Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Upgrade Guide

Microsoft Corporation
Published: April 2011
Microsoft Dynamics AX

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Table of Contents
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Upgrade Guide ........................................................................................... 1
Copyright notice ................................................................................................................................... 2
Upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 .............................................................................................. 5
Upgrade overview................................................................................................................................. 5
The upgrade process ......................................................................................................................... 5
Supported upgrade paths .................................................................................................................. 6
Hardware and software requirements ................................................................................................ 7
Quickstart: Upgrade from Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 ........................................................................ 7
Quickstart: Upgrade from Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 ................................................................... 20
Preprocess data on the source system................................................................................................. 33
Install upgrade framework files ........................................................................................................ 33
Start the Preprocessing upgrade checklist ........................................................................................ 36
Prepare for upgrade ........................................................................................................................ 37
Check upgrade readiness ............................................................................................................. 37
Initialize preprocessing................................................................................................................. 39
Prepare application data for preprocessing ...................................................................................... 39
System parameters....................................................................................................................... 40
Set up number sequence for upgrade........................................................................................... 40
Company priority setup ................................................................................................................ 41
Update country/region codes ....................................................................................................... 42
Map country/region codes ........................................................................................................... 43
Default country/region ................................................................................................................. 44
Prepare financial dimension framework for upgrade ..................................................................... 44
Map fixed asset calendars ............................................................................................................ 45
Prepare currencies for upgrade .................................................................................................... 46
Inventory dimension group upgrade ............................................................................................ 47
Product upgrade (preprocessing) ................................................................................................. 50
Configure site structure ................................................................................................................ 55
Map task groups to capabilities .................................................................................................... 55
Product Builder Route nodes upgrade .......................................................................................... 56
Units ............................................................................................................................................ 57
Unit conversions .......................................................................................................................... 58
Fixed units ................................................................................................................................... 59
Unit texts ..................................................................................................................................... 60
About purchase order upgrade .................................................................................................... 61
User relations upgrade - invalid company users ............................................................................ 61
User relations upgrade missing contact person ............................................................................. 61
User relations upgrade duplicate user IDs ..................................................................................... 62
Preprocess data on the live system .................................................................................................. 62
Run live preprocessing scripts ...................................................................................................... 62
Country/region upgrade............................................................................................................... 63
Party upgrade .............................................................................................................................. 63
Run delta preprocessing scripts .................................................................................................... 64

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Preprocess data in single-user mode ............................................................................................... 65

Enter into single-user mode ......................................................................................................... 65
Run single-user mode preprocessing scripts ................................................................................. 67
Using the preprocessing upgrade state transfer tool ........................................................................ 67
Create the target system ..................................................................................................................... 70
Verify that you have the required permissions for installation........................................................... 70
Set permissions specific to upgrade ................................................................................................. 72
Install Microsoft Dynamics AX (upgrade) .......................................................................................... 72
Copy application and label files to the target system........................................................................ 72
Import application files into the model store.................................................................................... 73
Import label files into the model store ............................................................................................. 73
Checklist tasks on the target system.................................................................................................... 74
Upgrade preparation ....................................................................................................................... 75
Compile the application (upgrade) ............................................................................................... 75
Generate Common Intermediate Language .................................................................................. 75
Provide license information .......................................................................................................... 75
Set customer feedback options .................................................................................................... 77
Code upgrade ................................................................................................................................. 77
Import layer AOD into the baseline model store ........................................................................... 77
Import layer AOD into the new model store ................................................................................. 78
Import layer labels into the new model store ................................................................................ 80
Detect code upgrade conflicts ...................................................................................................... 80
Data upgrade .................................................................................................................................. 81
Connect to source database ......................................................................................................... 81
Set current time zone ................................................................................................................... 82
Presynchronize (upgrade) ............................................................................................................. 82
Create tables ................................................................................................................................ 83
Generate table mappings ............................................................................................................. 84
Generate upgrade task prioritization ............................................................................................ 85
Launch data upgrade ................................................................................................................... 86
Finalize upgrade .............................................................................................................................. 86
Post journal for relief of legacy accrual of unmatched quantities ................................................... 86
Configure system accounts........................................................................................................... 87
Finalize Enterprise Portal upgrade ................................................................................................ 88
Specify Role Center web site......................................................................................................... 88
Assign a primary address to parties .............................................................................................. 88
Upgrade services and AIF ............................................................................................................. 89
Additional upgrade tasks ................................................................................................................. 94
Upgrade additional features ......................................................................................................... 94
Compare data upgrade row counts .............................................................................................. 94
Upgrade Enterprise Portal ................................................................................................................... 95
Test the system after upgrade ............................................................................................................. 98
Application upgrade notes.................................................................................................................. 99

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Upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012

This document provides upgrade administrators with an end-to-end guide to upgrading from Microsoft
Dynamics® AX 4.0 or Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. The following sections
are included.
Upgrade overview
Preprocess data on the source system
Create the target system
Checklist tasks on the target system
Upgrade Enterprise Portal
Test the system after upgrade
Application upgrade notes

Upgrade overview
This overview provides information about Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 upgrade changes and
requirements. It also includes comprehensive Quickstart guides for each of the supported upgrade paths.
The following sections are included.
The upgrade process
Supported upgrade paths
Hardware and software requirements
Quickstart: Upgrade from Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0
Quickstart: Upgrade from Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009

The upgrade process

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 provides a new approach to upgrade that significantly reduces your
company’s downtime during the upgrade process. Shorter downtime means less impact on your business
operations and a lower total cost of upgrade.

Source-to-target upgrade model

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 uses a source-to-target upgrade model that allows business users to work
with maximum efficiency during upgrade. In previous versions of Microsoft Dynamics AX, all upgrade
tasks were carried out on a single production system. A substantial part of the upgrade process was spent
in single-user mode, and during that time the system was offline for regular users. Difficulties that arose
during upgrade had to be resolved under time pressure before normal business operations could resume.
Now, with Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, you preprocess your business data on the source system (running
Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 or Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009) while the system is live, free from time
pressure and without halting normal operations.
Meanwhile, you build your separate, offline target system (running Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012). When
preprocessing on the source system is complete and the target system is ready, you enter single-user

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mode on the source system, bulk copy your data into the target system, run post-synchronization
upgrade scripts, and perform testing. At this point the target system can go live.
The following diagram shows the phases of upgrade in the source-to-target model.

The source system (Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 or Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009) remains online during
data preprocessing, and then goes offline when you enter single-user mode to prepare the data for bulk
copying. When the target system (Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012) has been installed and code
customizations have been applied, you bulk-copy the data into it, run post-synchronization scripts,
perform final configuration tasks, test, and finally go live.

Important:
Source-to-target upgrade requires the source system and target system to be installed on
separate server computers. Side-by-side installation on a single computer is possible, but should
only be used for testing purposes. For more information, see Hardware and software
requirements.

Supported upgrade paths

You can upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 directly from either Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 or
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009. If you have a version that is earlier than Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0, you
must upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 before you can upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.
For information about supported system configurations, use the following links:
 System requirements for Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0
 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 System Requirements

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Upgrading from a Microsoft Dynamics AX source system that uses an Oracle

database
You cannot use an Oracle database with Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. If you are upgrading from an
installation of Microsoft Dynamics AX that uses an Oracle database, you must first migrate your data to a
Microsoft SQL Server® database, and then upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.
Use the Oracle to Microsoft SQL Server Data Migration Assistant for Microsoft Dynamics AX tool to
migrate your data to a SQL Server database. You can download the tool and the Oracle to Microsoft SQL
Server Data Migration Assistant for Microsoft Dynamics AX Installation Guide from Customer Source.

Important:
The current version of the Oracle to Microsoft SQL Server Data Migration Assistant for Microsoft
Dynamics AX is for testing purposes only. Production use can be enabled through TAP
participation.

Hardware and software requirements

For up-to-date hardware and software requirements for Microsoft Dynamics AX, consult system
requirements.

Quickstart: Upgrade from Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0

This document provides a high-level overview of the tasks that you must complete to upgrade from
Microsoft Dynamics® AX 4.0 to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. The upgrade process is divided into
preprocessing tasks on the Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 source system and upgrade tasks on the Microsoft
Dynamics AX 2012 target system.

Note:
The source and target systems must be installed on separate server computers when you upgrade
your production system. However, for a test upgrade, you can install the source and target
systems on the same computer

Preprocess data on the source system

Data is preprocessed on the live source system so that you can continue to use Microsoft Dynamics AX
4.0 while you prepare your data for copying to the target system. The source system remains live and
available to users until you enter single-user mode to complete preprocessing. At that point, your system
is down until you complete the upgrade on the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 target system.
®
1. Back up your Microsoft SQL Server database, your Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 database, and your
AOD application files (*.aod) and ALD label files (*.ald).

Caution:
Never attempt an upgrade without first backing up your database and customized code.
2. (Optional) If your Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 source system uses an Oracle database, you must
migrate your data to a Microsoft SQL Server database before upgrading to Microsoft
Dynamics AX 2012. For more information, see Supported upgrade paths.

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3. (Optional) To help improve performance, set the Microsoft Dynamics AX database recovery model to
Simple by using Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Management Studio. This applies to both the Microsoft
Dynamics AX 2012 and Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 databases while in single-user mode.
4. Copy your existing source system AOD application files (*.aod) and ALD label files (*.ald) for use
during code upgrade on the target system.
5. Locate the following files in the DatabaseUpgrade folder on the installation media:
 UpgradeAX4.xpo. This file contains the preprocessing upgrade framework forms and scripts for
data preprocessing.
 axUPGen-us.ald. This file contains labels for the preprocessing upgrade framework. Select the
appropriate file depending on your desired installation language.
 UpgradePreprocessing.chm. This file provides Help content for the Preprocessing upgrade
checklist tasks and forms.
6. Install these files by following the instructions in Install upgrade framework files.
7. Start the Preprocessing upgrade checklist. Click the project icon on the toolbar and navigate to
Projects > Shared. Expand Shared and locate Ax40PreUpgradeFramework, right-click it, and click
Open. Locate SysChecklist_preupgrade40, right-click it, and again click Open. For more information,
see Start the Preprocessing upgrade checklist.
8. In the Preprocessing upgrade checklist, expand the Prepare for upgrade node to see the tasks that
must be completed before upgrade preprocessing. Complete the following tasks.

Task Form User action

Check upgrade readiness Upgrade readiness Perform the upgrade readiness check. The form lists all the upgrade
validation scripts that you can run before you begin to preprocess data on
the source system. The upgrade readiness check identifies issues that will
cause errors during preprocessing and lists the issues in the Upgrade
validation results form, where you can fix them.

Note:
The upgrade readiness check is optional, but highly recommended.
For more information, see Check upgrade readiness.

Initialize preprocessing N/A Initialize preprocessing to create the shadow and dictionary tables, and to
load the upgrade scripts into the upgrade framework tables. These tables
contain the preprocessed source data that will be copied to the target
system. When this step is finished, you will see an InfoLog message that lists
all the shadow and dictionary tables that were created.

Note:
You can connect to the source database from the target system at
any time after you finish this step. This allows you to perform all the
target system Data upgrade checklist tasks preceding Launch
data upgrade, potentially saving upgrade time.
For more information, see Initialize preprocessing.

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9. Expand the Prepare application data for preprocessing node to view the application data upgrade
tasks. Click each task to open a form and enter information as described in the following table.

Task Form User action

System parameters System parameters Set the system language for each
company. For more information, see
System parameters.

Set up number sequence for Set up number sequence for Set up number sequence for company
upgrade upgrade accounts for data upgrade purposes. For
more information, see Set up number
sequence for upgrade.

Company priority setup Company priority setup Set the priority for each company or
virtual company for inventory item
mapping. If you have multiple companies
set up, the form lists the companies along
with information about whether they are
virtual companies and what the company
language is. For more information, see
Company priority setup.

Upgrade global address book Country/region codes Add any country/region codes that you
country/region code use in your Microsoft Dynamics AX
source system that are not listed in the
form. For more information, see Update
country/region codes.

Global address book Country/region code mapping Map the two-letter country/region codes
country/region mapping that are used in the Microsoft
Dynamics AX 4.0 source system to the
three-letter country/region codes that are
used in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. For
more information, see Map
country/region codes.

Global address book default Default country/region for Assign a default country/region to
country /region upgrade addresses addresses in your companies. For more
information, see Default country/region

Prepare financial dimension Prepare financial dimension Validate the ledger account categories
framework for upgrade framework for upgrade and dimension focuses for each company
and ensure that the financial dimension
framework is ready for upgrade. For more
information, see Prepare financial
dimension framework for upgrade.

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Map fixed asset calendars Upgrade fixed asset calendars Resolve duplicate names for fixed asset
calendars. If fixed asset calendars with the
same name occur in multiple companies,
the system proposes a new name in the
New name field. You can keep the
proposed name or enter a different one.
For more information, see Map fixed
asset calendars.

Prepare currencies for upgrade Prepare currencies for upgrade In releases previous to Microsoft
Dynamics AX 2012, you could set up
currencies for each company. In Microsoft
Dynamics AX 2012, the currencies that
you set up are shared by the legal entities
that are set up in the Legal entities form,
so the currencies can be used by any of
those legal entities. Use the form to
select and configure currencies. For more
information, see Prepare currencies for
upgrade.

Inventory dimension group Pre-upgrade inventory Prepare inventory dimension groups for
upgrade dimension group upgrade. For more information, see
Inventory dimension group upgrade.

Product upgrade Product upgrade Map items to products and approve all
products, product mappings, and product
variants in your inventory. Enter the
information in this form and in the forms
that open from it. For more information,
see Product upgrade (preprocessing).

Configure site structure Configure site structure Define a structure for your sites,
warehouses, and work center groups.
Additionally, specify the default site,
warehouse, and the fallback warehouse
to assign to transactions for which this
information is not available and cannot
be deduced. For more information, see
Configure site structure.

Task group upgrade Task group upgrade Task groups in previous versions of
Microsoft Dynamics AX must be
upgraded to capabilities in Microsoft
Dynamics AX 2012. Use the form to map
task groups to capabilities. For more
information, see Map task groups to
capabilities.

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Product Builder Route nodes Product Builder – Route Prepare the route operation nodes for
upgrade Operation nodes with variable upgrade by mapping the allocation of
allocations to Resource fields variables to the allocation of values for
work centers, load, quantity of work
centers, task groups, and job
requirements. For more information, see
Product Builder Route nodes upgrade.

Units Pre-Upgrade of units Assign the units that you will use in your
system. The form lists all the units by
company and language ID. Assign the
units in the Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0
source system to shared global units in
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. Specify the
unit class (such as quantity or liquid
volume) and the system the unit is part of
(for example, metric or United States
customary units). For more information,
see Units.

Unit conversions Pre-upgrade of unit conversions Use the Pre-upgrade of unit

conversions form to define how the
company-specific units of measure and
unit conversions that existed in previous
releases of Microsoft Dynamics AX are
going to be consolidated into shared
global units of measure. For more
information, see Unit conversions.

Fixed units Pre-Upgrade of fixed units Use the form to set and validate the fixed
units that you use in your system. System
units define the units for length, mass,
and volume that will appear as suggested
units of measure in Microsoft
Dynamics AX. For more information, see
Fixed units.

Unit texts Pre-Upgrade of unit texts Use the form to define how existing
company-specific unit texts are
consolidated to a set of shared language-
specific unit texts. Unit texts are printed
on external documents such as invoices.
If no unit text is associated with a unit of
measure, the symbol of the unit of
measure is displayed. For more
information, see Unit texts.

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Configure for purchase order Configure for purchase order Use this form to select the journal name
upgrade upgrade that you want to use as part of the
upgrade process. The journal name is
used to account for the relief of accruals
for purchase order quantities that are
received but not yet invoiced. For more
information, see About purchase order
upgrade.

User relations upgrade - invalid User relations upgrade - invalid Displays all the user relations that do not
company users company users have a valid user ID. For more
information, see User relations upgrade -
invalid company users.

User relations upgrade missing User relations upgrade missing Use this form to resolve issues when a
contact person contact person user relation is not assigned a contact
representative in your business or
organization. For more information, see
User relations upgrade missing contact
person.

10. Expand the Preprocess data on live system group. Complete the tasks in the following table to run
the data upgrade scripts while Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 is still live for production.

Task Form User action

Run live preprocessing scripts Upgrade Live Pre-Processing Run the live preprocessing scripts that
write the prepared data to the shadow
and dictionary tables. For more
information, see Run live preprocessing
scripts.

Global address book Addresses with no This form lists all addresses in the global
country/region upgrade country/region address book that do not have an
associated country/region value. This step
is available only after you run the live
preprocessing scripts. For more
information, see Country/region upgrade.

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Global address book party Party upgrade Use this form to specify the name
upgrade sequence for person-type party records
when you upgrade from Microsoft
Dynamics AX4 to Microsoft
Dynamics AX 2012. For more information,
see Party upgrade.

Run delta preprocessing scripts Upgrade Delta Pre-Processing Run delta scripts that identify data
changes in the production database that
were entered after you started to run the
live preprocessing scripts. Running the
delta scripts also updates data in the
shadow and dictionary tables. For more
information, see Run delta preprocessing
scripts.

11. Expand the Preprocess data in single-user mode group. Complete tasks in this group to put the
Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 source system into single-user mode and to run the final upgrade scripts
that prepare the source data for bulk copy to the target system.

Task Form User action

Enter into single-user mode Online users Use the Online users form to end all current
client sessions and ensure that no new client
connections can be made. Only the administrator
who is performing the upgrade should be
connected to the AOS. Any changes to the
production data after this point will invalidate the
upgrade. For more information, see Enter into
single-user mode.

Important:
After you enter single-user mode, you
should back up your Microsoft SQL
Server database and set its recovery
model to Simple.

Run single-user mode Upgrade single-user Run the upgrade scripts that prepare the data in
preprocessing scripts preprocessing the shadow and dictionary tables to be bulk
copied to the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 target
system. For more information, see Run single-user
mode preprocessing scripts.

This completes data preprocessing on the Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 source system. The remaining
upgrade tasks are performed on the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 target system.

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Prepare the target system

While you prepare data for upgrade on the Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 source system, you can
simultaneously prepare the target Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 system for upgrade. These preparation
tasks are not dependent on data upgrade tasks on the source system.
1. Install Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 on the target system.

Important:
Be sure to select Register database for upgrade as an option during installation and to
provide a name for the model store as prompted. For more information, see the Microsoft
Dynamics AX Installation Guide.
2. Set appropriate user permissions. For permissions generally applicable to a new installation of
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, see Verify that you have the required permissions for installation. For
permissions specific to upgrade, see Set permissions specific to upgrade.
3. Copy the AOD application files (*.aod) that you want to upgrade from the source system to the target
system. Also copy the associated ALD label files (*.ald). These files need to be copied into two
locations: the standard application folder and an additional application folder labeled Old. Layer
names that have changed since Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 need to be changed in both locations. For
more information, see Copy application and label files to the target system.

Upgrade code on the target system

The following tasks import code from the Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 source system and upgrade it for
use on the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 target system.
1. Start the Microsoft Dynamics AX client. The Select the appropriate upgrade checklist form opens
automatically.
2. Select AOD code upgrade checklist and click OK.
3. Complete the Upgrade preparation tasks in the AOD code upgrade checklist, shown in the table
below. These tasks include providing license information and importing Microsoft AODs into the
baseline model store.

Task Form User action

Provide license information License information Use the License information form to
provide Microsoft Dynamics AX with
your purchased license. For more
information, see Provide license
information.

Import Microsoft AOD files into Import Microsoft AOD files into Import Microsoft application (AOD)
the baseline model store the baseline model store files from the source system into the
baseline model store. For more
information, see Import layer AOD
into the baseline model store.

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4. Complete the Code upgrade tasks in the AOD code upgrade checklist, shown in the table below.
The import tasks are iterative and must be performed for each AOD file (each layer) and each ALD
label file that you copied to the target system for upgrade.

Task Form User action

Import AOD files into the Import AOD files into the Import application files (AOD files)
baseline model store baseline model store from the source system into the
baseline model store. For more
information, see Import layer AOD
into the baseline model store.

Import AOD files into the new Import AOD files into the new Import the application files (AOD
model store model store files) to upgrade the desired
application layers. Files will be
imported from the source system
into the new model store. Layers
must be upgraded one at a time,
and the remaining checklist steps
must be completed after each
import. For more information, see
Import layer AOD into the new
model store.

Import label files into the new Select file Optional. Import custom label files
model store (ALD files) into the model store. This
step is recommended for easier
deployment. For more information,
see Import layer labels into the new
model store.

