Extension
There are a few ways to install the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (BC) connector for Dime.Scheduler. The old way of working, that is using objects, is still supported, albeit for backwards compatibility only. Microsoft encourages its partners to create extensions for said platform. And that's what we did. There are two flavours of the extension:
- The on-premises extension is an .app file that you need to install manually on the BC server using PowerShell.
- For cloud instances of BC, the extension published on AppSource can be installed with the mere click of a button.
Let's take a look at how they're deployed.
On-premises extension
The extension can be deployed in two ways:
- Using the installation script developed by Dime Software
- By using vanilla PowerShell commands
All commands covered on this page must be run in the Business Central Administration Shell.
1. Installation script
We have developed an installation script DimeScheduler.InstallBCExtension.ps1 that's available on the PowerShell Gallery.
Install
To install the script, run the following command:
Install-Script -Name DimeScheduler.InstallBCExtension
Locate
To locate the installation script, you can use Get-InstalledScript:
(Get-InstalledScript -Name "DimeScheduler.InstallBCExtension").InstalledLocation
To immediately set the current directory of your terminal to the location of the script, simply prepend cd to the above script:
cd (Get-InstalledScript -Name "DimeScheduler.InstallBCExtension").InstalledLocation
Naturally, this being PowerShell, you can combine commands in a single line:
cd (Get-InstalledScript -Name "DimeScheduler.InstallBCExtension").InstalledLocation; & .\DimeScheduler.InstallBCExtension.ps1 -serverInstance BC -version 24
Run
The script accepts the following parameters:
| Parameter | Description | Required |
|---|---|---|
| serverInstance | The BC instance's name | ✅ |
| version | The major version name of the BC wave (e.g. 14, 22, 23, 24) | Either -version or -path |
| path | The full path of the Dime.Scheduler .app file | Either -version or -path |
| skipVerification | Set this switch -skipVerification to skip verification. Only use for dev/testing purposes. | ❌ |
Version
To use the latest extension files, you can simplify specify the -version parameter. The script will then download the extension for this version of BC.
Example invocation script using the -version parameter:
.\DimeScheduler.InstallBCExtension.ps1 -serverInstance BC -version 24
Path
Should you require a different version of the extension, or your own extension file, you can specify the absolute location of the app file using the -path parameter.
Example invocation script using the -path parameter:
.\DimeScheduler.InstallBCExtension.ps1 -serverInstance BC -path C:\dsfiles\Dime_Dime.Scheduler_2.3.0.3.app
2. Vanilla PowerShell
The DimeScheduler.InstallBCExtension.ps1 script is essentially a wrapper around the script below. If, for whatever reason, the script is not used, you can run these commands to deploy the Dime.Scheduler extension in Business Central:
Publish-NAVApp -ServerInstance BC -Path ".\Dime_Dime.Scheduler_x.x.x.x.app"
Sync-NavApp -ServerInstance BC -Name "Dime.Scheduler"
Install-NAVApp -ServerInstance BC -Name "Dime.Scheduler"
Make sure to replace the version number in "".\Dime_Dime.Scheduler_x.x.x.x.app" with the version that you have chosen.
If the deployment is done on a multi-tenant server instance, a -Tenant parameter should be added to the second and third command. Also, the third command is optional because the app can be installed by using the client.
Within moments, you should see the Dime.Scheduler extension appear in the extension list:
AppSource
The Dime.Scheduler connector for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is available on AppSource. Simply fire up the extension, hook it up to Dime.Scheduler and you're good to go!
Let's go through it step by step.
Click on this link or head over to AppSource and look for 'Dime' or 'Dime.Scheduler' in the search bar:
The search engine should have found the connector:
Click on the card to open the detail page:
To deploy the connector, click the 'Get it now' button. A modal window will appear. Tick the checkbox and continue.
Now AppSource will take you to the available instances Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. For example:
Select the right instance and AppSource will go ahead and deploy the connector, right after you've selected a language:
As the confirmation window explains, you can check the status of the deployment in the Extension management page:
This step might take a minute or so. But after that, you're good to go!