Configuring the Windows Client

When you install the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Windows client, the Specify Parameters page in Microsoft Dynamics NAV Setup prompts you for configuration information to enable the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Windows client to connect to Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server. This information is then saved in the default ClientUserSettings.config file.

A separate instance of the ClientUserSettings.config file is maintained for each user of the computer. The default location for this file is C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Microsoft Dynamics NAV\90, where <username> is the name of the user. This folder and file are hidden by default. Change your folder options in Windows Explorer to view hidden files before you attempt to modify the ClientUserSettings.config file.

Configuring the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Windows Client in Setup

If you install the Demo Option, you are not prompted for configuration information, because all Microsoft Dynamics NAV components are automatically installed on the local computer. If you install using any other installation option, you must provide some initial configuration information to enable the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Windows client to establish a connection with an instance of Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server.

In Setup, select one of the following Installation Options to install the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Windows client:

You can also customize your installation and customize the list of components to install. For more information, see How to: Choose Components to Install.

After you specify an installation option or customize your component list, the Specify parameters pane is displayed in Setup. The list of parameters that you see in the Specify parameters pane depends on which components that you have selected for configuration. Setup provides a short description for each parameter. For a description of the most important parameters for the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Windows client, see Client Option.

Choose Apply when you have finished entering values on the Specify parameters page in Setup. If you want to change the configuration after installation, you can modify the ClientUserSettings.config file for each client.

Configuring the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Windows Client After Installation

Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2016 Setup installs ClientUserSettings.config, the default configuration file, with the values that you provided as you ran Setup. This file is stored in C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Microsoft Dynamics NAV\90. The first time a user runs the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Windows client, a copy of ClientUserSettings.config is copied to C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Microsoft Dynamics NAV\90, where <username> is the name of the user. This folder and file are hidden by default.

If you want to change default Microsoft Dynamics NAV Windows client settings for all future users on this computer, edit the default ClientUserSettings.config file in C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Microsoft Dynamics NAV\90. You must run your text editor with Administrator permissions when you do this.

If you want to change Microsoft Dynamics NAV Windows client settings for an existing user, edit the ClientUserSettings.config file in that user’s C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Microsoft Dynamics NAV\90 folder. After you modify a user’s ClientUserSettings.config file, you must restart the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Windows client for changes to take effect.

In addition to the settings that you can configure in Setup, the ClientUserSettings.config file contains other settings for the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Windows client.

Settings in the ClientUserSettings.config File

The ClientUserSettings.config file is an .xml file that you can edit with any text editor. Quotation marks are required for all values.

The following settings are available.

Setting Description

Server

Specifies the name of the computer that is running Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server for this client.

Default value: Empty string if you installed by using the Client installation option, or localhost if you installed by using the Developer Environment installation option or a custom installation.

ClientServicesPort

Specifies the listening TCP port for the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server instance that the client connects to.

Default value: 7046

ServerInstance

Specifies the name of the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server instance that the client connects to.

Default value: DynamicsNAV90

For more information, see Managing Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server Instances.

TenantID

Specifies the tenant that the client connects to in a multitenant deployment. For more information, see Multitenant Deployment Architecture.

Default value: ""

ClientServicesProtectionLevel

Specifies the security services for protecting the client/server data stream. This value must match the value that is specified in the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server configuration file. For more information, see Configuring Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server.

Default: EncryptAndSign

Values: EncryptAndSign, Sign, None

UrlHistory

Specifies a comma-delimited list of Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server connections that is displayed in the Select Server window when you choose the drop-down arrow in the Server name field.

This parameter is not available after you install the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Windows client, but it is created and populated after the user enters a server name in the field.

You can create and populate this field after you install the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Windows client. This gives the user a list of servers from which to choose.

Example:

<add key="UrlHistory" value="localhost, dev:7046/DynamicsNAV90, sales:7046/DynamicsNAV90"/>

Each value must contain a computer name and can optionally also include a port number and a Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server instance. Defaults are assumed if either value is missing.

ClientServicesCompressionThreshold

Specifies the threshold in memory consumption at which the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Windows client starts compressing datasets, in kilobytes.

Default: 64

ClientServicesChunkSize

Specifies the default size for a chunk, in kilobytes.

Default: 28.

The range of values is from 4 to 80.

ClientServicesKeepAliveInterval

Specifies the time (in seconds) between reliable session messages that are automatically sent to Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server to keep the session alive during periods of inactivity.

If Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server is located behind a load balancer, then we recommend that you set this value to approximately half of the load balancer's idle timeout.

Default: 120

MaxNoOfXMLRecordsToSend

Specifies the maximum number of data rows that can be sent as XML during export to Word or Excel.

Default: 5000

MaxImageSize

Specifies the maximum image size (in bytes) allowed by validation.

Default: 26214400

ClientServicesCredentialType

Specifies how Microsoft Dynamics NAV Windows client users are authenticated when they connect to Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server.

For more information, see Users and Credential Types.

This parameter value must be the same as the Credential Type setting for the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server instance that the client is configured to connect to. For more information, see Configuring Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server.

Default value: Windows

ACSUri

Specifies the web location where the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Windows client goes to authenticate the client user.

This parameter is only relevant if the ClientServicesCredentialType is set to ACS.

Default value: ""

AllowNtlm

Specifies whether NTLM fallback is permitted for authentication.

To require Kerberos authentication, set this value to false.

Default value: true

ServicePrincipalNameRequired

If this parameter is set to true, then the client can only connect to a Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server instance that has been associated with a service principal name (SPN).

If this parameter is set to false, then the client attempts to connect to the configured Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server instance, regardless of whether that instance is associated with an SPN.

Default: false

ClientServicesCertificateValidationEnabled

Specifies whether to enforce validation of the certificate.

In a production environment, setting this parameter to true is strongly recommended.

When validation is enabled, the certificate must be trusted, not revoked, and the CN name should match the URL of your service.

When validation is disabled, you can use a self-signed certificate without a revocation list and no constraint on the CN name.

Default: true

DnsIdentity

Specifies the subject name of the service certificate for Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server. The Microsoft Dynamics NAV Windows client makes sure that the certificate that is provided during the SSL handshake contains a Domain Name System (DNS) or CommonName (CN) attribute that is equal to the DNS identity of the client. This check is performed in addition to determining the validity of the server certificate.

Default: ""

For more information, see Connecting the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Clients over a Wide Area Network.

HelpServer

Specifies the name of the computer than hosts the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Help Server.

HelpServerPort

Specifies the TCP listening port for the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Help Server.

Default: 49000

UnknownSpnHint

Specifies whether to use server principal name when establishing the connection between the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Windows client and Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server. This setting is used to authenticate the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server. You set the values that are based on the value of the ServicePrincipalNameRequired key.

Value: The value has the following format.

(net.tcp://NavServer:Port/ServerInstance/Service)=NoSpn|SPN

  • NavServer is the name of the computer that is running the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server.

  • Port is the port number on which the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server is running.

  • ServerInstance is the name of the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server instance.

  • NoSpn|SPN specifies whether to use an SPN. If the ServicePrincipalNameRequired key is set to false, then set this value to NoSpn. If the ServicePrincipalNameRequired key is set to true, then set this value to Spn.

Default value: (net.tcp://localhost:7046/DynamicsNAV90/Service)=NoSpn

This setting is updated automatically.

See Also

Concepts

Configuring Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server
Configuring Microsoft Dynamics NAV Help Server
Configuring Microsoft Dynamics NAV