Restart Application Object Server N/A This task displays a notice that you
must manually restart the
Application Object Server after
completing your layer import.

Compile application Compile application This step compiles the application to

reset any dependencies that were
introduced during code upgrade. For
more information, see Compile the
application (upgrade).

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Detect code upgrade conflicts Detect code upgrade conflicts This task analyzes the system and
creates projects containing
application objects that must be
upgraded manually. This allows you
to resolve conflicts between
application objects that may have
been created during code upgrade.
For more information, see Detect
code upgrade conflicts.

Generate CIL Full CIL generation from X++ Generate Common Intermediate
Language code from the compiled
application. For more information,
see Generate Common Intermediate
Language.

Upgrade data on the target system

The data upgrade tasks on the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 target system can be started after you enter
single-user mode on the Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 source system and finish installation and all code
upgrade tasks on the target system.
1. Start the Microsoft Dynamics AX client. The Data upgrade checklist opens automatically.
2. Complete the Upgrade preparation tasks in the Data upgrade checklist, shown in the table below.
These tasks include providing license information and opting in or out of the Microsoft Customer
experience Improvement Program.

3. Expand Data upgrade in the Data upgrade checklist to see the data upgrade tasks. Complete the
following tasks.

Task Form User action

Provide license information License information Use the License information form to provide Microsoft
Dynamics AX with your purchased license. For more
information, see Provide license information.

Customer feedback options Microsoft Dynamics AX customer You have the opportunity to opt into the Microsoft
feedback options Dynamics AX Customer Experience Improvement
Program, which sends anonymized system information
to Microsoft for analysis. By default, the No, I don't
wish to participate option is selected. Links in the
Privacy options - Microsoft Dynamics AX client form
provide additional information about the program and
associated privacy policies. For more information, see
Set customer feedback options.

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Connect to source database Connect to source database Using a properly configured domain account with
administrative privileges on both systems, connect to
the Microsoft Dynamics AX source system database
from the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 target system.
You can complete this step any time after you
initialize preprocessing on the source system. For
more information, see Connect to source database.

Set current time zone Current time zone When upgrading from Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0,
you cannot upgrade your data until you provide your
local time. This allows the system to calculate the
correct Universal Coordinated Time (UTC) time zone
offset for data that is time or date sensitive. For more
information, see Set current time zone.

Presynchronize Data upgrade cockpit (%1 -> Run the upgrade scripts that prepare the target
%2) system database for bulk copy and synchronization.
For more information, see Presynchronize (upgrade).

Create tables Synchronize table Create tables in the target database for the source
data to be bulk-copied into. For more information
about this step, see Create tables.

Generate table mappings Table mapping between source Verify that the tables and fields in the source
and target systems database are mapped correctly to the tables and
fields in the target database. The upgrade framework
attempts to perform the mapping automatically. If
mapping errors occur, they must be fixed before you
start the next step. For more information, see
Generate table mappings.

Generate upgrade task Prioritized upgrade scripts The form shows the priority for bulk copying data
prioritization from the source system. The priority is based on the
intelligent bulk-copy prioritization rules that are part
of the upgrade framework. For more information, see
Generate upgrade task prioritization.

Launch data upgrade Data upgrade cockpit (%1 -> Run the upgrade scripts that copy data from the
%2) source system. This step includes bulk copy,
synchronization, and post-synchronization of the
database. These tasks are performed concurrently so
that the process is completed with the least
downtime possible.

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4. Expand the Finalize upgrade group in the Data upgrade checklist and complete the final upgrade
tasks.

Task Form User action

Post journal for relief of legacy Create journal(s) for the relief of Create and post the general ledger journal
accrual of unmatched legacy accrual of unmatched for legacy accrual relief for unmatched
quantities quantities quantities. For more information, see Post
journal for relief of legacy accrual of
unmatched quantities.

Configure system accounts System service accounts Use the System service accounts form to
configure aliases and network domains for
the Business Connector proxy, the
workflow system account, the workflow
execution account, the and the
synchronization service account. You can
also configure access to Bing Maps. For
more information, see Configure system
accounts.

Finalize Enterprise Portal N/A The upgrade process can cause the URLs
upgrade for various Microsoft Dynamics AX Web
pages to change in the Application Object
Tree (AOT). If you upgraded Enterprise
Portal, you should click the option to
Finalize Enterprise Portal upgrade to
ensure that the web pages are
synchronized to use the correct URLs. For
more information, see Finalize Enterprise
Portal upgrade.

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Specify Role Center website Administration of Web sites Use this task to specify which web site will
host the Role Centers, which are
customizable home pages included in the
Enterprise Portal framework. Role Centers
display specific data, reports, alerts, and
common tasks associated with a user's role
in the organization. Users can access Role
Centers from the Microsoft Dynamics AX
client or from an Enterprise Portal web site.
For more information, see Specify Role
Center web site.

Assign primary addresses to Parties without primary View parties without a primary address and
parties addresses optionally assign a primary address. For
more information, see Assign a primary
address to parties.

Upgrade AIF code N/A Clicking the Upgrade AIF code task
upgrades all AIF code, creating new service
classes, new data classes, and AOT service
nodes. AIF-related records in the database
are also updated. This task is non-
interactive, but you must prepare your AIF
and services configuration before running
it or the upgrade will fail. For more
information, see Upgrade services and AIF.

5. Complete the Additional upgrade tasks in the Data upgrade checklist. These tasks configure
additional features to ensure that the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 target system is fully functional.

Task Form User action

Upgrade additional features Data upgrade cockpit (%1 -> %2) With the Data upgrade cockpit (%1
-> %2), you can run final data
upgrade scripts on the Application
Integration Framework, on
reporting, and on other features. For
more information , see Upgrade
additional features

Compare data upgrade row Compare data upgrade row Comparing the table row counts in
counts counts the source and target databases
provides a preliminary check of your
post-upgrade data integrity. For
more information, see Compare data
upgrade row counts.

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6. Upgrade Enterprise Portal. This step is performed after all other upgrade tasks have been completed.
For more information, see the complete guide Upgrade Enterprise Portal.
7. Test upgrade success and data integrity. For more information, see Test the system after upgrade.

Quickstart: Upgrade from Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009

This document provides a high-level overview of the tasks that you must complete to upgrade from
®
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. The upgrade process is divided into
preprocessing tasks on the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 source system and upgrade tasks on the
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 target system.

Note:
The source and target systems must be installed on separate server computers when you upgrade
your production system. However, for a test upgrade, you can install the source and target
systems on the same computer

Preprocess data on the source system

Data is preprocessed on the live source system so that you can continue to use Microsoft Dynamics AX
2009 while you prepare your data for copying to the target system. The source system remains live and
available to users until you enter single-user mode to complete preprocessing. At that point, your source
system is offline until you complete the upgrade on the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 target system.
1. Back up your Microsoft SQL Server database, your Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 database, and your
AOD application files (*.aod) and ALD label files (*.ald).

Caution:
Never attempt an upgrade without first backing up your database and customized code.
2. (Optional) If your Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 source system uses an Oracle database, you must
migrate your data to a Microsoft SQL Server database before upgrading to Microsoft
Dynamics AX 2012. For more information, see Supported upgrade paths.
3. (Optional) To help improve performance, set the Microsoft Dynamics AX database recovery model to
Simple by using Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Management Studio. This applies to both the Microsoft
Dynamics AX 2012 and Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 databases while in single-user mode.
4. Copy your existing source system AOD application files (*.aod) and ALD label files (*.ald) for use
during code upgrade on the target system.
5. Locate the following files in the DatabaseUpgrade folder on the installation media:
 UpgradeAX5.xpo. This file contains the preprocessing upgrade framework forms and scripts for
data preprocessing.
 axUPGen-us.ald (for example). This file contains labels for the preprocessing upgrade framework.
Select the appropriate file depending on your desired installation language.
 UpgradePreprocessing.chm. This file provides Help content for the Preprocessing upgrade
checklist tasks and forms.
6. Install these files by following the instructions in Install upgrade framework files.
7. Start the Preprocessing upgrade checklist. Click the project icon on the toolbar and navigate to
Projects > Shared. Expand Shared and locate Ax50PreUpgradeFramework, right-click it, and click

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Open. Locate SysChecklist_preupgrade50, right-click it, and again click Open. For more information,
see Start the Preprocessing upgrade checklist.

Note:
This documentation applies to pre-release software. The actual order of tasks displayed in the
Preprocessing upgrade checklist may differ from the order in the tables below.
8. In the Preprocessing upgrade checklist, expand the Prepare for upgrade node to see the tasks that
must be completed before upgrade preprocessing begins. Complete the following tasks.

Task Form User action

Check upgrade readiness Upgrade readiness Perform the upgrade readiness check. The form lists all the
upgrade validation scripts that you can run before you
begin to preprocess data on the source system. The
upgrade readiness check identifies issues that will cause
errors during preprocessing and lists the issues in the
Upgrade validation results form, where you can fix them.

Notes:
The upgrade readiness check is optional, but
highly recommended.
For more information, see Check upgrade
readiness.

Initialize preprocessing N/A Initialize preprocessing to create the shadow and dictionary
tables, and to load the upgrade scripts into the upgrade
framework tables. These tables contain the preprocessed
source data that will be copied to the target system. When
this step is finished, you will see an InfoLog message that
lists all the shadow and dictionary tables that were created.

Note:
You can connect to the source database from the
target system at any time after you finish this step.
This allows you to perform all the target system
Data upgrade checklist tasks preceding Launch
data upgrade, potentially saving upgrade time.
For more information, see Initialize preprocessing.

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9. Expand the Prepare application data for preprocessing node to view the application data upgrade
tasks. Click each task to open a form and enter information as described in the following table.

Task Form User action

System parameters System parameters Set the system language for each company. For
more information, see System parameters.

Set up number sequence for Set up number sequence for Set up number sequence for company accounts
upgrade upgrade for data upgrade purposes. For more information,
see Set up number sequence for upgrade.

Company priority setup Company priority setup Set the priority for each company or virtual
company for inventory item mapping. If you have
multiple companies set up, the form lists the
companies along with information about whether
they are virtual companies and what the company
language is. For more information, see Company
priority setup.

Upgrade global address book Country/region codes Add any country/region codes that you use in
country/region code your Microsoft Dynamics AX source system that
are not listed in the form. For more information,
see Update country/region codes.

Global address book Country/region code mapping Map the two-letter country/region codes that are
country/region mapping used in the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 source
system to the three-letter country/region codes
that are used in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. For
more information, see Map country/region codes.

Global address book default Default country/region for Assign a default country/region to addresses in
country /region upgrade addresses your companies. For more information, see
Default country/region

Prepare financial dimension Prepare financial dimension Validate the ledger account categories and
framework for upgrade framework for upgrade dimension focuses for each company and ensure
that the financial dimension framework is ready
for upgrade. For more information, see Prepare
financial dimension framework for upgrade.

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Map fixed asset calendars Upgrade fixed asset calendars Resolve duplicate names for fixed asset calendars.
If fixed asset calendars with the same name occur
in multiple companies, the system proposes a
new name in the New name field. You can keep
the proposed name or enter a different one. For
more information, see Map fixed asset calendars.

Prepare currencies for upgrade Prepare currencies for upgrade In releases previous to Microsoft
Dynamics AX 2012, you could set up currencies
for each company. In Microsoft
Dynamics AX 2012, the currencies that you set up
are shared by the legal entities that are set up in
the Legal entities form, so the currencies can be
used by any of those legal entities. Use the form
to select and configure currencies. For more
information, see Prepare currencies for upgrade.

Inventory dimension group Pre-upgrade inventory Prepare inventory dimension groups for upgrade.
upgrade dimension group For more information, see Inventory dimension
group upgrade.

Product upgrade Product upgrade Map items to products and approve all products,
product mappings, and product variants in your
inventory. Enter the information in this form and
in the forms that open from it. For more
information, see Product upgrade
(preprocessing).

Task group upgrade Task group upgrade Task groups in previous versions of Microsoft
Dynamics AX must be upgraded to capabilities in
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. Use the form to
map task groups to capabilities. For more
information, see Map task groups to capabilities.

Product Builder Route nodes Product Builder – Route Prepare the route operation nodes for upgrade
upgrade Operation nodes with variable by mapping the allocation of variables to the
allocations to Resource fields allocation of values for work centers, load,
quantity of work centers, task groups, and job
requirements. For more information, see Product
Builder Route nodes upgrade.

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Units Pre-Upgrade of units Assign the units that you will use in your system.
The form lists all the units by company and
language ID. Assign the units in the Microsoft
Dynamics AX 2009 source system to shared
global units in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.
Specify the unit class (such as quantity or liquid
volume) and the system the unit is part of (for
example, metric or United States customary
units). For more information, see Units.

Unit conversions Pre-upgrade of unit conversions Use the Pre-upgrade of unit conversions form
to define how the company-specific units of
measure and unit conversions that existed in
previous releases of Microsoft Dynamics AX are
going to be consolidated into shared global units
of measure. For more information, see Unit
conversions.

Fixed units Pre-Upgrade of fixed units Use the form to set and validate the fixed units
that you use in your system. System units define
the units for length, mass, and volume that will
appear as suggested units of measure in
Microsoft Dynamics AX. For more information,
see Fixed units.

Unit texts Pre-Upgrade of unit texts Use the form to define how existing company-
specific unit texts are consolidated to a set of
shared language-specific unit texts. Unit texts are
printed on external documents such as invoices. If
no unit text is associated with a unit of measure,
the symbol of the unit of measure is displayed.
For more information, see Unit texts.

Configure for purchase order Configure for purchase order Use this form to select the journal name that you
upgrade upgrade want to use as part of the upgrade process. The
journal name is used to account for the relief of
accruals for purchase order quantities that are
received but not yet invoiced. For more
information, see About purchase order upgrade.

User relations upgrade - invalid User relations upgrade - invalid Displays all the user relations that do not have a
company users company users valid user ID. For more information, see User
relations upgrade - invalid company users.

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User relations upgrade missing User relations upgrade missing Use this form to resolve issues when a user
contact person contact person relation is not assigned a contact representative
in your business or organization. For more
information, see User relations upgrade missing
contact person.

User relations upgrade duplicate User relations upgrade duplicate Use this form to resolve conflicts when multiple
user IDs user IDs user relations are mapped to a single Microsoft
Dynamics AX user account. For more information,
see User relations upgrade duplicate user IDs.

10. Expand the Preprocess data on live system group. Complete the tasks in the following table to run
the data upgrade scripts while Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 is still live for production.

Task Form User action

Run live preprocessing scripts Upgrade live preprocessing Run the live preprocessing scripts
that write the prepared data to the
shadow and dictionary tables. For
more information, see Run live
preprocessing scripts.

Assign missing global address Addresses with no This form lists all addresses in the
book country/region codes country/region global address book that do not
have an associated country/region
value. This step is available only
after you run the live preprocessing
scripts. For more information, see
Country/region upgrade.

Run delta preprocessing scripts Upgrade delta preprocessing Run delta scripts that identify data
changes in the production database
that were entered after you started
to run the live preprocessing
scripts. Running the delta scripts
also updates data in the shadow
and dictionary tables. For more
information, see Run delta
preprocessing scripts.

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11. Expand the Preprocess data in single-user mode group. Complete tasks in this group to put the
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 source system into single-user mode and to run the final upgrade scripts
that prepare the source data for bulk copy to the target system.

Task Form User action

Enter into single-user mode Online users Use the Online users form to end all
current client sessions and ensure
that no new client connections can
be made. Only the administrator who
is performing the upgrade should be
connected to the AOS. Any changes
to the production data after this
point will invalidate the upgrade.

Important:
After you enter single-user
mode, you should back up
your Microsoft SQL Server
database and set its
recovery model to Simple.
For more information, see Enter into
single-user mode.

Run single-user mode Upgrade single-user Run the upgrade scripts that prepare
preprocessing scripts preprocessing the data in the shadow and
dictionary tables to be bulk copied to
the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012
target system. For more information,
see Run single-user mode
preprocessing scripts.

This completes data preprocessing on the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 source system. The remaining
upgrade tasks are performed on the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 target system.

Prepare the target system

While you prepare data for upgrade on the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 source system, you can
simultaneously prepare the target Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 system for upgrade. These preparation
tasks are not dependent on data upgrade tasks on the source system.
1. Install Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 on the target system.

Important:
Be sure to select Register database for upgrade as an option during installation and to
provide a name for the model store as prompted. For more information, see the Microsoft
Dynamics AX Installation Guide.

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2. Set appropriate user permissions. For permissions generally applicable to a new installation of
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, see Verify that you have the required permissions for installation. For
permissions specific to upgrade, see Set permissions specific to upgrade.
3. Copy the AOD application files (*.aod) that you want to upgrade from the source system to the target
system. Also copy the associated ALD label files (*.ald). These files need to be copied into two
locations: the standard application folder and an additional application folder labeled Old. Layer
names that have changed since Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 need to be changed in both locations.
For more information, see Copy application and label files to the target system.

Upgrade code on the target system

The following tasks import code from the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 source system and upgrade it for
use on the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 target system.
1. Start the Microsoft Dynamics AX client. The Select the appropriate upgrade checklist form opens
automatically.
2. Select AOD code upgrade checklist and click OK.
3. Complete the Upgrade preparation tasks in the AOD code upgrade checklist, shown in the table
below. These tasks include providing license information and importing Microsoft AODs into the
baseline model store.

Task Form User action

Provide license information License information Use the License information form to
provide Microsoft Dynamics AX with
your purchased license. For more
information, see Provide license
information.

Import Microsoft AOD files into Import Microsoft AOD files into Import Microsoft application (AOD)
the baseline model store the baseline model store files from the source system into the
baseline model store. For more
information, see Import layer AOD
into the baseline model store.

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4. Complete the Code upgrade tasks in the AOD code upgrade checklist, shown in the table below.
The import tasks are iterative and must be performed for each AOD file (each layer) and each ALD
label file that you copied to the target system for upgrade.

Task Form User action

Import AOD files into the Import AOD files into the Import application files (AOD files) from the
baseline model store baseline model store source system into the baseline model store.
For more information, see Import layer AOD
into the baseline model store.

Import AOD files into the new Import AOD files into the new Import the application files (AOD files) to
model store model store upgrade the desired application layers. Files
will be imported from the source system into
the new model store. Layers must be
upgraded one at a time, and the remaining
checklist steps must be completed after each
import. For more information, see Import
layer AOD into the new model store.

Import label files into the new Select file Optional. Import custom label files (ALD
model store files) into the model store. This step is
recommended for easier deployment. For
more information, see Import layer labels
into the new model store.

Restart Application Object N/A This task displays a notice that you must
Server manually restart the Application Object
Server after completing your layer import.

Compile application Compile application This step compiles the application to reset
any dependencies that were introduced
during code upgrade. For more information,
see Compile the application (upgrade).

Detect code upgrade conflicts Detect code upgrade conflicts This task analyzes the system and creates
projects containing application objects that
must be upgraded manually. This allows you
to resolve conflicts between application
objects that may have been created during
code upgrade. For more information, see
Detect code upgrade conflicts.

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Generate CIL Full CIL generation from X++ Generate Common Intermediate Language
code from the compiled application. For
more information, see Generate Common
Intermediate Language.

Upgrade data on the target system

The data upgrade tasks on the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 target system can be started after you enter
single-user mode on the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 source system and finish installation and all code
upgrade tasks on the target system.
1. Start the Microsoft Dynamics AX client. The Data upgrade checklist opens automatically.
2. Complete the Upgrade preparation tasks in the Data upgrade checklist, shown in the table below.
These tasks include providing license information and opting in or out of the Microsoft Customer
experience Improvement Program.

3. Expand Data upgrade in the Data upgrade checklist to see the data upgrade tasks. Complete the
following tasks.

Task Form User action

Provide license information License information Use the License information form to
provide Microsoft Dynamics AX with
your purchased license. For more
information, see Provide license
information.

Customer feedback options Microsoft Dynamics AX customer You have the opportunity to opt into
feedback options the Microsoft Dynamics AX Customer
Experience Improvement Program,
which sends anonymized system
information to Microsoft for analysis. By
default, the No, I don't wish to
participate option is selected. Links in
the Privacy options - Microsoft
Dynamics AX client form provide
additional information about the
program and associated privacy
policies. For more information, see Set
customer feedback options.

