NEW UPDATE as of 10/22: Please note!

UR11 Outlook Client packages: The Update Rollup 11 installer packages for the CRM 2011 Client for Microsoft Office Outlook (build 5.0.9690.2835) were removed from the Microsoft Download Center temporarily and replaced on Wednesday Oct. 17th with a new build: 5.0.9690.2838. The reason for the re-release was an issue being reported when the client was running on Windows XP, where a user may see Watson errors when clicking on entities.

If you have already installed the original 5.0.9690.2835 Client build and you are not running Windows XP, there is no need to update to the new packages.

Build 5.0.9690.2838 (Outlook Client) as well as all other packages except Server were released to the Microsoft Update site Tuesday 10/23 around 10:30 AM Pacific time.

UR11 Server packages:

The UR11 server packages were reposted on the Download Center on 10/23/2012 to resolve the duplicate key error when importing solutions.  The duplicate key fix is the only addition to the Re-released (v2) server packages. You only need to install V2 if you are experiencing the issue, i.e. cannot import your customizations.

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We're proud to announce that Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Update Rollup 11 was released on Thursday, October 11th, 2012 to the Microsoft Download Center! The release of Update Rollup 11 to Microsoft Update is still planned for October 23rd, 2012.

Here's the "Master" Microsoft Dynamics Knowledge Base article: (KB 2739504). Going forward, the plan is for the Master Knowledge Base article to be published a bit in advance of release to help your release planning.

On Friday, October 12th at Greg Nichols and Ryan Anderson from the Microsoft Premier Field Engineering team provided information about:

• The recent re-release of Update Rollup 10 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011
• New fixes available In Update Rollup 11

at 9 AM Pacific time on BlogTalkRadio during their Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Update Rollup 11 Podcast.

Big Update Rollup 11 news!

• Increased support for Windows 8 / Internet Explorer 10 / Office 2013 Preview compatibility
• More performance and stability-related fixes, including fixes to the CRM Client for Microsoft Outlook
• Contains all hotfixes / updates released in earlier Update Rollups
• Quick Find performance optimizations and EnableRetrieveMultipleOptimization SQL query performance optimizations (originally released in Update Rollup 10)

For Microsoft Dynamics CRM business solutions that include an entity with a large dataset, record retrieval and grid rendering performance can be negatively impacted for users that do not have global access to all records associated with that entity. Code changes to mitigate this behavior first appeared in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0, and have been fine-tuned since then.

With Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Update Rollup 10 and later, big advancements have been made to optimize the performance of queries against large datasets by adjusting specific “statistical” settings to address the issue. Should this fail to achieve desired levels of performance, adjust the value associated with EnableRetrieveMultipleOptimization (ERMO) setting. You may have heard these changes described at this year's Convergence.

A first step in efforts to optimize the performance of queries against large data sets is to make adjustments to the “statistical” settings that affect the behavior of RetrieveMultiple queries. Although you can configure these settings by modifying the Windows Registry (under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSCRM) on the each of the Web servers that is used in a deployment, we recommend that these settings be configured by using the OrgDbOrgSettings, which will ensure that the configuration applies to a specific organization. For additional information about configuring these settings by using the OrgDbOrgSettings, and to download the tool that makes the OrgDbOrgSettings changes you desire, see the Microsoft Knowledge Base article titled "OrgDBOrgSettings Tool for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011" (KB 2691237)

If making adjustments to these settings does not yield satisfactory levels of performance, then consider adjusting the value of the EnableRetrieveMultipleOptimization (ERMO) setting. The ERMO setting is commonly used to limit the duration of certain long running queries; specifically, to overcome issues related to local or deep business unit access within Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 security roles.

Many more details describing appropriate scenarios for the available settings are already available via the Microsoft Download Center in a revised version of the whitepaper "Optimizing and Maintaining the Performance of a Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Server Infrastructure", in the sections “Optimizing the Performance of Queries against Large Datasets” and “Optimizing the Performance of Quick Find Queries”. The details will appear in the MSDN version of this whitepaper as quickly as possible.

Note regarding Podcasts: You can make our CRM Premier Field Engineering podcasts available on Zune by using the RSS feed below.  In the Zune software, go to Collection -> Podcasts and click on the Add a Podcast button on the lower left, then enter the url for the RSS feed: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/pfedynamics.rss. After that, you can adjust the series settings like any other podcast, so you can sync with your smartphone or Zune.

