BizTalk Health Monitor is a snap-in, basically it’s the same of BizTalk MsgBoxViewer tool that we used monitor a BizTalk environment by gathering all information of a BizTalk group and detecting any issues, non-critical or critical warnings to detect any potential problems in advance, but in this case is integrated more closely with the BizTalk Administration Console to provide BizTalk administrators a quick and complete dashboard of a BizTalk group which will help them monitor the health of their BizTalk platform.

You can see more info about BizTalk Health Monitor (BHM) at:

• Overview of BizTalk Health Monitor (BHM)
• BHM is now officially available for BizTalk Server 2010 and BizTalk Server 2013

BHM was originally released as a new feature with BizTalk Server 2013 R2 but luckily for us Microsoft decided to release a standalone version of BHM for use with BizTalk Server 2010 and BizTalk Server 2013.

You can download the standalone version of BHM from Microsoft Download Center here: BizTalk Health Monitor

How to install BizTalk Health Monitor snap-in

Prerequisites:

• BizTalk Server 2010 or 2013 should be installed and configured.

How to register BizTalk Health Monitor Snap-In

After you download and unzip the BHM.ZIP file from the Microsoft Download Center, you the “InstallUtil.exe” which comes with BizTalk Health Monitor tool to register the BHM snap in.

Important: Unzip the BHM.ZIP to a final destination before you register the snap-in for example: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft BizTalk Server 2010\SDK\Utilities\BHM. Once you register the BizTalk Health Monitor Snap-In you cannot delete the folder or BHM will stop working

To accomplished that we need to:

• Open a command prompt as an administrator
• Navigate to the directory file where you unzipped the BHM.ZIP file
  • For example: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft BizTalk Server 2010\SDK\Utilities\BHM
• And from the command prompt type:
  • InstallUtil.exe MBVSnapIn.dll
• And hit enter. This step will do some registry changes and register the SnapIn to be used

How to integrate BHM Snap-In into BizTalk Admin Console

Important note: BHM Snap-In can be used independently and need not to be integrated with BizTalk Administration Console. The handicap of this approach is that a BizTalk Administration will need to use two different places/tools to monitor and administrate the environment.

To be easier and more convenience for BizTalk Administrators BHM Snap-In can also be integrate it so that it can be used with BizTalk Administration Console.

To accomplished that we need to open a 32-bit Microsoft Management Console (MMC):

• Click Start, click Run, type:
  • mmc /32
• Press enter or click OK. This will open a new 32-bit version of MMC (MMC32).
• From MMC console, go to File menu and select “Options…” option
  • In the text box, replace “Console1” for “BizTalk Administration Console”
  • In the Console mode combo box, select “User mode – full access”
  • And confirm that the option “Do not save changes to this console” is uncheck

• From MMC console, go to File menu and select “Add/Remove Snap-in…” option

• From the “Add or Remove Snap-ins” window, add following snap-ins and then click Ok
  • Microsoft BizTalk Server Administration
  • BizTalk Health Monitor

• You can add the snap-ins by selecting them from the “Available snap-ins” list and click “Add >”
• Is recommend that you respect the order present in the “Selected snap-ins” list as showed in the picture above
• This will generate for us a new MMC which contains both the BizTalk Server Administration and BizTalk Health Monitor. And by now your new MMC is ready which shows both the BizTalk Server Administration and BizTalk Health Monitor

Now you might want to save this as a new .msc file so that you don’t have to repeat these steps again but before we complete the creation process of the “new” BizTalk Administration Console, I recommend that you navigate to the BizTalk Server Installation folder:

• Example: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft BizTalk Server 2010
• And rename “BTSmmc.msc” file, for example: “BTSmmc-old.msc”

This because we will save the “new” BizTalk Administration Console as “BTSmmc.msc” so that you don’t need to create new shortcuts or having different ways to access the BizTalk Administration Console – however this step is optional!

To finished the creation process of the “new” BizTalk Administration Console

• From MMC console, go to File menu and select “Save As…” option:
  • Give a name and then save it.
    • Access to BizTalk Server Installation folder
      • C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft BizTalk Server 2010
    • Save the file as “BTSmmc.msc”

From next time onwards, when you open the BizTalk Server Administration Console

The “new” BizTalk Administration Console will be incorporated with the BizTalk Health Monitor

You can download the standalone version of BHM from Microsoft Download Center here: BizTalk Health Monitor

In the last few weeks I have been doing BizTalk project migrations successfully from BizTalk Server 2006 and Visual Studio 2005 to recent version: BizTalk Server 2010/VS 2010 or BizTalk Server 2013/VS2012. In most of the scenario this is a simple task and regarding to Visual Studio we basically just need to open the “old” solution with the “new” Visual Studio and it will try to convert the solution using the Visual Studio Conversion Wizard tool, check more details in one of my previous post: BizTalk 2010 – Migrate an old BizTalk Visual Studio solution to Visual Studio 2010.

Of course this part is just the Visual Studio project migration, and in some cases we need to make adjustments to our solution.

However recently I face a strange problem when I was trying to convert the Visual Studio solution, every time I tried it gave me the following error:

“Unable to read the project file “…\MyProject.btproj.user”. The project file could not be loaded. Root element is missing.”

CAUSE

“*.btproj.user” file. This is a XML file that contains not only the BizTalk deployment Settings but also several personal user settings like References path, test file names and so on.

I’m not sure what did happen with this file while copying the project to the new server, or during it’s time life in the former development server. However when I check the file system for this file I noticed that the file was empty:

SOLUTION

To solve this problem you just need to delete this User configuration file (*.btproj.user) from the file system and try to import de project or convert the solution again.

I miss the old BizTalk Hotrod Magazine, of my knowledge, there isn’t no other type of magazine about BizTalk Server. And the only thing we have approximately to that is the Flipboard BizTalk Magazine that I have weekly published throughout these last months.

You can find the BizTalkMagazine into Flipboard in in your favorite device Apple (iPhone, iPad), Android, Windows 8, and so on… or simply through the Internet browser at: https://flipboard.com/section/biztalkmagazine-bMJFWI

I start this project because I didn’t have the knowledge and the time required to create a PDF magazine similar to the BizTalk Hotrod Magazine, and Flipboard gave me an easy and simple way to share content in a type of magazine format.

Now it seams a little limited and after all this months I would like to take the magazine to a new level and recreate some of the concept of BizTalk Hotrod magazine, inviting authors to write articles to be published and share other resources like tools, scripts, adapters and so on… probably launching a magazine every month or quarterly.

To try this concept I decided to publish a beta version of the magazine as a proof of concept that now is available for you to download here: BizTalk Magazine – September 2014 Edition – probably the magazine name should be different.

This first edition contains:

• BizTalk Innovation Day, Oslo – Norway
• BizTalk Server 2013: Step-by-Step to implement Unit Testing in Schemas and Maps
• "INTEGRATE – 2014"– Announcing the Global BizTalk Summit, Microsoft Campus, WA. Dec 3-5, 2014
• BizTalk Administrator Deep dive course
• Exposing data through BizTalk Service Hybrid Connections
• BizTalk Server SQL Agent Jobs

Have a nice read! And If you have any suggestions feel free to comment, your feedback is important.

I public announced for the first time that I was working in an eBook about BizTalk Mapping Patterns and Best Practices, and that it would be published for free, this March during BizTalk Summit 2014 London… Well folks, it’s that time to announce that “BizTalk Mapping Patterns and Best Practices” book – a 400-page recipe for BizTalk Developers to develop effective, robust, and organized maps – is now finally available for you to download at BizTalk360 website here.

The “BizTalk Mapping Patterns and Best Practices” book is a reference guide mainly intended for BizTalk developers to make their day-to-day lives easier. The book offers insights on how maps work, the most common patterns in real time scenarios, and the best practices to carry out transformations and has as technical reviewers Steef-Jan Wiggers, Nino Crudele, Michael Stephenson and José António Silva. I had been working on this over the last one year, and my original idea of publishing these information as a blog changed in the due course to become a white paper, then finally to a “Community eBook” with about 400-pages and contributions from so many people. I need to thanks BizTalk360 to accept the challenge of publishing its first book and make it available to the community and my employer, DevScope, for given me a lot of leverage to spend time writing this book, but also to actively contribute for the community of BizTalk with articles, blog and conferences.

I would also like to thank my fantastic team of Technical Reviewers composed by three Integration MVP’s: Michael Stephenson, Nino Crudele and Steef-Jan Wiggers and for the person responsible for the initial idea: José António Silva. Thank you for accepting the challenger and thank you for the incredible effort and time to increase the quality of the book. And also to my friend Sónia Gomes (http://ideiasaoscaracois.com) for creating this amazing cover for the book.

