles
• Microsoft Dynamics CRM Sustained Engineering Team's Update Rollup 6 blog posting (will update when available)
• Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 and 2011 Update Rollup Release Dates, Build Numbers, and Collateral

Update Rollup 6 Build number:
5.0.9688.1992

Note: Update Rollup 6 cannot be uninstalled. Specific database updates are applied during Update Rollup 6 installation that will not let you uninstall Update Rollup 6. You should back up your databases and application servers before you install this update.

Note: Update Rollup 6 establishes a new servicing baseline. This will enable uninstalls of some future CRM 2011 Update Rollups, but this also means that Update Rollup 6 will be a prerequisite for installation of post-Update Rollup 6 Update Rollups.

Note: As Update Rollup 6 is cumulative, containing all changes released in earlier Update Rollup releases, it also contains the Dynamics CRM Q4 Service Update features released via Update Rollup 5.  Some of these features include:

• Outlook Client Updates:
  • Enhancements to the Reading Pane
  • Asynchronous promotion for tracked emails
• Dialog Enhancements
• Data Visualization Enhancements:
  • Chart Designer Enhancements
  • New Chart Types
• Data Management Enhancements to:
  • Auditing
  • Duplicate Detection
• Activity Feeds
  • Listening in on important activities in Social Media that take place around the people, accounts, contacts, leads or opportunities that you care about, including a Windows 7.5 phone application: "Business Hub"
  • Update Rollup 5 does not install Activity Feeds:
    • New organizations on CRM Online will have this Solution automatically provisioned
    • Existing Online or On Premise organizations must download and import the solution from the Dynamics Marketplace

For more information about the Dynamics CRM Q4 Service Update features, consult:

• Microsoft Dynamics CRM: The Road Ahead

Packages are available for download via:

• The Update Rollup 6 Microsoft Download Center page (on Jan. 12th, 2012)
• The Microsoft Update Catalog (on Jan. 24th, 2012)
• The Microsoft Update detection / installation process (on Jan. 24th, 2012)
  • Note: Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Updates will be pushed via Microsoft Update as Important updates
  • Client packages installed manually by downloading the packages and running install will require local administrator privileges. If the client packages are installed via Microsoft Update or SCCM (System Center Configuration Manager), they will not require local administrator privileges
  • Consider using Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) or similar software distribution technologies to distribute Dynamics CRM Update Rollups internally.  WSUS is a locally managed system that works with the public Microsoft Update website to give system administrators more control. By using Windows Server Update Services, administrators can manage the distribution of Microsoft hotfixes and updates released through Automatic Updates to computers in a corporate environment
  • For help with installation please see the Installation Information section of the Update Rollup 6 "master" Microsoft Knowledge Base article
  • Please review my teammate Shawn Dieken's superb blog posting "How to install Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 without an Internet Connection" which provides details on how to set up an install on a machine without access to the Internet
  • Please review my teammate Jon Strand's equally superb blog posting "CRM 2011: Silently Installing Update Rollups" which provides details on installing CRM Outlook client update rollups "silently" in order to limit end-user interruption

for these CRM components:

NOTE: As of Oct. 20th, 2011 these installation files have been updated to include CRM 2011 Update Rollup 5 (Version 05.00.9688.1533)

• Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server 2011
• Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 for Microsoft Office Outlook
• Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 E-mail Router
• Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Report Authoring Extension (Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 BIDS (Microsoft SQL Server 2008 or 2008 R2 Business Intelligence Development Studio) Fetch Extension)
• Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Language Pack (aka Multilanguage User Interface, MUI)
• Note: the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 List Component for Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 cannot be patched via an Update Rollup package.  Instead, it will be serviced (if necessary) via a new downloadable version from the Microsoft Download Center

 Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Update Rollup 6 Prerequisites:

• Essentially the prerequisites listed in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Implementation Guide download or online versions for the various CRM components serviced
• You must have Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 build 5.0.9688.583 (RTM, aka Release-To-Market) installed. CRM Update Rollups are neither compatible with nor supported on pre-release builds of Microsoft Dynamics CRM - for example, the Beta and RC (Release Candidate) builds

Issues resolved via Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Update Rollups: 

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Update Rollup 6 is the sixth of a series of cumulative Update Rollups that include fixes for the issues that are or will be documented in the "Master Knowledge Base Articles" for CRM 2011 Update Rollups.  As they are cumulative, Update Rollup 6 will contain all fixes shipped via Update Rollups 1-6. 

