Using Upgrade Analysis in Lifecycle Services

Posted on: November 24, 2015 | By: Jarrod Kraemer | Microsoft Dynamics AX/365

One very cool feature of Lifecycle Services (LCS) that we have been using a lot for our customers is Upgrade Analysis.  If your company is currently NOT running the latest version of Dynamics AX and are looking to upgrade you need to read this.

In LCS, Upgrade Analysis helps users plan a full-version upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 from Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 or Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009, or a minor version or in-place upgrades from one version of AX 2012 to another.  The end result of this process is an Excel Workbook report with detailed information on all code conflicts by layer that would need to be addressed before upgrading.  It can give you the information needed to understand the number of conflicts that would need to be resolved before converting to AX 2012 R3.

The following chart illustrates how the service works for both full version upgrades and in-place upgrades.

Upgrade analysis uses a Rapid Data Collector (RDC) tool to analyze information about the existing environment to help estimate the scale of the upgrade project.

Collect and upload files for analysis (full-version upgrade: Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 or AX 2009)

In order to use Upgrade analysis, you must install the Rapid Data Collector and then upload the Rapid Data Collector files and AOD files.

The Rapid Data Collector collects metadata about the production environment, such as the number of records in tables.

Install the Rapid Data Collector

1.      Go to Lifecycle Services.

2.      Open a project, and then click the Upgrade analysis tile.

3.      Click Add.

4.      On the Upgrade analysis create job page, click Download in the source-to-target upgrade list).

5.      Download the RapidDataCollector.msi file, save it, and then run it on a Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 or Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 client to install and run the Rapid Data Collector service. The service will create a .zip file that contains Rapid Data Collector files.

6.      Enter a name for the job, identify the version and build of Microsoft Dynamics AX that you are upgrading from, and then click Create.

Upload and analyze files

You can upload the Rapid Data Collector files and AOD files in any order.

1.      On the Upgrade analysis file upload page, click + (Add files).

2.      Select the type of file to upload (Rapid Data Collector or AOD).

3.      Enter the file location and click Upload.

4.      After you upload all the files to analyze, click Analyze.  When the analysis process is complete, the status shows as Complete.

Collect and upload files for analysis (in-place upgrade: AX 2012)

For in-place upgrades, you must upload a model store that you have exported zipped.

Export and zip your model store

1.      Use Windows PowerShell or the AxUtil command line utility to export the model store from the system that you plan to upgrade.

2.      Use Windows or another system to zip (compress) the file.

Upload and analyze files

1.      Sign in to Lifecycle Services, open a project, and then click the Upgrade analysis tile.

2.      Click Add.

3.      On the Upgrade analysis create job page, enter a name for the job, identify the version and build of AX 2012 that you are upgrading from, and then click Create.

4.      On the Upgrade analysis file upload page, click + (Add files).

5.      Browse to the zipped model store, and then click Upload. After the file is uploaded, the file name and size are listed on the site.

6.      Click Analyze Code to start the analysis process.

7.      When the analysis process is complete, the status shows as Complete.

Upgrade Analysis Reports

Upgrade analysis creates an overview report in HTML, and a detailed report as a Microsoft Excel file that you can download and review.

Here is an example of one of the graphs showing the auto-merge conflicts by layer and details by Excel Workbook report tab:

 

Upgrade Analyzer Report Tab

Details of Report

CodeMerge-Summary

Shows a graphical summary of all the code merge conflicts by layer

After auto-merge conflicts

Shows all conflicts by model by layer (Class, Form, Table, and Other)

Compilation-Classes

Lists all specific Class Errors by layer

Compilation-Forms

Lists all specific Form Errors by layer

Compilation-Tables

Lists all specific Table Errors by layer

Compilation-Other

Lists all specific Jobs/Security Errors by layer

CodeMerge-Details

Summary of all model/layer errors and successes

 

For additional information please feel free to reach out to us at info@loganconsulting.com or (312) 345-8817. 

All the best! 
Logan Consulting 
www.loganconsulting.com



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