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Connect to source database Connect to source database Using a properly configured domain
account with administrative
privileges on both systems, connect
to the Microsoft Dynamics AX source
system database from the Microsoft
Dynamics AX 2012 target system.
You can complete this step any time
after you initialize preprocessing on
the source system. For more
information, see Connect to source
database.

Set current time zone Current time zone This task is intended for use during
upgrade from Microsoft
Dynamics AX 4.0. During upgrade
from Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009,
this task is visible until completion of
the task Connect to source
database, at which point the target
system recognizes that it is
unnecessary and removes it. You may
ignore this task.

Presynchronize Data upgrade cockpit (%1 -> Run the upgrade scripts that prepare
%2) the target system database for bulk
copy and synchronization. For more
information, see Presynchronize
(upgrade).

Create tables Synchronize database Create tables in the target database

for the source data to be bulk-copied
into. When the process is complete,
the Synchronize database form
summarizes the results. For more
information about this step, see
Create tables.

Generate table mappings Table mapping between source Verify that the tables and fields in the
and target systems source database are mapped
correctly to the tables and fields in
the target database. The upgrade
framework attempts to perform the
mapping automatically. If mapping
errors occur, they must be fixed
before you start the next step. For
more information, see Generate table
mappings.

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Generate upgrade task Prioritized upgrade scripts The form shows the priority for bulk
prioritization copying data from the source system.
The priority is based on the
intelligent bulk-copy prioritization
rules that are part of the upgrade
framework. For more information,
see Generate upgrade task
prioritization.

Launch data upgrade Data upgrade cockpit (%1 -> Run the upgrade scripts that copy
%2) data from the source system. This
step includes bulk copy,
synchronization, and post-
synchronization of the database.
These tasks are performed
concurrently so that the process is
completed with the least downtime
possible. For more information, see
Launch data upgrade.

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4. Expand the Finalize upgrade group in the Data upgrade checklist and complete the final upgrade
tasks.

Task Form User action

Post journal for relief of legacy Create journal(s) for the relief of Create and post the general ledger journal for legacy
accrual of unmatched legacy accrual of unmatched accrual relief for unmatched quantities. For more
quantities quantities information, see Post journal for relief of legacy accrual
of unmatched quantities.

Configure system accounts System service accounts Use the System service accounts form to configure
aliases and network domains for the Business
Connector proxy, the workflow system account, the
workflow execution account, the and the
synchronization service account. You can also configure
access to Bing Maps. For more information, see
Configure system accounts.

Finalize Enterprise Portal N/A The upgrade process can cause the URLs for various
upgrade Microsoft Dynamics AX Web pages to change in the
Application Object Tree (AOT). If you upgraded
Enterprise Portal, you should click the option to Finalize
Enterprise Portal upgrade to ensure that the web
pages are synchronized to use the correct URLs. For
more information, see Finalize Enterprise Portal
upgrade.

Specify Role Center website Administration of Web sites Use this task to specify which web site will host the Role
Centers, which are customizable home pages included
in the Enterprise Portal framework. Role Centers display
specific data, reports, alerts, and common tasks
associated with a user's role in the organization. Users
can access Role Centers from the Microsoft
Dynamics AX client or from an Enterprise Portal web
site. For more information, see Specify Role Center web
site.

Assign primary addresses to Parties without primary View parties without a primary address and optionally
parties addresses assign a primary address. For more information, see
Assign a primary address to parties.

Upgrade AIF code N/A Clicking the Upgrade AIF code task upgrades all AIF
code, creating new service classes, new data classes,
and AOT service nodes. AIF-related records in the
database are also updated. This task is non-interactive,
but you must prepare your AIF and services
configuration before running it or the upgrade will fail.
For more information, see Upgrade services and AIF.

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5. Complete the Additional upgrade tasks in the Data upgrade checklist. These tasks configure
additional features to ensure that the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 target system is fully functional.

Task Form User action

Upgrade additional features Data upgrade cockpit (%1 -> %2) With the Data upgrade cockpit (%1
-> %2), you can run final data
upgrade scripts on the Application
Integration Framework, on
reporting, and on other features. For
more information , see Upgrade
additional features

Compare data upgrade row Compare data upgrade row Comparing the table row counts in
counts counts the source and target databases
provides a preliminary check of your
post-upgrade data integrity. For
more information, see Compare data
upgrade row counts.

6. Upgrade Enterprise Portal. This step is performed after all other upgrade tasks have been completed.
For more information, see the complete guide Upgrade Enterprise Portal.
7. Test upgrade success and data integrity. For more information, see Test the system after upgrade.

Preprocess data on the source system

This section details data preprocessing on the Microsoft Dynamics AX source system. Data preprocessing
is the most important new feature in the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 upgrade. By preprocessing your
data, you can prepare your Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 or Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 system for
upgrade with less downtime than in previous versions. The following sections are included.
Install upgrade framework files
Start the Preprocessing upgrade checklist
Prepare for upgrade
Prepare application data for preprocessing
Preprocess data on the live system
Preprocess data in single-user mode
Using the preprocessing upgrade state transfer tool

Install upgrade framework files

The Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 upgrade process requires manual installation of three files on your
source Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 or Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 system. An XPO file provides the forms
and scripts that are required for data preprocessing, an ALD file provides user interface labels, and a CHM
file provides user Help. The sections below describe how to install these files from your Microsoft
Dynamics AX 2012 installation media.

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If you have lean manufacturing for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 installed, and you plan to migrate your
current data to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, there is an additional XPO file to install. For more
information, see the section Optional: Install XPO file for lean manufacturing upgrade later in this topic.

Install and import the XPO upgrade framework file

The preprocessing XPO file installs an upgrade framework containing the following components:
 The Preprocessing upgrade checklist
 The user-input forms opened by the items in the checklist
 The preprocessing upgrade scripts
 Changes to the upgrade cockpit for upgrade readiness, live preprocessing, live delta
preprocessing, and final preprocessing in single-user mode
You will import the preprocessing XPO into the USR layer on the Microsoft Dynamics AX source system.
You can see the current application layer in the lower right of the Microsoft Dynamics AX client window.

Note:
If the current application layer is not the USR layer, you must exit Microsoft Dynamics AX and
then create or modify the configuration by using the Microsoft Dynamics AX Configuration
Utility. In Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0, the path is Start > Administrative Tools > Microsoft
Dynamics AX Configuration Utility. In Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009, the path is Start >
Administrative Tools > Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 Configuration. Reconfigure the client so
that it opens in the USR layer.
Be sure to back up your application files (*.aod) and label files (*.ald) before you import the preprocessing
XPO. You will need these files for code upgrade on the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 target system.
To install the preprocessing XPO on the Microsoft Dynamics AX source system, do the following:
1. Open the Application Object Tree (AOT) from its icon on the toolbar.
2. (Optional.) It is advisable to make sure that the Application Object Directory (AOD) is synchronized
with the Microsoft Dynamics AX database schema before you begin to import of the XPO.
Synchronize them as follows:
 Right-click Data Dictionary, and then click Synchronize.
Synchronization may take several minutes.
3. Click the import icon on the AOT menu bar.
4. In the Import dialog box, click Browse. The XPO is located in the DatabaseUpgrade folder on the
installation media. The XPO file that you import depends on the Microsoft Dynamics AX source
system that you are upgrading from.
 On a Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 source system, import UpgradeAX4.xpo.
 On a Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 source system, import UpgradeAX5.xpo.
5. In the Import dialog box, make sure that the option Import with ID values is cleared.
6. Click OK.
7. In the Import message box, click Yes to all when you are prompted to continue the import.
8. During synchronization, the Problems during synchronization message box may warn you that
tables will be dropped. You should be aware of what objects are being over-written so that you can

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stop the process if necessary and merge your custom code with the XPO code for objects common to
them both. To allow an object to be overwritten, click Yes.
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 automatically performs multiple compilation passes to make sure that
validation is successful. For example, if a child object in the code is validated before its parent object, the
system will display a compilation error, but in a subsequent compilation pass, the parent-child object
relationship will be established and the error will no longer be displayed.
Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 does not automatically perform multiple compilation passes. If you import the
preprocessing XPO into Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0, you may have to manually recompile the application
until no compilation errors are returned.

Install the ALD label file

The ALD file contains the labels that appear in the upgrade framework user interface. The Preprocessing
upgrade checklist and associated forms will not be displayed properly without this file. To install the ALD
file, do the following:
1. On your installation media, navigate to the folder DatabaseUpgrade folder and locate the ALD label
file that you plan to use. Your choice will depend on the default language that you want to install. For
example, the file axUPGen-us.ald provides labels in United States English for the upgrade framework
forms. Each language and language region that is supported by Microsoft Dynamics AX has its own
ALD file.
2. Copy axUPGen-us.ald (or other selected ALD file) to the label folder on your source system.
 On a typical Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 system, copy the file to C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft
Dynamics AX\40\Application\Appl\Standard\.
 On a typical Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 system, copy the file to C:\Program Files\Microsoft
Dynamics AX\50\Application\Appl\Standard\.
3. Restart the application object server.

Install the CHM file for user Help

The CHM file provides the documentation that opens when you click Help next to an item on the
Preprocessing upgrade checklist. To install the CHM file, do the following:
1. Locate the file UpgradePreprocessing.chm in the DatabaseUpgrade folder on your installation media.
2. Copy the file to the appropriate directory on your Microsoft Dynamics AX source system.
 On a Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 system, copy the file to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics
AX\40\Client\Bin\Help\EN-US\.
 On a Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 system, copy the file to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics
AX\50\Client\Bin\Help\EN-US\.

Tip:
An additional CHM file, UpgradeScripts.chm, can also be found in the DatabaseUpgrade folder.
This file provides documentation of the data upgrade preprocessing scripts that are included with
the upgrade framework.

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Optional: Install XPO file for lean manufacturing upgrade

If you plan to migrate current lean manufacturing data from Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 to Microsoft
Dynamics AX 2012, you must install the SharedProject_AX50PreUpgrade_Lean.xpo file after you have
installed the XPO upgrade framework file.

Note:
To carry out this procedure, lean manufacturing for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 must be
installed.
The SharedProject_AX50PreUpgrade_Lean.xpo file installs the following additional components:
 Additional items in the Preprocessing upgrade checklist for lean manufacturing
 The user-input forms opened by the items in this checklist
 The preprocessing upgrade scripts for lean manufacturing

Start the Preprocessing upgrade checklist

The Preprocessing upgrade checklist guides you through the data preprocessing tasks on the Microsoft
Dynamics AX 4.0 or Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 source system when you upgrade to Microsoft
Dynamics AX 2012.

Avoid downtime with the source-to-target upgrade model

Because upgrade for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 uses a source-to-target model, you can complete some
of the steps in the Preprocessing upgrade checklist concurrently with upgrade tasks that you complete
on the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 target system. For an overview of the upgrade process for Microsoft
Dynamics AX 2012 and more information about how data preprocessing tasks on the source system relate
to upgrade tasks on the target system, see The upgrade process.

Open the Preprocessing upgrade checklist

You install the framework for the Preprocessing upgrade checklist in the USR layer of the Microsoft
Dynamics AX source system by importing an XPO file. The XPO file also installs all the forms that are
required for completing the data preprocessing tasks and includes changes to the data upgrade cockpit
so that you can better manage the preprocessing scripts. For information about importing the upgrade
XPO file, see Install upgrade framework files.
After the XPO upgrade file has been imported, open the Preprocessing upgrade checklist as follows:
1. Click the Project icon on the toolbar and navigate to Projects> Shared.
2. Expand Shared and locate either Ax40PreUpgradeFramework or Ax50PreUpgradeFramework,
depending on the version that you are upgrading from. Right-click it, and click Open.
3. Locate SysChecklist_preupgrade40 or SysCheckList_PreUpgrade50, depending on the version you
are upgrading from. Right-click it, and click Open to start the Preprocessing upgrade checklist.

Sections and tasks in the Preprocessing upgrade checklist

The Preprocessing upgrade checklist displays the required and optional tasks that are involved in
upgrade. The system records the completion of tasks and indicates this status with a check mark. The list

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of tasks is divided into four sections. When you open the Preprocessing upgrade checklist, these
sections are collapsed. Expand each section to access the tasks. You can also collapse an expanded
section when you have completed the tasks within it.
The following table contains the sections and types of task you will complete during data preprocessing
on the Microsoft Dynamics AX source system.

Section Description

Prepare for upgrade The tasks in this section test and prepare the source system for upgrade. The
tasks include creating the shadow and dictionary tables where the upgrade
framework will write the data that you prepare for upgrade in the next section.

Prepare application data for preprocessing The tasks in this section prepare the Microsoft Dynamics AX source system data
for preprocessing while the source system is live for production. Completing
these tasks does not affect your production system data.
When you click a task, a form opens and prompts you for information. Because
these tasks require knowledge of the application data that you are preparing for
upgrade, you will need guidance from a business user in each of the application
areas.

Preprocess data on live system These tasks run data preprocessing scripts while the source system is still live for
production. The prepared data is written into shadow tables in preparation for
bulk copy to the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 target system.

Preprocess data in single-user mode These tasks apply final preparation to the source data prior to bulk copy. When
you begin the tasks in this section, you start your system downtime window.
Your system will not be available for production until you complete the data
upgrade tasks on the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 target system.

Each task in the Preprocessing upgrade checklist links to a Help topic that explains the task and
provides steps for completing it.

Prepare for upgrade

This section of the Preprocessing upgrade checklist contains tasks performed before data preprocessing
begins. The following sections are included.
Check upgrade readiness
Initialize preprocessing

Check upgrade readiness

You can check upgrade readiness before you begin upgrading data on the Microsoft Dynamics AX source
system. The readiness check produces a report that identifies issues that could potentially affect data
upgrade. Checks include identifying data that might cause failure of the data upgrade scripts and
identifying scenarios that will need extra planning before the upgrade. No changes to data are made
during the checks.

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The upgrade readiness check is optional, but highly recommended. Running the readiness check will save
you time and reduce the number of times you need to rerun the tasks Run live preprocessing scripts and
Run delta preprocessing scripts.

Run the upgrade readiness check

1. In the Preprocessing upgrade checklist, click Check upgrade readiness. The Upgrade readiness
form opens to display a grid of readiness scripts waiting to be run. The grid provides a description of
each script, the method being invoked, the Microsoft Dynamics AX module that the script applies to,
and other information.
2. Click Run to begin running the scripts.

Tip:
By using the batch processing framework, you can set the number of batch server threads
available to the upgrade readiness scripts. For more information see Batch processing overview.

View readiness results and details

After the readiness scripts have run, a list of discovered issues is available. To review and resolve these
issues, complete the following steps:
1. In the Upgrade readiness form, click Readiness results.
2. In the Upgrade validation results form, review the Validation results grid, which lists the scripts that
have run. Each script has a status of Incomplete, Pass, Error, or Advisory.
3. The Log grid shows diagnostic information about jobs that have failed or that have an advisory. Select
a job in the Validation results grid to display information about it in the Log grid.
4. To see details for a job that is flagged as having issues, display it in the Log grid and then click
Details to open the Upgrade validation details form.
5. If there is a form available where you can resolve the issue, the Fix button is available. Click Fix to
open the form and then provide the required information.
6. If the Fix button is not available, you must resolve the issue manually or by writing an upgrade script
that resolves it. For information about scripts, see the white paper How to Write Data Upgrade Scripts
for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.

Rerun the upgrade readiness scripts

After you fix any issues that were identified by the readiness scripts, you can rerun any or all of the failed
scripts. Each run of the upgrade readiness scripts results in a new report. You can refer to past readiness
reports by selecting one from the Run date menu in the Upgrade validation results form.
To rerun a single script or multiple scripts when upgrading from Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0, complete any
of the following procedures that apply:
1. In the Upgrade readiness form, select one or more scripts and click Rerun job.
2. To rerun all readiness scripts, click Reset status and then click Run.
To rerun a single script or multiple scripts when upgrading from Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009, complete
any of the following procedures that apply:
 In the Upgrade readiness form, select one or more scripts and click Rerun script.
 To rerun all failed scripts, click Rerun all failed scripts.

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 To rerun all readiness scripts, click Reset status and then click Run.

Important:
After you resolve issues in the scripts or in the data, you can rerun the readiness check as many
times as necessary until the scripts pass validation. Do not attempt an upgrade of your production
data until you have identified and resolved all of the upgrade issues flagged by the upgrade
readiness check.

Initialize preprocessing
The Initialize preprocessing task prepares the Microsoft Dynamics AX source system for data upgrade by
creating shadow and dictionary tables for all the data tables that are in the live production database. The
task also initializes the preprocessing scripts. The tables that are created by this step will hold the data
that is created during upgrade preprocessing. Most of the data in the shadow and dictionary tables is
created by the live and delta preprocessing scripts, though some records are created by each of the other
preprocessing tasks.
To initialize preprocessing and create the shadow and dictionary tables, complete the following steps:
1. In the Preprocessing upgrade checklist, expand Prepare for upgrade.
2. Click Initialize preprocessing.
The upgrade framework creates the shadow and dictionary tables that are not created during importation
of the preprocessing XPO and, when it finishes, opens an Infolog form that lists all the tables that were
created. This step also loads the preprocessing scripts into upgrade framework tables.
After you finish the Initialize preprocessing task, you can connect to the source database from the
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 target system and begin preparing the target database for upgrade. This
allows you to save time by carrying out upgrade tasks concurrently on both systems.

Prepare application data for preprocessing

This section of the Preprocessing upgrade checklist contains tasks that involve manual changes to
application data in preparation for upgrade. The following sections are included.
System parameters
Set up number sequence for upgrade
Company priority setup
Update country/region codes
Map country/region codes
Default country/region
Prepare financial dimension framework for upgrade
Map fixed asset calendars
Prepare currencies for upgrade
Inventory dimension group upgrade
Product upgrade (preprocessing)
Configure site structure
Map task groups to capabilities

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Product Builder Route nodes upgrade

Units
Unit conversions
Fixed units
Unit texts
About purchase order upgrade
User relations upgrade - invalid company users
User relations upgrade missing contact person
User relations upgrade duplicate user IDs

System parameters
The system language is the default language that is used by the application for text translations.
Use the System parameters form to specify a shared system language.

Set the system language

1. Click System parameters to open the System parameters form.
2. Select a system language in the System language field.
3. In the Chart of accounts delimiter field, select a symbol to use as the separator between financial
dimensions.

Set up number sequence for upgrade

In releases before Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, the general ledger was always related to a single voucher,
regardless of the source document. Now that some subledger journal entries can be summarized when
they are transferred to the general ledger, a new numbering sequence is needed for the general journal
entries.
Use the Set up number sequence for upgrade form to set up the number sequence code for the legal
entities.
1. Click Set up number sequence for upgrade in the Preprocessing upgrade checklist to open the
Set up number sequence for upgrade form.
2. In the Company accounts field, select the set of legal entity accounts to upgrade the number
sequence for.
3. Click Set up number sequence to open the Set up number sequence form, where you can select
the number sequence code to use for the general journals.
4. To use the same number sequence code for all sets of legal entity accounts, click Apply to remaining
companies. Otherwise, repeat steps 2 and 3 until you have selected a number sequence code for all
sets of legal entity accounts.
5. Click Set to ready for upgrade to select this checklist item as ready for upgrade.

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Company priority setup

When you merge the data from more than one company, the priority of the companies determines which
company's values take priority for the data.
Use the Company priority setup form to define the priority of companies.

Note:
You must set up the company priority only if you upgrade items from more than one company.

Company priority affects product numbers and item dimension values

The company priority affects the following data when items are mapped to products:
 The sequence of product numbers
 The names and descriptions for sizes, colors, and configurations

Company priority and the sequence of product numbers

If the items that you map to a product have identical numbers but come from different companies, the
sequence of product numbers is determined by the company priority. For more information, see the
description of the 1:1 mapping method in Product upgrade (preprocessing).
Company priority and the names and descriptions of item dimensions
If the items that you map to a product have identical item numbers but come from different companies,
the active item dimensions of these items may have different names and descriptions. When several items
are mapped to one product, the names and descriptions of the item dimensions are consolidated. The
names and descriptions from the company that has the highest priority are used.
Example
 Three identical items are mapped to one product. The items come from three different companies, C1,
C2, and C3.
 The priority of C1 is 1, the priority of C2 is 2, and the priority of C3 is 3.
 The item has one active dimension, Color. However, the name of the dimension is not the same in the
three companies.
The following table shows this setup.