Update Rollup 11 Build number:
5.0.9690.2835

Notes:
You will be able to uninstall Update Rollup 11, unlike Update Rollups 4-6 which could not be uninstalled.  However, you should always back up your databases and application servers before you install an Update Rollup.

Update Rollup 6 established a new servicing baseline. This will enable uninstalls of some future CRM 2011 Update Rollups, but this also means that Update Rollup 6 is prerequisite for installation of all future Microsoft CRM 2011 Update Rollups starting with Update Rollup 7.

A database created with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Update Rollup 6 or a higher version cannot be imported to a deployment of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Update Rollup 5 or an earlier version. This scenario is not supported.  Best practice is to import databases or customizations between environments that are at the same Update Rollup level.

As Update Rollup 11 is cumulative, containing all changes released in earlier Update Rollup releases, it also contains the Dynamics CRM Q4 Service Update features released via Update Rollup 5.  Some of these features include:

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

For more information about the Dynamics CRM Q4 2011 Service Update features, consult:

• Microsoft Dynamics CRM: The Road Ahead

Packages will be available for download via: 

• The Update Rollup 11 Microsoft Download Center page (released Oct. 11th, 2012)
• The Microsoft Update Catalog (release planned for Oct. 23rd, 2012)
• The Microsoft Update detection / installation process (release planned for Oct. 23rd, 2012)
  • Note: Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Updates will be pushed via Microsoft Update as Important updates
  • Client packages installed manually by downloading the packages and running install will require local administrator privileges. If the client packages are installed via Microsoft Update or SCCM (System Center Configuration Manager), they will not require local administrator privileges
  • Consider using Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) or similar software distribution technologies to distribute Dynamics CRM Update Rollups internally.  WSUS is a locally managed system that works with the public Microsoft Update website to give system administrators more control. By using Windows Server Update Services, administrators can manage the distribution of Microsoft hotfixes and updates released through Automatic Updates to computers in a corporate environment
  • For help with installation please see the Installation Information section of the Update Rollup 11 "master" Microsoft Knowledge Base article
  • Please review my teammate Shawn Dieken's superb (and recently updated) blog posting "How to install Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 without an Internet Connection" which provides details on how to set up an install on a machine without access to the Internet
  • Please review my former teammate Jon Strand's equally superb blog posting "CRM 2011: Silently Installing Update Rollups" which provides details on installing CRM Outlook client update rollups "silently" in order to limit end-user interruption

for these CRM components:

NOTE: As of Jan. 20th, 2012 these installation files have been updated to include CRM 2011 Update Rollup 6 (Build 05.00.9690.1992)

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

 Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Update Rollup 11 Prerequisites:

• Essentially the prerequisites listed in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Implementation Guide download or online versions for the various CRM components serviced
• You must have Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Update Rollup 6 installed (build 5.0.9690.1992) to apply this Update Rollup

Note regarding Microsoft Dynamics CRM Stack Technology Compatibility:

Do you want to know if certain Service Packs or versions of a Microsoft product are supported with Dynamics CRM? Now we have all of this in one “living" Knowledge Base article: the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Compatibility List.  For example, you can use this KB article to determine the latest Microsoft SQL Server major version and Service Pack that is supported. Microsoft lists new products like Internet Explorer 10, Microsoft Windows 8, and Microsoft Office 2013 Preview as TBD until testing is complete; generally near General Availability (GA) of that product.

Issues resolved via Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Update Rollups: 

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Update Rollup 11 is the eleventh (or tenth, considering that Update Rollup 9 was not released publicly) of a series of cumulative Update Rollups that include fixes for the issues that are or will be documented in the "Master Knowledge Base Articles" for CRM 2011 Update Rollups.  As they are cumulative, Update Rollup 11 contains all fixes shipped via Update Rollups 1-11, including fixes that were never publicly released via Update Rollup 9.