Key Features

• Direct Translation Pattern: Simply move data to a different semantic representation without any manipulation or transformation.
• Data Translation Pattern: Similar to Direct Translation Pattern with additional step of data manipulation or transformation to match the target system format.
• Content Enricher Pattern: Set up access to an external data source (say, a database) to enhance the message with missing information.
• Aggregator Pattern: Similar to Content Enricher Pattern; difference in mapping technique. Multiple inbound requests mapped to single outbound request.
• Content Filter Pattern: Opposite of Content Enricher Pattern; remove unnecessary items from message (even based on condition) and send what is exactly required
• Splitter Pattern: Opposite of Aggregator Pattern; single inbound request to be mapped to several outbound requests
• Grouping Pattern: Example – shopping catalogue where items are grouped under categories like Sports, Women Cosmetics, Electronics, Computers, and so on.
• Sorting Pattern: In most scenarios, Grouping Pattern and Sorting Pattern will be bound together
• Conditional Pattern: To receive only portion of the data from the message, apply a condition statement to filter the result set at the source.
• Looping Pattern: For instance, a record in the source system may occur multiple times in the input file. They need to be transformed according to the target system
• Canonical Data Model Pattern: Ensures loose coupling between applications; if new application is added, only the transformation between the Canonical Data Model has to be created.
• Name-Value Transformation Pattern: Target system requires a Name-Value Pair (NVP) structure; or the source system has a NVP structure and the target requires a hierarchical schema

Click here to download your free copy of the book.

Why I did not choose a “proper” publisher?

Some people have asked me why I didn’t publish my book in a real proper publisher like Apress, Packt Publishing or others and the reason is simple… I could easily and had the chance to publish but it would be a paid book and what I really wanted was to create and deliver to the community my first book (I don’t know if I will write or not more books) for free as a way to thank you for the affection and support that all of you have given me in the last years.

BizTalk360 was the proper choice because I know the people and I know I could count on them to publish making it available to the community for free and promote the book.

When was the book released?

The book was public announced during the BizTalk Innovation Day, Oslo (Norway) 2014 event and I could not have chosen a better place and audience to present my book because the idea of creating this book started after a session of one of our events: BizTalk Innovation Day Oporto, the venue was really amazing in a kind of nightclub for event (actually MESH is also a nightclub J) and the Norwegian audience is really amazing and I have good friends there.

Here is the moment of the official announcement:

Please give me your feedback

Your opinion is very important to me. I appreciate your feedback and I will use it to evaluate changes and make improvements in the book and future projects.

Download the book for free

The book if available for you to download for free at BizTalk360 website here: BizTalk Mapping Patterns & Best Practices

This last few days were quite busy in terms of speaking engagements. In less than 1 months I was invited to speak in 3 events: BizTalk Innovation Day Oslo, LIX Edition of SQLPort Community (Porto – Portugal) and in SQLSaturday #341 – Porto, Portugal.

BizTalk Innovation Day Oslo 2014

The first one was in September 25 – BizTalk Innovation Day Oslo, in which I am also a member of the organization team – BizTalkCrew, this was the third consecutive year that this event was third consecutive year but the first time in Oslo, since the others were held in Stavanger. Around 60 attendees + speakers + event organizers, attended the event especially from Norway and Sweden, 5 Microsoft Integration MVP’s present, 3 Sponsors (Microsoft, Bouvet and BizTalk360) and an incalculable number of networking hours these are some of the numbers that reflect the success of this event. These are some of the numbers that reflect the great success of this event!

This was a special event for me! Because after 1 year and a half of hard work I finally release and public announce my free Book about “BizTalk Mapping Patterns & Best Practices” – a 400-page recipe for BizTalk Developers to develop effective, robust, and organized maps that he has previous announce during the BizTalk Summit 2014, London event.

You can download it at BizTalk360 website here.

My Session – The new Transform Designer available in BizTalk Services

My session was about the new Transform Designer available in BizTalk Services were I addressed the basic differences between the BizTalk Server Mapper and the new Mapper in BizTalk Services, the challenges present while migrating current BizTalk Server maps and how can this task be accomplished. And of course how can we accomplish some of the basic transformation tasks like grouping, shorting and condition transformations. I end my presentation with a very complex transformation challenger that took me a week to solve: mapping a SAP invoice to an EDI Invoice document and wrapping up with the “the good, the bad and the ugly” features of the new Transform Designer.

You can see the full story of the event here: BizTalk Innovation Day, Oslo – story of the day

LIX Encontro da Comunidade SQLPort

The second event was a 20-minute talk in the LIX Edition of SQLPort Community meeting in Porto, Portugal about the Concepts and challenges of Enterprise Integration and how can BizTalk Server and BizTalk Services can address them and help organizations in their needs. An Introduction to BizTalk Server. What is? What does BizTalk do? And an Introduction to BizTalk Services. What is? What does BizTalk Services do?

SQLSaturday #341 – Porto

This was the fourth time that this conference took place in Portugal, but it was the first time that was held in Porto, so was very proud and honor to be selected by the attendees to speak in my first SQLSaturday and in particular to be in my home town. The event was a great success! 22 sessions divided into three tracks, national and international speakers and despise I don’t have official numbers, more than 200 attendees must have passed by the event during the day.

My Session – Introduction to Microsoft Azure BizTalk Services

I had the pleasure to speak at SQLSaturday #341 Porto to a bright young audience that never heard about BizTalk Server/Services… Hoping to open the door for a new integration “BizTalk” genius and why not working with me!

In this session spoke about the existent functionalities in the new integration services in the cloud: Microsoft Azure BizTalk Services: EAI (Enterprise Application Integration) and EDI (Electronic Data Interchange), the challenges in moving from BizTalk Server to BizTalk Services. And the evolving challenges of Enterprise Integration.

I was also honor to represent my company DevScope, gold sponsor of this event, in the awards ceremony session. DevScope has offered an entry to Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Master Class that will be held in November 22 in Porto

Exciting news… Version 1.7.0.1 of BizTalk Mapper Extensions UtilityPack for BizTalk Server 2013 is now available!

Project Description

BizTalk Mapper Extensions UtilityPack is a set of libraries with several useful Functoids to include and use it in a map, which will provide an extension of BizTalk Mapper capabilities.

Here’s the change-log for this release:

• Fixes bugs in the String Replace Functoid

What’s new in this minor version?

This is a minor release of this project that is intended to fix some one minor problem reported in the String Replace Functoid.

It was reported that when trying to be replace a Carriage Return\Line Feed (“\r\n”) inside an element the functoid didn’t work and the reason way this happen is that the XSLT code will translate the string “\r\n” to “\\r\\n”. This release will fix that problem. It may not work for every “special characters” however if you find some more problems you can report them that we will address them.

You can found and download Source Code, Application Binaries and Documentation in CodePlex BizTalk Mapper Extensions UtilityPack home page:

BizTalk Mapper Extensions UtilityPack
CodePlex

or from MSDN Code Gallery:

BizTalk Mapper Extensions UtilityPack for BizTalk Server 2013 (628.8 KB)
Microsoft | MSDN Code Gallery

Probably this will be the first post of a series about “How to take control of your environment”, especially how to take back the control of your environment from the mistakes of developers. And don’t get me wrong I am mainly a developer but I also play the role of the administrator and sometimes I also make mistakes… especially this one that I will talk about.

Who are careful to disable the tracking options for all the artifacts before publish the solution in production environment?

Well I sometimes forget to disable tracks event in orchestration: orchestration start and end, Message send and receive and Shape start and end; and sometimes we actually don’t need to track all this information, they will be there because someone forgot to disable it. Most important this information is only useful for orchestration debugger purpose when things are failing and we always can at any time turn it on for a specific application or orchestration, we don’t need that options active for all the applications.

What’s the implications of these settings being active in production?

“Document tracking can impact performance throughout BizTalk, not just Orchestration. For Orchestration, you should realize that Orchestration Event Tracking is on by default. This is useful during development and testing since Orchestration Events are required for Orchestration Debugger. However, if you do not intend to debug an Orchestration directly in production, you should turn Orchestration Event Tracking off. Orchestration Events are eventually moved to DTA_DEBUGTRACE table in BizTalkDTADB by TDDS. We have seen slow read/writes to this table once it gets large (several hundred thousand rows). What is considered large may vary due to your SQL Server hardware. In the end, if TDDS cannot move data efficiently into BizTalkDTADB, data is accumulated in BizTalkMsgBoxDB. Large MsgBoxDB can cause all of your hosts to slow down, and eventually lead to throttling.“ by Everett Yang (see: Thoughts on Orchestration Performance)

So as BizTalk Server processes more and more data on your system, the BizTalk Tracking (BizTalkDTADb) database may continue to grow in size that can causing poor disk performance.

Should I disable global tracking option?

By default, global tracking is enabled when you install BizTalk Server and if you are having performance issues in your environment that are momentarily addressed by purging the BizTalk tracking database, you may consider turning off global tracking, again momentarily, so that BizTalk stop collecting tracking information. You can accomplish that by modifying the group-level settings:

• In the BizTalk Server Administration Console, expand BizTalk Server Administration, right-click BizTalk Group, and then click Settings.
• In the BizTalk Settings Dashboard dialog box, on the Group page, do the following:
  • Disable “Enable group level tracking” option

However I advise you to do this only cases of emergency when you are having performance issues in production environment otherwise you should left this option enable at all time, why? Because turning off global tracking disables the tracking interceptors for the entire BizTalk Server group, which means, BizTalk Server will not track any events in its tracking tables. And sometimes we need to enable tracking for some artifacts.

So what’s the alternative?

The alternative is to configure for each application in each artifact: orchestrations, schemas, ports … the correct tracking settings. However this is a thankless and unpleasant task, because we have to go into all artifacts, especially in schemas, in order to configure them properly.