Company Item Item dimension Item dimension name

C1 INV-1000 Color Red

C2 INV-1000 Color _Red

C3 INV-1000 Color "Red"

The items are mapped to one product, PROD-1000. The name of the Color dimension is consolidated to
Red, because this name is used in C1, the company that has the highest priority.
Company priority and product translations
When items are mapped to products, product translations are derived in the same way as dimension
names and descriptions. When several items are mapped to one product, if more than one translation into

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a particular language exists for the items, the translations are consolidated. The translation from the
company that has the highest priority is used.
The initial company takes priority
When a mapping is completed, there is always a one-to-one relationship between items and products.
Furthermore, an item is always initiated from one company. An item’s initial company is the company
where the item was first created. Therefore, if you map items to existing products by aligning the product
numbers in the Product upgrade form, the initial company always has the highest priority, regardless of
how company priority is set up.
Example
In the previous example, product PROD-1000 inherited the dimension name from item INV-1000 in
company C1, because C1 had the highest company priority. You now want to map an additional item,
INV-A100, to PROD-1000. Item INV-A100 comes from another company, CA, which has a higher priority
than C1. However, C1 takes precedence when properties such as the dimension name are copied to
PROD-1000, because C1 is assigned as the initial company of PROD-1000. Therefore, when properties are
copied, the order of priority is C1, CA, C2, and C3.
The following table shows this setup.

Company priority Item Initial mapping Additional mapping Initial company

CA INV-A100 PROD1 C1

C1 INV-1000 PROD1 PROD1 C1

C2 INV-1000 PROD1 PROD1 C1

C3 INV-1000 PROD1 PROD1 C1

Tip:
You can view the initial company of a product in the Company field on the Mapping tab of the
Product preview form.

See Also
Product upgrade (preprocessing)

Update country/region codes

A list of default country/region codes is delivered in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. This list also includes 18
default address formats and component information for the countries/regions, such as state/province,
county, city, district, and ZIP/postal code.
If you want to change the default address format that is assigned to a country/region code, you can select
another address format in the Address format column. For example, the country/region for Antarctica
has a default address format of 001. This means that the address components are displayed in the
following way:
Street name
City_State_ZIP/postal code

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Country/region
You might select to change the default address format to 013. After you make the change, the address
components are displayed in the following way:
Street name
City, ZIP/postal code
Country/region
Use this form to view default country/region codes and the corresponding address formats. You can also
add new country/region codes and select corresponding address formats for them. The country/region
codes and address formats will be used for address records in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.

Note:
In the Map country/region codes form, you will map the countries/regions from Microsoft
Dynamics AX 4.0 or Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 to the countries/regions that are displayed in
the form. You cannot map more than one country/region code from the same company to a
country/region code listed in the Country/region codes form. You must manually create a
unique country/region code for all countries/regions in the same company before the upgrade.

1. In the Preprocessing upgrade checklist, click Update country/region codes to open the
Country/region codes form.
2. Review the list and verify the short name, long name, and address format for the countries/regions.
 You can modify the short name and long name by editing the field. The countries/regions that
you add to this list will appear in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 in the user language. Any other
translations must be entered manually in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 after upgrade is
completed.
 You can select a different address format in the Address format field. This list includes default
address formats and any address formats from Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 or Microsoft
Dynamics AX 2009.
3. To add a country/region code that was used in Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 or Microsoft Dynamics AX
2009 but does not appear in the list, press CTRL+N and do the following:
a. In the Country/region code field, enter the country/region code that you want to add.
b. Enter the short name and long name for the country/region, and then in the Address format
field, select the address format that corresponds to the selected country/region.
4. Click Set to ready for upgrade.

Map country/region codes

In Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 and Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009, more than one country/region code
could be assigned to a country/region. Only one country/region code per company from Microsoft
Dynamics AX 4.0 or Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 can be mapped to a country/region code in Microsoft
Dynamics AX 2012. Before you upgrade Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, all country/region codes in your
current version of Microsoft Dynamics AX must be mapped to a country/region code in Microsoft
Dynamics AX 2012.

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For example, in Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0, you may have assigned the country/region code GBR to both
Great Britain and the United Kingdom. Before you can upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, you must
reassign the GBR code to one of those countries/regions and assign a new unique country/region code to
the other country/region.
Use this form to map the country/region codes in all companies in Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 or
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 to the country/region codes in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. All
country/region codes must be mapped from the earlier version to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.

1. In the Preprocessing upgrade checklist, click Map country/region codes to open the
Country/region code mapping form.
2. For each country/region in the grid, in the Mapped country/region column, use the menu to select
the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 country/region code that corresponds to the country/region code
from your earlier version of Microsoft Dynamics AX. The country/region code from your earlier version
is displayed in the Country/region code column.
3. After you map all the country/region codes from the earlier version of Microsoft Dynamics AX to the
country/region codes in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, click Set to ready for upgrade.

Default country/region
In Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, all postal addresses must have a corresponding country/region. Use this
form to validate and update the default country/region code for each company in your organization.
When you upgrade from Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 or Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009, the country/region
that you select here for a company becomes the country/region for address records in that company that
do not have a specified country/region. After you have completed the Prepare application data for
preprocessing section of the Preprocessing upgrade checklist, you can use the Addresses with no
country/region form to change the country/region for an address record.

1. In the Preprocessing upgrade checklist, click Default country/region to open the Default
country/region for addresses form.
2. Review the country/region that is assigned to the companies in the list. This is the country/region
code that will be assigned to any address that does not already have a country/region code assigned.
3. To change the country/region for a company, select a country/region in the Default country/region
code field.
4. After you have verified the country/region defaults for each company, click the Set to ready for
upgrade button.

Prepare financial dimension framework for upgrade

A main account category is a classifier of a main account. A financial dimension is a financial data classifier
that is created from the parties, locations, products, and activities in an organization, and that is used for
management reporting.
In Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009, you could create ledger account categories and financial dimensions for
each company. In Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, the main account categories and financial dimensions that

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you create are shared, and can be used by any of the legal entities that are set up in Microsoft
Dynamics AX.

Note:
Dimension focuses have been renamed to financial dimension sets and are shared by the legal
entities that are set up in the Legal entities form. Therefore, the financial dimension sets can be
used by any of those legal entities. Financial dimension sets in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 differ
from the dimension sets in previous releases.
Use the Prepare financial dimension framework for upgrade form to select the main account
categories and financial dimension sets that will be shared by the legal entities.
1. Click Prepare financial dimension framework for upgrade to open the Prepare financial
dimension framework for upgrade form.
2. In the Company accounts field in the Ledger account categories field group, select the company
account that contains the main account categories that will be available as shared main account
categories.

Note:
This field is available only if you are upgrading from Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009.
3. In the Generate shared dimension focuses field, select how to create financial dimension sets:
 For each company account – All the financial dimension sets that currently are set up for the
accounts in each company will be available as shared financial dimension sets.
 Specific company account – Only the financial dimension sets for the accounts in the company
that you select in the Company accounts field in the Dimension focuses field group will be
available as shared financial dimension sets.
4. If you selected Specific company account, select the company account that contains the financial
dimension sets that will be shared. Otherwise, continue to step 5.
5. Optional: Click Ledger account categories upgrade validation to display the ledger account
categories that have upgrade errors.

Note:
This button is available only if you are upgrading from Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009.
6. Optional: Click Dimension focus upgrade validation to display the shared financial dimensions sets
and the upgrade error status of each financial dimension set.
7. Click Set to ready for upgrade to select this checklist item as ready for upgrade.

Warning:
Do not change financial dimension names after you start the Preprocessing upgrade checklist,
and before the upgrade is completed.

Map fixed asset calendars

When you upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, you must use the Upgrade fixed asset calendars
form to upgrade existing fixed asset calendars to fiscal calendars that can be shared by multiple legal
entities.
You can then use the Ledger form in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 to select a fiscal calendar.

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Note:
When you upgrade fixed asset calendars, each new fiscal calendar must have a unique name.
1. Review the list of companies that use fixed asset calendars, and then review the names of the fixed
asset calendars in the Calendar name column.
 If all the calendar names in the Calendar name column are unique, you do not need to make any
changes.
 If two or more calendars have the same name in the Calendar name column, a new name must
be assigned so that each calendar name is unique. For each duplicate calendar name, a new name
is suggested in the New name column. You can change these suggested names.
2. When you are finished, click Set to ready for upgrade to upgrade the fixed asset calendars to fiscal
calendars.
Example
Both Legal entity A and Legal entity B have fixed asset calendars named RBA01 (Reducing Balance Asset
1). Your task is to upgrade the fixed asset calendars to fiscal calendars. In the New name column, you
change the names of the calendars to RBA01-A and RBA01-B. After you upgrade the calendars, the
calendars are shared and can be used by any legal entity or by multiple legal entities.

Prepare currencies for upgrade

In releases previous to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, you could set up currencies for each company. In
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, the currencies that you set up are shared by the legal entities that are set up
in the Legal entities form, so the currencies can be used by any of those legal entities.
Use the Prepare currencies for upgrade form to select the currencies, a triangulation currency, and the
exchange rates that will be shared by the legal entities.
1. Click Prepare currencies for upgrade to open the Prepare currencies for upgrade form.
2. In the Generate shared currencies field, select which currencies will be available as shared currencies:
 For each company – All the currencies that currently are set up in each company will be available
as shared currencies.
 Specific company account – Only the currencies for the company that you select in the
Company accounts field in the Currencies field group will be available as shared currencies.
3. If you selected Specific company account, select the company account that contains the currencies
that will be shared.
4. In the Company accounts field in the Triangulation currency field group, select the company
account that contains the triangulation currency to upgrade. This triangulation currency will represent
the euro currency.
5. In the Generate shared exchange rates field, select which exchange rates will be available as shared
exchange rates:
 For each company – All the exchange rates that currently are set up in each company will be
available as shared exchange rates.
 Specific company account – Only the exchange rates for the company that you select in the
Company accounts field in the Generate shared exchange rates field group will be available as
shared exchange rates.

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6. If you selected Specific company account, select the company account that contains the exchange
rates that will be shared.
7. Optional: Click Currency code upgrade validation to display the shared currency codes and the
upgrade error status of each code.
8. Click Set to ready for upgrade to select this checklist item as ready for upgrade.

Inventory dimension group upgrade

Use the Preprocess inventory dimension groups form to define how company-specific inventory
dimension groups are consolidated into a set of inventory dimension groups that are shared between
companies.

The inventory dimension grouping is new

In Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, the inventory dimension groups are split into three groups: product,
storage, and tracking. The groups contain the following dimensions.

Group Dimensions

Product Color, Size, Configuration

Storage Site, Warehouse, Location, Pallet ID

Tracking Batch number, Serial number

The Color, Size, and Configuration dimensions, which were previously called item dimensions, are now
found in the product dimension group. Furthermore, the storage dimensions are now divided between a
storage dimension group and a tracking dimension group.
Each inventory dimension group that already exists must be mapped to one of the new product, storage,
or tracking dimension groups.

Note:
If an inventory dimension group has no active item dimensions, the mapping methods do not
create a product dimension group. A product dimension group cannot be created if there are no
active dimensions.
Map preexisting company-specific inventory dimension groups to the new dimension groups
When you start preprocessing inventory dimension groups, the Preprocess inventory dimension groups
form contains a list of all preexisting inventory dimension groups from all companies. You must map the
company-specific inventory groups to the new product, storage, and tracking dimension groups.
1. Click Inventory dimension group upgrade to open the Preprocess inventory dimension groups
form.
2. Click Dimension group mapping, and then select a method of mapping. The following options are
available:
 Map dimension groups 1:1 – For each preexisting inventory dimension group, create three
dimension groups: a product dimension group, a storage dimension group, and a tracking
dimension group. The active dimension in each new dimension group corresponds to one type of

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active dimensions in the original, company-specific inventory dimension group. The names of the
new dimension groups consist of consecutive numbers prefixed by PDG_, SDG_, or TDG_.

Note:
You can change this naming convention in the Map dimension groups 1:1 form.
 Map dimension groups ID – For each preexisting inventory dimension group, create product,
storage, and tracking dimension groups, just as when you use the Map dimension groups 1:1
method. The difference between this method and the 1:1 mapping method is the naming
convention. When you use this method, the names of the new dimension groups are copied from
the original, company-specific inventory dimension groups.

Note:
Consolidating inventory dimension groups from different companies that use
identical naming conventions for dimension groups can cause validation errors. For
example, if both company 1 and company 2 have an inventory dimension group that
is named DimGroup1, the identical names can cause a validation error. The active
dimensions and the setup of the active dimensions must be identical. Otherwise, the
upgrade consolidation is not successful.
 Map dimension groups by setup – Map dimension groups according to the setup of the active
dimensions and settings of the inventory dimension groups. For more information, see the next
section.
3. Click Dimension groups to view and change the names and descriptions of the new dimension
groups.
a. To change the name of a new dimension group, you must first change the name of the original
inventory dimension group in the Preprocess product dimension groups, Preprocess storage
dimension groups, or Preprocess tracking dimension groups form.
b. Then select the new name for the product, storage, and tracking dimension groups in the
Preprocess inventory dimension groups form.
4. Click Validation report to check for validation errors before you set the dimension groups to ready
for upgrade.
5. After you resolve all validation errors, click Set to ready for upgrade.

Mapping according to the setup of the inventory dimension groups

You can map the new, shared product, storage, and tracking dimension groups according to the active
item and storage dimension setup in the original inventory dimension groups. For each preexisting
inventory dimension group, the program proposes a product dimension group, a storage dimension
group, and a tracking dimension group. When new groups are created, the configurations in all the
existing inventory groups is considered. The new product, storage, and tracking groups are based on
information that is merged from all the existing inventory groups.
When you map inventory dimension groups by setup, the program may propose the same product,
storage, or tracking dimension group for more than one inventory dimension group. This is because the
existing inventory dimension groups have the same setup of active product, storage or tracking
dimensions.

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Example: Map inventory dimension groups by setup

In the following example, three company-specific inventory dimension groups, InvGroup1, InvGroup2, and
InvGroup3, are consolidated into product, storage, and tracking dimension groups.

Tip:
The three inventory groups can come from three different companies, or they can all come from
the same company.
The following table shows the setup of the active dimensions in the three inventory dimension groups.

InvGroup1 InvGroup2 InvGroup3

Color

Size Size

Configuration Configuration

Site Site Site

Warehouse Warehouse Warehouse

Serial number Serial number

Batch number Batch number

The following table shows the dimension groups that Microsoft Dynamics AX proposes, based on the
setup of the preexisting company-specific inventory dimension groups.
 For the item dimensions, Color, Size, and Configuration, the setup of active dimensions in InvGroup2
differs from the setup in InvGroup1 and InvGroup3. Therefore, two product dimension groups are
created.
 For the storage dimensions, Site and Warehouse, the setup of active dimensions is identical in
InvGroup1, InvGroup2, and InvGroup3. Therefore, one storage dimension group is created.
 For the Batch number and Serial number dimensions, the setup of active dimensions is different in
InvGroup1, InvGroup2, and InvGroup3. Therefore, three tracking dimension groups are created.

Product dimension groups Storage dimension groups Tracking dimension groups

PDG_1 SDG_1 TDG_1

- Size - Site - Serial number

- Configuration - Warehouse - Batch number

PDG_2 TDG_2

- Color - Serial number

TDG_3

- Batch number

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Product upgrade (preprocessing)

In Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, there are new processes for handling items. A new structure requires any
item that is configured in a company to be based on a product definition. Therefore, any item that is
handled in inventory, or during the purchase or sales process, must be associated with a product
definition. Product definitions reside at the shared level.
You use the Product upgrade form to define how existing, company-specific items are mapped to
products.

Note:
Before you can start mapping items to products, you must set the company's priority and
complete the preprocessing of inventory dimensions.

New product concepts

To understand how items are mapped to products, you must be familiar with the following new concepts
that are introduced in Microsoft Dynamics AX:
 Product master – A standard or functional representation of a product that is the basis for configuring
product variants.
 Product variant – A configuration of a product master.
 Distinct product – A uniquely identifiable product.

Items are upgraded to product masters and distinct products

Existing items that have active item dimensions are created as product masters. Items that do not have
active item dimensions are created as distinct products.

Combinations of item dimensions are created as variants

When you map items to products, combinations of item dimensions are created as product variants.
Therefore, product variants are created for product masters, and product masters are based on items that
have active item dimensions.

Tips:

The mapping process

There are two mapping methods. The method that you choose determines the level of manual work that
you must do to map items. Your choice depends on factors such as the number of items and the number
of different companies for which items must be merged. For example, if you upgrade two lists of items,
and each list contains identical items, you may want to map by item number. If you map by item number,
items that have identical item numbers are merged. You can complete a clean-up of the data after the
mapping instead of after the upgrade. However, when you map by item number instead of using the 1:1
method, there is a higher risk of validation errors. There is also a greater likelihood that you must perform
manual work later.
Synchronize

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When you synchronize items, you synchronize the data in the upgrade environment with the existing data
in the system.

Note:
The first time that you open the Product upgrade form, the fields are empty. The fields are not
populated until you synchronize items.

Synchronize items
1. Click Product upgrade to open the Product upgrade form.
2. Click Synchronize items to synchronize the items in the upgrade environment.

Notes:
You cannot continue the mapping process until the synchronization is completed.
If item data is changed during the upgrade process, you can synchronize items at any time to make sure that the
upgrade environment includes the most recent data.

Map items
You can choose between the following two mapping methods:
 Map all items 1:1 – Each item is mapped to a unique product of the Product master or Distinct
product subtype. The item number is replicated in the new product number. The name and search
name of the product are identical to the name and search name of the item.
 Map all items by item number – All items that have identical item numbers are mapped to the same
product. For example, if you map items from two different companies, items that have the same item
number can be mapped to one product.

Note:
If two items that have identical item numbers have different names or different setups for
their item dimensions, for example, you receive a validation error. The solution depends on
the problem. If the names of the two items are different, you can change the text in the
Product name fields in the Product preview form. If the dimensions are different, you must
change the original data in the system. However, you may not be able to make the changes if
transactions exist in the system.

Map items 1:1

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1. In the Product upgrade form, click Product mapping, and then select Map all items 1:1.
2. In the Map all items 1:1 form, enter a prefix in the Product number prefix field, and then enter an initial
number in the Initial number field.

Note:
The numbering convention that you define in the Product number prefix and Initial number
fields is only applied if you map items that have identical numbers but come from different
companies. For these items, the product numbers are replaced with numbers based on this
convention.
The sequence of product numbers is based on the company's priority. To view or change the priority of
companies, click View > Company priority setup.
Example
Three items from three different companies have the item number XL-1000. For the numbering convention,
the product number prefix is PXL, and the initial number is 99.
The three item numbers come from three companies, C1, C2, and C3. The priority of C1 is 1, the priority of
C2 is 2, and the priority of C3 is 3.
The following product numbers are generated:
 Item XL-1000 from company C1 – Product number: XL-1000
 Item XL-1000 from company C2 – Product number: PXL99
 Item XL-1000 from company C3 – Product number: PXL100

Map items by item number

1. In the Product upgrade form, click Product mapping, and then select Map all items by item number.
2. Click OK to continue.

Approve the mapping

Product mappings must be approved before you can set the items to ready for upgrade. You can approve
all mappings, or reverse the approval of all mappings, from either the Product upgrade form or the
Product preview form. You can approve or reverse the approval of selected items only from the Product
preview form.

Approve or reverse all mappings from Product upgrade

1. In the Product upgrade form, click Product mapping approval.

2. Select Approve all mappings to approve all mappings. Select Reverse all mapping approvals to reverse
the approval of all mappings.

Approve or reverse all or selected mappings from Product preview

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1. In the Product upgrade form, click View > Product preview to open the Product preview form.
2. Click Product mapping approval and select one of the following submenu commands:
 Select Approve all mappings to approve all mappings.
 Select Reverse all mapping approvals to reverse the approval of all mappings.
 Select Approve selected mappings to approve mappings of the products that you have selected in the
Product preview form.
 Select Reverse selected mapping approvals to reverse the approval of mappings for the products that
you have selected in the Product preview form.

Clear all product numbers

In the Product upgrade form, click Clear all product numbers to remove all product numbers from a
previous mapping.
Validate mappings
After you map items and approve the mappings, you can request a validation report. The validation report
shows the validation errors that are caused by inconsistencies or data violations, such as when two items
that have identical names are mapped to the same product. If you mapped all items by item number, you
may have to repeat the mapping process and the validation several times to resolve all of the validation
errors. You must repeat the mapping process and the validation until all errors are resolved.

