Is there a way to track user activity in Microsft Dynamics CRM? The end result would be a list of users, showing a datetime for each access into CRM, and possibly what modules are being accessed.
Also, is there a way to tie users to database connections, as is done in AX?
Why do you want to do this? The reason I ask is because there are many different ways to log user access depening on purpose.
Detailed access logging can be performed by IIS (web log).
Logons are also tracked in the Event Log->Security log.
Changes to entities can be tracked by implementing an audit log using workflows (or buying a third party component to do this).
The third option is to write a .NET plugin that logs whatever you want on whatever event you want on the entities you choose. Lookup plugins in the Microsoft CRM SDK for more information on how to do this.
Related
Wondering if anyone can help a total newbie to Dynamics 365. Have started working on an existing implementation of Dynamics 365 (on premise) and am told by current developers that under no circumstances can I amend a column in a table for one of our entities directly on the DB. I am simply wanting to default an INT column to value 1.
They tell me "Dynamics is a black box and you will be breaking the law if you amend directly". This can't be true can it?
Thanks for any advice you can offer.
Building on what Josh said, it is true that the Dynamics SQL database is a black box. Everything must be done through the API with the exception of creating custom indexes on tables and reading from the "Filtered" views.
(And with the new T-SQL endpoint in preview for the online product, you're able to run SQL select queries against an online org.)
The reason for this that all events in Dynamics go through the "platform" via messages. For example, you might have plugin or workflow automation that triggers on the Update of an Account. When the platform receives the "Update" message for an Account, it searches for subscribers to that event and runs any subscribed processes. If you write a change directly to an Account record in SQL, you deprive the platform of the opportunity to run its processes for that event.
And it is good to note that Microsoft uses the same event framework for internal events. So, if you say, "Well, I have no custom plugins or workflows running on the Update message for Accounts so I can edit Accounts directly in SQL." By doing so you'd still risk breaking an internal Microsoft process that triggers on that event.
In a nutshell the platform's need to process ALL events is why direct updates to the database are unsupported. If you do them, Microsoft will refuse to support your system.
Another consideration is that if you ever want to move to the Dynamics Online, writing to the database isn't even possible, so you'd have to redo any automation that relied on that. This is another reason why everyone generally accepts the need to customize their system in the supported way.
Do people occasionally do unsupported things, with good justification? Yes, perhaps most commonly in making unsupported changes to the UI. Even so, writing directly to the database is among the highest offenses to be avoided.
Back to your scenario... it can be jarring to discover that the SQL database is off limits for any direct writing or schema changes. Fortunately Dynamics provides many other automation "hooks" including client-side JavaScript, Business Rules, Power Automate Flows, workflows, and plugins (synchronous and asynchronous).
To set a default value in the UI, the options include a Business Rule and JavaScript. To set a default value in the database, a synchronous workflow or plugin would do the trick.
The Developer Guide is a good place to start.
This would be considered an “unsupported” customization by Microsoft. If it breaks something in the logic of the app, Microsoft won’t help you fix it. If you ever move to Online instead of On-premise, you won’t have this ability. The current developers are battle-hardened and are trying to help you. This is a very bad idea - better would be to create a plug-in on Create of that entity that sets up default values for null fields. This way your logic is in the app with all the other custom logic and is supported.
Need help with deleting a user out of 15 different instances of MS CRM Dynamics. Is there a faster way of doing this rather than deleting the person out one instance at a time?
Whether it is crm onpremise or online, deleting systemuser is not possible (atleast by supported way) & not recommended to do in unsupported way (like SQL Delete in onpremise).
You can remove all the security roles & teams she/he is part of (take care of all WF, records they own)
Only you can disable by doing so in onpremise or by revoking license in O365 portal to replicate in crmol
If the AD account is removed/disabled it should replicate in Dynamics
No way to do in bulk across organizations anyway
Edit:
Based on comments, C# Console application can be developed, to iterate through multiple CRM connection strings & issue a sdk Service call to target system user record in each instance.
We have started to use Microsoft CRM for all our client information however we would like to have the most up to date information from CRM for internal tools.
The way we could do this is by running a tool that looks at the data every x minutes and keeps all updated records in the database.
Could someone give a explination on how we could use webhooks for this and if it actually is possible. This would be a lot more efficient to be notified when there is a change rather than checking all the time.
I have researched and found a few projects but they were all in beta - invite only or not available.
In Dynamics CRM Webhooks are not available as intended in the normal definition.
But you can use plugins to implement your notifications. From MSDN:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg328490.aspx
Another way to think about plug-ins is that they are handlers for
events fired by Microsoft Dynamics CRM. You can subscribe, or
register, a plug-in to a known set of events to have your code run
when the event occurs.
I can't find much about this online so I was wondering if someone knew here.
Is SSRS 2005 if a user creates a subscription, will other users be able to view and edit those subsciptions? If not, is it possible to make subsciriptions visible to everyone?
Thanks
Quick answer is no.
Long answer is:
AFAIK, there is no site-wide subscription management functionality. The best you can do within Report Manager is site-wide schedule management, which allows admins to set up schedules at preferred times and let users choose those schedules when creating their subscriptions.
Our solution for controlling/centralising subscriptions was to set up a generic Windows user, log in to Report Manager and use that user to create all subscriptions. This means that all requests for subscriptions go through the IT department (+ or - depends on your situation. We didn't want users creating subscriptions themselves). All users who know the generic username/password can manage subscriptions in one place. Not ideal but it works for us.
Another option is that all the data for subscriptions is held on the Server, either in the Reporting Services database or in the Jobs themselves. If you are brave you can delve in and set up some sort of interface to access this.
This is definitely an area in which I find SSRS lacking.
Update:
You live and learn. I've just found that (provided you have sufficient privileges) if you open a report, then go to the subscriptions tab, you can view and edit any subscriptions that are set up on this report by any user. Still not ideal as you don't get an overview of the subscriptions across the system but better than the bleak picture I painted previously!
I'm evaluating CRM 2011 to replace an existing app and and have some questions about security and segregating information by Client (or Account).
I have a custom entity for 'Client'. There are lot of custom entities that are related to 'Client' which consitute the data needed to be captured.
I would like to limit specific teams/users to work on specific clients and see only the data for those clients that they have access to.
I'm seeing that individual entities can be assigned to teams/users but I need all related entities to be locked down by Client so that regular users
Dont see records in views or searches that belong to other clients.
Can't create or access records for other clients.
Can this be done in CRM 2011? How?
Also - is it possible to limit processes/workflows to operate or trigger on records of specific clients only?
Probably the easiest thing to do would be do base your security on business units. Groups of clients an their related records would all be in the same business unit, and as long as you set their security roles to only allow access to records in their own business unit, that would work.
For workflows that only trigger on particular clients, it depends on the exact requirements. You could certainly check the business unit of the client as the first step in the workflow and continue or exit based on that. If it's something more complex, you can write a custom workflow assembly to do the check for you.