Hotfixes and updates that were released as individual fixes before Update Rollup 6 release

The following issues were fixed and delivered to requesting customers prior to Update Rollup 6 release as Critical On Demand (COD) fixes:

• When you access Microsoft Dynamics CRM with Claims enabled over Internet-Facing Deployment (IFD), the 404 error pages are generated at random
• When you add a custom lookup field to the quick find field list in Quick Find view in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM client for Outlook, the custom lookup field displays no records
• When you assign records from one user to another user in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011, you experience slow performance. Additionally, the assignment process may time out
• When you switch quickly between several Microsoft Dynamics CRM Account records, Microsoft Office Outlook crashes
• When you save appointments in Outlook, you experience slow performance
• Assume that you close opportunities by using a Microsoft CRM software development kit (SDK) in the Microsoft CRM client for Outlook in offline mode. When you try to change the client back to an online state, a playback error occurs
• When you try to configure the Microsoft Dynamics CRM client for Outlook that has Update Rollup 5 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 installed, you receive the following error message
  • LDAP server is unavailable
• Consider the following scenario:
  • You change the data group filter in the My Tasks area to include additional filtering in the due date field
  • You create a task in the application that satisfies the My Task filter and includes the due date criteria
  • You synchronize this task with the Microsoft Dynamics CRM client for Outlook
  • You delete the task from the application
  • You synchronize the task with the Microsoft Dynamics CRM client for Outlook again
  • In this scenario, you receive the following error message:
    • An error has occurred. Try this action again. If the problem continues check the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Community
• Assume that two records use a duplicate email address. You have access to only one of the two records because of the configuration of security permissions. In this situation, when you try to send an email message to the record to which you have access, the email message is not sent. Additionally, you receive an error message that resembles the following:
  • Crm Exception: Message: SecLib::AccessCheckEx failed. Returned hr = -2147187962, ObjectID: ed22c90f-269c-e011-98b4-00155d516fbe, OwnerId: 3618883d-509c-e011-98b4-00155d516fbe, OwnerIdType: 8 and CallingUser: ebc6a2c7-259c-e011-98b4-00155d516fbe. ObjectTypeCode: 2, objectBusinessUnitId: 4a9246dd-7285-e011-ab97-00155d52100d, AccessRights: ReadAccess, ErrorCode: -2147187962
• Assume that the Microsoft Dynamics CRM client for Outlook is configured by using the IFD URL. In this situation, you are not prompted for credentials if the stored credentials that you have are no longer valid
• You cannot run reports in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM client for Outlook when Claims Authentication is enabled
• When you browse in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM web client by using Internet Explorer 9, Internet Explorer consumes excessive memory. Therefore, you experience slow performance
• The sub-grid views do not load records
• When you change the queue after you perform a quick search on queues, a script error occurs
• When you pin a view in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM client for Outlook, the tab for the view is remembered across sessions and the data for the view is cached locally
• When you synchronize a recurring appointment that includes a canceled meeting, and the canceled meeting is not removed from the calendar, Outlook crashes
• Assume that you have an asynchronous plugin or workflow that is registered on the update of a queue item. When the queue item is routed through a Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 SDK endpoint route request in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011, the route request fails
• Reports cannot be displayed for users in the Top Level business unit after the EnableRetrieveMultipleOptimization DWORD registry entry value is set to 2
• When multiline text fields are included in an email template in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011, the line breaks in the multiline text fields are formatted incorrectly

Other fixes released via CRM 2011 Update Rollup 6:

• After you create the Self-Healing Setup (SHS) administrative image by using the .msp file that is included in Update Rollup 5 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011, you receive the following error message:
  • CString::LoadString(7407) failed
• When you try to upgrade from Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011, the upgrade fails during the ComponentCollector.RetrieveDependencyNodes method on the RetrieveMultiple request
• You experience slow performance during the upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011
• When you access the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Mobile URL page, and then try to create an account, you receive the following error message:
  • An unexpected error has occurred
• When you use Microsoft Silverlight together with web resources, forms are not displayed as expected. This problem occurs when the Expand this tab by default tab property check box is not selected
• Assume that you use the following full name format for your organization:
  • Last Name, First Name, Middle Initial
  • When you use only a last name to create a contact, an additional comma (,) is displayed at the end of the contact's name
• Assume that you click Change Properties in the Article Comment (Article) field of an article entity. When you close the Form Editor dialog box, you receive the following error message:
  • Microsoft Dynamics CRM has encountered an error
• When the Description field is added to an Activity view for email activities, HTML code is displayed in the grid column and in the tooltip text
• Assume that you add an HTML web resource that contains a reference to the "ClientGlobalContext.js.aspx" page in the navigation pane of a form. When you open the web resource again, you receive the following error message:
  • Microsoft Dynamics CRM has encountered an error
• When you open the calendar from the My Work area, Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 does not scroll to the first hour of the work day
• Consider the following scenario:
  • You are in an environment that has parent and child business units
  • You create an email template at the parent level
  • You set the email template to be viewable at the child level
  • A user tries to create an email message in the child level business unit
  • In this scenario, the user cannot use the email template to create the email message
• When you use the Schedule feature in a service appointment in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 with Internet Explorer 9, you receive the following error message:
  • Can't execute code from freed script
• When you export a solution in Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, you are not prompted to open or save the file
• After you import a solution that contains customized views, the default view attribute is set incorrectly on either the existing views or the new views
• When you make a change to a customization, and then click Publish All Customizations, you receive the following error message:
  • Unhandled Exception
• When you run the PersistMatchCode plugin in Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, you receive the following error message:
  • Generic SQL error