Note:
You cannot complete the upgrade until all validation errors are resolved. In addition to validation
errors, you may receive validation warnings. Validation warnings are just warnings about
inconsistent data. The upgrade can be completed if there are validation warnings.

Validate all product mappings

1. In the Product upgrade form, click View > All validation results.
2. In the Product validation form, click Validate all to update the view.

Note:
You must click Validate all to update this form, even if you are opening the form for first time, or if
you previously validated the mappings.

Set to ready for upgrade

In the Product upgrade form, click Set to ready for upgrade to indicate that the products are ready to
be upgraded.

Note:
You must approve all product mappings before you set products to ready for upgrade. If
validation errors exist, you must resolve the errors before you can continue.

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Troubleshoot product variants with no association to a product master

On rare occasions, the preexisting data set can include item dimension combinations where one or more
of the corresponding item dimensions are inactive on the associated dimension group.
If this applies to your data set, we recommend that before you start to preprocess your data, you consider
how you want to handle these item dimension combinations.
In the upgrade process, all item dimension combinations are created as product variants. Product variants
depend on an association with a product master. If the potential product masters for the product variants
are based on items with inactive item dimensions, these items are mapped to distinct products rather
than to product masters. Product variants that lack an association with a product master prevent the data
from being properly upgraded.
To resolve this issue we recommend the following:
 If possible, on the dimension groups, activate any item dimensions that are associated with item
dimension combinations.
 If you cannot activate the dimensions, you can try to delete the item dimension combinations. Before
you delete, make sure that you back up your data.

Product preview
Use the Product preview form to view products, and to perform tasks on all products or selected
products. From this form, you can see how items are mapped to products of the Distinct product or
Product master subtype. You can also lock products, approve the mapping of products, and view product
details.

Tip:
Some tasks, such as product mapping and product approval, can be completed in both the
Product upgrade form and the Product preview form. However, the two forms are not identical.
For example, the perspective in the forms is different. In the Product preview form, you view data
from the product's perspective. However, in the Product upgrade form, you view data from the
item's perspective. In addition, you can use the Product preview form to approve the mapping of
selected products. However, you approve product mappings from the Product upgrade form, the
approval applies to all items in the form.

View mappings and perform tasks on products

1. In the Product upgrade form, click View > Product preview to open the Product preview form.
2. Click the buttons to complete the following tasks:

 Product mapping – Map all items, either by item number or by using the 1:1 method.
 Product locking – Lock all products or selected products. Locked products are disregarded
during the mapping process. When you consider the mapping of a set of products final, you
can lock the products. The locked products are not affected if you later repeat the mapping
process.
 Product mapping approval: – Approve or reverse the approval of the mappings for all items
or selected items.
 Validation – Validate all mappings or selected mappings.

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Tip:
You can validate mappings at any time. When you validate a mapping, you receive a list
of validation errors and guidelines to help you resolve the errors.
 Variants – View the product variants that were created for products of the Product master
subtype.

Tip:
The variants of a product correspond to the combinations of item dimensions for an item.
 Configurations, Sizes, and Colors – View the setups for configuration, size, and color that are
inherited from the items.
 Translations – View any text translations in different languages that were set up for the
items.

See Also
Company priority setup
Inventory dimension group upgrade

Configure site structure

This topic explains how to define a structure for your sites, warehouses, and resource groups. Additionally,
you can specify the default site, warehouse, and the fallback warehouse to assign to transactions for which
this information is not available and cannot be deduced.

To configure the site structure

1. In the Configure site structure form, in the Filter by company field, select the company account for
which you want to define a site structure.
2. In the Site field, enter a unique identifier for the site.
3. In the Name field, enter the name of the site.
4. To assign a warehouse or resource to this site, click the Warehouses or Work center groups tab, and
then select the site in the Site field.
5. To specify the default site, warehouse, and fallback warehouse for this site, click the Defaults tab and
then select the site in the Default site, Default warehouse, or Fallback warehouse field.

Map task groups to capabilities

Use this item on the preprocessing checklist to specify the capability that you must have in order to
convert task groups during the upgrade process. Task groups are not available in the target system.

Update task groups to capabilities

1. On the Preprocessing upgrade checklist, click Prepare application data for preprocessing > Task
group upgrade
2. Select a task group, and then click the Map task groups button and choose one of the following
conversion methods:

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 To map a task group conversion manually, select the task group and then enter a unique
identifier in the Capability field for each task group.
 To automate the mapping and use the task group ID as the identifier for the capability, click the
Map task groups button and select Map task groups by task group ID across all company
accounts.
 To automate the mapping using a 1:1 relationship between task groups and capabilities, click the
Map task groups button and select Map task groups 1:1.

Note:
To delete existing mapping information, click the Map task groups button and select Clear
mapping of all task groups.

Product Builder Route nodes upgrade

This topic describes how to map modeling variables assigned to product models and nodes in the
modeling tree to fixed values during the upgrade process. The target system does not support modeling
variables. Therefore, existing modeling variables must be mapped to fixed values. The fields that are
available on the right side of the form can vary, depending on the modeling variables that are allocated
for each product model.
Example
If a modeling variable is allocated for a resource in a product model, the Resource (Variable) field shows
the modeling variable. You must then select the fixed resource that you want to map the variable to in the
Resource field.

To map route variables for upgrade

1. Click Prepare application data for preprocessing > Product builder route nodes upgrade.
2. Select a product model in the grid on the left side of the form. Depending on the modeling variables
that require mapping, do one of the following in the available fields.

 In the Resource field, select the fixed resource to which you want to map the modeling variable
shown in the Resource (Variable) field.

 In the Load field, enter a number for the load that you want to map the modeling variable to.

 In the Qty. of Resources field, enter a number for the quantity of resources that you want to map
the modeling variable to.

 In the Job Requirement field, enter a number for the job requirement that you want to map the
modeling variable to.

3. To mark this item on the preprocessing checklist as completed, and continue to the next item on the
preprocessing checklist, click the Set to ready for upgrade button.

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Units
A unit of measure is a standard base or a derived division of quantity that is used for measurement or
exchange. For example, when you enter an order in Microsoft Dynamics AX, you specify both a quantity
and the unit of measure that the quantity represents.
Use the Preprocess units form to define how existing company-specific units of measure are mapped to
shared units of measure.

Note:
You must set a system language before you can start this task.

Shared units of measure replace company-specific units of measure

Shared units of measure replace the company-specific units of measure that are used in previous versions
of Microsoft Dynamics AX. You must map each company-specific unit of measure that exists to a unit of
measure that is shared across companies.

Note:
You can change a shared unit of measure so that it differs from the company-specific unit of
measure in the number of decimal places or in the description. The existing data in the system is
updated so that it reflects the changes.
Map company-specific units of measure to shared units of measure
When you start preprocessing units of measure, the Preprocess units form lists all units of measure from
all existing companies. When you map units of measure from different companies to one set of shared
units of measure, you must align information such as the number of decimal places. This information must
be aligned for each unit of measure.
1. Click Units to open the Preprocess units form.
2. In the Unit (shared) field, select the symbol that represents the shared unit of measure. Repeat this
step for each line.

Tip:
Click Automatic assignment to automatically assign each company-specific unit of measure
to a new shared unit of measure. When you click Automatic assignment, the value of the
Unit field is copied to the Unit (shared) field on all lines where the Unit (shared) field is
blank. However, you can manually change the value of the Unit (shared) field.

Tip:
We recommend that you use the international symbols for units of measure. For more
information, see General Tables of Units of Measurements.
3. Confirm that the values of the Description and Decimals fields are the same for every company.
To consolidate a unit of measure from two companies, you select the same unit symbol in the Unit
(shared) field on each line. The values of the Description and Decimals fields may be different on
each line. You must align the values of these fields for each shared unit of measure. When the values
of these fields are identical, the system can identify the lines that must be merged during the
upgrade.

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Notes:
 If units of measure from different companies have identical unit symbols, but the values of the
Decimals, System of units, and Description fields are different, the mapping cannot be
completed. In the Preprocess units form, you can use one of the following methods to resolve
the issue:
 The solution that you choose depends on the company setup. If the properties of the units of
measure differ by mistake, you can align the values of the fields for the properties. If the
properties must remain different, you must change one of the unit symbols.

Tip:
To filter the contents of a column, select a field, and then click Filter By Selection on the
toolbar. For example, to identify all lines that use the unit symbol kg, select the Unit (shared)
field that has this value.
4. In the Unit class field, select a classification for the unit of measure.

Tip:
The unit class represents a logical grouping of units of measure, such as area or quantity. The
unit classes specify base units and standard units. Base units can be used to streamline the
setup of a conversion.

Note:
When you start preprocessing units of measure, all units that are derived from existing units
of measure are assigned to the Undefined class. For each shared unit of measure, you must
select a unit class other than Undefined. For a shared unit of measure, the unit class must be
identical on every line that is associated with the unit of measure.
5. In the System of units field, verify that the appropriate system of units is applied.
The field is set to None when company-specific units of measure are created manually. For units such
as box and piece, None is an appropriate system of units. However, if None is not appropriate for a
unit of measure, select Metric or United States customary units. Examples of units of measure that
use the None category are Box and Pieces.

Note:
For a shared unit of measure, the system of units must be identical on every line that is
associated with the unit of measure.
6. Click Validate to check for validation errors before you set the units of measure to ready for upgrade.
7. After you resolve all of the validation errors, click Set to ready for upgrade.

See Also
System parameters

Unit conversions
Unit conversions define formulas for converting between units of measure. One unit conversion can be
associated with each unit of measure.

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Use the Preprocess unit conversions form to define how you want company-specific unit conversions
that exist for company-specific units of measure to be consolidated for shared units of measure.

Notes:
You must complete the definition of shared units of measure before you can start this task.

Company-specific unit conversions are consolidated

Each company-specific unit of measure that was created in earlier versions of Microsoft Dynamics AX may
have an associated unit conversion. The shared units of measure that you define are based on company-
specific units of measure. The associated unit conversions may differ from company to company. The unit
conversions can differ in one or more of the following aspects: factor, additional quantity, or rounding
information. You must consolidate the unit conversions for each shared unit of measure.

Note:
You may change the factor, additional quantity, or rounding information for a shared unit
conversion, so that it differs from the factor, additional quantity, or rounding information in the
company-specific unit conversion. In this case, the existing data in the system is updated to reflect
the changes.
Consolidate the unit conversions for the shared units of measure
When you start preprocessing unit conversions, all conversions for each shared unit of measure are listed
in the Preprocess unit conversions form. Before you can consolidate the list of conversions, you must
make sure that the factor, additional quantity, and rounding information are identical for each unit
conversion. For example, if the conversion from centiliters (cl) to deciliters (dl) is specified on two lines,
and the rounding information is different on each line, you must align the rounding information for the cl
to dl conversion.
1. Click Unit conversions to open the Preprocess unit conversions form.
2. In the Factor, Additional quantity, and Round-off fields, verify that the information is identical if
more than one line has the same conversion formula.

Tip:
Click Product number or From unit (shared) to change the sort order of the columns.

Note:
An additional quantity can be used only with units that belong to the temperature unit class.
3. Click Validate to check for validation errors.
4. After you resolve all validation errors, click Set to ready for upgrade.

See Also
Units

Fixed units
System units define the units for length, mass, and volume that appear as suggested units of measure in
Microsoft Dynamics AX.
Use the Preprocess fixed units form to set up the system units.

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Note:
You must define shared units of measure before you can begin this task.

Shared system units replace fixed units

System units that are shared across all companies now replace fixed units, which were used in earlier
versions of Microsoft Dynamics AX.
Set up system units
1. Click Fixed units to open the Preprocess fixed units form.
2. In the Length, Mass, and Liquid volume fields, select the system units that you want to use.

Note:
The units that you select must belong to the unit classes for length, mass, and liquid volume.
You assign units of measure to unit classes in the Preprocess units form.
3. Click Validate to check for validation errors.
4. After you resolve all validation errors, click Set to ready for upgrade.

Unit texts
Unit texts are printed on external documents such as invoices. If no unit text is associated with a unit of
measure, the symbol of the unit of measure is applied.
Use the Preprocess unit texts form to define how company-specific unit texts that exist are consolidated
to a set of shared language-specific unit texts.
From Microsoft Dynamics AX onwards, the language is shared between companies and there is only one
shared language. For this reason, text in external documents is not automatically printed in company-
specific languages. To accommodate this change and preserve a representation of, for example units of
measure, in different languages, you must create new unit texts. The new unit texts must be created for
each unit of measure in each of the languages that you want to be represented.

Set the unit texts for different languages

When you start preprocessing unit texts, all unit texts associated with each unit of measure are listed in
the Preprocess unit texts form. In cases where there is more than one unit text per language for a shared
unit of measure, the texts must be aligned so that there is only one text per language.
1. Click Unit texts to open the Preprocess unit texts form.
2. Verify the text in the Unit field. If there is more than one unit text per language associated with a unit,
you must align the texts.

Tip:
To align unit texts, change the content of the Unit fields.
3. Click Validate to check for validation errors before you set the unit texts to ready for upgrade.
4. Click Set to ready for upgrade when you have resolved all validation errors.

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About purchase order upgrade

When you invoice in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, the accounting framework does not relieve any
accounting entries for accruals that were generated in an earlier version of the program. To upgrade to
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, you must first relieve any accrual entries that remain for purchase order
quantities received but not yet matched to vendor invoices.
To begin the upgrade, select the journal name. The journal name identifies the journal that make up the
relief of accruals for purchase order quantities received but not yet matched to vendor invoices.

Notes:
Set these parameters in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 to ensure that accounting entries are generated.
The accounting entries are generated for the accrual for purchase quantities received but not yet
matched to vendor invoices:

User relations upgrade - invalid company users

Users can be internal or external. Internal users include employees, and external users include vendors,
customers, and prospects. After you specify user relations, a user's information, such as the employee ID
or customer account ID, is automatically displayed in fields when that user opens a page in Enterprise
Portal for Microsoft Dynamics AX. For external relations, data in the self-service portal for vendors is
trimmed according to the user’s designated account. For example, if a user has an external relation for
vendor account 1003, the user sees data only for that account in the self-service portal for vendors.
Use the following procedure to delete user accounts for a company when the user ID is not valid.

Delete records when a user account has a an invalid ID

1. Click User relations upgrade – invalid company users.
2. Click Delete all.
3. Click Set to ready for upgrade.

See Also
User relations upgrade duplicate user IDs

User relations upgrade missing contact person

Users can be internal, such as employees, or external, such as vendors, customers, or prospects. After you
specify user relations, a user’s information (such as employee ID or customer account ID) is automatically
displayed in fields when that user opens an Enterprise Portal page. For external relations, data is trimmed
on the vendor self-service portal according to account access. For example, if a user has an external
relation for vendor account 1003, the user only sees data for that account in the vendor self-service portal.
Use this form to resolve issues when a user relation is not assigned a contact representative in your
business or organization.

Specify a contact for a user relation

1. Click User relations upgrade missing.
2. Select a user in the list and then click User relations.
3. Click the General tab.

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4. Use the Contact person drop-down list to select a contact representative in your business or
organization.

User relations upgrade duplicate user IDs

Users can be internal, such as employees, or external, such as vendors, customers, or prospects. After you
specify user relations, a user’s information (such as employee ID or customer account ID) is displayed
automatically in fields when that user opens an Enterprise Portal page. For external relations, data is
trimmed on the vendor self-service portal, according to account access. For example, if a user has an
external relation for vendor account 1003, the user sees data for only that account in the vendor self-
service portal.
Use this form to resolve conflicts when multiple user relations are mapped to a single Microsoft
Dynamics AX user account. When each user relation has been assigned a unique Microsoft Dynamics AX
user account, click Set to ready for upgrade.

Preprocess data on the live system

This section of the Preprocessing upgrade checklist contains data preprocessing tasks that can be
carried out on a live system. While these tasks are being performed, your business operations can
continue without interruption. The following sections are included.
Run live preprocessing scripts
Country/region upgrade
Party upgrade
Run delta preprocessing scripts

Run live preprocessing scripts

The Run live preprocessing scripts task opens the Upgrade live preprocessing form and displays the
scripts that will write prepared data into the shadow and dictionary tables that were created by the
Initialize preprocessing task. After you run the live preprocessing scripts, you must correct any issues that
are flagged with an error status in the grid. After you correct an issue, you must rerun the failed script, or
all failed scripts, until all live preprocessing scripts finish without error. You cannot proceed to running the
single-user mode preprocessing scripts until you resolve all live preprocessing script errors.

Run the live preprocessing scripts

Depending on the amount of data you are processing, running the live preprocessing scripts may take a
long time. The scripts run while your Microsoft Dynamics AX source system is live and being used for
production. This can slow system performance. To lessen the impact of preprocessing on your live system,
you can pause some or all of the scripts during business hours and resume them after business hours.

Note:
Some live preprocessing scripts cannot be paused. These scripts appear in the grid with a task
status of The task does not support pausing.
Complete the following steps to begin running the live preprocessing scripts.
1. In the Preprocessing upgrade checklist, click Run live preprocessing scripts.

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2. In the Upgrade live preprocessing form, click Run.

Pause and resume live preprocessing scripts

Complete the following steps to pause live preprocessing scripts.
1. In the Upgrade live preprocessing form, click Manage running tasks.
2. In the Manage running tasks form, do one of the following:
 To pause a single script, select the script in the grid, and then click Pause task.
 To pause all scripts, click Pause all tasks.
Complete the following steps to resume a paused script.
1. In the Upgrade live preprocessing form, click Manage running tasks.
2. In the Manage running tasks form, select a paused script in the grid, and then click Resume task.

Country/region upgrade
Earlier in the process, you used the Default country/region form to specify for a company the default
country/region to assign to address records that do not already have a specified country/region. For
example, you selected a default country/region for Fabrikam, and that country/region will be assigned to
any Fabrikam customer that does not already have a country/region selected for their address record. But
Fabrikam has customers in multiple countries/regions, and the default country/region will not apply to all
customers.
Use this form to change the country/region for individual addresses.

1. Click Country/region upgrade to open the Addresses with no country/region form. The form
contains a list of addresses that do not have a country/region assigned.
2. Do one of the following:
 To apply the same country/region to all the addresses in the list, select a country/region in the
Select a default country/region to apply field, and then click Apply.
You can filter the list and then apply a default country/region to the records that are displayed.
 To set country/regions for addresses individually, select the address and then select a
country/region in the Country/region field.
3. Update other address information as necessary.
4. Click the Set to ready for upgrade button.

Party upgrade
A party is a person or organization that can be internal or external to your organization. Each party has its
own record within Microsoft Dynamics AX. In Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, every customer, vendor,
prospect, and competitor must be categorized as either a person or an organization. When you are
upgrading to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, all customer, vendor, prospect, and competitor records are
assigned the party type Organization by default.
Use this form to indicate any customers, vendors, prospects, and competitors that should be categorized
as a Person party type and to verify the name components for each Person party record. You can also use

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this form to specify the name sequence, for example, First, Middle, Last, that will be used on a Person
party record. Person party records also include contacts and employees.

1. Click Party Upgrade to open the Party upgrade form.

2. In the Select the default person name sequence field, select the sequence in which you want names
to be displayed for a Person party record.
3. In the Type field, update any party records whose record type is changing from Organization to
Person.
4. After you have updated all your party records, click Set to ready for upgrade.

Run delta preprocessing scripts

You run the delta preprocessing scripts after you complete the Global address book country/region
upgrade task on the Microsoft Dynamics AX source system. The delta preprocessing scripts check for
changes to the production data that have occurred since you started running the live preprocessing
scripts. Then, like the live preprocessing scripts, the delta scripts process the updated data into the
shadow and dictionary tables.
Like the live preprocessing scripts, the delta preprocessing scripts run while your Microsoft Dynamics AX
source system is live and being used for production. To optimize performance, you can pause some or all
of the delta scripts by using the Manage running tasks form.

Note:
Some delta preprocessing scripts cannot be paused. These scripts appear in the grid with a Task
state that says The task does not support pausing.
You can run the delta preprocessing scripts multiple times until you are ready to enter single-user mode.
To minimize downtime, make sure to run the delta preprocessing scripts just before entering single-user
mode.

Run the delta preprocessing scripts

1. In the Preprocessing upgrade checklist, click Run delta preprocessing scripts.
2. In the Upgrade delta preprocessing form, click Run.