The first option to easily accomplish this task is to:

• Go to the BizTalk Administration Console and Select “All Artifacts”
• Select “Orchestrations” option and then select all the orchestrations available
• Click “Tracking…” option in the right panel under “Selected Items” panel

By configuring the tracking options this will apply for all the selected orchestrations with only one operation. This will works fine for all the artifacts… except schemas! Because in schemas you will need to go one by one.

The second option is using PowerShell script to accomplish this task, you could also do it with C# code but I think that PowerShell is a more familiar language for the administrators or sys admins.

How can I automate this task?

Windows PowerShell is a Windows command-line shell designed especially for system administrators and can be used by BizTalk administrators to help them in automating tasks.

This is a simple script to disable all tracking settings for all the artifacts in your BizTalk Server Environment:

# Disable tracking settings in orchestrations    
$Application.orchestrations | 
%{ $_.Tracking = [Microsoft.BizTalk.ExplorerOM.OrchestrationTrackingTypes]::None }

# Disable tracking settings in Send ports       
$disablePortsTracking = New-Object Microsoft.BizTalk.ExplorerOM.TrackingTypes
$Application.SendPorts | 
%{ $_.Tracking = $disablePortsTracking }

# Disable tracking settings in Receive ports
$Application.ReceivePorts | 
%{ $_.Tracking = $disablePortsTracking }

# Disable tracking settings in pipelines        
$Application.Pipelines | 
%{ $_.Tracking = [Microsoft.BizTalk.ExplorerOM.PipelineTrackingTypes]::None }

# Disable tracking settings in Schemas
$Application.schemas | 
	?{ $_ -ne $null } |
	?{ $_.type -eq "document" } |
	%{ $_.AlwaysTrackAllProperties = $false }

The script can be found and download on Microsoft TechNet Gallery:
BizTalk DevOps: How to Disable Tracking Settings in BizTalk Server Environment (5.7 kB)
Microsoft TechNet Gallery

BizTalk is shipped out with a total of 13 SQL Agent jobs. Experienced BizTalk professionals know that all the BizTalk SQL Server Agent jobs except the MessageBox_Message_Cleanup_BizTalkMsgBoxDb job should be enabled and running successfully. Besides this job the other jobs should not be disabled!

However one of the most common and important tools to resolve problems that happens in BizTalk Server is the BizTalk Terminator tool (you can know more about this tool here). Terminator provides the easiest way to resolve most of these issues identified by the Monitor BizTalk Server Job.

Nevertheless, before running the Terminator tool, you must always make sure that:

• you have a BizTalk Backup of your databases
• all the BizTalk hosts instances have been stopped,
• and all BizTalk SQL Agent jobs have been disabled.

Unfortunately, through SQL Server Management Studio console there is no easy way to disable or enable all jobs, forcing us to go one on one to disable or enable them.

This query will disable all the BizTalk SQL Server Agent jobs (including the MessageBox_Message_Cleanup_BizTalkMsgBoxDb):

update msdb.dbo.sysjobs set [enabled] = 0 where [name] = 'Backup BizTalk Server (BizTalkMgmtDb)'
update msdb.dbo.sysjobs set [enabled] = 0 where [name] = 'CleanupBTFExpiredEntriesJob_BizTalkMgmtDb'
update msdb.dbo.sysjobs set [enabled] = 0 where [name] = 'DTA Purge and Archive (BizTalkDTADb)'
...
update msdb.dbo.sysjobs set [enabled] = 0 where [name] = 'TrackedMessages_Copy_BizTalkMsgBoxDb'
update msdb.dbo.sysjobs set [enabled] = 0 where [name] = 'MessageBox_Message_Cleanup_BizTalkMsgBoxDb'

After all the task are complete we need of course to enable and start everything. This query will enable all the BizTalk SQL Server Agent jobs (with the exception of MessageBox_Message_Cleanup_BizTalkMsgBoxDb):

update msdb.dbo.sysjobs set [enabled] = 1 where [name] = 'Backup BizTalk Server (BizTalkMgmtDb)'
update msdb.dbo.sysjobs set [enabled] = 1 where [name] = 'CleanupBTFExpiredEntriesJob_BizTalkMgmtDb'
update msdb.dbo.sysjobs set [enabled] = 1 where [name] = 'DTA Purge and Archive (BizTalkDTADb)'
...
update msdb.dbo.sysjobs set [enabled] = 1 where [name] = 'TrackedMessages_Copy_BizTalkMsgBoxDb'

The SQL queries can be found and download on Microsoft TechNet Gallery:
SQL Query to Disable All BizTalk SQL Server Agent jobs
Microsoft TechNet Gallery

SQL Query to Enable All BizTalk SQL Server Agent jobs
Microsoft TechNet Gallery

This next posts will focus on installing and configuring BizTalk Server 2013 R2 and additional components

Make sure that you have installed all the latest critical Windows updates from Microsoft and all the prerequisites before you install BizTalk Server 2013 R2.

Install BizTalk Server 2013 R2

In this section you’ll install BizTalk Server, confirm that the installation succeeded, and then configure BizTalk Server.

When you installed SQL Server, setup granted your account Database Administrator rights. Since these rights are also required for installing BizTalk Server, you must do one of the following:

• Use the same account you used when you installed SQL Server.
• Or make sure the account you’re using now also has Database Administrator rights and is also local administrator.

To install BizTalk Server 2013 R2:

• Close any programs you have open. Run the BizTalk Server 2013 R2 installer as Administrator.
• On the Start page, click “Install Microsoft BizTalk Server 2013 R2”

• On the Customer Information page, type your user name and organization, enter your product key, and then click “Next”

• On the License Agreement page, accept the license agreement, and then click “Next”

• On the Customer Experience Improvement Program page, specify whether you want to participate in the program, and then click “Next”
  • BizTalk Server 2013 R2 participates in the Customer Experience Improvement Program. As part of this support, you can choose to provide useful feedback to Microsoft regarding feature usage reporting functionality of BizTalk Server. The data collected from you is anonymous and cannot be used to identify you. Microsoft collects feature usage statistics as part of this program. By participating in this program, you can help improve the reliability and performance of various features of BizTalk Server. For more information about this program and its privacy policy, see Microsoft BizTalk Server CEIP Privacy Policy (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=269607).

• On the Component Installation page, review the available components and select the ones you want to install.
  • Choose all possible components
  • Accept the default installation location or click Browse to move to the location where you want to install BizTalk Server 2013 R2.
  • And then click “Next”

• On the Redistribute Prerequisites page, if your computer is missing a prerequisite component such as ADOMD.NET, Setup is able to install redistributable prerequisites automatically either from the Web or from a pre-downloaded CAB file. You can either:
  • Select “Automatically install the redistributable prerequisites from the web”, this option will require internet access.
  • Or if you prefer you can select “Automatically install the redistributable prerequisites from a CAB file” if you have already downloaded the CAB file. If you select this, you can then browse to the location of the CAB file and select it.
  • And then click “Next” to continue.

• On the Summary page, verify that the components that you select to install are correct.
  • To enable auto-logon after a system reboot, click “Set” and provide your logon information. Auto-logon is enabled only for reboots during setup, and is disabled when setup is complete.
  • Click “Install” to start the installation process.

• On the Installation Completed page, clear the “Launch BizTalk Server Configuration” check box, and then click “Finish”

Verify Your Installation

You can check to see whether your installation was successful by using either Programs and Features or the Registry.

To verify installation using Programs and Features

• Press the “Windows key” to switch to the Start screen.
• Type “Programs and Features” and click in “Programs and Features” option from the Search menu.
• When the list is fully populated, look for “BizTalk Server 2013 R2 <Edition name> Edition”. If it appears in the list, the setup was succeeded.

To verify installation using the Registry:

• Press the “Windows key” to switch to the Start screen, type “regedit” and click in “regedit” option from the Search menu.

• When the Registry opens, browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\BizTalk Server\3.0
  • If files exist in the 3.0 folder, the setup was succeeded.

• Close the Registry, and then close the command prompt.

Configure BizTalk Server

Use the following procedure to complete a basic configuration of BizTalk Server. For information on customizing your configuration, see Custom Configuration.

Note: If your BizTalk Server environment uses SQL Server 2014 and you wish to configure BAM Alerts, you must have already configured SQL Server Database Mail feature.

To configure BizTalk Server 2013 R2 using Basic Configuration:

• Press the “Windows key” to switch to the Start screen, type “BizTalk Server Configuration” or “BizTalk”, right-click “BizTalk Server Configuration” option from the Search menu, and then click Run as Administrator.

• On the Microsoft BizTalk Server 2013 R2 Configuration page, apply the following configurations and then click “Configure” to continue:
  • Select “Basic configuration” option
  • In the “Database server name” field under “Database” properties, enter the name of the local computer.
  • In the “Service credential” properties, type the User name and Password for the account that the BizTalk services will run under.

• Note: You may receive a warning if you enter a user name with administrative credentials on this computer. Click “Yes” to continue.

• On the Summary page, review the configuration about to be performed, and then click “Next”

• On the Completion page, click “Finish”

We now have BizTalk Server 2013 R2 successfully Installed and Configured!!!

Pin BizTalk Server Administration to taskbar

Everybody knows that BizTalk Server Administration Console is the most important tool, it’s a Microsoft Management Console (MMC) that you can use to manage and monitor BizTalk Server, and that you can use to deploy and manage your BizTalk Server applications.

With the new UI in Windows Server 2012 or 2012 R2, almost all programs are “hidden” and can be easily be accessed through context search from the Start screen. However be constantly doing this type of operation eventually becomes annoying.

