Installation cannot proceed: Setup cannot continue because a pending restart is required.  Restart the computer and then try running Setup again.

Multiple reboots later, we were still running into the same issue.  The solution, was to make a slight modification to the registry.

1. Open HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft
2. Create a new key named: MSCRMClient
3. In the MSCRMClient keyword, create a a DWORD named IgnoreChecks, and set the value to 1.

Download location: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=5869f2b3-d1a0-4f71-8be3-fde6e8053a2e&displayLang=en

Knowledgebase article: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=977650

A few points to consider:
* Before install Update Rollup 9, Update Rollup 7 is a pre-requisite for the Microsoft CRM for Outlook client and Microsoft Dynamics CRM Data Migration Manager.
* Microsoft CRM for Outlook may be restarted after applying Update Rollup 9
* After installing Update Rollup 9, the client should clear their Temporary IE files.

Here is a compiled list, from the TechNet site:

Network and connectivity

• Does Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook have connectivity?
• Is Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook offline?
• Are the Microsoft Dynamics CRM authentication credentials valid?
• Is the user a member of an existing organization?
• Is the user still a member of the organization?
• Is the user enabled and does the user have at least one security role?
• Does the user have permission to synchronize to Outlook?
• Does the user have permission to synchronize the address book?
• Does the user have permission to synchronize to the offline data store?
• Does the user have permission to create activities?
• Does the user have permission to go offline?
• What is the network quality, including speed and dropped packets?

Internet settings

• Is Microsoft Internet Explorer set to prompt for authentication? This issue can be fixed with the tool.
• Does the pop-up blocker include the Microsoft Dynamics CRM URLs as safe sites?
• Are cookies being transmitted between Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook and the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server?

Client configuration

• Is there a known outage?
• Are the registry keys correct?
• Was a non-Microsoft Dynamics CRM Outlook profile recently opened?
• Are there multiple Outlook profiles?
• Was the Microsoft Dynamics CRM add-in disabled? This issue can be fixed with the tool.
• Was the Microsoft Dynamics CRM add-in listed as an unsafe add-in? This issue can be fixed with the tool.
• Is the Microsoft Office Excel add-in registered correctly?
• Are the Microsoft Dynamics CRM address book files corrupted? This issue can be fixed with the tool.
• Are there multiple Outlook processes running?
• Are COM objects registered correctly?
• Can metadata be loaded?
• Is the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Application Host process responding to HTTP requests?
• Can Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook with Offline Access initialize? This issue can be fixed with the tool.

Environment configuration

• Is the memory load acceptable?
• Is the installed memory sufficient, based on installation recommendations?
• Is the processor speed sufficient?
• Is there enough free disk space?

Synchronization

• Were there recent errors when synchronizing to Outlook?
• Can Microsoft SQL Server Express be contacted?
• Is the Outlook synchronization subscription valid? This issue can be fixed with the tool.
• Is the address book synchronization subscription valid? This issue can be fixed with the tool.
• Are the offline synchronization subscriptions valid? This issue can be fixed with the tool.

Updates

• Are there any Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook Auto-Update updates available?

Performance

• Is the Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook cache size acceptable?
• Are the application host process shut-down options acceptable?
• Is the metadata cache size acceptable?
• Is the offline database size acceptable?
• Is the address book size acceptable?
• Is the e-mail tagging performance acceptable?
• Is the Outlook synching performance acceptable?
• Is the offline synching performance acceptable?

Microsoft CRM updates are not downloaded through the Windows Update process. As such, patches are applied either manually by the administrator, or automatically pushed down to each end-user by the administrator. The focus of this article is to review the AutoUpdate feature in Microsoft CRM – a feature that allows CRM administrators to push Microsoft CRM Rollup updates and patches to client machines running CRM for Outlook. To use the AutoUpdate feature, the article assumes the following prerequisites:

Any necessary server components of the Rollup patch have been applied in advance (e.g., CRM Server, CRM E-mail Router, SQL Reporting Services).

Patch will only be applied to end-users running the CRM for Outlook (Online, or Offline).

End-users are local administrators to their machine. If they are not, this guide is not applicable.

This guide supplements installing Rollup 6 for Microsoft CRM for Outlook 4, as a walkthrough example. Rollup 6 was the most current update at the time of writing. However, there may be more recent updates available.

PROCESS

Server-side administration:

1. Review the specific PatchId and LinkID for the Rollup

a) Visit the Microsoft CRM Rollup KnowledgeBase page to find the PatchID and LinkID. Make note of these two details. They are important.