Pause and resume the delta preprocessing scripts

Complete the following steps to pause delta preprocessing scripts.
1. In the Upgrade delta preprocessing form, click Manage running tasks.
2. In the Manage running tasks form, do one of the following:
 To pause a single script, select a running script from the grid, and then click Pause task.
 To pause all running scripts, click Pause all tasks.
Complete the following steps to resume a paused script.
1. In the Upgrade live preprocessing form, click Manage running tasks.
2. In the Manage running tasks form, select a paused script from the grid, and then click Resume task.

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Preprocess data in single-user mode

This final section of the Preprocessing upgrade checklist contains data preprocessing tasks that must be
performed in single-user mode. Your system is offline for non-administrative users from now until the end
of the upgrade process. The following sections are included.
Enter into single-user mode
Run single-user mode preprocessing scripts

Enter into single-user mode

You enter into single-user mode on the Microsoft Dynamics AX source system to make sure that the
system is unavailable for business use. In single-user mode, only an upgrade user who has administrative
permissions is connected. No other users can start a client session when the source system is in final
preprocessing and source data is being bulk copied to the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 target system.
After you enter into single-user mode, you can run the single-user mode preprocessing scripts and begin
bulk copy of data to the target system.
In this step, you will do the following:
 Enter into single-user mode and end current user sessions by using the Online users form.
 Reopen client sessions for an administrative user on a single instance of the AOS (Microsoft
Dynamics AX 4.0 only).
 Back up the source system database.
 Set the Microsoft SQL Server database recovery model to simple.

Enter single-user mode and end current user sessions

To enter single-user mode
1. In the Preprocessing upgrade checklist, click Enter into single-user mode.
3. Click the Server Instances tab to see a list of all instances of the AOS that are running.
4. Select a server instance, click Reject new clients, and then click OK to confirm that you want to stop
the AOS from accepting new client sessions.
In the Status column, the status changes to Draining. This status means that no users can start a new
client session in the AOS instance. However, rejecting new clients does not end any current sessions.
5. Repeat step four for all server instances that are running.
After you set the AOS instances to reject new client sessions, end all current client sessions. Before you do,
make sure that all users who have active client sessions have finished their work.
To end client sessions
1. In the Online users form, click the Client Sessions tab.
2. Select the user sessions that you want to end (other than a single administrative user session), and
then click End sessions.
3. In the End sessions window, click OK, and then click Close.

Reopen client sessions to set up batch threads in Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0

The client-based batch framework in Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 supports only a single batch thread for
each active client session. If you are upgrading from Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0, you can open up to eight

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user sessions to allow multiple batch threads. These batch threads are necessary for running the final
preprocessing scripts and bulk copying data to the target system. All user sessions must be opened by an
upgrade user who has administrative permissions. Open these client sessions on a single AOS instance.
To allow new client sessions
1. In the Online users form, click the Server instances tab.
2. Select a server instance, and then click Accept new clients.
After you begin running the preprocessing upgrade scripts in the next checklist task, Run single-user
mode preprocessing scripts, you can open the new client sessions for batch threads on Microsoft
Dynamics AX 4.0. If you open additional sessions before starting the script run, the run will fail.
3. After you have opened the client sessions that you need for batch threads, return to the Online users
form and click Reject new clients to prevent additional sessions from being opened.

Warning:
If you allow reopening client sessions in Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0, you must take steps to
ensure that no other users log on to make transactions when preprocessing scripts are being run
and bulk copy is in progress. If any transactions are made on the Microsoft Dynamics AX source
system during this time, your data will be invalid and the upgrade will fail.

Back up the source system database

Back up the source system SQL Server database to protect your data from any loss that may be caused by
unexpected issues during single-user mode preprocessing. The backup also sets the initial recovery point
for the simple recovery model that you will set for your SQL Server database during this stage of upgrade.
To find the procedures for backing up your SQL Server database, use the following links:
 To back up a SQL Server 2008 database, see How to: Back Up a Database (SQL Server
Management Studio)
 To back up a SQL Server 2005 database, see How to: Back Up a Database (SQL Server
Management Studio)

Set the Microsoft SQL Server recovery model to simple

Before you begin final preprocessing on the source system, set the source system SQL Server recovery
model to simple. By setting the recovery model to simple, you permit the high-performance bulk copy
process that is optimal for running the single-user mode preprocessing scripts and bulk copy of the
source data to the target system.
1. Open Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio (Start > All Programs > Microsoft SQL Server
[version] > SQL Server Management Studio).
2. In Object explorer, select the database to open the Database properties - <database name> form.
3. In the Select a page pane, click Options.
4. In the Recovery model list, select Simple.
5. Click OK.

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Run single-user mode preprocessing scripts

Run single-user mode preprocessing scripts is the final task in the Preprocessing upgrade checklist.
This task first checks that the system is running with only a single administrative user logged in. If this test
is successful, the Upgrade single-user preprocessing form opens. Clicking Run on this form launches
the delta upgrade scripts for a final time and then launches the upgrade scripts that prepare data to be
bulk copied to the target system. These scripts run using set-based operation.

Use parallel processing to reduce downtime

Single-user mode operation of your Microsoft Dynamics AX system means that the system is unavailable
for business transactions. The upgrade framework enables parallel processing of the source system data in
order to keep downtime to a minimum. If you are upgrading from Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009, this
checklist task will initiate parallel processing of the data automatically. If you are upgrading from
Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0, you can manually initiate parallel processing.
When you run single-user mode preprocessing on a Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 system, each client
connection enables a single batch thread to run. To run multiple batch threads and improve performance,
you allow the system to accept new connections, and then open multiple clients using the administrative
login. While the system is accepting new connections, you must insure that no non-administrative users
connect and make transactions. Any transaction made after you enter single-user mode will invalidate the
data and the upgrade will fail. Also, if the source system uses multiple instances of the application object
server (AOS), you must make sure that only one instance of the AOS allows new connections.
For more information, see Enter into single-user mode.

Prepare for single-user mode preprocessing

Before you run the single-user mode preprocessing scripts, back up the Microsoft SQL Server database
and set the database recovery model to simple. For more information about how to prepare for running
the single-user mode preprocessing scripts, see Enter into single-user mode.
Single-user mode preprocessing scripts on the source system run concurrently with the bulk copy of data
to the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 target system, synchronization of the Microsoft SQL Server database
on the source system, and post-synchronization of the database. This process will take several hours.

Run the single-user mode preprocessing scripts

Complete the following steps to run the single-user mode preprocessing scripts and complete the tasks
on the Preprocessing upgrade checklist
1. In the Preprocessing upgrade checklist, click Run single-user mode preprocessing scripts.
2. In the Upgrade single-user preprocessing form, click Run to start running the single-user mode
preprocessing scripts.

Using the preprocessing upgrade state transfer tool

The preprocessing upgrade state transfer tool helps you minimize downtime during upgrade. The tool
also helps you avoid putting an additional load on your production Microsoft Dynamics AX system while
you prepare to upgrade it. This topic describes how to create a test system that is a replica of your
production system, perform data preprocessing on the test system, and then transfer the completed
preprocessing state back to the production system.

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How the state transfer tool works

The state transfer tool operates on a Microsoft Dynamics AX source system where some of the tasks of
the Preprocessing upgrade checklist have been completed. The tool analyzes the code in the upgrade
preprocessing project to identify the upgrade staging and framework tables that are required to capture
the state of the Preprocessing upgrade checklist. The tool then uses the Microsoft SQL Server Bulk Copy
Program (BCP) utility to copy these tables to a second Microsoft Dynamics AX source system. During bulk
copy, you can add processor threads to improve data throughput.

Plan before you use the state transfer tool

The state transfer tool is intended to help minimize the amount of upgrade preprocessing that must be
performed on a production system. Use the state transfer tool if you want to offload the live upgrade
preprocessing task to a test server. However, note that use of this tool requires careful consideration and
planning. We recommend that you test the tool on a non-production system before you use it for
upgrade in your production environment. Also, after you perform a state transfer, you must reconcile the
updated data in your test system with the data in your production system.

Prepare to perform a state transfer

Before you perform a state transfer, you must complete the following tasks on the test and production
source systems.

Prepare the production system

1. On the production system, import the preprocessing XPO that is appropriate for the Microsoft
Dynamics AX version that you are upgrading. For more information, see the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012
Upgrade Guide.
2. On the production system, install the upgrade-related label file (.ald) files. Also install the upgrade-
related Help files (.chm) files. For more information, see the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Upgrade Guide.
3. On the Preprocessing upgrade checklist, complete the Check upgrade readiness task and resolve
any validation errors. Enable triggers to track necessary data, based on prompts from the upgrade
readiness checks. For more information about this step, see Check upgrade readiness.
4. The test system must be an exact replica of the production system. Copy the USR layer (.aod) file on
the production system, and back up the production system database:
a. Copy the USR layer (.aod) file. Typically, this file is located at C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft
Dynamics AX\40\Application\<application instance>\axusr.aod or C:\Program Files\Microsoft
Dynamics AX\50\Application\<application instance>\axusr.aod. Have this file available for
installation on the test system.
b. Use Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio to back up the Microsoft Dynamics AX database.
Have this backup file available for installation on the test system.

Important:
After you copy the USR layer and make backup of the database, you must avoid making changes
to the application on your production system. Data transactions may continue (allowing
continued business operations), but metadata changes, customizations, changes to the AOT, and
anything that changes the behavior of the application can cause the state transfer to fail.

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Prepare the test system

The following steps produce a test source system that is configured identically to the production source
system.

Warning:
Do not import the upgrade XPO into the test source system. The necessary upgrade framework
code is provided in the AOD file that you copied from the production source system. Importing
the XPO overwrites element IDs and causes runtime errors.
1. Install the upgrade-related label files (.ald) files. Also install the upgrade-related Help (.chm) files. For
more information, see the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Upgrade Guide.
2. Install the USR layer (.aod) file that you copied from the production system. Typically, this file is
installed at C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Dynamics AX\40\Application\Appl\Standard\axusr.aod or
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics AX\50\Application\Appl\DynamicsAX5\axusr.aod.
3. Use SQL Server Management Studio to restore the database backup from the production system as
the Microsoft Dynamics AX database on the test system.

Important:
After you complete these steps, you must restart Application Object Server (AOS).
The test source system is now ready for upgrade preprocessing. We recommend that you complete the
following tasks on the Preprocessing upgrade checklist:
1. All tasks in the Prepare application data for preprocessing section
2. Run live preprocessing scripts
3. Run delta preprocessing scripts

Enable the database connection

Windows integrated security is used to connect to the production source system from the test source
system. The administrative user who is performing the state transfer must have access to the Microsoft
Dynamics AX database on the production source system. Otherwise, the production source system rejects
the database connection. Open SQL Server Management Studio on the production source system, and
follow these steps:
1. Grant access to the Microsoft Dynamics AX database to a domain user who has administrative
privileges on the test source system.
2. Add this user to the db_owner and public database roles.

Open the Preprocessing upgrade state transfer form

After you have completed upgrade preprocessing on the test system, open the Preprocessing upgrade
state transfer form on the production system. The form is opened from a private project that is installed
by the preprocessing framework XPO.
1. Click the Project icon on the Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 or Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 toolbar.
2. Expand Private.
3. Double-click xferUpgState (usr).
4. Scroll down to xferUpgState (usr), right-click, and then click Open.

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Perform the state transfer

1. In the Server name field, enter the name of the test system.
2. In the Database name field, enter the name of the Microsoft Dynamics AX database for the test
system.
3. Click Run to start the upgrade state transfer. The state transfer tool validates conditions in both the
test system and the production system. If no errors are found, the tool schedules batch jobs to bulk
copy all shadow, dictionary, auxiliary, and framework tables from the test source system to the
production source system.
A form opens so that you can monitor and manage the bulk copy process. The form is called Batch list in
Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 and Batch tasks in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009. You can use the form to
pause or rerun jobs if you have to.

Important:
To use the state transfer tool, you must enable administrative user access between the test and
production systems by using Windows integrated security.

Perform post-transfer tasks

After the state transfer is complete, run open the Preprocessing upgrade checklist and rerun the tasks in
the section Prepare application data for preprocessing. This will allow you to make manual adjustments
to new data from the delta between production system backup and completion of the state transfer.
Finally, run the delta preprocessing scripts, and then continue with upgrade preprocessing in single-user
mode.

Create the target system

After you preprocess data on the source Microsoft Dynamics AX system, or concurrently with
preprocessing data, you must install Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 on a target computer system. This
section presents the steps that are involved in installing and setting up the new system. The following
sections are included.
Verify that you have the required permissions for installation
Set permissions specific to upgrade
Install Microsoft Dynamics AX (upgrade)
Configure the model store for upgrade
Import application files into the model store
Import label files into the model store

Verify that you have the required permissions for installation

Before beginning the Microsoft Dynamics AX installation process, work with a system administrator to
ensure that the account you log on with at each server has appropriate permissions. The permissions
listed below are implemented according to the principle of least privilege.

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In all cases, you must be a member of the Administrators group on the local computer where you are
installing a component. The following table lists permissions that are required in addition to administrator
access on the computer.

Component Additional permissions required to install

Databases Member of the dbcreator role on the SQL Server instance.

If you are installing the databases remotely from a computer other than the
database server, you must log on to the remote computer with an account
that is an administrator on the SQL Server computer. Setup requires access to
SQL Server services.

Application Object Server (AOS) Member of the securityadmin role on the SQL Server instance you want to
connect to.

Enterprise Portal Member of the System administrator role in Microsoft Dynamics AX and a
member of the dbcreator role on the SQL Server instance being used for
®
Microsoft SharePoint Services.

Enterprise Search Member of the System administrator role in Microsoft Dynamics AX, a
member of the Administrator group in Microsoft SharePoint Services, and a
member of the dbcreator role on the SQL Server instance being used for
Microsoft SharePoint Services.

Help server Member of the System administrator role in Microsoft Dynamics AX.

Reporting Services extensions Member of the System administrator role in Microsoft Dynamics AX.

Analysis Services configuration Member of the SQL Server db_accessadmin role for the Microsoft
Dynamics AX database.

Client None

Office add-ins None

Remote Desktop Services integration None

Debugger None
®
Visual Studio Tools None

Trace Parser None

Web services on IIS Member of the System administrator role in Microsoft Dynamics AX.

.NET Business Connector None

Synchronization proxy Member of the dbowner database role on the SQL Server database for
Microsoft Project Server.

Synchronization service Member of the System administrator role in Microsoft Dynamics AX.

Management utilities None

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Set permissions specific to upgrade

Before you begin the Microsoft Dynamics AX installation process, work with a system administrator to
ensure that the account you log on with at each server has the following permissions that are specific to
upgrade. These permissions are implemented according to the principle of least privilege.

Set permissions
The following table lists permissions that must be set for upgrade.

Component Additional permissions required

Upgrade checklists Member of the SYSADMIN role in Microsoft

Dynamics AX.

Source database (the database that will be upgraded to Same domain user (using Windows integrated security)
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012) must have ownership privileges on both the source
Microsoft Dynamics AX and target Microsoft
Dynamics AX 2012 databases.

Install Microsoft Dynamics AX (upgrade)

You must install Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 on a new server computer before completing the upgrade
from Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 or Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009. For complete installation instructions,
refer to the Microsoft Dynamics AX Installation Guide.

Important:
Be sure to select Register database for upgrade as an option during installation.

Copy application and label files to the target system

Customized AOD application files in Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 or Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 must be
manually copied to the target system in preparation for code upgrade. The associated ALD label files must
also be copied.

Complete the following tasks to copy and prepare the AOD and ALD files for upgrade.

1. Copy the source system AOD (*.aod) files that you are upgrading to the standard location on the
target system:
<system>:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics AX\60\Application\appl\<instancename>\
2. Copy the source system ALD (*.ald) files that you are upgrading to the standard location on the target
system:
<system>:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics AX\60\Application\appl\<instancename>\
3. Create a folder called Old at <system>:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics
AX\60\Application\appl\<instancename>\Old\. Copy the source system AOD (*.aod) and ALD (*.ald)
files that you plan to upgrade into this folder.
4. Update layer names that have changed from Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 or Microsoft Dynamics AX
2009.

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 If you are upgrading an axbus.aod file, rename it to axisv.aod in both the standard and Old
directories.
 If you are upgrading an axbup.aod file, rename it to or axisp.aod in both the standard and Old
directories.
 If you are upgrading an axlos.aod or axsl2.aod file, rename it to axsln.aod in both the standard
and Old directories.
 If you are upgrading an axlop.aod or axsl3.aod file, rename it to axslp.aod in both the standard
and Old directories.
 If you are upgrading an axdis.aod or axhfx.aod file, rename it to axfpk.aod in both the standard
and Old directories.
 If you are upgrading an axdip.aod or axsl1.aod file, rename it to axfpp.aod in both the standard
and Old directories.

5. In each case described above, also change the name of the associated ALD label file to match the
AOD application file.

Import application files into the model store

This topic describes the process of importing application (AOD) files into the model stores that are
introduced with Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. There are two model stores, referred to here as old and
new. These databases are functionally equivalent to the old (legacy) and new (upgraded) application file
shares in previous versions of Microsoft Dynamics AX.
Use the following procedure to import your AOD files into the new and old model stores. If you are
upgrading more than one layer, start from the lowest layer and repeat these procedures for each layer,
working up.
1. Import an AOD file in the new application folder into the new model store.
a. In the Microsoft Dynamics AX client, open a developer workspace (CTRL+Shift+W).
b. On the toolbar, click Tools > Development tools > Import AOD file.
c. Choose the layer that you want to import, make sure that Old is not selected, and click OK.
The AOD file is imported into the new model store and is ready to upgrade.
2. Import an AOD file in the old application folder into the old model store.
a. In the Microsoft Dynamics AX client, open a developer workspace (CTRL+Shift+W).
b. On the toolbar, click Tools > Development tools > Import AOD file.
c. Choose the layer that you want to import, select Old, and click OK.
The AOD file is imported into the old model store.

Import label files into the model store

This topic describes the process of importing label (ALD) files into the model store that is introduced with
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. The model store database is functionally equivalent to the application file
share in previous versions of Microsoft Dynamics AX.

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For each customized application (AOD) that you import, there is a corresponding ALD file. If you are
upgrading more than one layer, start from the lowest layer and repeat this procedure for each layer,
working up.
You import your ALD files into the standard (new) model store only. They cannot be imported into the old
model store.

Important:
Before you begin this procedure, you must finish the process of importing the customized
application (AOD) files. For more information, see Import application files into the model store.
To import your custom ALD label files
1. In the Microsoft Dynamics AX client, open a developer workspace (CTRL+Shift+W).
2. Open the Application Object Tree (AOT) in the layer that you are editing, for example, the ISV layer.

Warning:
Be careful to import the ALD file into the layer that you intend. A label node cannot be
removed after it has been added to the AOT, and this may cause problems during later
attempts to manipulate labels.
3. In the AOT tree, right-click the Label Files node, and then click Create from File.
4. In the Select file window, navigate to the folder <system>:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics
AX\60\Application\appl\<instancename>\ and select the label file for the layer and language you are
upgrading. (If you followed the procedures in Copy application and label files to the target system,
the ALD files should have been copied to this folder.)
For example, to import the label file for the ISV layer and United States English, select axISVen-us.ald.
5. Click Open. The label layerID, LableID, and text are imported into the elementlabel table in the model
store.
6. Repeat the previous steps for each language that you want to support in Microsoft
Dynamics AX 2012.
After you import the ALD files into the model, you can perform normal operation on the labels, including
editing them in the label editor.

Checklist tasks on the target system

This section covers the tasks that are involved in copying your custom application code to the target
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 system, importing it into the model store, and upgrading it for use on the
new system. The following sections are included.
Upgrade preparation
Code upgrade
Data upgrade
Finalize upgrade
Additional upgrade tasks

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Upgrade preparation
This section covers tasks on the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 target system that prepare your business
data for upgrade. The following sections are included.
Compile the application (upgrade)
Generate Common Intermediate Language
Provide license information
Set customer feedback options

Compile the application (upgrade)

When the Microsoft Dynamics AX application is compiled, its source code is translated into a machine-
readable format that can be interpreted by the Microsoft Dynamics AX server and clients. You compile the
application to ensure that all object references are updated and the application is ready to use.
This task is optional in the Data upgrade checklist. However, to prevent unexpected program behavior,
we advise you to compile all of your code after code upgrade.

Important:
Depending on your hardware, compilation can take an hour or more. It is critical to let
compilation run until it is complete.