So to be able to quickly and easily access BizTalk Server Administration Console you can pin the console to the taskbar, to accomplish that you need:

• Press the “Windows key” to switch to the Start screen, type “BizTalk Server Administration” or “BizTalk” and right click in “BizTalk Server Administration” option from the Search menu, and select “Pin to taskbar” option to add “BizTalk Server Administration” to your desktop taskbar.

Related links

• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Important considerations before set up the server (Part 1)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Enable Internet Information Services (Part 2)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install Windows Identity Foundation (WIF) (Part 3)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and configure SMTP Server Feature (optional) (Part 4)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install Microsoft Office Excel 2013 (Part 5)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install Visual Studio 2013 (Part 6)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install SQL Server 2014 (Part 7)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Configure SQL Server Database Mail feature (Part 8)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Configure SQL Server Network Configuration protocols (Part 10)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Validate Mail account used by BizTalk to send BAM Alerts (Part 11)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Installing BizTalk Adapter Pack (Part 12)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and Configure Microsoft UDDI Services (Part 13)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and Configure the Microsoft BizTalk ESB Toolkit (Part 14)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Configure BizTalk Server SQL Jobs (Part 15)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Optimize the BizTalk Server 2013 R2 environment (Part 16)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Optimize the BizTalk Server 2013 R2 environment (Part 17)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Optimize the BizTalk Server 2013 R2 environment (Part 18)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install additional Developer tools (Part 19)

This next posts will focus on installing and configuring BizTalk Server 2013 R2 and additional components

Make sure that you have installed all the latest critical Windows updates from Microsoft and all the prerequisites before you install BizTalk Server 2013 R2.

Configure SQL Server Network Configuration protocols

Under certain stress conditions (such as clients accessing SQL Server from the same computer), the SQL Server Shared Memory protocol may lower BizTalk Server performance. You can resolve this problem by disabling the use of the Shared Memory network protocol in SQL Server Network Configuration. Also, to facilitate transactions between SQL Server and BizTalk Server, you must enable TCP/IP and Named Pipes in SQL Server.

To configure the protocols for SQL Server:

• Press the “Windows key” to switch to the Start screen, type “SQL Server Configuration Manager” and click in “SQL Server Configuration Manager” option from the Search menu.

• In SQL Server Configuration Manager windows, from the left-hand pane expand “SQL Server Network Configuration” option and then click “Protocols for MSSQLSERVER”
  • Verify that both “TCP/IP” and “Named Pipes” are enabled;
    • If not, right-click in the protocol, and then click “Enable”
    • Repeat to enable the other protocol if necessary.
  • Verify that “Shared Memory” id Disable.
  • If not, right-click Shared Memory, and then click “Disable”

• In the left-hand pane, click “SQL Server Services”, right-click “SQL Server (MSSQLSERVER)”, and then click “Restart”. Or click “Stop” and when the service has stopped, right-click “SQL Server (MSSQLSERVER)” again, and then click “Start”.

• Close SQL Server Configuration Manager.

Related links

• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Important considerations before set up the server (Part 1)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Enable Internet Information Services (Part 2)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install Windows Identity Foundation (WIF) (Part 3)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and configure SMTP Server Feature (optional) (Part 4)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install Microsoft Office Excel 2013 (Part 5)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install Visual Studio 2013 (Part 6)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install SQL Server 2014 (Part 7)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Configure SQL Server Database Mail feature (Part 8)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and Configure BizTalk Server 2013 R2 (Part 9)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Validate Mail account used by BizTalk to send BAM Alerts (Part 11)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Installing BizTalk Adapter Pack (Part 12)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and Configure Microsoft UDDI Services (Part 13)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and Configure the Microsoft BizTalk ESB Toolkit (Part 14)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Configure BizTalk Server SQL Jobs (Part 15)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Optimize the BizTalk Server 2013 R2 environment (Part 16)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Optimize the BizTalk Server 2013 R2 environment (Part 17)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Optimize the BizTalk Server 2013 R2 environment (Part 18)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install additional Developer tools (Part 19)

This next posts will focus on installing and configuring BizTalk Server 2013 R2 and additional components

Make sure that you have installed all the latest critical Windows updates from Microsoft and all the prerequisites before you install BizTalk Server 2013 R2.

Validate Mail account used by BizTalk to send BAM Alerts

After you configure with success BizTalk Server 2013 R2 BAM Alerts, the configurator will create a new Database Mail Account called “BAM_Alerts_Account” that will be used by BizTalk to send BAM Alerts.

To Validate Mail account used by BizTalk to send BAM Alerts:

• Press the “Windows key” to switch to the Start screen, type “SQL Management” or “SQL” and click in “SQL Server Management Studio” option from the Search menu.
• In Object Explorer panel, connect to the SQL Server instance you want to configure Database Mail on, and expand the server tree.
• Expand the “Management” node and double click “Database Mail” to open the Database Mail Configuration Wizard.
• On the Welcome to Database Mail Configuration Wizard page, click “Next” to continue
• On the Select Configuration Task page, select “Manage Database Mail accounts and profiles” option and click “Next”

• On the Manage Profiles and Accounts page, select “View, change or delete an existent account” option, and click “Next”

• On the Manage Existent Account page, select “BAM_Alerts_Account” option under “Account name” and validate the configuration. After that click “Next” to make any change or “Cancel” to exit.

• On the Complete the Wizard page, click “Finish”.

Finally you should test sending an email with this Database Mail Account, to do that:

• Right-click on Database Mail and select “Send Test E-Mail…”

• On the Send Test E-mail from windows, specify a “To:” email and click “Send Test E-Mail”

If all goes well you should receive the email in a few seconds. If you have received the email, you have been able to configure Database Mail successfully.

Related links

• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Important considerations before set up the server (Part 1)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Enable Internet Information Services (Part 2)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install Windows Identity Foundation (WIF) (Part 3)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and configure SMTP Server Feature (optional) (Part 4)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install Microsoft Office Excel 2013 (Part 5)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install Visual Studio 2013 (Part 6)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install SQL Server 2014 (Part 7)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Configure SQL Server Database Mail feature (Part 8)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and Configure BizTalk Server 2013 R2 (Part 9)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Configure SQL Server Network Configuration protocols (Part 10)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Installing BizTalk Adapter Pack (Part 12)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and Configure Microsoft UDDI Services (Part 13)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and Configure the Microsoft BizTalk ESB Toolkit (Part 14)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Configure BizTalk Server SQL Jobs (Part 15)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Optimize the BizTalk Server 2013 R2 environment (Part 16)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Optimize the BizTalk Server 2013 R2 environment (Part 17)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Optimize the BizTalk Server 2013 R2 environment (Part 18)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install additional Developer tools (Part 19)

This next posts will focus on installing and configuring BizTalk Server 2013 R2 and additional components

Make sure that you have installed all the latest critical Windows updates from Microsoft and all the prerequisites before you install BizTalk Server 2013 R2.

BizTalk Adapter Pack

BizTalk Adapter Pack along with BizTalk AppFabric Connect, RFID features, UDDI services and ESB Toolkit are not automatically installed with the default installation process, instead you have to additional install this features.

The Microsoft BizTalk Adapter Pack contains adapters that enable enterprise applications and databases to interface with each other by implementing a common adapter framework. Similar to programming to Web services, adapters enable clients to program to different enterprise applications. Technically, adapters are a binding to Windows Communication Framework (WCF). The BizTalk Adapter Pack consists of the following adapters:

• Microsoft BizTalk Adapter for Oracle Database (Oracle Database adapter).
• Microsoft BizTalk Adapter for Oracle E-Business Suite (Oracle E-Business adapter).
• Microsoft BizTalk Adapter for mySAP Business Suite (SAP adapter). This also includes the .NET Framework Data Provider for mySAP Business Suite (Data Provider for SAP).
• Microsoft BizTalk Adapter for Siebel eBusiness Applications (Siebel adapter). This also includes the .NET Framework Data Provider for Siebel eBusiness Applications (Data Provider for Siebel).
• Microsoft BizTalk Adapter for SQL Server (SQL adapter).

Microsoft BizTalk Adapter Pack and Microsoft BizTalk Adapter Pack (x64)

We are preparing a x64 environment machine so why do I need to install both x86 and x64 Microsoft BizTalk Adapter Pack and not only x64 pack?

On any computer where you want to perform design-time tasks using either Visual Studio or BizTalk MMC, you must install the 32-bit adapter because:

• BizTalk Server Administration console runs as a 32-bit Microsoft Management Console (MMC) application.
• Visual Studio is also a 32-bit application (and there isn’t any 64-bit version of Visual Studio)

However for BizTalk run time perspective:

• If you want to run the adapters under a 32-bit BizTalk process (Host Instance): you need to install Microsoft BizTalk Adapter Pack.
• If you want to run the adapters under a 64-bit BizTalk process (Host Instance): you need to install Microsoft BizTalk Adapter Pack (x64).

So you always have to install Microsoft BizTalk Adapter Pack, or in other cases, you always need to install the 32-bit adapter if you want to perform any operation at design-time, especially, configuring the adapters in the administrative console.

