Upgrade from Microsoft Dynamics AX 4 to Microsoft Dynamics AX2012

Microsoft Dynamics AX is the complete business management solution or an enterprise resource planning solution that integrates
all facets of a business. This is a purpose built solution across five industries, which includes manufacturing, distribution, retail,
professional services and public sector.
Microsoft has recently launched the 2012 version of Microsoft Dynamics AX ERP. A lot of customers and partners are or will
be looking to upgrade to version 2012 from the previous versions of AX. Recently, i was involved in an upgrade estimation from
AX version 4 to version 2012. This customer has implemented AX 4.0 and would like to upgrade to version 2012. The following
are the areas which we recommended the customer to consider, while upgrading to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.
Network Requirements
Number of transactions per hour
Number of concurrent users
Number of concurrent Enterprise Portal users
Number of remote connections
Number of locations
Domain Requirements
System Requirements
Based on the above mentioned considerations, a comparison chart was prepared. This chart will give any upgrade team a rough
idea about the components that were available in AX 4 and AX 2012. There are some components that have been deprecated in
AX 2012.
System Requirements for
Server Computers
Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012
Operating Systems:
Windows 7
Windows XP with
Service Pack 2
(Professional, Tablet
PC Edition)
Note: Ensure that AX 4.0
with Service Pack 2 is set
up and deployed.
Supported as 32 and 64 bit
clients Windows 7
Server Operating System:
Windows Server 2008
R2
Windows Server 2008
+ SP2
Windows Server 2003
+ SP2 (Standard, Web,
Enterprise, Datacenter)
Note: Ensure that AX 4.0
with Service Pack 2 is
setup and deployed. Supported
as 64bit only
Windows Server 2008
R2
Windows Server 2008
+ SP2
Minimum Hardware Requirements:
Intel Pentium/Celeron Intel Pentium/Celeron
family or compatible
Pentium III Xeon or
higher processor
minimum; 1.1 GHz or
higher recommended
512 MB RAM or more
recommended
1 GB or more hard
disk space. Actual
requirements depend
on your system
configuration and the
applications and
features that you
install.
Super VGA
(1024768) or higher
resolution monitor
DVD drive (required
for installation from
DVD)
family or compatible
Pentium III Xeon or
higher processor
minimum; 1.1 GHz or
higher recommended
4 GB RAM or more
recommended for
server/client computers
1 GB or more hard
disk space. Actual
requirements depend
on your system
configuration and the
applications and
features that you
install.
Super VGA
(1024768) or higher
resolution monitor
DVD drive (required
for installation from
DVD)
System Requirements for AX Components:
The following are the components in Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 and Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.
Microsoft Dynamics AX4.0:
Application Object Server
Database Server
File Server
Reporting Server
Business Connector
Enterprise Portal and Home Page
Analysis Services Extensions
Synchronization with Microsoft Office Project Server 2007
AX Client
Microsoft Dynamics AX2012:
Databases
Application Object Server
Enterprise Portal
Enterprise Search
Help Server
Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Extensions
Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Extensions
Web Service on Internet Information Services (IIS)
Management Utilities
Synchronization Service for Microsoft Project
Synchronization Proxy for Microsoft Project




















System Requirements for
AX Components
Database Server:
SQL Server 2005,
Enterprise Edition with
SP2
-or-
SQL Server 2005,
Standard Edition with
SP2 (32
or 64 bit editions)
SQL Server 2012
Standard, Enterprise or
Business Intelligence
Edition
-or-
SQL Server 2008 R2
Standard, Enterprise or
Datacenter edition.
Service Pack 1 is
recommended but not
required
-or-
SQL Server 2008,
Standard or Enterprise,
with Service Pack
1 (Only 64 bit editions)
Application Object Server:
Microsoft .NET
Framework 3.0
Windows Installer 3.0
Microsoft .NET
Framework 4.0
Windows Installer
3.1/ Windows Installer
4.0
File Server:
One can install the
Microsoft Dynamics
AX application files on
any computer that is
running Windows.
In AX2012, the
application files is not
available as a
component. It is
installed with a
Database component
called Model Store
database.
Note:
Also ensure that AX supports
Unicode collations that are
case-insensitive, accent-
sensitive, kana-sensitive, and
width-insensitive. The collation
must match the Windows locale
of computers.
Report Server/Reporting Extensions:
In AX 4.0, this
component is called
Report Server.
SQL Server 2005 Enterprise or
Standard Edition + SP2 must be
installed.
In AX2012, this
component is called
Reporting Extensions
and is classified under
the Business
Intelligence
components section.
SQL Server 2012/
Reporting Services
website must be
configured and
completed.
Internet Explorer 6.0,
Service Pack 2
-or-
Internet Explorer 7.0
-or-
Mozilla Firefox 2.0
SQL Server 2008 R2 +
SP1/SQL Server 2008 + SP2
must be installed.
-or-
SQL Server 2008 R2 with
Cumulative Update 3 or later.
Reporting Services
website must be
configured and
completed.
Internet Explorer 8.0
-or-
Internet Explorer 9.0
-or-
Mozilla Firefox 3.5
Windows PowerShell
2.0. Remove
PowerShell 1.0 to
manage components
through PowerShell
2.0
The Reporting services
instances are not
supported on
computers where SQL
Server 2005 and SQL
Server 2008 are
installed side by side
Analysis Services Extensions:
The Analysis
extensions can only
run on 64 bit Operating
System only if no
client activity that uses
AIF or Business
Connector is run on the
same computer
SQL Server 2012/ SQL
Server 2008 R2/SQL
Server 2008 Analysis
Services
The Analysis Services
Integration is not
supported on
computers where
instances of SQL
Server 2005 and SQL
Server 2008 are
installed side by side
Application Integration Framework (AIF) Web
Services/Web Services on IIS:
In Ax 4.0, this was
called AIF Web
In AX2012, this is
called Web Services on
Services
.NET Framework
3.0/.NET Framework
2.0
IIS 6.0
IIS
.NET Framework 4.0
Web Server Role
IIS 7.0/IIS 7.5
Windows SDK
configured to run WCF
Services
Help Server:
This is a component
not available in AX
4.0. This is available as
help on the AX Client.
Web Server role
IIS 7.0 or IIS 7.5
ASP.NET 4.0
Enterprise Portal:
Windows SharePoint
Services 3.0
-or-
Microsoft Office SharePoint
2007
SharePoint 2010
Foundation
-or-
SharePoint 2010 Enterprise or
Standard Edition
SQL Server 2008 R2
Analysis Management
Objects
Enterprise Search:
This component was not
available as a feature out-of-the-
box in AX 4.0.
Web Server Role
IIS 7.0 or IIS 7.5
Windows PowerShell
2.0
ASP.NET 2.0
SharePoint Server
2010 Standard or
Enterprise Edition
-or-
Microsoft Fast Search Server
2010
-or-
Microsoft Search Server Express
2010
-or-
Microsoft Search Server 2010
Synchronization Service for Project:
Microsoft Project
Server 2007
.NET Business
Connector
.NET Framework 3.0
Note: Initialization
Checklist must be
completed before setting this up
.NET Framework 3.5
SP1
Microsoft Project
Server 2010
Synchronization Proxy for Project:
This is not a
component in AX 4.0
Must be installed on
the same machine as
Project Server
Interface.
Project Server 2010
setup completed
.NET Business Connector:
Available as COM
Connector in AX4.0
.NET Framework 3.5,
.NET Framework 4.0
Management Utilities:
Not available in AX
4.0
Windows PowerShell
2.0
In addition to this, there are 64 bit architecture considerations, too, that one need to take into account. I will cover this in my next
blog po