Generate Common Intermediate Language

If you are upgrading customized code as part of an upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, you must
complete the Generate CIL task. This task converts your customized code to code that can be consumed
by the Microsoft.NET Framework.

Important:
Before you can perform this task, you must complete the Compile application task, which comes
before this task in the Data upgrade checklist.

Common Intermediate Language (CIL) is the bytecode language that the just-in-time (JIT) compiler of the
.NET Framework interprets. Microsoft Dynamics AX converts compiled X++ code, or p-code, to CIL. This
conversion provides interoperability with .NET classes, and it also provides performance advantages. The
following Microsoft Dynamics AX components rely on the speed of CIL:
 Batch jobs
 AIF and services
 Run-as scenarios, in which .NET functions are substituted for X++ functions at run time

Provide license information

To be able to use Microsoft Dynamics AX, the administrator must enter license information. By entering
license codes, you enable the general functionality covered by the license. Then, you can enable or disable
access to more specific features by changing configuration keys.

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Note:
If you change the current license settings because license keys are updated, the new functionality
will not be available until the client is restarted.
In addition to license codes for Microsoft Dynamics AX functionality, there are licenses for access to the
Microsoft Dynamics AX development environment. For more information, see the Developer Help,
available from the Microsoft Dynamics AX Help menu.
If you do not have a license, you can set up Microsoft Dynamics AX in demonstration mode.
Demonstration mode provides all the functionality of Microsoft Dynamics AX, and enables all
configuration keys by default.

Language-specific licenses
If your license includes specific languages, you must restart the AOS after importing the license file or
entering license information. Restarting the AOS ensures that the correct languages are listed in the
Options form (Microsoft Dynamics AX > Tools > Options...).
If you do not restart the AOS, end users will be able select unlicensed languages, which would prevent the
Microsoft Dynamics AX client from starting.

Import license information

1. License information
2. Click Load license file to import the license codes from a file.
The Load license file dialog box appears.
3. Click the folder icon and browse for the license file.

Note:
We recommend that you store the license file in a secure location that is known only to
Microsoft Dynamics AX administrators.
4. Click OK. A message appears, asking whether you want to synchronize the database.
5. Click Yes.
6. Close the License information window.

Enter license information

As an alternative to importing the license information, you can enter the license information manually.
1. License information
2. Enter the name of the license holder, the system's serial number, and the expiration date. The
information is in the license document.
3. On the System tab, enter the license code and verify that the Status field displays the expected text.
The license code indicates whether you have a standard, professional, or enterprise solution.

Important:
The first four entries (name of the license holder, the system's serial number, expiration date,
and license code) determine what appears in the remaining codes. Therefore, they must be
entered correctly.
4. Enter the remaining codes.

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For each, review the Status field to make sure that the code is accepted.

Set customer feedback options

Open the Microsoft Dynamics AX customer feedback options form from the initialization checklist or
the Data upgrade checklist.
Join the Customer Experience Improvement Program to help improve the quality, reliability, and
performance of Microsoft software and services.
The program collects information about computer hardware and how you use Microsoft Dynamics AX,
without interrupting you. This helps Microsoft identify which Microsoft Dynamics AX features to improve.
No information collected is used to identify or contact you.
For more information and a complete privacy statement for the Customer Experience Improvement
Program, visit the Customer Experience Improvement Program Web site.

Code upgrade
This section covers the tasks that are required to import and upgrade your customized code on the
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 target system. The following sections are included.
Import layer AOD into the baseline model store
Import layer AOD into the new model store
Import layer labels into the new model store
Detect code upgrade conflicts

Import layer AOD into the baseline model store

Import the .aod file for the layer that you want to upgrade from the source system into the baseline
model store.
For more information about how to upgrade code, see the white papers about code upgrade that are
available on the Microsoft Download Center.

Importing .aod files into the baseline model store

Import .aod files into the baseline model store as follows.

1. On the server, create a folder that is named Old in the following location: %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Dynamics
AX\60\Server\MicrosoftDynamicsAX\bin\Application\Appl\Standard.
2. Copy the .aod file for the current layer from the source system to the Old folder.

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3. Some layers have been renamed in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. Rename each .aod file to the new name of the
layer in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. The following table shows the names of the layers in different versions of
Microsoft Dynamics AX.

Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 layer Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 layer
layer (Rename to this)

axbup.aod axbup.aod axisp.aod

axbus.aod axbus.aod axisv.aod

axlop.aod axsl3.aod axslp.aod

axlos.aod axsl2.aod axsln.aod

axdip.aod axsl1.aod axfpp.aod

axdis.aod axhfx.aod axfpk.aod

4. In the Import layer AOD into the baseline model store dialog box, select the name of the .aod file that you
want to import. When you import layer files, you must start with the lowest layer.
5. Click OK to import the .aod file.
If the .aod file contains items that cannot be imported, an Infolog message is displayed. For more information,
see the log file referenced in the message. Usually, an application object cannot be imported because of one of
the following reasons:
 A method was added to a class that no longer exists in the Application Object Tree (AOT).
 There is an ID conflict between two elements that have the same name and type, but different IDs.
 You customized a hybrid class or a table that supports inheritance.
To resolve these issues, identify all the application objects that were not imported from your Microsoft
Dynamics AX 4.0 or Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 system. Export these application objects to an .xpo file. Then
import the .xpo file into the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 system by clicking Import on the AOT toolbar.
6. In the Code upgrade checklist, continue with the next steps for the layer file that you imported. Then return to
this procedure when you are ready to import the next layer file.

Important:
For information about how to upgrade code, see the white papers about code upgrade that
are available on the Microsoft Download Center.

See Also
Import layer AOD into the new model store

Import layer AOD into the new model store

Import the .aod file for the layer that you want to upgrade from the source system into the new model
store.

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Importing .aod files into the new model store

Import .aod files into the new model store as follows.

1. Copy the .aod file for the current layer from the source system to the following folder:
%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Dynamics
AX\60\Server\MicrosoftDynamicsAX\bin\Application\Appl\Standard. Do not copy the .aod files for the
layers that Microsoft owns into this folder.

2. Some layers have been renamed in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. Rename the .aod file to the new
name of the layer in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. The following table shows the names of the layers
in different versions of Microsoft Dynamics AX.

Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012

layer layer layer (Rename to this)

axbup.aod axbup.aod axisp.aod

axbus.aod axbus.aod axisv.aod

axlop.aod axsl3.aod axslp.aod

axlos.aod axsl2.aod axsln.aod

axdip.aod axsl1.aod axfpp.aod

axdis.aod axhfx.aod axfpk.aod

3. In the Import layer AOD into the new model store dialog box, select the name of the .aod file that you
want to import. When you import layer files, you must start with the lowest layer. However, do not
import the layers that Microsoft owns into the new model store.

4. Select the model that you want to import the .aod file into.

5. Click OK to import the .aod file. If the .aod file contains items that cannot be imported, an Infolog
message is displayed. For more information, see the log file referenced in the message. Usually, an
application object cannot be imported because of one of the following reasons:

 A method was added to a class that no longer exists in the Application Object Tree (AOT).

 There is an ID conflict between two elements that have the same name and type, but different IDs.

 You customized a hybrid class or a table that supports inheritance.

To resolve these issues, identify all the application objects that were not imported from your
Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 or Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 system. Export these application objects
to an .xpo file. Then import this .xpo file into the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 system by clicking
Import on the AOT toolbar.

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6. In the Code upgrade checklist, continue with the next steps for the layer file that you imported. Then
return to this procedure when you are ready to import the layer file for the next layer. You can then
import the remaining layers one at a time, starting with the lowest layer.

See Also
Import layer labels into the new model store

Import layer labels into the new model store

Import custom label files, or .ald files, into the new model store.
For more information about how to upgrade code, see the white papers about code upgrade that are
available on the Microsoft Download Center.

Importing label files into the new model store

Import label files into the new model store as follows.

1. On the Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 or Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 source system, create a label file
for the layer that you are importing by using the Label File Wizard. Then copy the label file to the
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 system.

2. In the Select file dialog box, select the name of the label file that you want to import. You must select
the label file that corresponds to the .aod file that you imported in the previous step of the Code
upgrade checklist.

3. Click OK to import the label file.

4. In the Code upgrade checklist, continue with the next steps for the label file that you imported. Then
return to this procedure when you are ready to import the next label file. You can then import the
remaining layers one at a time, starting with the lowest layer.

Detect code upgrade conflicts

Create an upgrade project that contains objects that have conflicts because of modif/ications or updates.
The project contains objects that have been changed both in the new release and in your application
object layer.
For more information about how to upgrade code, see the white papers about code upgrade that are
available on the Microsoft Download Center.

Creating an upgrade project

1. From the Microsoft Dynamics AX developer workspace, click Tools > Code upgrade > Detect code
upgrade conflicts.
2. Select Create layer conflict project.
3. (Optional) To create separate projects for conflicting record IDs and table IDs, select Create
framework conflict project or projects, and then select the Record and table ID references check
boxes.
4. Click OK.

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One or more new upgrade projects are created.

Alternatives to the Detect code upgrade conflicts tool

Instead of using the Detect code upgrade conflicts tool, you can use the Compare layers tool to
compare any two layers. You can also use the Compare layers tool to create a project that contains the
objects that differ.

Note:
When you use the Detect code upgrade conflicts tool, you can delete duplicates. However, you
cannot delete duplicates when you use the Compare layers tool. Therefore, the Compare layers
tool may be more useful as a general tool, for example, to provide an overview of the
modifications that were made in a certain layer.
During the upgrade, you can use the Project filter tool instead of both the Detect code upgrade
conflicts tool and the Compare layers tool. You can use the Project filter tool to create a project that is
based on criteria that you specify in a query form. For example, the project can contain all objects that are
from a specific layer, all objects that have a specific prefix, or all objects that were created by a specific
user.

See Also
Generate Common Intermediate Language

Data upgrade
This section covers the process of upgrading your business data on the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012
target system. The following sections are included.
Connect to source database
Set current time zone
Presynchronize (upgrade)
Create tables
Generate table mappings
Generate upgrade task prioritization
Launch data upgrade

Connect to source database

The Connect to source database task in the Data upgrade checklist establishes a connection between
the Microsoft Dynamics AX source system database and the target system database. After you make this
connection, you can begin preparing the target database for the bulk-copy operation that occurs during
data upgrade.

Configure matching user permissions

Windows integrated security is used to connect to the source database from the target system. If the
administrative user who is performing the upgrade on the target system does not have access to the
source system database, the source system will reject the database connection. Open Microsoft SQL
Server Management Studio on the source system and perform the following steps:

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1. Grant Microsoft Dynamics AX database access to a domain user with administrative privileges on the
target Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 system.
2. Add the user to the db_owner and public roles.

Connect to source database

Complete the following steps:
1. In the Data upgrade checklist, expand the Data upgrade group.
2. Click Connect to source database.
3. In the Connect to source database form, do the following:
a. In the Server name field, type the name of the server and the Microsoft SQL Server database in
the format SERVER\DATABASE.
b. In the Database field, type the name of the Microsoft Dynamics AX source database instance, for
example, DynamicsAX50.
4. Click OK.
The upgrade framework searches the network for the server and database that you specified. When the
computers connect successfully, the Presynchronize task becomes available in the Data upgrade
checklist.

Set current time zone

Before you upgrade your data from Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0, you must specify your local time zone.
This task opens the Current time zone form so that you can enter this information.

Important:
This checklist item applies only when you are upgrading from Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0. The
Data upgrade checklist will always display this task prior to communication between the source
and target databases. At that point, the task disappears unless a Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0
source system is detected.
The preferred method of storing date and time data in Microsoft Dynamics AX is Coordinated Universal
Time (UTC), as specified by the utcDateTime data type. During data upgrade, both shipped and custom
tables are scanned to identify system date and time fields. Your local time zone setting determines the
offsets to apply to these fields when they are converted to UTC.
If custom date or time fields have been added to Microsoft Dynamics AX, you must decide whether those
fields should be merged into new utcDateTime fields during upgrade. For more information, see
Walkthrough: upgrading date and time table field pairs into UtcDateTime.

Presynchronize (upgrade)
When you perform the Presynchronize task in the target system, you use the Data upgrade cockpit (%1
-> %2) to run scripts that map the database schema on the source Microsoft Dynamics AX system to the
database schema on the target system. This table-to-table and column-to-column mapping is new with
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, and prepares the target database for synchronization. If like-to-like
mapping fails and errors result, you can manually repair the mapping and rerun the script.
Indexing is disabled while the presynchronization scripts are running.

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The presynchronization scripts that ship with Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 are meant to serve as models
for developers of new Microsoft Dynamics AX modules.
Prepare your database for synchronization as follows:
1. In the Data upgrade checklist, click Presynchronize. The Data upgrade cockpit (%1 -> %2) opens
and lists the upgrade tasks to be completed.
2. Click Run. In the Upgrade job grid, an icon next to each job indicates the job’s status as the
presynchronization scripts run.
3. Address any errors that occur and then rerun the scripts.

Create tables
You perform the Create tables task to prepare the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 target database for
upgrade. During this step, the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 database schema is created based on
Application Object Tree (AOT) definitions, including tables, unique clustered indexes, default constraints,
and views. (In previous releases of Microsoft Dynamics AX, the database schema was created during the
synchronization step.) Other indexes and check constraints are created on tables after bulk copy but
before the post-synchronization scripts run.
This task only creates the target database schema; no data is copied from the source system at this time.

Important:
Before you begin this task, use the Microsoft Dynamics AX Server Configuration Utility to confirm that
the AOS statement cache is set to 40.
Create the target database schema as follows:
1. In the Data upgrade checklist, click Create tables.
The Synchronize table form displays a progress bar that indicates the status of the operation while
the upgrade framework queries the AOT and determines what tables, fields, and indexes to create in
the target database. This process may take several minutes to finish.
2. When the query process is finished, the Synchronize database form opens. Information that was
collected during the previous step is displayed on four tabs. You can select items to view details about
them.

Tab Description

Overview Shows what tables need to be created in the target database and summarizes the detailed results
provided on the other tabs.

Errors Lists errors that occurred while determining what tables to create. You must fix any errors before
you proceed with creating tables.

Warnings Lists all warnings about possible data conflicts that may arise after tables are created. You should
review the warnings and decide which of them require developer action.

Info Lists all the tables that will be created in the target database.

Address any errors or warnings before you continue with the data upgrade. Unresolved table errors
will cause the data upgrade to fail. After you verify that there are no errors or warnings, click

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Continue on the Synchronize database form. The upgrade framework creates the tables in the
target database.

Generate table mappings

The Generate table mappings task in the Data upgrade checklist creates the mapping between the
tables and fields in the Microsoft Dynamics AX source database and the tables and fields that were
created in the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 database during the Create tables step in the Data upgrade
checklist.
Before you start the Generate table mappings task, you must complete the Data upgrade checklist
steps Connect to source database and Create tables. If any errors were generated in the Create tables
step, you must fix them before you proceed with mapping the tables and fields, otherwise the mapping
will be incorrect.

Generate table and field mappings

To generate mapping between tables and fields in the source and target databases, perform the following
steps:
1. In the Data upgrade checklist, click Generate table mappings.
The upgrade framework begins the mapping process and, when mapping is complete, opens the
Table mapping between source and target systems form. This form provides separate tabs where
you can see all the tables and fields from the source database and how they are mapped to tables
and fields in the target database. You can also view a list of the extended data types that are used in
the source fields and have been brought into the target database.
2. Review the mapping on the Tables and Fields tabs in the form and note any errors.
3. Address mapping errors and rerun the Generate table mappings step.

Mapping errors
You may encounter the following table-mapping errors for tables that are listed on the Tables tab in the
Table mapping between source and target systems form.

Status Description

OK Mapping for the table is complete without error.

No mapping defined Mapping has not been created because no metadata was found in the Microsoft
Dynamics AX 2012 database to map the source table to the target table.

Field error An error has occurred that resulted in a source field not being mapped to a target field.
The error could be that there is an inconsistency in the field data type, no field to import,
or a string-length difference in the field name.
You can see which fields have errors on the Fields tab.

Mapping conflict Two source-database tables are mapped to the same target table. You must resolve the
conflict by renaming the table or assigning it a different ID.

Waiting on source A source table is still being used in preprocessing on the Microsoft Dynamics AX source
system.

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Status Description

Target table not empty The table that was created in the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 target database has data
in it. The source data cannot be copied into a table that already contains data. Clear all
data from the target table.

Generate upgrade task prioritization

Use the Data upgrade checklist item Generate upgrade task prioritization to plan the sequence of
bulk copy and post-synchronization script operations during data upgrade. Data upgrade takes place
while both the source system and the target system are in single-user mode. Consequently, business
operations on Microsoft Dynamics AX are suspended during this time. Bulk copy and script operations,
which run concurrently to minimize system downtime, must be prioritized to make the most efficient use
of available processing capacity. Microsoft Dynamics AX uses a weighting algorithm to create a default
prioritization, though you can use the Prioritized upgrade scripts form to override default priorities as
needed to increase efficiency.

Determining task priorities

To preserve data integrity, upgrade tasks must be run in a certain sequence. Upgrade scripts cannot be
run until their associated tables have been copied to the Microsoft Dynamics AX target system, and large
tables with millions of records take longer than other tables to copy and process. Additionally,
dependencies among scripts can result in delays as one script waits for another to finish. The Prioritized
upgrade scripts form analyzes all of the upgrade tasks and calculates a prioritization resulting in the least
downtime. The prioritization algorithm achieves this by assigning a weight to each task. The weight of a
table is based on its physical size and on the number of records. The weight of a script derives from the
weight of the tables it updates and on the cumulative weights of all its dependent scripts. In either case,
the highest weight results in the highest priority, since heavily weighted jobs are likely to block other jobs
until they finish running.
Weight-ranked results are displayed in grids on the Top tables and scripts tab. The Top tables and
scripts field contains an integer value that specifies the number of tables and scripts that will be
processed concurrently during data upgrade. For example, a value of 20 means that a block of 20 tables
and a block of 20 scripts will be run concurrently before proceeding to the next block of 20 and 20. You
may achieve efficiency gains by overriding the default value of the Top tables and scripts field. This field
also determines the number of top tables and top scripts displayed in their respective grids.
In most cases, the ranking algorithm will produce the best prioritization. However, you can override the
algorithm by manually assigning higher or lower weights to tables or scripts and then regenerating the
prioritization. Custom priorities are useful when you have knowledge of the actual loads that your system
will encounter while upgrading certain tables.

Important:
When you are regenerating the prioritization after assigning custom weights, select “No” if a
dialog asks to overwrite your customization.

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Adding new tasks

The Prioritized upgrade scripts form allows to you to add tables or scripts to the grids manually. To
insert an additional table or script, press Ctrl+F3 to create a new row, and then fill in the table or script
information. This method can also be used to override the calculated weight of an existing table or script
that is not displayed in its grid:
1. Press Ctrl+F3 to create a new row.
2. Enter the name of the table or script whose weight you wish to change.
3. Enter a custom weight.

Launch data upgrade

The Launch data upgrade task opens the Data upgrade cockpit (%1 -> %2), where you can begin bulk
copying data from the source Microsoft Dynamics AX system and running data upgrade scripts on the
target system.

Run bulk copy and scripts

In the Data upgrade cockpit (%1 -> %2), click Run to perform the bulk copy, run post-synchronization
scripts on the copied data, and create check constraints and indexes.

Warning:
Prior to this point in the upgrade process, it has been possible to keep the source system online.
Beginning with this step, you must enter single-user mode on both your source and target
systems, making them unavailable to regular users.

Finalize upgrade
The tasks in this section must be performed after code and data upgrade have been completed on the
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 target system.
The following topics are included in this section.
Post journal for relief of legacy accrual of unmatched quantities
Configure system accounts
Finalize Enterprise Portal upgrade
Specify Role Center web site
Assign a primary address to parties
Upgrade services and AIF

Post journal for relief of legacy accrual of unmatched quantities

Use this procedure to post a journal that relieves any legacy accrual accounting entries that still remain for
unmatched quantities. Unmatched quantities are quantities of purchased products that are received but
not yet invoiced. Select the journal name that you have defined during the pre-processing upgrade. After
you select the name, post the journal.

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Post the journal

1. Check that the journal name is correctly displayed in the Task description field, and then click OK to post
the journal. To set up a batch job to post the journal, select a batch group to associate the journal with in the
Batch group field and then follow the rest of this procedure.
2. Click Private if you want to make sure that only the user who set up the batch job can run it.
3. Click Batch processing if you want to run the task as a batch job.
4. Click Recurrence and Alerts to define the frequency of the batch job, and whether any alerts should be
defined for the job.
5. Click OK to post the journal or start the batch job.