For Rollup 6, the Knowledgebase page is located at: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=970148

PatchID for the English language: {7E83D1E5-7B7A-45D1-8930-4FEFB4123B57}

LinkID for the English language: 162439&clcid=0×40

b) Create a new plain-text document file using notepad. Name the file: clientupdate.xml and save the file into a folder on the CRM application server (e.g., c:\crmpatches\rollup6\clientupdate.xml)
Note: make sure to keep the extension of the file as .xml and not .xml.txt

The contents of the file should be:

<ClientPatches>
<Create>
<ClientPatchInfo>
<PatchId>PatchID</PatchId>
<Title>Title of the Rollup update</Title>
<Description>Description of the Rollup update</Description>
<IsMandatory>true</IsMandatory>
<IsEnabled>true</IsEnabled>
<ClientType>OutlookDesktop,OutlookLaptop</ClientType>
<LinkId>LinkID</LinkId>
</ClientPatchInfo>
</Create>
</ClientPatches>

A few elements are worth mentioning:

<PatchId> – corresponds to the PatchID for the Rollup update (from Part 1)
<IsMandatory> – if the value is set to yes, when a user opens their Outlook, an update window informs them to install the patch. If the value is set to no, the user will need to apply the update from their Outlook toolbar.
<LinkId> – corresponds to the LinkID for the Rollup update (from Part 1)

Important note: Microsoft supplies LinkID using an ampersand (&). For example, you will see the LinkID on the Knowledgebase site as: 162439&clcid=0×40 You will need to replace the ‘&’ in the LinkID with ‘&amp;’. So the above LinkID example would be: 162439&amp;clcid=0×40

c) Update the <title> and <description> values accordingly.

d) Save the updated xml file.

Below is an example of the clientupdate.xml for Rollup 6.

<ClientPatches>
<Create>
<ClientPatchInfo>
<PatchId>{7E83D1E5-7B7A-45D1-8930-4FEFB4123B57}</PatchId>
<Title>CRM Rollup Update 6</Title>
<Description>Microsoft Update Rollup 6</Description>
<IsMandatory>true</IsMandatory>
<IsEnabled>true</IsEnabled>
<ClientType>OutlookDesktop,OutlookLaptop</ClientType>
<LinkId>162439&amp;clcid=0×40</LinkId>
</ClientPatchInfo>
</Create>
</ClientPatches>

3. Deploying the Microsoft CRM Rollup to users running CRM for Outlook

a) Determine where the Microsoft CRM files are located on the application server (usually this would be in the C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server\ folder).

b) Issue the following single statement at the command prompt, all on one line:

“C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server\Tools\Microsoft.Crm.Tools.ClientPatchConfigurator.exe” “c:\crmpatches\Rollup6\clientupdate.xml”

In the above example, I assume the Microsoft.Crm.Tools.ClientPatchConfigurator.exe is found in the folder on step a), and the xml file is also located in the folder on step b).

c) If no errors come up, the client update patch has been deployed successfully. Users are now ready for the update.

Client-side:

 
What will the user expect when a Rollup is pushed through the AutoUpdate feature?

What a user will expect to see depends on the <isMandatory> setting selected in the clientupdate.xml file.

<isMandatory>false</isMandatory>

If the <isMandatory> setting was set to false, the user will need to manually invoke the update installation. To do this, the user should click CRM à ‘Check For Updates’ in Outlook.

<isMandatory>true</isMandatory>

If the <isMandatory> setting was set to true, the patch will be automatically available to the CRM user for installation when they open their Outlook. The AutoUpdate check runs every 4 hour. If the user did not complete the update, they will be prompted to do so again, every 4 hours, until it is installed.

End-User Installation Process

The end-user is expected to perform the necessary steps below to install the update. The screen prints illustrate what the end-user is expected to see throughout the install. The screen prints are specific for Rollup 6; however, the walkthrough should apply to all Rollup’s.

When the update installation is launched, the user will see a window similar to the one below:

The user should now walk through the following steps:

i) The user should close their Outlook.

ii) The user should also close the CRM application icon in the taskbar (the user may need to expand the taskbar using the if the icon is not visible). Right-click and select Exit. This will ensure that no files are locked during the upgrade.

iii) On the update page, click ‘Update Now’

iv) The Status column will change from ‘Not Installed’ to ‘Installing’. The update process should take 10-15 minutes, or longer, depending on the size of the Rollup, and other factors.

v) Once the installation completes, the user will see green checkmarks beside the installed update. Click Close.

Note: In some circumstances, the installer may require a computer reboot after installation.

Where does the Rollup appear?

The Rollup patches appear in the Add/Remove programs on the user’s machine.

RELATED ARTICLE OF INTEREST

Dave Ireland, a colleague (and my boss) at Salentica has put together a complementing article on linking user’s CRM for Outlook settings to the CRM database.  Many will find this another timesaving enhancement, especially when publishing CRM Outlook settings in large deployments.

Read the article here: Pushing CRM for Outlook Settings To The Masses