ArcherPoint Dynamics NAV / Business Central Developer Digest - Vol 349
In this edition of Developer Digest, we share a BCContainerHelper tip and have a conversation about delaying Windows updates.
The Dynamics NAV and Business Central community, including the ArcherPoint technical staff, is made up of developers, project managers, and consultants who are constantly communicating, with the common goal of sharing helpful information with one another to help customers be more successful.
As they run into issues and questions, find the answers, and make new discoveries, they post them on blogs, forums, social media…so everyone can benefit. We in Marketing watch these interactions and never cease to be amazed by the creativity, dedication, and brainpower we’re so fortunate to have in this community—so we thought, wouldn’t it be great to share this great information with everyone who might not have the time to check out the multitude of resources out there? So, the ArcherPoint Microsoft Dynamics NAV Developer Digest was born. Each week, we present a collection of thoughts and findings from NAV/BC experts and devotees around the world. We hope these insights will benefit you, too.
Developer Tip Of The Day: BCContainerHelper Commands
Kyle shares this handy tip: “You can get a list of available container helper commands (for the version you currently have installed) with this:
Write-BcContainerHelperWelcomeText
Delaying Your Windows Update
Kyle is back: “Important Safety Tip: Try to delay the latest major Windows update, which goes to build 21H1 (19043.985). This will break all your Docker containers if they use process isolation because of an OS mismatch, and there are no Docker images out there for this build of Windows yet.
HyperV isolation will work, but only if you rebuild your containers. If you want to see which images are available, point a web browser here, to the Microsoft Business Central tag list.
You’ll note that the 10.0.19042 images are most recent, which is why the Docker containers get broken by 19043. You can pause Windows Updates for 7 days, which might help delay the 21H1 update.
Matt T offers additional information: “When you do update, you will have to rebuild your containers no matter what. If Microsoft hasn’t released updated images, then you should be able to run these commands in PowerShell to switch your container isolation from Process to HyperV.
Import-Module BcContainerHelper
$bcContainerHelperConfig.defaultNewContainerParameters += @{ “Isolation” = “hyperv” }
$bcContainerHelperConfig | ConvertTo-Json | Set-Content “C:\ProgramData\BcContainerHelper\BcContainerHelper.config.json”
I would still recommend waiting to see if the new images come out in a timelier manner, but we will not be able to push the security update out further than it already is.”
Shirley responds: “Thanks, Matt. I’m going to try this. I hadn’t worked in containers for a few weeks, and when I tried to run one today, I discovered mine were all broken because I got that Windows update. Apparently, if you updated more recently than 10 days ago, you get an option to roll back, but my update must have been longer ago than that, unfortunately.
She follows with: “FYI, I just rebuilt a container without doing anything to the isolation setting, and it seems to work. At least it’s running, and I can connect to it from the Web Client.”
Kyle responds: “You apparently have been doing HyperV isolation all along, then. This is from your output:
Container OS Version: 10.0.19042.985 (20H2)
Host OS Version: 10.0.19043.985 (21H1)
Using hyperv isolation
If you are interested in Dynamics NAV and Business Central development, be sure to see our collection of NAV/BC Development Blogs.
Read the “How To” blogs from ArcherPoint for practical advice on using Microsoft Dynamics NAV and Dynamics 365 Business Central.