#MSDYN365BC: Building a Development Environment for Microsoft Dynamics GP ISVs Part 3/3
In Part 2 of this series, we covered the full installation of Docker Desktop, used to run the Dynamics 365 Business Central containers. We also saw how to use PowerShell to enable both the Hyper-V and Containers features on Windows 10.
This article will focus on the installation and troubleshooting of the Dynamics 365 Business Central containers and will provide step by step instructions on how to accomplish this. Remember, there are quite a bit of resources out there, so here they are:
Get started with the Container Sandbox Development Environment
Running a Container-Based Development Environment
But the goal of this series is to help Microsoft Dynamics GP ISVs draw similarities and contrasts with their multi-developer Microsoft Dexterity development environments.
Now that Docker is been installed, we can effectively proceed to lay down the BC containers. This will create a full virtualized environment with all the BC components needed for development purposes. This equates to having a full environment with Microsoft Dynamics GP, Web Client, IIS, and SQL Server in place for developers to code against.
Business Central Containers Installation and Troubleshooting
1. To begin the installation, we must install the NavContainerHelper PowerShell module from the PowerShell Gallery, which contains a number of PowerShell functions, which helps running and interacting with the BC containers.
See NavContainerHelper from Freddy Kristiansen for additional information.
In the process of installing the NavContainerHelper module, you will be asked to add the latest NuGet provider to be able to retrieve any published packages. After the installation of the NuGet provider, I went to import the NavContainerHelper module and ran into the following error, advising me that running scripts was disabled on the system I was attempting to install on.
By running the Get-ExecutionPolicy command, I was able to identify that all PowerShell execution policies on my machine were set to Undefined, which in turn prevents unsigned scripts from being executed.
Since I was installing this on my local machine, I simply wanted to bypass any restrictions within the current user scope.
2. With the installation of the NuGet provider and the changes to the script execution policies in place, it was time to call Import-Module to add the NavContainerHelper module.
Importing the module is a quick step.
3. Finally, it's time to create the BC containers. This is done by calling the New-NavContainer function (from the NavContainerHelper module). You will be prompted to create a user name and password to access the container and BC once installed. Here's the full call:
New-NavContainer -accept_eula -containerName "Demo-bc" -accept_outdated -imageName "microsoft/bcsandbox:us" -auth NavUserPassword -includeCSide -UpdateHosts -doNotExportObjectsToText
4. The container files are downloaded onto disk and are extracted.
5. Once all the files are extracted, the container is initialized by Docker. If all goes well, you should see a message letting you know that the container was successfully created.
If you close the PowerShell window, you will notice a new set of icons on your desktop that will allow you to load BC running on the container, as follows:
Double-click on the Demo-bc Web Client icon to test the container deployment.
With the installation of Docker and BC containers, we have completed all the supporting environment setup. Be sure to play around with the new options, in particular, with both BC web client and Windows client components. It is important you begin to gain an understanding of the functional aspects of the application, before you embark in developing for this platform - nothing different than what you already did for Dynamics GP.
We are not quite done here, but since I am supposed to be a rational human being and respect the number of parts I chose for this series, I will start a new series showing how to add Visual Studio Code along with selecting and connecting to a source control repository, to close out this topic, so bear with me.
Until next post!
MG.-
Mariano Gomez, MVP
This article will focus on the installation and troubleshooting of the Dynamics 365 Business Central containers and will provide step by step instructions on how to accomplish this. Remember, there are quite a bit of resources out there, so here they are:
Get started with the Container Sandbox Development Environment
Running a Container-Based Development Environment
But the goal of this series is to help Microsoft Dynamics GP ISVs draw similarities and contrasts with their multi-developer Microsoft Dexterity development environments.
Now that Docker is been installed, we can effectively proceed to lay down the BC containers. This will create a full virtualized environment with all the BC components needed for development purposes. This equates to having a full environment with Microsoft Dynamics GP, Web Client, IIS, and SQL Server in place for developers to code against.
Business Central Containers Installation and Troubleshooting
1. To begin the installation, we must install the NavContainerHelper PowerShell module from the PowerShell Gallery, which contains a number of PowerShell functions, which helps running and interacting with the BC containers.
See NavContainerHelper from Freddy Kristiansen for additional information.
 |
| Install-Module NavContainerHelper -force |
By running the Get-ExecutionPolicy command, I was able to identify that all PowerShell execution policies on my machine were set to Undefined, which in turn prevents unsigned scripts from being executed.
 |
| Get-ExecutionPolicy |
 |
| Set-ExecutionPolicy |
Importing the module is a quick step.
3. Finally, it's time to create the BC containers. This is done by calling the New-NavContainer function (from the NavContainerHelper module). You will be prompted to create a user name and password to access the container and BC once installed. Here's the full call:
New-NavContainer -accept_eula -containerName "Demo-bc" -accept_outdated -imageName "microsoft/bcsandbox:us" -auth NavUserPassword -includeCSide -UpdateHosts -doNotExportObjectsToText
 |
| New-NavContainer |
5. Once all the files are extracted, the container is initialized by Docker. If all goes well, you should see a message letting you know that the container was successfully created.
 |
| Container created successfully |
- Demo-bc Web Client: shortcut to the BC web client application
- Demo-bc Command Prompt: access to the container command prompt
- Demo-bc PowerShell: access to the PowerShell prompt running on the container
- Demo-bc Windows Client: launches the Microsoft Dynamics NAV on-premises client
- Demo-bc WinClient Debugger*
- Demo-bc CSIDE: launches the CSIDE development environment for BC.
 |
| Desktop after a successful BC container deployment |
With the installation of Docker and BC containers, we have completed all the supporting environment setup. Be sure to play around with the new options, in particular, with both BC web client and Windows client components. It is important you begin to gain an understanding of the functional aspects of the application, before you embark in developing for this platform - nothing different than what you already did for Dynamics GP.
We are not quite done here, but since I am supposed to be a rational human being and respect the number of parts I chose for this series, I will start a new series showing how to add Visual Studio Code along with selecting and connecting to a source control repository, to close out this topic, so bear with me.
Until next post!
MG.-
Mariano Gomez, MVP
Comments