Steps to install BizTalk Adapter Pack

To install BizTalk Adapter Pack:

• Close any programs you have open. Run the BizTalk Server 2013 R2 installer as Administrator.
• On the Start page, click “Install Microsoft BizTalk Adapters”

• In the next Start page, the first step is to install WCF LOB Adapter SDK, select the “Step 1. Install Microsoft WCF LOB Adapter SDK”. An installer of SDK is launched.
  • The WCF LOB Adapter SDK is a collection of a run-time engine and tools that help adapter developers create service-oriented interfaces to existing LOB systems by using WCF. The goal of the SDK is to facilitate uniform development of reusable, metadata-oriented, WCF-based adapters that enable enterprise applications, databases, and messaging platforms to integrate with each other.~

• On the Welcome to the Windows Communication Foundation LOB adapter SDK Setup Wizard page, click “Next”

• On the End-User License Agreement page, select “I accept the terms in the License Agreement” to accept the license agreement and click “Next”

• In the Choose Setup Type page, select the installation type “Complete”:
  • Typical: will install the common run time and tools,
  • Custom: will allow you to select the features that you want to install and the installation location.
  • Complete: will install all the features.

• On the Ready to install WCF LOB adapter SDK page, click “Install”

• On the Completed the Windows Communication Foundation LOB Adapter SDK Setup Wizard page, click “Finish”

• Back to the Start page, the second step is installation of the Adapter Pack (x86), select the “Step 2. Install Microsoft BizTalk Adapter Pack”. An installer of SDK is launched.

• On the Welcome to the Microsoft BizTalk Adapter Pack Setup Wizard page, click “Next”

• On the End-User License Agreement page, select “I accept the terms in the License Agreement” to accept the license agreement and click “Next”

• In the Choose Setup Type page, select the installation type “Complete”:
  • Typical: will install the common run time and tools,
  • Custom: will allow you to select the features that you want to install and the installation location.
  • Complete: will install all the features.

• On the Ready to install Microsoft BizTalk Adapter Pack page, click “Install”

• On the Customer Experience Improvement Program page, select if you want to join the customer experience improvement program or not and click “OK”

• On the Completed the Microsoft BizTalk Adapter Pack Setup Wizard page, click “Finish”

• Back to the Start page, the next step is installing the Microsoft BizTalk Adapter Pack (x64) – note that before you install this pack you have to install x86 first – select the “Step 3. Install Microsoft BizTalk Adapter Pack(x64)”. An installer of SDK is launched.

• On the Welcome to the Microsoft BizTalk Adapter Pack(x64) Setup Wizard page, click “Next”

• On the End-User License Agreement page, select “I accept the terms in the License Agreement” to accept the license agreement and click “Next”

• In the Choose Setup Type page, select the installation type “Complete”:
  • Typical: will install the common run time and tools,
  • Custom: will allow you to select the features that you want to install and the installation location.
  • Complete: will install all the features.

• On the Ready to install Microsoft BizTalk Adapter Pack(x64) page, click “Install”

• On the Customer Experience Improvement Program page, select if you want to join the customer experience improvement program or not and click “OK”

• On the Completed the Microsoft BizTalk Adapter Pack(x64) Setup Wizard page, click “Finish”

• Back to the Start page, the final step is installing the Microsoft BizTalk Adapters for Enterprise Applications, select the “Step 4. Install Microsoft BizTalk Adapters for Enterprise Applications”. An installer of SDK is launched.

• On the Welcome to the Microsoft BizTalk Adapters for Enterprise Applications Setup Wizard page, click “Next”

• On the End-User License Agreement page, select “I accept the terms in the License Agreement” to accept the license agreement and click “Next”

• In the Customer Information page, type your User Name and Organization and click “Next” to continue.

• In the Choose Setup Type page, select the installation type “Complete”:
  • Custom: will allow you to select the features that you want to install and the installation location.
  • Complete: will install all the features.

• On the Choose Destination Location page, choose the folder location that to want to install this features and click “Next”

• On the Ready to install page, click “Install”

• On the Completed the Microsoft BizTalk Adapters for Enterprise Applications Setup Wizard page, click “Finish”

• Close the Start page, click “Exit”.

Add adapters to BizTalk Administration Console

As it happens with all adapters that we installed on our BizTalk Servers environment, before we can begin to use them we need to register or add the adapters. So in the next step it will be describing how can we add the enterprise adapters, or any other custom adapter, on the BizTalk Administration Console. To accomplish that we need to:

• Open BizTalk Administration Console by pressing the “Windows key” to switch to the Start screen, type “BizTalk Server Administration” or “BizTalk”, click “BizTalk Server Administration” option from the Search menu
• In the console left tree, expand “BizTalk Server Administration –> BizTalk Group –> Platform Settings” and then “Adapters”
• Right-click on “Adapters” and add a new adapter by selecting the option “New –> Adapter”

• In the “Adapter Properties” window
  • In the Name box, type a descriptive name for this adapter.
    • WC-SQL
  • In the Adapter combo box, select the adapter from the drop-down that you want to add.
    • WCF-SQL
  • In the Description box, type a description for the adapter (this is optional).
    • The WCF SQL Adapter provides access to SQL Database table, views, stored procedures and functions. Polling is also provided, allowing applications to periodically look for data in databases.
  • Click “OK” to complete the process of adding the adapter.

• Repeat steps to add the other adapters.

Note: This configurations requires that you restart the host instance associated with the adapters.

Related links

• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Important considerations before set up the server (Part 1)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Enable Internet Information Services (Part 2)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install Windows Identity Foundation (WIF) (Part 3)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and configure SMTP Server Feature (optional) (Part 4)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install Microsoft Office Excel 2013 (Part 5)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install Visual Studio 2013 (Part 6)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install SQL Server 2014 (Part 7)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Configure SQL Server Database Mail feature (Part 8)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and Configure BizTalk Server 2013 R2 (Part 9)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Configure SQL Server Network Configuration protocols (Part 10)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Validate Mail account used by BizTalk to send BAM Alerts (Part 11)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and Configure Microsoft UDDI Services (Part 13)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and Configure the Microsoft BizTalk ESB Toolkit (Part 14)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Configure BizTalk Server SQL Jobs (Part 15)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Optimize the BizTalk Server 2013 R2 environment (Part 16)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Optimize the BizTalk Server 2013 R2 environment (Part 17)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Optimize the BizTalk Server 2013 R2 environment (Part 18)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install additional Developer tools (Part 19)

This next posts will focus on installing and configuring BizTalk Server 2013 R2 and additional components

Make sure that you have installed all the latest critical Windows updates from Microsoft and all the prerequisites before you install BizTalk Server 2013 R2.

Install and Configure Microsoft UDDI Services

UDDI Services provides Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI) capabilities for sharing information about Web services within an organization’s intranet, between business partners on an extranet, or on the Internet. UDDI Services can help improve the productivity of developers and information technology (IT) professionals with more reliable and manageable applications. With UDDI Services you can prevent duplication of effort by promoting reuse of existing development work.

In a stand-alone installation, all default and optional components are installed on a single server. An instance of SQL Server must be installed before installing UDDI Services. When installing UDDI Services, the local instance of SQL Server is used to host the UDDI Services Database. UDDI Services Web Application and Notification Service are then configured to use the local UDDI Services Database.

To install Microsoft UDDI Services:

• Close all applications before running setup. Run the BizTalk Server 2013 R2 installer as Administrator.
• On the Start page, click “Install Microsoft UDDI Services”

• On the License Agreement page, select “Yes, I accept the terms in the license agreement” to accept the license agreement and click “Next”

• On the Component Installation page:
  • In “Available Components”: select and click from the available components you want to install
  • In “Install To”: specify a location to install UDDI Services components
  • And then click “Next” to continue

• On the Summary page, review installation details and then click “Install”.

• On the Installation Completed page, select “Launch Microsoft UDDI Services Configuration” option and then click “Finish” to start the UDDI Services configuration.

• On the Microsoft UDDI Services Configuration page, apply the following configurations and then click “Configure” to continue:
  • Select “Basic configuration” option
  • In the “Database server name” field under “Database” properties, enter the name of the local computer that will hosts the UDDI database.
  • In the “Service credential” properties, type the User name and Password for the account that the UDDI services will run under

• Note: You may receive a warning if you enter a user name with administrative credentials on this computer. Click “Yes” to continue.

• On the Summary page, review configuration information, and then click “Next”
  • You may receive an warning on the UDDI Services Notification Service, don’t worry, we’ll deal with that later

• On the Completed page, review configuration information:
  • If UDDI Services Notification Service is failed, which is the case
    • Select “Launch Custom Configuration” option
  • And then click “Finish”

• On the Microsoft BizTalk Server Configuration (UDDI) page, from the left pane, select “UDDI Services Notification Service” option and configure the following settings:
  • Select “Enable UDDI Services Notification Service” option
  • Under “Windows Service”, set the service account under which the UDDI Notification Service runs.
  • Under “SMTP”, type the SMTP server for sending e-mail notifications.
  • Under “E-mail address”, type the address of the e-mail account used for sending e-mail notifications.
  • Under “SMTP Authentication”, specify the type of authentication used when authenticating with the SMTP server.
  • When finish, click “Apply Configuration”

• On the Summary page, review configuration information, and then click “Next”

• On the Completed page, review configuration information and then click “Finish”

Verify Your Installation

To verify that Microsoft UDDI Services is installed correctly:

• Open Internet Explorer and type http://localhost/uddi, and then hit Enter
  • If UDDI Services is installed correctly, you will see the Welcome to Microsoft UDDI Services page.