Configure system accounts

Use the System service accounts form to configure the accounts used to run Microsoft Dynamics AX
services. Service accounts include the Business Connector proxy account, the Workflow system account,
the Workflow execution account, the synchronization service account, and the Bing Maps account.

Configure the Business Connector proxy account

In the Alias and Network domain fields, enter the user name and domain for the Business Connector
proxy account.
The Business Connector proxy account is used for communication between Microsoft Dynamics AX and
other applications.
For more information about the requirements for this account, see Specify the .NET Business Connector
proxy account.

Configure the Workflow execution account

The Workflow execution account is used for running application business logic and accessing Microsoft
Dynamics AX data. You can use one of the following accounts.
 Enter a domain account in the Alias and Network domain fields to use a domain user for the
Workflow execution account.
 Enter a new or existing Microsoft Dynamics AX user to access the database.
For more information about the requirements for this account, see Specify the workflow execution
account.

Configure the synchronization service account

The synchronization service account is used for communication between Microsoft Dynamics AX,
Windows Message Queuing, and Microsoft Project Server. You can use one of the following accounts.
 Enter a domain account in the Alias and Network domain fields to use a domain user for the
synchronization service account.
 Enter a Microsoft Dynamics AX user for the synchronization service to communicate with. You can
associate the service with a new or existing Microsoft Dynamics AX user.

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Configure the Bing Maps account

The Bing Maps account is used to access the online Bing Maps when working in Enterprise Portal.
You can find the Bing Maps account name and password on Customer Source.
By selecting the check box and entering the information, you agree to be bound by the Microsoft Bing
Maps and MapPoint Web Service End User Terms of Use.

Finalize Enterprise Portal upgrade

The upgrade process can cause the URLs for various Microsoft Dynamics AX web pages to change in the
Application Object Tree (AOT). If you upgraded Enterprise Portal, you should select the option to Finalize
Enterprise Portal upgrade to make sure that the web pages are synchronized to use the correct URLs.

Specify Role Center web site

Microsoft Dynamics AX and the Enterprise Portal framework include customizable home pages called Role
Centers. Role Centers display specific data, reports, alerts, and common tasks that are associated with a
user's role in the organization. Users can access Role Centers from the Microsoft Dynamics AX client or
from an Enterprise Portal web site.
Use this information to specify which web site will host the Role Centers.
1. Click the option to Specify Role Center website in the Data upgrade checklist. The Administration
of Web sites form opens.
2. Locate the Website used to display Role Centers in the client field at the bottom of this form.
3. Select a site by using the lookup icon to the right of the field and then close the form. If you are not
certain which site should host Role Centers, skip this step. You can select the site later by using this
form.
4. If no web sites are listed in this form, Enterprise Portal has not been installed or an Enterprise Portal
web site has not been created. To learn more, see "Install Enterprise Portal and Role Centers" in the
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Installation Guide.

Assign a primary address to parties

If a party or customer has been associated with one or more addresses, it is required in Microsoft
Dynamics AX 2012 that one address be designated as a primary address. You are not required to define
an address for a party. Use this form to assign the first listed address for the party or customer as the
primary address when upgrading from Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 or Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009.
1. From the Data upgrade checklist click Assign primary addresses to parties to open the Parties
without primary addresses form.
2. Review the list of parties. You can manually select the address that you want to designate as the
primary address by navigating to the party record.
3. Click the Update addresses button to designate the first address as the primary address for all of the
parties that display in the list.

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Upgrade services and AIF

This topic describes the Upgrade AIF code task in the Data upgrade checklist. The Application
Integration Framework (AIF) is used to exchange data between Microsoft Dynamics AX and external
systems. During the upgrade process, the Data upgrade checklist includes a step to upgrade the AIF
code.
In the checklist pane, click Upgrade AIF code. This step includes the following two components:
 Code upgrade. This process upgrades all AIF code including creation of new service classes, creation
of new data classes, and creation of AOT service nodes. Click Upgrade AIF code and wait for the step
to complete. Check the Infolog dialog window to verify that this step has completed without any
errors.
 Data upgrade. This process upgrades all AIF-related records in the database.

Important:
The upgrade of AIF code and data is a two-step process. After you successfully upgrade AIF code,
you must upgrade the data. For more information, see Upgrade additional features.

Before you upgrade

Review the following sections before you begin the upgrade process. Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012
introduces the concept of integration ports to simplify and streamline administration of services and AIF.
Read the What’s new for Milestone 3 document before you proceed with this topic. This topic assumes
that you have the prerequisite knowledge about the new functionality that is described in the What’s new
document.
Process messages on the source system
Make sure your AIF messages on the source system are completely processed before you run the
upgrade. Check the following locations to verify that all messages on the source system are processed.
 All inbound message locations such as file system directories, Message Queuing queues, or any
location where AIF retrieves inbound messages.
 The queue manager. All messages in the queue manager are unprocessed and must be deleted. To
navigate to the queue manager, click Basic > Periodic > Application Integration Framework >
Queue manager.
Upgrade considerations
In Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, enhancements to the services framework result in significant changes in
functionality, configuration, database schema, and document schemas (XSDs). When planning an upgrade
from previous releases of Microsoft Dynamics AX, consider the following points.
 You must recompile and test all interfaces that used the previous release of Microsoft Dynamics AX to
work with services in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.
 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 replaces the MSMQ and BizTalk adapters with equivalent functionality
available in WCF. You must recompile any automated integration processes, such as the BizTalk Server
orchestration, that used these adapters.
 The upgrade framework will migrate AIF endpoints and related configurations from previous releases
to integration ports in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. You must configure the integration ports upon
successful completion of the upgrade process before you use Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 services
and AIF functionality.

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Troubleshoot services and AIF

In Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009, the troubleshooting and logging of AIF was performed at the service
operation level. In Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, troubleshooting and logging of services and AIF are
performed at the integration port level. For this reason, the upgrade process cannot automatically set the
logging mode for newly created integration ports. You must specify the logging mode after upgrading.

Upgrade AIF Code

This section describes the process that the upgrade framework will follow to upgrade the AIF code.
Code upgrade
The AIF code upgrade step upgrades existing Axd<Document> classes and methods. The code upgrade
process includes:
 The Axd<Document> classes that ship with Microsoft Dynamics AX
 Custom Axd<Document> classes
 Custom classes that implement the AifServicable interface
Data upgrade
The data upgrade process upgrades AIF data in the Microsoft Dynamics AX database. This step migrates
configuration settings for AIF endpoints to configuration settings for integration ports, a new concept in
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.

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After the upgrade

The following table describes the changes in the key concepts and configuration settings after successful
upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. In Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, configuration and
administration of services and AIF are streamlined through the concept of integration ports.

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Description

functionality functionality

AIF endpoints Integration ports The concept of integration ports subsumes AIF
endpoints. The Inbound ports and Inbound ports
forms replace the AIF configuration forms. The AIF
endpoints become integration ports with the same
name. Endpoints that expose the Microsoft
Dynamics AX functionality are converted to inbound
integration ports. Endpoints that submitted messages
are converted to outbound integration ports.
The upgrade framework combines the endpoint name
and the company name to create the name of the
integration port. For example, an endpoint called
EndpointA in CompanyB will become an integration
port called EndpointA_CompanyB.
Inbound integration ports expose the Microsoft
Dynamics AX functionality. Outbound integration
ports deliver the message to a destination.
In Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, each integration port
has an associated address or channel. The integration
port functionality in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012
forms a one-to-one mapping between the integration
port and the channel that you associate with the
integration port. In previous releases of Microsoft
Dynamics AX, you could associate an endpoint with
multiple channels or addresses.

Endpoint constraints Not converted This information is not migrated to Microsoft

Dynamics AX 2012. You must use the legal value
framework and the integration port functionality to
manually configure the constraints. Configure each
integration port to apply service and parameter
restrictions.

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Endpoint data and action policies Apply the Schema and operation This information is not migrated. Data and action
constraints to the integration ports policies in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 were applied
at an action level. However, in Microsoft
Dynamics AX 2012, the data and action policies are
applied at an integration port level. You must use the
integration port functionality to manually apply your
data and action policies after the upgrade.

Note:
In previous releases of Microsoft
Dynamics AX, you had to manually assign
data policies for each endpoint action policy.
In Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012,
configuration of data policies is optional.
You can use integration ports to enforce
data policies.

AIF adapters Integration ports This information is not migrated. Use the integration
ports functionality to associated adapters with
integration ports.

AIF channels Integration ports This information is not migrated. Use the integration
ports functionality to configure your source and
destination points for each integration port.

AIF pipelines Integration port pipelines AIF pipelines are upgraded to pipelines for the
integration port.

Service code attributes Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 services The service code is stamped with the correct
framework attributes such as create, read, find, and so on This is
performed so that the auto-inference functionality in
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 works correctly with the
upgraded code.

Warning:
You must manually configure each upgraded
service to assign appropriate attributes, as
detailed in the next section.

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Configuration is company-specific Configuration is not company- In previous releases, each AIF endpoint was
specific by default but you can make associated with a specific company. Microsoft
it company-specific Dynamics AX 2012 does not require that you
associate integration ports with a specific company.
However, you can use the integration port
functionality to restrict service calls to a specific
company. For an inbound message, the services
framework obtains the company from the message
header. If the message header does not contain a
company context, the services framework uses the
default company for the submitting user.

After you upgrade

Use the following steps to configure the SysEntryPointAttribute attribute for all upgraded services.
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 does not automatically assign this attribute to the upgraded service classes.
1. In the Application Object Tree (AOT), browse to the Services node. Obtain the corresponding class
name from the Properties pane.
2. In the AOT, browse the Classes node and locate the class you obtained from the preceding step.
3. Edit all service operations in the class and add SysEntryPointAttribute with a value of true or false.
We recommend that you set the attribute to true. When you set the attribute value to true, the service
operation will honor the permission that is assigned to it by the Microsoft Dynamics AX role-based
security framework. The following code shows the attribute for the create operation of the
SalesSalesOrderService class.
[AifDocumentCreateAttribute, SysEntryPointAttribute(true)]

public AifEntityKeyList create(SalesSalesOrder _salesSalesOrder)

{ return this.createList(_salesSalesOrder); }

Work with the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 integration ports functionality to validate and configure the
migrated AIF endpoints. Use the following steps to work with the AIF endpoints that are migrated to
integration ports.
1. Launch the Microsoft Dynamics AX Windows client.
2. Click Administration > Services and Application Integration Framework. Click Inbound ports to
work with the inbound ports. Click Inbound ports to work with the outbound ports.
3. Click the Register adapters button in the action pane strip to create the list of available adapters.
Wait for the process to finish.
4. Click the Register adapters button in the action pane strip to create the list of services that are
enabled. Wait for the process to finish.
5. Review the list of integration ports to make sure that the AIF endpoints are migrated as integration
ports.
6. Work with each integration port to validate migrated settings and provide settings that are not
migrated such as adapters and service operations constraints. Click an integration port in the list to
work with it.
7. Under Address, in the Adapter field, select an appropriate adapter from the list.

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Warning:
The Configure button will open the Configuration Editor Tool if you have installed the
Windows Server® SDK. If the Configuration Editor Tool is not installed, the Configure button
will open the configuration file in Notepad. You can download the Windows Server SDK for
the .NET Framework 3.5 from the Microsoft Download Center.
8. Under Address, in the URI field, select an appropriate value from the list. You must manually
configure data policies by using the legal values framework and the integration port functionality. To
configure data policies, select Restrict operation parameters and then click Operation parameter
constraint.
9. Use the Service contract customizations tab to expose service operations and apply data policies
10. Use the Processing options tab to work with processing options. These include selection for
processing when errors are encountered in a batch, preprocessing of requests, and post-processing of
responses.
11. Use the Troubleshooting tab to apply troubleshooting options such as logging mode and
propagation of errors.
12. Use the Security tab to work with the security options. These include restrictions on authorized users,
trusted intermediary users, and restricting the integration port to a specific company.
13. Browse to the Microsoft Dynamics AX web service and confirm that the web server returns the WSDL.
In your browser, use this URL to browse to the web service:
http://<hostname:port>/MicrosoftDynamicsAXAif60/xppservice.svc?wsdl. Microsoft Dynamics AX uses
port 8081 by default.

Additional upgrade tasks

When upgrade has been completed, some features in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 still must be
configured before they become fully functional.
The following topics are included in this section.
Upgrade additional features
Compare data upgrade row counts

Upgrade additional features

The Upgrade additional features task in the Data upgrade checklist completes the upgrade process for
the Application Integration Framework (AIF) and for business intelligence and reporting. When you click
the task, the Data upgrade cockpit (%1 -> %2) opens and displays a grid of upgrade jobs that you can
run.

Run upgrade jobs

Select the jobs that you want to run and click Upgrade job.

Compare data upgrade row counts

The Compare data upgrade row counts task in the Data upgrade checklist checks the data integrity on
the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 target system following upgrade. Correctly correlated row counts among

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the source, shadow, and target tables suggest, but do not confirm, that bulk copy and data upgrade
finished successfully.

Warning:
Row counts are only a preliminary check of data integrity. It is vital to perform more granular
checks on data integrity before putting your Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 system into production.

Compare source and target row counts

The Compare data upgrade row counts form displays related tables as records in a grid. It also provides
status figures that report possible problems. At a glance, you can compare table row counts across the
upgrade process starting with the source tables, passing to the shadow tables, and ending with the target
tables.
Row count is strictly a check on likely success or failure of a table upgrade. When counts fail to match, you
should investigate the table involved and the script that processed it. However, even a successful match
does not guarantee that the upgrade was successful, and a failed match may not correspond to a
problem. To be confident that the upgrade succeeded, you must perform validation tailored to your
particular business data.

Upgrade Enterprise Portal

This topic describes how to upgrade Enterprise Portal for Microsoft Dynamics AX. You must meet all of
the prerequisites and complete the procedures in this topic to upgrade an Enterprise Portal site to
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.

Important details about Enterprise Portal upgrade

This section describes changes to Enterprise Portal data, code, pages, and other objects when you run the
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Data upgrade checklist.
 The Data upgrade checklist automatically upgrades Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 ASP.NET pages
to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.
 You can upgrade Enterprise Portal from Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.1 to Microsoft
Dynamics AX 2012 using the procedures in this topic. However, know that Microsoft Dynamics AX
4.1 supported X++ objects in the Enterprise Portal framework. The Enterprise Portal framework
for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 does not support X++ objects. It only supports ASP.NET objects.
After you upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, the Data upgrade checklist creates a list of
all X++ objects that you must manually convert to ASP.NET before they can work with the
Enterprise Portal framework in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.
 The Data upgrade checklist does not change any Enterprise Portal parameters.
 The Data upgrade checklist and Enterprise Portal Setup manage all changes to the Web.config
file. If your earlier implementation of Enterprise Portal was configured to connect to a different
Application Object Server (AOS) using an .axc file, this configuration is upgraded automatically.
 Enterprise Portal setup automatically upgrades themes and style sheets. If you modified a style
sheet for your earlier implementation of Enterprise Portal, merge the changes when you run the
Data upgrade checklist and before you run Enterprise Portal setup.

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 The Data upgrade checklist identifies proxy files and user controls that must be updated before
they will work with Enterprise Portal in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. You must resolve code
differences in the proxy files and recompile user controls before they will work with Enterprise
Portal.
 End user personalization and customization settings for Enterprise Portal must be reset after the
upgrade.

Before you upgrade

You must complete the following tasks before you upgrade Enterprise Portal. If you do not complete
these tasks, the upgrade will fail.
1. Use IIS manager to configure the site for Integrated Windows (NTLM) authentication. The Enterprise
Portal upgrade process fails if an Enterprise Portal site is configured to use anonymous authentication.
After the site is upgraded, you can configure the site for anonymous authentication. For information
about how to configure authentication in IIS, see the IIS documentation online.
2. You must complete the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Data upgrade checklist before you upgrade
Enterprise Portal. The Data upgrade checklist makes important changes to data and Enterprise Portal
objects. These changes are described later in this topic.
3. For Enterprise Portal sites that are running Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 or earlier, you must upgrade to
Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.1 before you can upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.
4. Enterprise Portal for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 requires either Microsoft SharePoint Foundation
2010 or Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010. You must upgrade earlier versions of SharePoint to one of
these versions before you upgrade Enterprise Portal. For more information, see Upgrading to
SharePoint Foundation 2010 or Upgrading to SharePoint Server 2010.

Upgrade Enterprise Portal

This section describes how to upgrade an Enterprise Portal site. You must complete the procedures in this
section in the following order.
1. Use SharePoint Central Administration to create a new web application.
2. Install Enterprise Portal on the new application.
3. Attach the content database from your Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009Enterprise Portal site to the new
web application.
4. Resolve URL conflicts.
5. Install Enterprise Portal again to start code upgrade.

Create a new web application

Use SharePoint 2010 Central Administration to create a new web application. For more information, see
Create a Web application (SharePoint Server 2010).

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Install Enterprise Portal on the new web application

Use the following procedure to install Enterprise Portal on the new web application.
1. Start Microsoft Dynamics AX Setup.
2. Step through the initial wizard pages.
3. On the Modify Microsoft Dynamics AX installation page, select Add or modify components. Click
Next.
4. On the Add or modify components page, expand Server Components, expand Web Server
Components, and then select Enterprise Portal (EP). Click Next.
5. On the Specify Business Connector proxy account information page, enter the domain\username
and password for the service account. Click Next.
6. On the Configure a Web site for Enterprise Portal page, select the existing Microsoft Dynamics AX
2009Enterprise Portal web site.
7. Select the Configure for Windows SharePoint Services option so that Setup can configure the
application pool to run under the Business Connector proxy account and set the authentication
method to Windows NTLM.
8. Clear the Create Web site option. If you select this option Setup will upgrade your Microsoft
Dynamics AX 2009Enterprise Portal site and create an additional site.
9. On the Ready to install page, click Install.
10. Complete the wizard. Setup might take as long as one hour to complete the upgrade and installation.

Attach the content database from your Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 Enterprise
Portal site to the new web application
To retain content from an earlier version of Enterprise Portal and display that content in your Microsoft
Dynamics AX 2012 Enterprise Portal site, you must attach the old content database to your new web
application. For more information, see Attach databases and upgrade to SharePoint Server 2010.

Resolve URL conflicts

If the Enterprise Portal site URL changed because you specified a new port number or a new computer
name when you created the new web application, then you must delete the old web site in the Microsoft
Dynamics AX client by using the Web sites form:
After you delete the old site, click Register site and enter the information about the new site. Repeat this
process until you have registered each site. If you need assistance finding information about your sites,
open SharePoint Central Administration and then click Application Management > View all site
collections. If necessary, use the Web Application list to select the application that hosts your Enterprise
Portal sites.

Install Enterprise Portal again to upgrade code

Install Enterprise Portal again on the new web application so that the site upgrades the Enterprise Portal
code. Repeat the installation process described earlier in this topic.

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After you upgrade Enterprise Portal

After the installation and upgrade is finished, do the following:
1. If you upgraded an Enterprise Portal site that uses anonymous authentication and you configured the
site for Integrated Windows (NTLM) at the start of the upgrade process, you can now reconfigure the
site for anonymous authentication. For information about how to configure authentication, see the IIS
documentation online.
2. Verify that existing SharePoint and Microsoft Dynamics AX permissions have been retained through
the upgrade process.
3. Test the upraded site on a staging server before moving the site into a production environment.

Test the system after upgrade

After you finish upgrade, test whether your Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 upgrade installation is
functioning properly. This is a good time to test any documentation and training you have created.
To test whether upgrade has succeeded, you should at a minimum perform these steps:
 Restart all Application Object Server (AOS) instances.
 Launch a client that is connected to each AOS instance that is running.
 Test that users can execute the most common tasks for your system.
 Test that the administrator can run the system maintenance tasks.
 Test that developers can create a new development workspace and create code projects.
 Test that users can execute the most vital tasks for your system.
 Test that users can read the reports that are generated.
 Test that the security roles are working right by checking that users in Microsoft
Dynamics AX 2012 have access to the data they had access to on the source system and that they
can do all the tasks for their assigned role.
 Validate that your Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 data is consistent with the Microsoft Dynamics AX
source system data prior to upgrade.
 Verify that any features that required code upgrade function as expected.

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Application upgrade notes

Release notes for the Go Live release of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 can be obtained on Microsoft
Connect.

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