When Dynamics SL 2011 or 2015 Application Server is running on a separate PC or a hardware box of VM, there is always a probability that Windows OS can be silently rebooted. A good example of this would be a scheduled IT maintenance that involves an installation of a critical Windows update.
In this case, the Dynamics SL and Application Server process could be offline until somebody figures it out and re-starts these processes. There could be scheduled reports that did not get delivered on time because Application Server was offline.
In order to prevent this, a simple resolution could be implemented to auto-start Dynamics SL and Application Server after a reboot of Windows.
All steps below have been done for the Windows 2012 R2 VM dedicated for running Dynamics SL Application server only. It can, however, be adjusted to other Windows versions. Please, configure an automatic Windows login for an applicable user before implementing the steps below.
1. Create a simple batch command file and put it into any applicable location. In this example, it is a Start_APP.bat file in the C:\ directory. The file contains the next commands:
@ECHO OFF
TIMEOUT 30
start /D “c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Dynamics\SL\Applications” /B MSDynamicssl.exe
TIMEOUT 60
start /D “c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Dynamics\SL\Applications\AS” /B 9601000.exe
EXIT
2. Set this command file for auto-start:
– open Run command (Winkey+R)
– type shell:Startup
– This will open a window in the otherwise hidden AppData path for the Startmenu/Programs/Startup
– Add a shortcut to the command file, in this case, to the C:\Start_APP.bat. This will, of course, only apply to the logon account that you’re using at the time.
– For all users type shell:Common Startup
3. Re-start Windows and make sure Dynamics SL and Application server restart successfully.