The Upgrade Process

The upgrade process for Sage SalesLogix v7.5 Service Pack 4 is different than previous service packs because SP4 includes a full install. It’s very similar to the process of installing the base v7.5.0 product—except with a lot more features in the end! They are so similar in fact, that if you are installing Sage SalesLogix in a new, on-premise environment, you can go directly to the SP4 installer (no v7.5.0 necessary). If upgrading from an existing v7.5.X* environment, on the other hand, the SP4 installer runs in the same way except that it first removes applications with prior version and then re-installs them.

During the installation (or re-installation) for each feature (Admin Tools & Servers, Client, Web Host, Web Reporting, and so on), the SP4 installation wizard inspects your system for necessary prerequisites and even finds the appropriate installer for you, which makes the process extremely seamless. The Applying Service Pack 4 for Sage Saleslogix Version 7.5 documentation is the ultimate resource for choosing the right upgrade workplan for your environment. Always defer to the documentation when performing an upgrade in a production environment.

Now that the disclaimer is out of the way, I can reveal the following [abbreviated] steps that we use in Training to upgrade our image from v7.5.0–>v7.5.4. (Upgrading from v7.5.3–>v7.5.4 is similar, but you can skip steps 1, 9, and 10 if you already did them for SP3.)

1. Delete the MergeConfiguration.xml file and the PotentialMatchConfiguration.xml file in Application Architect.
2. Run the Setup.exe, and install Administrative Tools and Servers. (Restart.)
3. Run the Setup.exe, and install the LAN or Remote Client.
4. Install the LAN bundle in the Administrator.
5. Run the Setup.exe, and install the Web Host on IIS.
6. Run the Setup.exe, and install the Web Reporting Server.
7. Restore the SP4 project backup, rebuild web platform, deploy core portals.
8. Run the Role Security utility.
9. Add users to the Standard User role in the Web Client.
10. Reconfigure Web Reporting in the Application Architect.

Here’s a video of me going through the steps for the RC1 version with a bit more explanation. We skipped many recommended tasks from the documentation that you should perform on a production environment, but did I miss anything?**

For more videos like this one, subscribe to the Sage SalesLogix Administrator’s Subscription or contact training.crm@sage.com.

The Enhancements

Although I won’t review all of the enhancements from SP4—the Applying Service Pack 4 for Sage Saleslogix Version 7.5 documentation is the best resource for a comprehensive list—here are a few that we’re especially partial to in Training:

• Duplicate Checker (for Web Administrators):
  This tool is available under the Tools menu when logged on as “admin.” You can also grant a standard user access to this tool by adding the user to the Data Quality Manager role. It allows you to search within any group for Account, Contact, or Lead tables and look for duplicate records in the database. This feature locates matches and scores them based on match probability, and then it allows you to resolve any duplicates by merging records. Service Pack 3 introduced the ability to merge records in the Web Client List view (right-click > merge), but you still had to spot-check for the duplicate records manually. The SP4 enhancement automates the process AND includes the Lead table.
  




• Notes/History tab (for Web End Users): This enhancement brings the familiar Notes/History tab that we love from the LAN Client into the Web! It combines both history items and notes. You can filter the grid based on a variety of criteria, and you can even send any selected items to e-mail or to Word.
  




• Editable Sales Order Data Grid: Now you can more easily update pricing and discount for a sales order. (Not to mention use a revamped Accounting Integration process! More to come on this in later posts.)
  




• SData Enhancements (for Web Developers):
  In addition to excluding individual entity properties from the SData payload, you can also prohibit Create/Update/Delete SData operations on an entity. Also, more entities are exposed to SData.
  




• Enable Field-Level Security for New Entities (for Web Developers):
  




• Many more!

---

*If upgrading from an existing environment earlier than v7.5.0, you must first upgrade to v7.5.0 before running the SP4 installer.
**If you learned one thing from this post, let it be that you should read the service pack documentation!

---

Updated: Added the task to delete the PotentialMatchConfiguration.xml file to step 1.

A great product!

I have been working a lot with the New Sage SalesLogix Mobile product. We have a new master’s series class, many developer subscription videos, a production release setup which our internal PSG team developed, and now a v1.1 class. This was a lot of work, but man is it fun to work on such a sleek, great looking, and fast product. We have talked about the background of mobile before but we now really have two main versions: 1.0 and 1.1.

Versions
Version 1.0 of the New Sage SalesLogix Mobile Web works with 7.5.3, but really needs HF3 to be fully functional.

Version 1.1 of the New Sage SalesLogix Mobile Web works with 7.5.4. Absolutely needs 7.5.4 since some additional SData endpoints were added to support v. 1.1.

Everything I did in version 1.0 worked in version 1.1. No problems. The one catch is I also tried this on a 7.5.3 installation and got an error right after login. I just could not figure it out. I saw the end point and emailed a developer to see what was up. Turns out the above requirements stand. I needed 7.5.4 to run the newest downloads from github.

So where do I download v1.0 of Sage SalesLogix Mobile Web for my development environment?

Both versions of the New Sage SalesLogix Mobile Mobile Web can be downloaded from github.com here:
https://github.com/SageScottsdalePlatform/argos-saleslogix/branches

The trick is to show all branches. It is a link in the sub menu near the middle top to the left.

You need to do this for argos-saleslogix as well as argos-sdk. The above link is for argos-saleslogix. Here is the link for argos-sdk:
https://github.com/SageScottsdalePlatform/argos-sdk/branches

For version 1.0 you are looking for the download labeled: v1.0-rc1

The Disconnected Web Client (also known as Offline Web Client*) allows any Sage SalesLogix Web user to access Sage SalesLogix data even when there is not a regularly-available Internet connection. Instead of accessing the main web site through a browser, a user can access a local web site (also through a browser), but one that is tied to the user’s remote database as opposed to the host. This database and web portal reside on the user’s laptop. They are essentially a replica of what is typically hosted on the main Web or Database Server in the Cloud—but a replica that is only accessed by the specific user on his or her hard drive.