Hotfixes and updates that were released as individual fixes before Update Rollup 11 release:

The following issues were fixed and delivered to requesting customers prior to Update Rollup 11 release as Critical On Demand (COD) fixes and are included in Update Rollup 11:

• Assume that you have a Microsoft Dynamics CRM database that contains more than 100,000 users. You import an organization. In this situation, when you try to map users during the organization import process, the Import Organization wizard seems to freeze before the User Mapping table is opened
• When you open a managed dialog box in a Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 client for Outlook, a memory leak occurs. Additionally, the Outlook client may crash
• When you add an OnSave action script on a Service Activity entity by using Jscript Libraries Editor, the OnSave action does not work as expected before a Service Activity record is updated in the database
• When you change a price list item, closed opportunities are updated unexpectedly
• Unexpectedly, you cannot enable the Sending email option for an entity that has existing records
• When you reply to an email message that was tracked in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011, two entries are inserted in the ActivityPointerBase table incorrectly
• Custom error messages for software development kit (SDK) plug-ins are not displayed as expected. Instead, a generic error message that states that ISV code aborted the operation is displayed
• Unexpectedly, you cannot add a sales literature attachment to a custom entity
• When you add many members to a marketing list, you experience slow performance. Additionally, an Internet Explorer script error may occur. This issue occurs when the paging functionality is used in the members lookup
• When multiple secure token services (STS) are used to access Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011, the WHR parameter (Home Realm) that was added to the CRM sitemap is blocked by the parameter filter unexpectedly
• After you install Internet Explorer 9, you cannot export or save reports from the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Client for Outlook
• Assume that you create an appointment in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011. You edit the appointment in Outlook. In this situation, duplicate appointments are created
• After you apply Update Rollup 10, a SDK DataContractJsonSerializer error may occur in Service Contracts
• You receive the following error message in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 client for Outlook:
  • Event ID 9646 : Mapi session Exceeded the maximum of 250 objects of type "objtmessage"
• When you run the Set Regarding function in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 client for Outlook, you may receive a warning message that states that you do not have permissions to take this action
• If you have the Symantec Enterprise Vault add-in installed, unhandled Windows forms thread errors may occur in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 client for Outlook

Other fixes released via CRM 2011 Update Rollup 11:

• When you upgrade an organization from Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011, permissions for the SystemForm entities are not assigned correctly
• When you run the Set Regarding function on an email message, the lookup view lists all active accounts. However, you should be able to set a different default view for the lookup
• The table header cells in CRM tables do not have a specific row or column attribute
• The WAUTH parameter is not supported in Federation Provider properties in the deployment web service
• When you run the Mail Merge function, the CRM add-in crashes on the Word Automation services
• When you change the First Week of Year setting in the organization settings, the changes are not considered when the system uses the fetch functionality to retrieve some date data that is grouped by week
• After you change the reminder time in Outlook, recurring appointments are corrupted
• When you perform a Quick Find search on the Activities view, the search may return unexpected results
• You cannot hide CRM ribbons in Outlook 2010
• The Address Book Sync Entity list is not filtered by security permissions
• When you perform bulk operations in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 client for Outlook, you experience slow performance
• When you access a CRM website in a claims authentication deployment, the Authentication Engine may reject the request. In this situation, you receive the following error message:
  • 404 - File or directory not found
• When you browse to the Discovery service, you receive the following error message:
  • The server was unable to process the request due to an internal error
  • This issue occurs because of the address in the deployment manager
• The Rule Deployment wizard does not work in a Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2010 mixed environment
• When you use custom menu options, an Internet Explorer script error may occur
• The Quick Find search does not apply the user's default date-format setting
• The secondary sorting function does not work in a view in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 client
  • This issue occurs when the DisableMapiCaching registry key is enabled
• Workflow instances that are upgraded from Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 workflow definitions do not work correctly when the workflow definitions use owning users or owning teams
• The CreatedOn and ModifiedOn values for a UOM Primary Unit record are generated in incorrect formats in the database
• Incoming email messages are sometimes associated with inactive records
• When you create a telephone call activity, a pre-operation plug-in does not update the From value as expected
• Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 client for Outlook does not work correctly when you connect the client to a Dynamics CRM 2011 organization
• When you export a view to an Excel worksheet, the view name is not displayed as the Excel worksheet name correctly
• When you perform a synchronization in Outlook 2007 that has the Cached Exchange mode disabled, the synchronization tries to re-promote CRM email activities that were sent through a web client
• When you try to close the Print Preview form, a script error occurs
  • This issue occurs when a tab that contains a subgrid is hidden
• When you import a managed solution, audit records are generated unexpectedly
• Dynamics CRM claims-based authentication does not work with trusted partner Active Directory Federation Service (ADFS) users
• After you change the searchable setting for a Dynamics CRM 2011 attribute in the editor form, all fields in the editor form are dimmed unexpectedly
• When you install an Update Rollup for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011, you experience slow performance
  • This issue occurs because indexes are rebuilt during the installation
• When you import a solution that contains a field that has the searchable value set to No, the searchable setting of the field is not updated correctly
• When you install Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 client for Outlook on a computer that is running Windows 8, Windows Identity Foundation (WIF) is not enabled
• When you connect Microsoft Exchange Server in the Online mode, you experience slow performance in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 client for Outlook
• The JavaScript editor is limited to 2,000 characters unexpectedly
  • In this situation, a script that contains more than 2,000 characters may be truncated
• When you configure Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 client for Outlook to use SQL Server CE 4.0, the client crashes
• When you try to import a solution, you receive the following error message:
  • The solution package cannot be imported because it contains invalid XML
• The Quick Find search fails and displays no results
• When you save a form, the save action may be blocked by an update action of the background main page grid
  • The following error message is logged in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM client trace log
    • NullReferenceException <InvalidateItemCache>