Related links

• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Important considerations before set up the server (Part 1)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Enable Internet Information Services (Part 2)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install Windows Identity Foundation (WIF) (Part 3)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and configure SMTP Server Feature (optional) (Part 4)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install Microsoft Office Excel 2013 (Part 5)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install Visual Studio 2013 (Part 6)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install SQL Server 2014 (Part 7)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Configure SQL Server Database Mail feature (Part 8)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and Configure BizTalk Server 2013 R2 (Part 9)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Configure SQL Server Network Configuration protocols (Part 10)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Validate Mail account used by BizTalk to send BAM Alerts (Part 11)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Installing BizTalk Adapter Pack (Part 12)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and Configure the Microsoft BizTalk ESB Toolkit (Part 14)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Configure BizTalk Server SQL Jobs (Part 15)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Optimize the BizTalk Server 2013 R2 environment (Part 16)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Optimize the BizTalk Server 2013 R2 environment (Part 17)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Optimize the BizTalk Server 2013 R2 environment (Part 18)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install additional Developer tools (Part 19)

This next posts will focus on installing and configuring BizTalk Server 2013 R2 and additional components

Make sure that you have installed all the latest critical Windows updates from Microsoft and all the prerequisites before you install BizTalk Server 2013 R2.

Install and Configure the Microsoft BizTalk ESB Toolkit

BizTalk Server includes a powerful publish/subscribe mechanism for messaging applications that works by creating and filling subscriptions, which provides a highly efficient and scalable platform for service-oriented architecture (SOA) applications. The BizTalk ESB Toolkit extends the functionality of BizTalk Server to provide a range of new capabilities focused on building robust, connected, service-oriented applications that incorporate itinerary-based service invocation for lightweight service composition, dynamic resolution of endpoints and maps, Web service and WS-* integration, fault management and reporting, and integration with third-party SOA governance solutions.

The good news is that since BizTalk Server 2013, Microsoft BizTalk ESB Toolkit is integrated with the BizTalk Server setup.

To install the Microsoft BizTalk ESB Toolkit

• Close any programs you have open. Run the BizTalk Server 2013 R2 installer as Administrator.
• On the BizTalk Server installation Start page, click “Install Microsoft BizTalk ESB Toolkit”.

• On the License Agreement page, select “Yes, I accept the terms of the license agreement” to accept the license agreement and click “Next”

• On the Component Installation page, select the components you want to install and then click “Next”

• On the Summary page, review installation details and then click “Install”.

• On the Installation Completed page, click “Finish” to close the installation wizard.

To configure the Microsoft BizTalk ESB Toolkit

• Press the “Windows key” to switch to the Start screen, type “ESB Configuration tool” or “ESB”, right-click “ESB Configuration tool” option from the Search menu, and then click “Run as Administrator”.
  • Note: You must run the ESB Configuration Tool as an administrator.

• In the ESB Configuration Tool page, from the left pane, select “ESB Configuration” and on the right pane:
  • For “Database Server (Defaults)”: specify the database server name where the databases required for BizTalk ESB Toolkit will be created.
  • In the “IIS Web Services (Defaults)” box:
    • Specify the user credentials under which the applications required for BizTalk ESB Toolkit will be created.
    • Also specify the name of the website in IIS under which the applications will be created.
  • The “BizTalk User Groups (Defaults)” box lists the default user groups available for ESB configuration.
    • Leave the default values
    • Important: At this stage, you can click “Apply Configuration” towards the top of the ESB Configuration Tool to configure the Microsoft BizTalk ESB Toolkit with the default settings. However, we will continue to configure the remains steps for a custom configuration.

• From the left pane, expand “Exception Management” and do the following:
  • Click in the “Database” option and on the right pane:
    • Select “Enable Exception Management Database” check box to configure an exception management database.
    • In “Database server name”: specify the database server name where you want to create this database (specify the same database server name that you specify in the ESB Configuration panel under Database Server (Default) option)
    • In “Database name”: leave the default name “EsbExceptionDb”.
    • Leave the default groups

• Click on the “Exception Web Services” option from the left pane and on the right pane:
  • Select “Enable Exception Services” check box to configure these services.
  • In “User Account” and “user Account Password”: specify the user account and password under which this services will run.
  • In “BizTalk Isolated Group” – Leave the default value “BizTalk isolated Host Users”
  • In “Website Name”: specify the website where you want to run these services.

• From the left pane, expand “ESB Core Components”, and do the following:
  • Click the “Itinerary Database” option and on the right pane:
    • Select the “Itinerary Database” check box to configure an itinerary database.
    • In “Database server name”: specify the database server name where you want to create this database (specify the same database server name that you specify in the ESB Configuration panel under Database Server (Default) option)
    • In “Database name”: leave the default name “EsbItineraryDb”.
    • Leave the default groups

• Click on the “Core Web Services” option from the left pane and on the right pane:
  • Select the “Enable Core Services” check box to configure these services.
  • In “User Account” and “user Account Password”: specify the user account and password under which this services will run.
  • In “BizTalk Isolated Host Group” – Leave the default value “BizTalk isolated Host Users”
  • In “Website Name”: specify the website where you want to run these services.

• From the left pane, click “Configuration” to specify the SSO configuration.
  • If you are installing and configuring the Microsoft BizTalk ESB Toolkit in a single server environment, you should select “File Configuration Source”, which is the default selection. However, if you are setting up a multiple-machine deployment, you must select the “SSO Configuration Source”, and then provide the following values.
    • SSO Server: Name of the SSO server.
    • Configuration file: Click the ellipsis button (…), and then browse to the Esb.config file, which is included in the ​Microsoft BizTalk ESB Toolkit
    • Application Name: Type a name for the SSO application. For example, ESB Toolkit.
    • Contact Information: Type the appropriate contact information in the following format: someone@example.com.
    • Administrator Group Name: Click the ellipsis button (…), and then browse to the appropriate name
    • User Group Name: Click the ellipsis button (…), and then browse to the appropriate name
  • Select “File Configuration Source”

• From the left pane, click “ESB BizTalk Applications” option, from the right pane, do the following:
  • Select the “Enable ESB Core Components in BizTalk Server” check box to create the application in the BizTalk Server Administration console.
    • Select the “Use Default Binding” to bind this application to the default host.
    • Optional you can select the “Do not use Default Binding” if you do not want to bind the application to the default host. In such a case, you must explicitly bind the application to a host, once the application is created.
  • Select the “Enable ESB JMS/WMQ Components in BizTalk Server” check box to create the application in the BizTalk Server Administration console.
    • Select the “Use Default Binding” to bind this application to the default host.
    • Optional you select the “Do not use Default Binding” if you do not want to bind the application to the default host. In such a case, you must explicitly bind the application to a host, once the application is created.

• Click “Apply Configuration” on the top of the ESB Configuration Tool to configure the Microsoft BizTalk ESB Toolkit.

Verify Your Installation

Open IIS and notice that the applications required for Microsoft BizTalk ESB Toolkit are now created under the website you specified.

Open BizTalk Server Administration console and notice that the ESB applications are now installed and present in our console.

Install Critical Windows Updates and BizTalk Server Cumulative Update

Once again, after you finish installing all the components, I check and install all Windows update if available and install the latest BizTalk Cumulative Update package and if necessary restart the server (note that this step is not necessary).

However I will like to mention that until this date there isn’t any Cumulative Update for BizTalk Server 2013 R2.

Related links

• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Important considerations before set up the server (Part 1)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install Windows Identity Foundation (WIF) (Part 3)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and configure SMTP Server Feature (Part 4)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install Microsoft Office Excel 2013 (Part 5)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install Visual Studio 2013 (Part 6)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install SQL Server 2014 (Part 7)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Configure SQL Server Database Mail feature (Part 8)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and Configure BizTalk Server 2013 R2 (Part 9)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Configure SQL Server Network Configuration protocols (Part 10)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Validate Mail account used by BizTalk to send BAM Alerts (Part 11)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Installing BizTalk Adapter Pack (Part 12)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and Configure Microsoft UDDI Services (Part 13)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Configure BizTalk Server SQL Jobs (Part 15)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Optimize the BizTalk Server 2013 R2 environment (Part 16)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Optimize the BizTalk Server 2013 R2 environment (Part 17)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Optimize the BizTalk Server 2013 R2 environment (Part 18)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install additional Developer tools (Part 19)

This next posts will focus on installing and configuring BizTalk Server 2013 R2 and additional components

Make sure that you have installed all the latest critical Windows updates from Microsoft and all the prerequisites before you install BizTalk Server 2013 R2.

Configure BizTalk Server SQL Jobs

BizTalk Server databases and their health are very important for a successful BizTalk Server database messaging environment. Although there can be many settings that we can configure, like auto-growth settings for BizTalk Databases (you can learn more here), there are two main things that we must understand and be aware, especially the database administrators:

• Execution of the BizTalk Server SQL Agent jobs are crucial for managing the BizTalk Server databases and for maintaining optimal performance.
• The Backup BizTalk Server job is the only supported method to backup the BizTalk Server databases and requires that all of the BizTalk Server databases are configured to use the SQL Server full recovery model.

