Dynamics NAV Server hack by examples

If you want to handle different Dynamics NAV Server versions, ServiceTierAdministration is the way. No doubt about it.

You may download it from Mibuso: https://mibuso.com/downloads/service-tier-administration-tool

But you can do it using Windows sc command and/or hacking the Windows registry.

So let’s learn how to do it by examples:

1. How to create a new service instance named NewServer

Existing Dynamics NAV Service: DynamicsNAV100
Path: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics NAV\100\Service

Create a new directory named Instances with a subdirectory to store the new instance configuration files.

New path example: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics NAV\100\Instances\NewServer

Now create two .config files:

NewServer.config

<configuration>
<appSettings file=”C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics NAV\100\Instances\NewServer\CustomSettings.config” />
</configuration>

CustomSettings.config

You can copy CustomSettings.config file from the C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics NAV\100\Service and paste it in the new path and update it as necessary. Below the tags I had to update are in bold.

<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”utf-8″?>
<appSettings>
<add key=”NetworkProtocol” value=”Default” />
<add key=”DatabaseServer” value=”<your sql server address>” />
<add key=”DatabaseInstance” value=”<your sql instance, if used>” />
<add key=”DatabaseName” value=”NAV2017_W1_CU16″ />
<add key=”EnableSqlConnectionEncryption” value=”False” />
<add key=”TrustSQLServerCertificate” value=”False” />
<add key=”ServerInstance” value=”NewServer” />
<add key=”ClientServicesPort” value=”50109″ />
<add key=”SOAPServicesPort” value=”50209″ />
<add key=”ODataServicesPort” value=”50309″ />
<add key=”ManagementServicesPort” value=”50009″ />
<add key=”ManagementServicesEnabled” value=”True” />
<add key=”ClientServicesEnabled” value=”True” />
…

…
</appSettings>

After creating the config files, let’s create the Windows service. Open a new command-line window in administrator mode (otherwise you’ll get an Access is denied error) and enter:

sc create MicrosoftDynamicsNavServer$NewServer binPath=”\”C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics NAV\100\Service\Microsoft.Dynamics.Nav.Server.exe\” $NewServer /config \”C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics NAV\100\Instances\NewServer\NewServer.config\”” DisplayName=”Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server [NewServer]” error=ignore depend=HTTP obj=”NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE”

More info about sc: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/251192/how-to-create-a-windows-service-by-using-sc-exe

Note: Quotes (“) in paths must be escaped with back slash (\)

If the service has been created successfully, you’ll see the message “[SC] CreateService SUCCESS”.

If you run the service with the Network Service credentials, you may see the following error in the Event Log when starting the service:

Application: Microsoft.Dynamics.Nav.Server.exe
Framework Version: v4.0.30319
Description: The application requested process termination through System.Environment.FailFast(string message).
Message: The service could not write to the EventLog because of: ‘The source was not found, but some or all event logs could not be searched. To create the source, you need permission to read all event logs to make sure that the new source name is unique. Inaccessible logs: Security.’.
The original message is: ‘Server instance: NewServer

If this happens, you can manually add the following key in the Windows Registry or you can give permissions to the user to update the registry (this way, when running the service, the correct keys in Windows Registry will be automatically added):

Adding Windows Registry Key

Add the following key in Windows Registry so that this new service is able to add events in Event Log:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\EventLog\Application\MicrosoftDynamicsNavServer$NewServer

And add String Key named: EventMessageFile

If you prefer, you can create a new .reg file with the following content and run it:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\EventLog\Application\MicrosoftDynamicsNavServer$NewServer]
@=””
“EventMessageFile”=hex(2):43,00,3a,00,5c,00,57,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,6f,00,77,\
00,73,00,5c,00,4d,00,69,00,63,00,72,00,6f,00,73,00,6f,00,66,00,74,00,2e,00,\
4e,00,45,00,54,00,5c,00,46,00,72,00,61,00,6d,00,65,00,77,00,6f,00,72,00,6b,\
00,5c,00,76,00,32,00,2e,00,30,00,2e,00,35,00,30,00,37,00,32,00,37,00,5c,00,\
45,00,76,00,65,00,6e,00,74,00,4c,00,6f,00,67,00,4d,00,65,00,73,00,73,00,61,\
00,67,00,65,00,73,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,00,00

Setting Windows Registry Permissions

Alternatively, you may give permissions to Network Service user to update Windows Registry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\EventLog\Application

Right click the Application key.

Now you just need to run the service, either using ServiceTierAdministration tool, Dynamics NAV Administration tool or Windows Services applet.

2. How to rename an existing service instance named NewServer to NewNavServer

Stop the service.

Rename the instance directory name from NewServer to NewNavServer and rename the .config file from NewServer to NewNavServer, to keep it consistent:

Old path/file name: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics NAV\100\Instances\NewServer\NewServer.config

New path/file name: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics NAV\100\Instances\NewNavServer\NewNavServer.config

Update the NewNavServer.config file:

<configuration>
<appSettings file=”C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics NAV\100\Instances\NewNavServer\CustomSettings.config” />
</configuration>

Update the CustomSettings.config file with the new service name:

<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”utf-8″?>
<appSettings>
<add key=”NetworkProtocol” value=”Default” />
<add key=”DatabaseServer” value=”<your sql server address>” />
<add key=”DatabaseInstance” value=”<your sql instance, if used>” />
<add key=”DatabaseName” value=”NAV2017_W1_CU16″ />
<add key=”EnableSqlConnectionEncryption” value=”False” />
<add key=”TrustSQLServerCertificate” value=”False” />
<add key=”ServerInstance” value=”NewNavServer” />
<add key=”ClientServicesPort” value=”50109″ />
<add key=”SOAPServicesPort” value=”50209″ />
<add key=”ODataServicesPort” value=”50309″ />
<add key=”ManagementServicesPort” value=”50009″ />
<add key=”ManagementServicesEnabled” value=”True” />
<add key=”ClientServicesEnabled” value=”True” />
<add key=”ReportPDFFontEmbedding” value=”True” />
…

…
</appSettings>

Now rename the service name. This can be done following one of these two steps:

1. Via Windows Registry

Open Windows Registry Editor, access the path and rename the service name:

Path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MicrosoftDynamicsNavServer$NewServer

Rename Key: MicrosoftDynamicsNavServer$NewServer

To: MicrosoftDynamicsNavServer$NewNavServer

Change the DisplayName:

From: Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server [NewServer]

To: Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server [NewNavServer]

Change the ImagePath:

From: “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics NAV\100\Service\Microsoft.Dynamics.Nav.Server.exe” $NewServer /config “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics NAV\100\Instances\NewServer\NewServer.config”

To: “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics NAV\100\Service\Microsoft.Dynamics.Nav.Server.exe” $NewNavServer /config “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics NAV\100\Instances\NewNavServer\NewNavServer.config”

Restart the machine so changes take effect.

2. Recreate the Dynamics NAV Server

Remove the existing service:

sc delete MicrosoftDynamicsNavServer$NewServer

If successfully deleted, you’ll get the message “[SC] DeleteService SUCCESS”

Recreate the new service.
Open a new command-line window in administrator mode (otherwise you’ll get an Access is denied error) and enter:

sc create MicrosoftDynamicsNavServer$NewNavServer binPath=”\”C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics NAV\100\Service\Microsoft.Dynamics.Nav.Server.exe\” $NewNavServer /config \”C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics NAV\100\Instances\NewNavServer\NewNavServer.config\”” DisplayName=”Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server [NewNavServer]” error=ignore depend=HTTP obj=”NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE”