AX 2009 and edition of SQL Server Analysis Services

I recently came across an issue when trying to build a SSAS project containing modifications to the standard AX Cubes.

When building or rebuilding the project, I got 1 047 (!) errors with the description "Dimension [x] : Only dimension attributes and attribute relationships can have translations in Standard Edition."

The only solution to this is to (try to) modify the SSAS database in SQL Server Management Studio by some heavy scripting. Or of course upgrade SSAS to Enterprise Edition which I really don't know is legal without licensing Enterprise Edition (I'm trying to clarify this). Anyway it's a valid upgrade path regarding to the information given by Microsoft for SQL Server 2008 R2 (Version and Edition Upgrades) on MSDN.

The system requirements for AX 2009 doesn't contain any information saying SSAS Enterprise Edition is needed and neither does the general SQL Server reqiurements.Until further noticed and official information is given from Microsoft, it's worth having this in mind when deciding which edition of SQL Server to use together with AX 2009.

The only information from Microsoft I have found on this issue, is in a draft document titled "How to add financial dimension to Dynamics AX default cubes" (PDF) from the EMEA Dynamics Support blog on MSDN. On the bottom of page 3 and the beginning of page 4, the following information is given:

This is the only information from Microsoft I have found and despite this beeing a draft document, it clearly states that the system requirements should be updated alternatively that another soultion is provided. From this I understand that you have to backup the OLAP database and restore it to an instance of SQL Server 200x Developer Edition (equals Enterprise Edition in functionality), create a project in BIDS, build and deploy the changes to Developer Edition, and finish doing a final backup - restore sequence back to the production instance of SSAS.

In general, I think most customers will end up designing their own cubes and modifying the needed Role Centers accordingly, to avoid all the struggle with the default cubes.

Experience doing an AX 2009 Complete Install

A short update on my experience from doing a complete install of AX 2009 with dedicated servers for each server role.

First of all, the process went quite well and the only struggle was to get all the Service Principal Names (SPNs) correct including named instances and the SQL Server Browser service on the SSAS server.

Main take aways:

• Spend time on planning and account for some issues related to Kerberos authentication (hard to estimate)
• Follow the latest version of the AX Installation Guide
• Make sure you deploy the latest Cumulative Rollup package for AX (and other services)
• Bookmark the AX EMEA Support Team Blog (very valuable source of information)
• Make sure each component work as expected before you proceed the install and configuration sequence

After installing SharePoint 2010 for the first time, I also have a suggestion for Microsoft regarding AX setup - please have a look at the SharePoint 2010 Products Preparation Tool (shown below) and incorporate this idea into the next release of AX.