BizTalk is shipped out with a total of 13 SQL Agent jobs. By default, the following BizTalk jobs aren’t configured and enabled upon installation:

• Backup BizTalk Server (BizTalkMgmtDb)
• DTA Purge and Archive (BizTalkDTADb)
• MessageBox_Message_Cleanup_BizTalkMsgBoxDb

The two jobs that needs configuration are the two most important jobs: the “Backup BizTalk Server” and the “DTA Purge and Archive“. If you want these functionalities you must configure and enabled them.

How to configure Backup BizTalk Server (BizTalkMgmtDb)

This is the job provided by Microsoft to do a best practice backup of the BizTalk databases. This job has to be configured for it to be able to run.

This Job consists of four steps:

• Step 1 – Set Compression Option – Enable or disable compression during backup.
• Step 2 – BackupFull – Performs full database backups of the BizTalk Server databases.
• Step 3 – MarkAndBackUpLog – Backs up the BizTalk Server database logs.
• Step 4 – Clear Backup History – Specifies for how long the backup history is kept.

To configure the Backup BizTalk Server job:

• Press the “Windows key” to switch to the Start screen, type “SQL Management” or “SQL” and click in “SQL Server Management Studio” option to switch to the Start screen.
• In Object Explorer panel, connect to the SQL Server instance and expand the server tree.
  • Expand the “SQL Server Agent” node
  • Expand “Jobs” node
• Double click “Backup BizTalk Server (BizTalkMgmtDb)” to open the job properties window.
• In the Job Properties – Backup BizTalk Server (BizTalkMgmtDb) dialog box, under “Select a page”, click “Steps”.
• In the “Job step list”, click in the job you want to edit, and then click “Edit”

Step 1 – Set Compression Option

Since BizTalk Server 2010, BizTalk Server supports compression for its SQL Server database backups thereby providing some benefits like: less space needed for the backup files, fewer I/O operations for the backup and restore and so on.

This job step calls a stored procedure named sp_SetBackupCompression on the BizTalk management database (BizTalkMgmtDb by default) to set the value on the adm_BackupSettings table.

The original script is:

exec [dbo].[sp_SetBackupCompression] @bCompression = 0 /*0 - Do not use Compression, 1 - Use Compression */

The stored procedure has only one parameter:

• @bCompression: By default, Set Compression Option is set to 0, which makes backup compression off by default. To change the default, change Set Compression Option to 1.

Change the script to:

exec [dbo].[sp_SetBackupCompression] @bCompression = 1 /*0 - Do not use Compression, 1 - Use Compression */

Step 2 – BackupFull

The BackupFull step is responsible for performing a full backup of the database.

The original script is:

exec [dbo].[sp_BackupAllFull_Schedule] 'd' /* Frequency */, 'BTS' /* Name */, '<destination path>' /* location of backup files */

Where:

• Frequency: The default is d (daily). This is the recommended setting. Other values include h (hourly), w (weekly), m (monthly), or y (yearly).
• Name: The default is BTS. The name is used as part of the backup file name.
• Location of backup files: Replace ‘<destination path>’ with the full path (the path must include the single quotes) to the computer and folder where you want to back up the BizTalk Server databases.

There are also three optional parameters:

• Force full backup after partial backup failures (@ForceFullBackupAfterPartialSetFailure): The default is 0 when not specified, which means that if a log backup fails, no full backups are done until the next full backup frequency interval is reached.
  • Replace with 1 if you want a full backup to be made whenever a log backup failure occurs.
• Local time hour for the backup process to run (@BackupHour): The default is NULL when not specified, which means that backup job will not be associated with the time zone of the BizTalk Server computer and will run at midnight UTC time (0000).
  • If you want to backup to run at a particular hour in the time zone of the BizTalk Server computer, specify an integer value from 0 (midnight) to 23 (11 PM) as the local time hour for the BackupHour parameter.
• Use local time (@UseLocalTime): This is an extra parameter that you can also add that tells the procedure to use local time. The default value is 0.
  • If set to 0, then it uses current UTC time – GETUTCDATE() – 2007-05-04 01:34:11.933
  • If set to 1, then it uses local time – GETDATE() – 2007-05-03 18:34:11.933

Change the script to:

exec [dbo].[sp_BackupAllFull_Schedule] 'd' /* Frequency */, 'BTS' /* Name */, '<your_destination_path>\BizTalk Database\Full' /* location of backup files */

Step 3 – MarkAndBackUpLog

The MarkAndBackupLog step is responsible for marking the logs for backup, and then backing them up.

The original script is:

exec [dbo].[sp_MarkAll] 'BTS' /*  Log mark name */, '<destination path>' /* location of backup files */

Where:

• @MarkName: Log mark name is part of the naming convention for backup files:
  • <Server Name>_<Database Name>_Log_< Log Mark Name >_<Timestamp>
• @BackupPath: You must change the destination path this to a valid one. It may be local or a UNC path to another server.

There is also one optional parameter:

• @UseLocalTime: This is an extra parameter that you can also add that tells the procedure to use local time

  • exec [dbo].[sp_MarkAll] 'BTS' /* Log mark name */,'<destination path>'  /*location of backup files */ , 1
    

Change the script to:

exec [dbo].[sp_MarkAll] 'BTS' /* Log mark name */, '< your_destination_path>\BizTalk Database\Logs' /* location of backup files */

Step 4 – Clear Backup History

The Clear Backup History step is responsible for perform a cleanup of the backup history according for how long a backup should be kept.

The original script clear out the instances in the MarkLog table older than 14 days:

exec [dbo].[sp_DeleteBackupHistory] @DaysToKeep=14

Where:

• @DaysToKeep: specifies how long the backup history is kept in the Adm_BackupHistory table. Periodically clearing the backup history helps to maintain the Adm_BackupHistory table at an appropriate size.
  • The default value for the DaysToKeep parameter is 14 days.

There is also one optional parameter:

• @UseLocalTime: This is an extra parameter that you can also add that tells the procedure to use local time

  • exec [dbo].[sp_DeleteBackupHistory] @DaysToKeep=14 , @UseLocalTime =1
    

In this particular case I like to leave the default settings.

Important Note: This job step does not provide functionality for deleting backup files that have accumulated over time. You can solve this problem by implementing you custom sp_DeleteBackupHistory or by creating a Maintenance Plan to delete BizTalk Database Backups files (see more details in BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Optimize the BizTalk Server 2013 R2 environment (Part 17))

After properly configure, to enable the Backup BizTalk Server job:

• Under “Jobs” in SQL Server Management Studio Object Explorer, Right click in the name of the job “Backup BizTalk Server (BizTalkMgmtDb)” and select “Enable” option.

• In the result screen, click “Close”.

How to configure DTA Purge and Archive (BizTalkDTADb)

This job automates the archiving of tracked messages and the purging of the BizTalk Tracking database to maintain a healthy system and to keep the tracking data archived for future use.

And it’s configured to call the stored procedure dtasp_BackupAndPurgeTrackingDatabase, which uses the six parameters you must configure in this job:

• @nLiveHours: Any completed instance older than the (live hours) + (live days) will be deleted along with all associated data. Default is 0 hours.
• @nLiveDays: Any completed instance older than the (live hours) + (live days) will be deleted along with all associated data. Default interval is 1 day.
• @nHardDeleteDays: All data (even if incomplete) older than this will be deleted. The time interval specified for HardDeleteDays should be greater than the live window of data. The live window of data is the interval of time for which you want to maintain tracking data in the BizTalk Tracking (BizTalkDTADb) database. Anything older than this interval is eligible to be archived at the next archive and then purged. Default is 30 days.
• @nvcFolder: Folder in which to put the backup files.
• @nvcValidatingServer: Server on which validation will be done. NULL value indicates no validation is being done. Default is NULL.
• @fForceBackup: Default is 0. This is reserved for future use.

To configure the DTA Purge and Archive job:

• Start by running the “SQL Server Management Studio”, if it is not already open, press the “Windows key” to switch to the Start screen, type “SQL Management” or “SQL” and click in “SQL Server Management Studio” option from the Search menu.
• In Object Explorer panel, connect to the SQL Server instance and expand the server tree.
  • Expand the “SQL Server Agent” node
  • Expand “Jobs” node
• Double click “DTA Purge and Archive (BizTalkDTADb)” to open the job properties window.
• In the Job Properties – DTA Purge and Archive (BizTalkDTADb) dialog box, under “Select a page”, click “Steps”.
• In the “Job step list”, click Archive and Purge, and then click Edit.

The original script after installing BizTalk looks like this:

exec dtasp_BackupAndPurgeTrackingDatabase
0, --@nLiveHours tinyint, --Any completed instance older than the live hours +live days
1, --@nLiveDays tinyint = 0, --will be deleted along with all associated data
30, --@nHardDeleteDays tinyint = 0, --all data older than this will be deleted.
null, --@nvcFolder nvarchar(1024) = null, --folder for backup files
null, --@nvcValidatingServer sysname = null,
0 --@fForceBackup int = 0 --

This means that:

• Any completed instance that is older than the live days plus live hours will be deleted, as will any associated data.
• Any data older than the HardDeleteDays will be deleted.