When the user gets access to an Internet connection again, data in the remote database gets synced back up to the host, and data that was changed on the host while the user was disconnected gets synced back down to the remote.

For either on-premise or Cloud, in order to use the Disconnected Web Client, the user must install the Sync Client (to transfer data back and forth) and Personal Web Server (to host the local web site and related files). The user must also have a version of SQL Server installed and attach the remote database. As the administrator, installing these applications for your users isn’t the hard part—it’s finding a time when you and the remote user are in the same physical location! So to help get a user up-and-running more quickly, the process just got easier! Specific to the Cloud environment (for now), users can download required files directly from inside of the Sage SalesLogix Web site itself. The installation process even takes care of all the machine pre-requisites for the user.

Cloud Administrator’s Steps

The following steps assume the sync server is installed and a sync transfer profile has been created.

1. In the Administrator application, create a remote user (or change an existing network user to a remote user type).
2. Modify the Sync tab in the remote user’s profile: Select the Synchronize Changes check box, assign a Sync Transfer Profile, and select the accounts to sync (All or Specific/Subscription).



3. Create the remote user database. The location for the database must be in E:\Filestore\Downloads.



4. In the Application Architect, deploy the SlxClient and SlxIntellisync portals to to the selected user.



5. Cycle the Sync Server.

Check out this Cloud Administrator video to watch these steps performed.

Cloud End User’s Steps

1. Open a browser, and log on to the host Sage SalesLogix Web Client site.
2. From the Support Nav Bar, click Client Downloads.
3. Click the link to Download and Install Sage SalesLogix.



4. Choose to run or save the SlxDisconnectedWebClientSetup file. It may take a few minutes to download.
5. When the installation wizard starts, note the list of prerequisites, if any (specific to your machine). Follow the onscreen prompts to install each prerequisite. If any of them fail, continue with the installation, but when it is complete, go back and start it again to retry.



6. When all prerequisites are installed, the Sage SalesLogix Disconnected Web Client wizard starts. Click through the onscreen prompts to install. This process installs the Sync Client and SalesLogix Web Server.



7. Open a browser, and log on to the host Sage SalesLogix Web Client site again. From the Client Downloads page, click the link to Download and attach your SalesLogix Database.



8. Save the downloaded database to the desktop (or other location on your hard drive).
9. Double-click the file to open the Remote Database Setup dialog and attach the database.



10. From the Start menu, point to All Programs, point to Sage SalesLogix, and then click Synchronization Client.
11. Log on to the SLXRemote database connection using your SalesLogix username and password.
12. Click Sync Now, and wait for the cycle to complete
13. From the Start menu, point to All Programs, point to Sage SalesLogix, and then click SalesLogix Web Server. (Or right-click the Web Server icon in your System Tray, and click Open Site.) Tip – if the Open Site option is grayed out, click the Properties option, and then click the Start button in the Sage SalesLogix Personal Web Server window.


Start the DWC Web Site and log on.

14. On the SalesLogix Log On page, note the address bar shows “localhost” in the URL. This is your OWN web site, disconnected from the host. Log on using your username and password.

That’s it! You’re now ready to work in an offline mode whenever you do not have an Internet connection. Periodically, whenever you obtain an Internet connection again, run a sync (using the Sync Client) to push your changes back up to the host database and to pull changes to your database. You can even set your sync client to sync on a schedule. After you sync, you can continue to use the Disconnected Web Client (using the “localhost” web address) or go back to the host SalesLogix web address—the tool is flexible enough to accommodate your accessibility.

Check out this Cloud End User video to watch these steps performed.

**********************************
*The Disconnected Web Client will be known as Offline Web Client in future releases.

Here are the things I know about the New Sage SalesLogix Mobile product: It’s new, it’s mobile, and it’s awesome!

Installation

Installing the out-of-the-box product is a breeze. Simply add the mobile bundle in the Application Architect, configure a new portal, and deploy to your production Web server. Your sales staff can access account information on their mobile devices faster than I can power on my laptop.

Customization

Customizing the mobile client is simple, but it does require you to do more configuration for setting up your development environment than what is required for out-of-the-box production. However, once you understand why you need to set up a series of folders—to take advantage of plugin architecture—the process becomes easily manageable. For example, imagine you want to add a new Edit, Detail, and List view for a custom entity (i.e. clientproject). After enabling the entity for SData, here’s what your development folder structure might look like (not all folders are listed):

So for any customization, we somewhat replicate the argos-saleslogix folder/file structure in order to merge our new changes into the base site. Then you might ask, “Why do we create a new folder inside products? Can we modify inside of argos-saleslogix instead?” Well, the answer is, you can modify the argos-saleslogix contents and ignore the plugin architecture. However, any time you deploy from Application Architect, you would overwrite your changes. Also, future upgrades to the product would break your customizations. Still unsure? Check out a video showing an easy example with an explanation of why NOT to do that easy example. :)

Another question you might ask is, “Why go to the trouble of setting up your development environment by copying these folders—if the production environment was so easy, can’t we just copy the production deployment and push those files out through the Application Architect?” Although that’s a nice idea, the beauty of using JavaScript is that it can be minified for faster load times for production. Our browsers read code like that very well, but it’s not readable for an average developer trying to romance the code.

For more information, register for the New Sage SalesLogix Mobile Master’s Series course. We’ll create a new entity (clientproject) and show you how to add a new List, Detail, and Edit view—as well as associate projects to accounts and associate tickets to projects.