Connect to a Dynamics 365 instance using the Unified Service Desk client

Applies To: Dynamics 365 (online), Dynamics 365 (on-premises), Dynamics CRM 2013, Dynamics CRM 2015, Dynamics CRM 2016

The Unified Service Desk client is the agent application you can use to connect to the Microsoft Dynamics 365 instance where you have deployed your Unified Service Desk entities and configuration data. On signing in through the client application, it reads the Unified Service Desk configuration on the Dynamics 365 instance, and accordingly exposes the controls and functionality in the application.

In This Topic

Sign in to Unified Service Desk

Configure sign-in information

Troubleshoot sign-in issues

Sign in to Unified Service Desk

If you want to configure the sign-in experience, such as pre-populate values in the sign-in dialog box or automatically sign in users without displaying the sign-in dialog box, see Configure sign-in information.

1. Start the Unified Service Desk client by double-clicking the application shortcut on your desktop.

2. In the Unified Service Desk sign-in dialog box, provide authentication details to connect to your Dynamics 365 server.

   

   • For Microsoft Dynamics 365 (online) select Office 365.

   • For on-premises deployments, select On-premises and choose from the following Authentication Sources.

     • Active Directory. Choose this authentication source if you are connecting to Dynamics 365 (on-premises) internally through your network and do not connect to Microsoft Dynamics 365 throught the Internet.

     • Internet-facing Deployment (IFD). Choose this authentication source if you are connecting to Dynamics 365 (on-premises) through the Internet.

     • OAuth. Choose this authentication source if you are connecting to Dynamics 365 (on-premises) by using a security token service (STS) that is not Windows Server but supports the OAuth open framework.

   • If you have multiple organizations, and want to select the organization where Unified Service Desk is deployed, select the Display list of available organizations check box, and then click Login.

3. If you have multiple organizations, select the organization you want to connect to.

4. The Unified Service Desk splash screen appears. This screen shows information about the configuration data being read by the client in the background. Next, the main window appears and prompts you to enter your Dynamics 365 server credentials. Type in your credentials, and then sign in to the Unified Service Desk client application.

Any time you start the Unified Service Desk client and need to sign in again, you don’t have to provide your connection information again. Your credentials are stored securely in the Windows Credential Manager and other connection information is stored in the Default_USD.config file at c:\Users\<USER_NAME>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\USD, and used for subsequent sign-in activities.

If you want to change your connection information to sign in, click Change Credentials in the splash screen. You’ll see the initial sign-in dialog box where you can enter different credentials.

Configure sign-in information

If needed, administrators can configure the sign-in experience for Unified Service Desk and pre-populate values in the sign-in dialog box (except user name and password) so users can connect to the specified Dynamics 365 instance, or they can configure it to automatically sign in users to an on-premises Dynamics 365 instance based on their Active Directory credentials without even displaying the sign-in dialog box.

To configure sign-in information, use the UnifiedServiceDesk.exe.config file that is available in the client installation directory (typically c:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics CRM USD\USD).

1. Run Notepad as an administrator.

2. In Notepad, open the UnifiedServiceDesk.exe.config file from the client installation directory (typically c:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics CRM USD\USD).

3. Add the following keys under the <appSettings> node in the UnifiedServiceDesk.exe.config file.

   <add key="CrmDeploymentType" value="<DEPLOYMENT_TYPE>" />
   <add key="CrmUseSSL" value="<VALUE>" />
   <add key="CrmOrg" value="<ORG_NAME>" />
   <add key="CrmPort" value="<PORT_NUMBER>" />
   <add key="CrmServerName" value="<CRM_SERVER_NAME>" />
   <add key="UseDefaultCreds" value="<VALUE>" />
   <add key="CacheCredentials" value="<VALUE>" />
   <add key="CrmOnlineRegion" value="<CRM_ONLINE_REGION>" />
   <add key="AuthHomeRealm" value="<VALUE>" />
   <add key="AskForOrg" value="<VALUE>" />
   <add key="CrmDomain" value="<DOMAIN_NAME>" />
   

4. Provide an appropriate value for each of the keys. Each key maps to an individual field in the sign-in dialog box. The following table shows valid key values.

