Manage an AOS configuration

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Important

This content is archived and is not being updated. For the latest documentation, see Microsoft Dynamics 365 product documentation. For the latest release plans, see Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform release plans.

Applies To: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Feature Pack, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012

A configuration is a group of startup, connection, performance, and developer settings for an instance of Microsoft Dynamics AX Application Object Server (AOS). Administrators and developers create new AOS configurations to complete the following tasks:

  • To move an AOS instance from a development environment to a production environment – The administrator or developer changes the database that an AOS instance points to, and specifies whether the instance enables debugging.

  • To tune Microsoft Dynamics AX – The administrator or developer saves a configuration that includes the default values, and then changes various settings, one at a time, to evaluate performance.

This topic includes the following procedures:

  1. Create a new configuration

  2. Save a configuration

  3. Export a configuration

  4. Load a configuration

  5. Import a configuration

Warning

The procedures in this topic are performed by using the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Server Configuration utility. After you make changes in the server configuration utility, the system prompts you to restart the AOS instance. The restart affects all client and database connections to the AOS instance. If you must perform one or more of these procedures on a production server, we recommend that you perform the procedures during off-peak hours to prevent dropped connections for clients and databases.

Create a new configuration

You cannot modify the original configuration of a system. Therefore, all the fields in the original configuration are unavailable. To change AOS settings, you must create and modify a new configuration.

  1. Open the server configuration utility. Click Start > Administrative Tools > Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Server Configuration.

  2. In the Application Object Server instance list, select the AOS instance that you want to modify.

  3. Click Manage, and then click Create configuration.

  4. Enter a name for the configuration.

  5. In the Copy configurations from section, click Active configuration if you loaded a custom configuration and want the new configuration to use the same settings. If you want the new configuration to use the default settings that were configured when the AOS instance was installed, click Original configuration. Click OK.

You can now make changes in the server configuration utility. All changes apply to the AOS instance that is selected in the Application Object Server instance list.

Save a configuration

After you create a configuration, you can save the changes that you made to that configuration to either the registry or a file. By saving a configuration so that it uses a new name, or so that it is a new file, you can iterate changes over time. The server configuration utility includes the following options for saving a configuration:

  • If you created a new configuration that is based on the original, or if you loaded a configuration that is already stored in the registry – To save your changes to the registry, click Apply or OK in the server configuration utility. To save your changes to a new file, click Manage > Save configuration as file, and then click Apply or OK. The system prompts you to restart the AOS instance to implement the changes.

  • If you opened a configuration file – To save your changes to the file that you opened, click Manage > Save configuration file. To save your changes to a new file, click Manage > Save configuration as file, and then click Apply or OK. The system prompts you to restart the AOS instance to implement the changes. To save your changes to the registry, import the configuration by using the procedure that is described later in this topic.

Export a configuration

Use this procedure if you want to copy a configuration to an AOS instance on another computer.

  1. In the server configuration utility, verify that the AOS instance and the configuration that you want to save are selected.

  2. Click Manage > Export configuration to file. Enter a location and name for the configuration file, and then click Save. The file is saved as an .axc file.

If you created multiple configurations for an AOS instance, you can export all the configurations by clicking Manage > Export all. The system informs you of the number of configurations that were exported.

Load a configuration

  1. In the server configuration utility, in the Application Object Server instance list, select the AOS instance that you want to modify.

  2. In the Configuration list, select the configuration that you want to load.

  3. Click Apply.

Import a configuration

You can open a configuration file by using the Open configuration file command. However, Microsoft Dynamics AX does not store settings from configuration files in the registry. To store settings from configuration files in the registry, you must use the Import configuration from file command. Importing a configuration has the following effects:

  • After the configuration is imported, it becomes the active configuration, and the system prompts you to restart the AOS instance.

  • If you imported a configuration file that contains multiple configurations, the first configuration in the file becomes the active configuration.

  1. In the server configuration utility, in the Application Object Server instance list, select the AOS instance that you want to modify.

  2. Click Manage > Import configuration from file.

  3. Browse to the configuration file that you want to use, and then click Open. Configuration files have the .axc extension.

See also

Install an AOS instance

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Server Configuration (form)

Manage AOS performance and availability

Maintain an AOS