The most common eConnect error: The source was not found, but some or all event logs could not be searched

By Steve Endow

This is one of the most common eConnect errors that I continue to see with Dynamics GP customers.  It occurs when a new server is setup with eConnect, or when an integration is migrated to a new server where eConnect was just installed.

It is very simple to fix, but requires Local Admin rights on the machine running eConnect.


eConnect error:

Exception: 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.

Dynamics 365 Business Central April Upgrade Scheduling - Important Notes!

By Steve Endow

If you haven't read the post on the Business Central for Partners blog about "Scheduling your April 2019 Upgrade for Business Central", I recommend reading it thoroughly.

https://community.dynamics.com/business/b/businesscentraldevitpro/archive/2019/03/27/scheduling-your-spring-2019-upgrade-for-business-central


It has several very valuable points about enhancements to the Business Central version upgrade process.

Some of the key points are:

Beginning with the April '19 release, we will also send notifications for preview version availability, upgrade scheduling, extension validation, and upgrade failures.

Troubleshooting a Dynamics GP SQL Posting Error

By Steve Endow

I recently had a call with my friend Windi Epperson to troubleshoot an odd SQL error that was occurring when posting a Dynamics GP batch.

Here is a video discussing the error and our journey to identify the cause and resolve the issue.

C# SqlException: Procedure or function has too many arguments specified

By Steve Endow

I've been fighting this error for years in my Data Access class. Only yesterday did I figure out the cause.

It's related to the design of my Data Access class, and specific cases where I need to make multiple calls to the database in a single method.

This is the error:

SqlException: Procedure or function has too many arguments specified

This is an example of a stored procedure call that leads up to the error.

Assembling SQL Parameters for a Stored Procedure

3 Fun Stories About Strings and C#

By Steve Endow

Whenever you work with data, an integration, or code, you will invariably work with strings. Usually lots of strings.

In some cases, every data field you work with will be a string. In other cases, you'll need to convert strings to numbers, dollars, or dates.  And sometimes you'll need to format strings, whether composing data into XML, formatting social security numbers, or working with different date formats.

In this video, I share 3 stories about working with strings in C# that I encountered recently on projects.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKF6bE1RqOk

Dynamics GP Document Attach Record Type (Origin Description) Codes

By Steve Endow

I have been working on a few Dynamics GP Document Attach projects lately, and I haven't been able to find a complete list of the record type codes used in the Doc Attach tables.

To find the codes, query the CO00101 table and look at the ODESCTN field values.

CO00101 Table

Here's the partial list that I've compiled so far for a US installation of Dynamics GP.  As I test additional record types, I'll update this list.

If anyone knows of a complete list or has updates, let me know.

Customer:      CC

Vendor:        Vendor (Creditor in UK)

Item:          IC

GL Transaction:    GL

PM Transaction:    PM

Purchase Order:        PO

Purchase Requisition:  REQ

PO Shipment:           PS

PO Shipment/Invoice:   PSI

Receivables Transaction:  RM

SOP Order:     SO

SOP Invoice:   SI

Note:  NOTES

**NOTE: It appears that some of the Doc Attach record type codes may vary by region.  For example, UK installations use "Creditor" instead of "Vendor".  But "CC" is still used for UK Customers, rather than "Debtor".

Steve Endow is a Microsoft MVP in Los Angeles.  He is the owner of Precipio Services, which provides Dynamics GP integrations, customizations, and automation solutions.

You can also find him on Twitter and YouTube

http://www.precipioservices.com

"I don't want to bother turning on Two Factor Authentication"

By Steve Endow


January 2019 Update:  A security researcher has developed a tool that can intercept logins and 2FA codes through a man-in-the-middle attack. 

https://www.zdnet.com/article/new-tool-automates-phishing-attacks-that-bypass-2fa/

This type of attack can apparently defeat most, if not all code based 2FA systems.  

I have a separate blog post discussing YubiKeys / U2F tokens, which are touted as being more secure than code-based 2FA authentication schemes.

The article mentions that the tool "is inefficient against U2F-based schemes that rely on hardware security keys."  I am not sure if author did mean inefficient, or if he meant ineffective, but I don't think U2F tokens would prevent the browser from authenticating with a YubiKey with the MITM in place.  

If anyone has information indicating that U2F validates the URL and / or can prevent this type of MITM proxy attack, I would love to read about it.

The other day I received a Skype message from a friend.  It was an abbreviated URL using the Google URL shortener.

It looked something like this:

          https://goo.gl/zADTrqeUItixixqazsva&34525?id=username


Since it was from a friend I knew well, I was about to click on it.

Then I paused.

The URL format seemed a bit odd.  After a moment of reflection, I realized it looked suspicious.  Then I realized that the message appeared in Skype.  And this friend doesn't message me on Skype.  And I vaguely recall receiving a similar message on Skype from a customer a few years ago.

I messaged my friend through another app and let him know that his Skype account had been compromised.

He was able to login to his Skype account and confirm it had been compromised.  He was able to see several logins from other countries.

He let me know that he reset his password, and considered the problem resolved.

I then recommended enabling two factor authentication on the account.

His response:  "I don't regularly use the account, so I don't want to deal with the potential hassle of 2FA".


I propose looking at 2FA differently.