How to Upgrade Data from Microsoft Dynamics NAV to Microsoft Dynamics Business Central On Premise - Part 1

Introduction:

The launch of the Microsoft Dynamics Business Central gave way to upgrades from Microsoft Dynamics NAV to Microsoft Dynamics Business Central.

This blog is about sharing my experiences with Business Central Upgrade from NAV 2017.

However, for different versions of NAV, a set of steps are to be followed to get to NAV 2017 and then upgrade to Business Central On-Premise.

Pre-requisites:

• Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
• Microsoft Dynamics for NAV
• Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
• Powershell ISE
• Understand NAV to BC Upgrade Considerations - Click here
• Understand Upgrade Path - Click here

Books & References:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/business-central/dev-itpro/upgrade/upgrade-considerations#online
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/business-central/dev-itpro/upgrade/upgrade-paths

https://www.sauravdhyani.com/2018/10/msdyn365bc-data-upgrade-to-microsoft.html

Demonstration:

Microsoft Dynamics NAV to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Upgradation includes two major steps

1. Code upgrade: This step is mandatory when you have customizations/modules installed on top of Base NAV. Basically, your NAV codebase is shifting from C/AL to AL and all the customizations that you have built for NAV will be moved to extensions in Business Central. To get more details on code upgrade you can refer C/AL to AL Conversion

Also, you can refer to my C/AL to AL Code conversion using Text2AL

2. Data upgrade: This step comes after your customization code has been upgraded from C/AL to AL.

We need to do this step to migrate all the existing steps from 

i. Uninstall any extensions installed in NAV 

 Use 'Get-NAVAppInfo -ServerInstance DynamicsNAV100' to get Apps Installed in NAV DB 

Use UninstallNAV-App -ServerInstance DynamicsNAV100 -Name <AppName>

ii. Delete All Objects except Table from NAV Development Environment

Filter ObjectType <> Table and Delete the Objects

List of Objects present for the filter ObjectType<>Table

Only Table Objects are present

iii. Delete any Debug Points if present: The debugger points are stored in Debugger Breakpoint Table in SQL DB.

iv. Delete any ServerInstances if present: The Server Instances are stored in Server Instance Table in SQL DB.

v. Provide DB Owner permission to the User:

vi. Import Business Central Partner (Development) License:
In NAV 2017 Dev goto  New > Alter Database > Goto Integration Tab > Uncheck - Save license in Database > Close the window.
Again goto Alter Database and Check - Save license in Database > Select the .flf file

The uploaded License looks like

At this point, the SQL DB is preprocessed and ready to be upgraded to Business Central On-Premise.

Now you can install Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central On-Premise and connect Busines Central On-Premise to SQL DB.

The next steps will be in the upcoming blog post.

Conclusion:

This blog contains steps of how to make the NAV database ready to be upgraded to Business Central OnPremise.
The next step on connecting Business Central On-Premise to SQL DB will be in the next blog.