   Key	Value
   CrmDeploymentType	Prem or O365  Prem must be used if you’re connecting to an on-premises or Internet-facing deployment (IFD) of Dynamics 365; O365 must be used if you’re connecting to Dynamics 365 (online).
   CrmUseSSL	True or False This key is applicable only if you specified Prem in the CrmDeploymentType key.
   CrmOrg	Specify the Dynamics 365 organization name
   CrmPort	Specify the Dynamics 365 port number This key is applicable only if you specified Prem in the CrmDeploymentType key.
   CrmServerName	Specify the Dynamics 365 server name This key is applicable only if you specified Prem in the CrmDeploymentType key.
   UseDefaultCreds	True or False Note For on-premises Dynamics 365 installation (<add key="CrmDeploymentType" value="Prem" />) and Active Directory authentication (<add key="AuthHomeRealm" value="Active Directory" />), set the value of this key to True to directly sign in users to the specified Dynamics 365 server or organization without even displaying the sign-in dialog box.
   CacheCredentials	True or False Note To force the connection dialog box to display every time the Unified Service Desk client is launched, set the value of this key to False. By default, the client caches the last connection information, and uses it next time to establish a connection to the Dynamics 365 server, unless the user cancels and specifies a different connection.
   CrmOnlineRegion	NorthAmerica, EMEA, APAC, SouthAmerica, Oceania, JPN, CAN, IND, or NorthAmerica2 If you don’t know the online region, leave the value empty: value="" This key is applicable only if you specified O365 in the CrmDeploymentType key.
   AuthHomeRealm	Active Directory or Internet-facing deployment(IFD). This key is applicable only if you specified Prem in the CrmDeploymentType key.
   AskForOrg	True or False Indicates whether the Display list of available organizations check box is selected in the sign-in dialog box.
   CrmDomain	Name of the Windows domain. This key is applicable only if you specified Prem in the CrmDeploymentType key.

   5. Save the UnifiedServiceDesk.exe.config file.

   6. Do the following on each user’s computer where you want to configure the sign-in information:

      1. Copy the UnifiedServiceDesk.exe.config file that you just modified to the client installation directory (typically c:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics CRM USD\USD) to replace the existing file.

      2. Remove the Unified Service Desk sign-in information from the roaming user profiles on the user’s computer. If the user has signed in to Unified Service Desk from his computer at least once, the following files are created in the c:\Users\<USER_NAME>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\USD directory: Default_USD.config and Default_USD. You must delete both these files for the configuration settings in the UnifiedServiceDesk.exe.config to take effect.

   When the user starts the Unified Service Desk application on his computer:

   • The sign-in dialog box shows the values specified in the UnifiedServiceDesk.exe.config file, and also creates the Default_USD.config file in the c:\Users\<USER_NAME>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\USD directory to store the connection information (except user name and password; this is stored in Windows Credential Manager). Thereafter, the client application uses the Default_USD.config file to display the sign-in information or to automatically sign in to Unified Service Desk.

   • For an on-premises Dynamics 365 installation with Active Directory authentication, if you have configured to automatically sign in the user without displaying the sign-in dialog box (<add key="UseDefaultCreds" value="True" />), the sign-in dialog box is not displayed, but the Default_USD.config file is created in the c:\Users\<USER_NAME>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\USD directory to store the connection information (except user name and password). Thereafter, the client application uses the Default_USD.config file to automatically sign in to Unified Service Desk.

   If you need to modify the default sign-in information, you must repeat steps 1-6.

   Troubleshoot sign-in issues

   Unified Service Desk provides logging support to log errors that can occur while signing in to the Microsoft Dynamics 365. A log file, Login_ErrorLog.log, is created at c:\Users\<USER_NAME>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\UnifiedServiceDesk\<Version> the first time you encounter any sign-in issues in the client application. Thereafter, the log file is used to record information about subsequent sign-in issues. This information can be helpful for troubleshooting issues related to signing in to Microsoft Dynamics 365 from the client application.

   Note

   Unified Service Desk also creates another log file, UnifiedServiceDesk.log, at the same location to log operational errors in the client application. The log file is created the first time you encounter any issues in the client application. More information: Configure client diagnostic logging in Unified Service Desk

   See Also

   Security in Unified Service Desk
   Learn to use Unified Service Desk
   Unified Service Desk Configuration Walkthroughs
   Administer and manage Unified Service Desk

   Unified Service Desk 2.0

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