It's certification time! Lets explore MB6-705, and learn something about installing, configuring and generally getting our hands dirty with an AX2012 R3 CU8 (or later) installation. If you have access to the Microsoft Dynamics Learning Portal do try to pass through the '80672AE' training. I highly recommend it although there is never enough content in the Security section for my needs. Much of the information in MSDN is repeated in the 372 page AX 2012 Installation Guide (marked as IG below, version January 2015) and at the time of writing information such as Slipstreaming I could not find on MSDN at all.
Personally I found this exam difficult due to the wide range of competencies and knowledge required.
Plan a Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 installation (15–20%)
- Manage organizational hierarchies
- Identify legal entities, operating units, and organizational hierarchies; define hierarchy purposes; create organizations(1,2) and hierarchies; add organizations to a hierarchy
- Plan a deployment
- Identify Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 CU8 architectural components, compare minimum versus complete server setup(IG pg. 23), identify other servers in the environment (IG pg. 24), identify necessary service accounts for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 CU8(IG pg. 35), identify necessary service accounts for SQL Server services(IG pg. 41)
- Manage pre-installation tasks
Install, configure, and update Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 CU8 (15–20%)
- Install and configure Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 CU8
- Use the Setup Wizard and automatic update installer(IG pg. 200), validate that prerequisite software is installed(IG pg. 47), install an environment(IG pg. 10), troubleshoot installation issues(IG pg. 65,368), identify considerations for cloud-hosted environments(1,2), configure the Application Object Server (AOS)(IG pg. 61), use the Server Configuration Utility, perform post-installation configuration steps(IG pg. 150).
- Configure and initialize the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 CU8 environment
- Configure clusters(1), load balancing(IG pg. 17-20), and batch servers(1,IG pg. 14); specify help system parameters; identify and configure client performance options(1); specify system service accounts(1); view and configure licenses(1,2); configure system parameters; prepare initialization; synchronize the database; initialize the system(1?)
- Deploy Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 CU8 clients
- Install a client, create a Group Policy logon script(???), deploy multiple clients(1,2, IG pg. 209), create a shared configuration file (1,2), create a batch file to install clients(1,IG pg. 216), understand considerations for installing multiple instances on one computer(IG pg. 358-360?), identify and describe Microsoft Office add-ins(IG pg. 205), configure Office add-ins, import data from Microsoft Excel(1,2), edit data in Excel, use Office templates and documents(Maybe also read up on the Management Reporter installation and overview documentation for AX?)
- Describe Lifecycle Services, identify tools for updating the environment, understand and implement slipstream installations (1,IG pg. 43)
Manage users and security (15–20%)
- Understand security concepts and components
- Understand the pluggable authentication architecture(1); identify features that support compliance, auditing, and reporting; implement custom authentication(IG pg. 89,95,102); integrate security with the organizational model(?,?); determine proper placement of system components to secure the environment(?)
- Manage authentication, users, and Active Directory user groups
- Create Active Directory users and groups(1); describe claims-based authentication(1); import users from Active Directory; identify role-based security features(1) including process cycles, duties, privileges and permissions; align application security with business needs(1?); assign roles to users roles(1,2,3), duties, and process cycles; add a role; modify a role; override permissions for a role; add duties to a role; remove duties from a role; edit a duty
- Manage the extensible data security framework
- Control access to past, present, and future records; develop data security policies(1); identify data security filters; implement record-level security
- Secure OLAP data and reports
- Identify default Analysis Services roles, assign users to database roles, specify user access to cubes, restrict access to specific members of a dimension, identify report security considerations(1?), control access to data and assemblies(1?), implement role-based security to reports and resources(1?), mitigate injection attacks (See also setup)
Implement services and manage workflows (10–15%)
- Describe workflow(1) architecture
- Identify workflow types(1,2), identify workflow features, identify uses and limitations of workflow types
- Implement support for workflows
- Specify the workflow execution account; run the Workflow infrastructure configuration wizard(1); create email notification templates; specify workflow templates(email templates?); set up work item queue groups, queues(1), and queue assignments
- Create, configure, and monitor workflows
- Create a workflow with the graphical workflow editor(1), configure workflow approval elements, configure workflow decisions(1,2), create performance analysis reports, view workflow history
Manage reporting and analytics (10–15%)
- Understand reporting components
- Identify the reporting architecture, identify services that are used in reporting(?), identify SQL Server Reporting Services features, describe .rdl files(1?), understand report generation from end-user requests through report rendering
- Understand analytics components
- Differentiate between online analytical processing (OLAP) and online transaction processing (OLTP) databases(1,2); describe cubes; define facts (Concept: "The central table in the schema is the fact table, the source of the cube's measures"), dimensions, and measures; identify types of cubes; identify default cubes; work with date dimensions; configure the Gregorian calendar(1,2)
- Deploy and configure cubes
- Deploy default cubes, connect SQL Server Analysis Server to the Application Object Server (AOS), automate cube processing, configure access to cubes (1, and read the note in the link), configure default cubes and analysis servers
- Install and configure report servers
- Identify reporting components, install prerequisite software(1), configure report servers, validate settings(?), set up reports as batches, use Windows PowerShell to deploy reports
Manage the Enterprise Portal (10–15%)
- Describe Enterprise Portals
- Identify Enterprise Portal components and features including Role Centers, sites, and pages(1); describe enterprise search architecture(1,2); describe the Enterprise Portal security process flow(?,?); describe perimeter networks
- Install and deploy Enterprise Portals
- Identify installation tasks, understand search components(1), describe relationships between search components, install Enterprise Portal (1,2,3,4) and Role Centers(1,2), deploy objects from the Application Object Tree (AOT)(1), deploy changes to the Enterprise Portal(1,2), use the AdUpdatePortal utility, manage remote Enterprise Portal deployments(1)
- Configure and administer Enterprise Portals
- Identify and configure Enterprise Portal parameters, publish images(1), manage Enterprise Portal websites(1), configure collaboration workspace settings(1), configure search, update the search crawler role(IG pg. 148,153)
Manage Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 CU8 installations (15–20%)
- Manage models
- Identify model store components; understand model store uses (1,2); identify files related to the model store including .aod, .axmodel, and .xpo files; understand the difference between the current model store architecture and earlier versions of the model store
- Manage batch processes
- Understand task processing order(1,2), create a batch group, create batch jobs(1), add tasks to a batch job(1,2), run batch tasks(1), view batch job history
- Set up and manage email messages and alerts
- Integrate Microsoft Dynamics AX with Microsoft Outlook(1,2,3), identify forms that support sending email messages, send email messages to distribution groups, define alert parameters(1,2), create alert rules and alerts, use rule templates, process alerts, connect templates with alerts(1)
- Monitor Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 CU8
- Describe system monitoring tools including Management Pack(1), Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer, and Performance Monitor; identify Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 CU8-specific Performance Monitor counters
- Manage infrastructure and deployment components
- Install and configure web services on Internet Information Services (IIS), create service groups(1), configure integration ports and adapters(1), migrate configuration settings between environments(1), describe and configure inbound and outbound ports, understand the differences between basic and enhanced ports
- Troubleshoot and manage services
- Start and stop batch services(1?,2?), debug services(1,2), understand Queue Manager message status values, view and manage queued messages, view information about Application Integration Framework (AIF) exceptions