Hotfixes and updates that you have to enable or configure manually

Occasionally, updates released via Update Rollups require manual configuration to enable them. Microsoft Dynamics CRM Update Rollups are always cumulative; for example, Update Rollup 10 contains all fixes previously released via Update Rollups 1-9 as well as fixes newly released via Update Rollup 10. So if you install Update Rollup 10 on a machine upon which you previously installed no Update Rollups, you will need to manually enable any desired fixes for Update Rollups 1-10:

• Update Rollup 1: no updates requiring manual configuration
• Update Rollup 2 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 contains the following update that you must enable or configure manually - details on enabling or configuring can be found in this Microsoft Knowledge Base article:
  • 2535245 RetrieveMultiple optimization for basic depth needed for local and deep depth read privileges in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011
  • NOTE: see comments near the beginning of this blog regarding significant rework to EnableRetrieveMultipleOptimization released in Update Rollup 10
• Update Rollup 3: no updates requiring manual configuration
• Update Rollup 4: no updates requiring manual configuration
• Update Rollup 5: no updates requiring manual configuration
• Update Rollup 6 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 contains the following update that you must enable or configure manually - details on enabling or configuring can be found in this Microsoft Knowledge Base article:
  • 2664150  Steps to clean up the PrincipalObjectAccess table in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 after Update Rollup 6 is applied
• Update Rollup 7: no updates requiring manual configuration
• Update Rollup 8: no updates requiring manual configuration
• Update Rollup 10 and 11 (includes hotfix components of Update Rollup 9): no updates requiring manual configuration to enable, but
  • Note my above comments regarding ERMO (EnableRetrieveMultipleOptimization) option configuration via registry keys or (preferred) OrgDbOrgSettings updates
  • This information supercedes the information in KB 2535245, which discusses EnableRetrieveMultipleOptimization enhancements shipped in CRM 2011 Update Rollup 2

 Mismatched Update Rollup versions within a Microsoft Dynamics CRM deployment

In a scenario where you may be running many client workstations with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 for Microsoft Office Outlook, a common question is whether it is supported to run mismatched versions. For example, where Update Rollup 5 has been installed on the CRM Server but the Outlook clients are still on Update Rollup 1, or where Update Rollup 1 is on the CRM server but due to updates available to the Outlook client you have decided to install Update Rollup 6 on the clients without installing Update Rollup 4 on the server.

The general rule of thumb is to try to keep the versions in sync as much as possible. However, it is permissible (though not recommended as a long-term solution) to run mismatched Update Rollup versions on Outlook client and server, as Microsoft does do some testing of such combinations.

However, regarding the other Update Rollups (for example Rollups for the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Email Router or Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Reporting Extensions), it is not supported nor recommended to run mismatched versions. A best practice is to update these components at the same time you update your CRM Server.  Do the best you can to keep these Update Rollup versions in sync.

For more information, see the blog posting "User experience while accessing CRM 2011 application servers while Update Rollups are being applied"

Internet Explorer 10, Windows 8, and Office 2013 Preview Compatibility

The Microsoft Dynamics CRM Sustained Engineering team consistently Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 against pre-release and release versions of these products. When necessary, Microsoft plans to release enhancements via future Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Update Rollups to assure compatibility with future releases of these products.

Greg Nichols
Premier Field Engineering
Microsoft Corporation