Product documentation
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    HSO Innovation licensing configuration for Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations
    In This Topic

    General ALF information

    Before you can install the HSO modules several actions have to be performed. These are the steps to take:

    A partner/customer must have a Lifecycle Services (LCS) project in place (lcs.dynamics.com) and we need to receive the  Azure active directory account (email address) of the person, that has access to the 'asset library' and will do the import of our solution(s) into their project.

    Please send this information to innovationsupport@hso.com.

    In case the import is done by the partner on a customer LCS project, we also need the Azure active directory account (email address) of the contact of the customer. These users will be added to our solutions and as of that moment you will be able to import the solution into the 'asset library' of your project and you will be informed by email when a new version is published:

    When the solution is imported the software (models and deployable packages) are automatically imported into the 'asset library'. After this is done there are 2 options:

    1. The partner/customer can have the need to make adjustments to our modules. In that case, it is possible to download the modules and connected them to Visual Studio Online (VSO) to perform adjustments. When the adjustments are done it is possible to deploy the package into the environment.
    2. If the partner/customer doesn’t need to make any adjustments, it is possible to directly deploy the package from LCS via the “maintain” option on the LCS project overview or via a Power Shell script on the environment itself.

     Important

    As some of our solutions contain the same models and you are installing multiple solutions on the same environment, please be sure to install the solutions in the right order, which is from old to new.
    There are few ways to do this:

    It's possible to combine the solutions into one deployable package (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/fin-ops-core/dev-itpro/dev-tools/aio-deployable-packages). Look into the packages e.g. with 7-zip or click on the Component details of the solution in LCS and be sure to take the newest version in case of duplicate Ax modules, into the new package and deploy the combined package. This is the advised way when using deployment via LCS as deployment of the individual packages will take a lot of time.

    It's also possible to generate a deployable package from Visual Studio after you have installed all the models, also in that case be sure to install only the latest versions of the individual models.

    When working on a development environment, install the packages via de package installer in the right order, which is from old to new.
       

    After the HSO Innovation software has been installed onto the environment, the licensing steps need to be performed which is explained in the Activate the ALF license topic.

    The ALF model is integrated in the products of Hso and will be installed automatically with the deployable package in LCS.

    The steps below will explain what needs to be done to fully and correctly activate the Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations license for the HSO Innovation models.

    Activate the ALF license framework

    Loading certificates

    A certification file is required for the Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations License Framework to work. Perform the following steps:

     Important

    Make sure that the valid checkbox is ticked after the import of the certificate. If not, this must be fixed before continuing. 
       

     

    Online ALF License Requests

    To make the license process easier, we've started an opt-in program allowing customers and partners to get their licenses through a web service. This service has become available in DYSALF 10017.41.900 and is available for all customers and partners from January 2023 for HSO Innovation solutions in Dynamics D365 Finance and Operations.

    New customers

    On clicking the 'Online Request' button in the ALF form, a dialog will show. Clicking 'ok' will trigger a web call to our license server. It informs us which of our solutions the customer has running and which tenant the Dynamics environment is connected to. We will use that information to configure a temporary license for the  customer. As a user you'll get an initial warning to contact our Sales Department. You only need to do that if you want to be informed by email, when your license it ready to be retrieved. If you are not in a rush, you can click the button again a couple of hours later and will usually get your license.

    In Finance & Operations, all environments of a customer or partner use the same tenant-id, allowing all these environments to connect.

     

     

    Extending a license

    If you already are a customer of HSO Innovation (and all is current in our administration according to the license agreement), retrieving an updated license in the system can also be done via the 'Request license online' button.  Clicking the 'Online Request' button (again) will load the up-to-date license. This includes extensions of dates and/or additional modules, provided HSO Innovation has them registered.

    Back-up licensing system

    If for some reason the online ALF license request as described above does not work, there is a back-up system in place that allows the license to be loaded manually. Follow the steps below to first generate and then load the license file manually.

    Generating request file

    Note that the licensee name and serial number are used in the licensing. A Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations license is bound to your licensee name and serial number and will only work with this combination.

    Loading license file

    When you receive the ALF license file perform the following steps:

     Important

    After importing, check the ALF License status. If it reads OK, you have activated the solution.  
       

     

    ALF Errors

    1. The certificate is used to verify licensor name against its public key. If the check fails with an error (Error message: Certificate check failed) then check the certificate status like in the screenshot below and if that is “valid” then check the “public key class” that must exist in the AOT.

      Path: System administration > Setup > ALF Licenses > Software vendor certificates
    2. A request file is needed to validate the software vendor modules and therefor there are some prerequisites that must be OK before proceeding:
      1. Software vendor HSO Innovation” is valid.
      2. Valid Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations license file.
    3. If the newly created license file is imported the system should be OK with the new dates. If the import fails:
      1. Check the certificate status.
      2. If the certificate status is valid, then please check the content of the license file. You can open it with Notepad and check the software vendor and dates:
        1. ALF License model version
        2. Vendor software model(s) with expiration date and followed by a private string generated by the license generator of the vendor.
        3. The number of users. Can be various depending of the model you have but normally it should be the same as the Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations users.
           
      3. If the information in the license file is as expected and the certificate is valid, then potentially there are some modifications made to the ALF license framework. Please contact your implementation partner or HSO Innovation.

    FAQ

    Question:

    I receive errors when I try to access Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations modules after installing the module(s) and license(s).

    Answer:

    Normally errors will only appear if the installation wasn’t finished correctly. Make sure that you have followed the next steps:

    • Make sure that the license file(s) are imported.
    • Make sure all models deployed correctly.
    • Verify the DYSALF model is loaded in the “about” dialog. It can be found under “Settings”, “About”, “Loaded packages and their modules”.
      .
    Question: When are new ALF licenses required?
    Answer:
    1. When the Microsoft Serial (License ID) is changed
    2. If the bought licenses amount (users) has changed
    3. If there are new modules introduced in the code. In the last case the existing licenses are valid and only a new license file is needed for the added module(s).
    Question: Users received the error "Cannot create a record in ALF Licenses (ALFLicenseTable)... The record already exists
    Answer: Empty the ALF license table, then click validate to re-populate from the AOT. Make sure that you have your ALF licenses available to import.
    Question:

    We get an error message when we login into Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations saying that a certificate has failed 

    Answer:
    1.  You may not have the correct certificate installed, or no certificate at all.
    2. Download a new certificate from the HSO Innovation FTP server and import that. Check it shows as valid after import.
    Question: How is the ‘In use’ quantity in the ALF license form determined?
    Answer: The quantity is being calculated as determined by the ISV model. Contact hsonnlicenses@hso.com for more details.

    Cancellation 

    There may come a time when you wish to say goodbye to (one of) our solutions. There are 3 aspects to cancelling one of our solutions:

    1. Data availability

    It is important to consider whether or not any of the data from the solution needs to be preserved. Once the solution is expired and uninstalled, the data will no longer be accessible, so if preservation is important, steps will need to be taken to save the data (before continuing with the cancellation).

    1. Commercial cancellation

    Please cancel your subscription by sending an e-mail to hsonnlicenses@hso.com with your cancellation. Access will expire per the current licence expiration date. The solution functionality will no longer be accessible after this date and the ALF license notification will appear.

    1. Technical cancellation

    To uninstall the solution, please consult the following Microsoft documentation: Uninstall a package. Please make sure to test the uninstall on a DEV environment first, before performing it on UAT and Production. Once the uninstall is complete, all relevant functionality and data is erased and the ALF license notification will no longer appear.