Normally I use these configurations for production environments:

exec dtasp_BackupAndPurgeTrackingDatabase 0, 10, 20, '<destination path>', null, 0

However in a development machine we don’t need to maintain the archived tracking data, so I just purge it periodically. BizTalk gives you the option to Archive and Purge the tracking data or just simple purge the data without archiving:

• Change the SQL Statement inside “DTA Purge and Achieve” SQL Job to

declare @dtLastBackup datetime set @dtLastBackup = GetUTCDate() exec dtasp_PurgeTrackingDatabase 1, 0, 7, @dtLastBackup

After properly configure, to enable the Backup BizTalk Server job:

• Under “Jobs” in SQL Server Management Studio Object Explorer, Right click in the name of the job “DTA Purge and Archive (BizTalkDTADb)” and select “Enable” option.
• In the result screen, click “Close”.

MessageBox_Message_Cleanup_BizTalkMsgBoxDb

This job removes all messages that are not referenced by any subscribers in the BizTalkMsgBoxDb database tables.

Important Note: This job is also started by the MessageBox_Message_ManageRefCountLog_BizTalkMsgBoxDb job. Therefore, we recommend that you disable this job.

Related links

• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Important considerations before set up the server (Part 1)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install Windows Identity Foundation (WIF) (Part 3)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and configure SMTP Server Feature (Part 4)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install Microsoft Office Excel 2013 (Part 5)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install Visual Studio 2013 (Part 6)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install SQL Server 2014 (Part 7)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Configure SQL Server Database Mail feature (Part 8)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and Configure BizTalk Server 2013 R2 (Part 9)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Configure SQL Server Network Configuration protocols (Part 10)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Validate Mail account used by BizTalk to send BAM Alerts (Part 11)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Installing BizTalk Adapter Pack (Part 12)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and Configure Microsoft UDDI Services (Part 13)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and Configure the Microsoft BizTalk ESB Toolkit (Part 14)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Optimize the BizTalk Server 2013 R2 environment (Part 16)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Optimize the BizTalk Server 2013 R2 environment (Part 17)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Optimize the BizTalk Server 2013 R2 environment (Part 18)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install additional Developer tools (Part 19)

This post is for the BizTalk Server and other Portuguese Community, will be held on January 22, 2015 between 18:45 – 21:50 the III Encontro da comunidade Porto.Data meeting at the Science and Technology Park of University of Porto (UPTEC) in Oporto.

I will be speaking about: Microsoft Azure BizTalk “…”: What we have now and what’s next

Abstract: Azure BizTalk Services is a simple, powerful, and extensible cloud-based integration service. It provides Business-to-Business (B2B), Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) and Hybrid Connections capabilities for delivering cloud and hybrid integration solutions. In this session we will address the current existing features in Cloud Integration using Microsoft Azure BizTalk Services, what to expect from the next releases and what will be the future of the Enterprise Integration in the cloud and on-premises.

III Evento da Comunidade Porto.Data

A comunidade Porto.Data tem como objectivo a partilha de experiências e conhecimento entre os profissionais no Porto.

Na sessão (Microsoft Azure BizTalk “…”- O que temos actualmente, o que aí vem) irei abordar os actuais recursos existentes em Cloud Integration usando Azure BizTalk Services, um serviço de integração baseado na nuvem simples, avançado e extensível que fornece recursos entre empresas (B2B) e integração de aplicativos empresariais (EAI) para proporcionar soluções de integração de nuvem e híbridas. Mas mais importante o que esperar dos próximos lançamentos e qual será o futuro das Integrações Empresariais on-premises e na Cloud (Azure BizTalk MicroServices), um pequeno resumo do que foi apresentado no summit de integração em Redmond pela Microsoft, sendo provavelmente a primeira vez que este tópico será apresentado em Portugal.

O evento irá ocorrer no próximo dia 22 de Janeiro no auditório da UPTEC, pelas 18:45 no Porto. As inscrições são limitadas, não tem custos de inscrição mas é obrigatório que reserve o seu lugar aqui.

Confira a agenda abaixo:

• 18:45– Abertura e recepção.
• 19:00 – Community News
• 19:10 – ” SQL Transparent Data Encryption” – Quilson Antunes (DBA – hmR)
• 20:10 – Coffee break
• 20:40 -Microsoft Azure BizTalk “…”: O que temos actualmente, o que ai vem – Sandro Pereira (Microsoft Integration MVP) DevScope
• 21:40 – Fim do evento
• 21:45 – Sorteio de prémios
• 21:50 – Jantar livre

This next posts will focus on optimizing some BizTalk Server 2013 R2 configurations. The following recommendations can be used to increase BizTalk Server performance or just to make the platform more resilient to failures. The optimizations listed in this topic are applied after BizTalk Server has been installed and configured.

Deleting BizTalk backup files

BizTalk Server database databases and their health are very important for a successful BizTalk Server database messaging environment. BizTalk is shipped out with a total of 13 SQL Agent jobs. By default, the following BizTalk jobs aren’t configured and enabled upon installation and the two jobs that needs configuration are the two most important jobs: the “Backup BizTalk Server” and the “DTA Purge and Archive“. This is nothing new and everybody knows!

However what many times we forget is that this two jobs, by default, don’t provide functionalities for deleting backup files that have accumulated over time on our file system and we normally forget to create a “process” or a “job” to accomplish this until is too late. The result of that is… lots of times we just remember when the disks are full and everything stop to work!

You can solve this problem by implementing you custom sp_DeleteBackupHistory or by creating a Maintenance Plan to delete BizTalk Database Backups files.

Implementing a custom sp_DeleteBackupHistory

To implement a custom sp_DeleteBackupHistory you need to:

· Start SQL Server Management Studio, and then connect to the BizTalk Management Database. By default, this database is named BizTalkMgmtDb.

· Click New Query to open a Query Editor window.

· Run the following Transact-SQL script to create the sp_DeleteBackupHistoryAndFiles stored procedure:

CREATE PROCEDURE [dbo].[sp_DeleteBackupHistoryAndFiles] @DaysToKeep smallint = null
AS
BEGIN
   set nocount on
   IF @DaysToKeep IS NULL OR @DaysToKeep <= 1
      RETURN
   /* Only delete full sets
   If a set spans a day in such a way that some items fall into the deleted group and the other does not, do not delete the set */
   DECLARE DeleteBackupFiles CURSOR
   FOR SELECT 'del "' + [BackupFileLocation] + '\' + [BackupFileName] + '"' FROM [adm_BackupHistory]
   WHERE  datediff(dd, [BackupDateTime], getdate()) >= @DaysToKeep
   AND [BackupSetId] NOT IN (SELECT [BackupSetId] FROM [dbo].[adm_BackupHistory] [h2] WHERE [h2].[BackupSetId] = [BackupSetId] AND datediff(dd, [h2].[BackupDateTime], getdate()) < @DaysToKeep)
   DECLARE @cmd varchar(400)
   OPEN DeleteBackupFiles
   FETCH NEXT FROM DeleteBackupFiles INTO @cmd
   WHILE (@@fetch_status <> -1)
   BEGIN
      IF (@@fetch_status <> -2)
      BEGIN
         EXEC master.dbo.xp_cmdshell @cmd, NO_OUTPUT
         delete from [adm_BackupHistory] WHERE CURRENT OF DeleteBackupFiles
         print @cmd
      END
      FETCH NEXT FROM DeleteBackupFiles INTO @cmd
   END
   CLOSE DeleteBackupFiles
   DEALLOCATE DeleteBackupFiles
END
GO

· Change the “Clear Backup History” step of the Backup BizTalk Server job so that it calls the sp_DeleteBackupHistoryAndFiles stored procedure instead of the sp_DeleteBackupHistory stored procedure.

However I personally don’t like this approach for two main reasons:

· I avoid to change the scripts of BizTalk standard jobs

· And I also believe that this approach is very limited and doesn’t allow the flexibility that we all want.

Instead I really prefer to take advantage of all features that SQL gives me and create a maintenance plan with a Cleanup task to remove this files.

Implementing a Maintenance Plan to clean BizTalk Database backup’s files

Maintenance Plans allows DBA’s to have flexibility to create a workflow to execute several tasks required to make sure that database are optimized, regularly backed up, and free of inconsistencies. However almost all of these tasks are warranted by the existing BizTalk jobs and I will not use them. The only thing we need is to create a task to clean BizTalk Database backup’s files from our file system.

The main advantage of this approach is that will allow us more flexibility for further changes and we can also use them to other backup’s that we have.

Note: You should ensure that SQL Server Agent service is running because the maintenance plans depend on the Microsoft SQL Server Agent in order to run on a regular basis.

Important Note: this example is created to run in a developer machine, so if you are implementing this approach in production environments make sure to keep the backups for the time you see that fit your requirements or make sure the backups are save in an external storage before you delete this files from the file system.

To create the maintenance check the following post: How to create a Maintenance Plan to delete BizTalk Database Backups files

Pre-allocate space and define auto-growth settings for BizTalk Server databases

By default BizTalk Server databases are defined with small files size and with the parameter “Autogrowth” set to:

• Increase by 1 MB for database file
• And by 10% for log file

So what’s the problem with these settings?

Auto growth setting plays an important role in BizTalk configuration for performance reasons, why?

SQL Server database auto-growth is a blocking operation which hinders BizTalk Server database performance. When SQL Server increases the size of a file, it must first initialize the new space before it can be used. This is a blocking operation that involves filling the new space with empty pages.

Therefore it’s recommended to:

• Set this value (databases auto-growth) to a fixed value of megabytes instead of to a percentage, so SQL server doesn’t waste is resources expanding the data and log files during heavy processing. This is especially true for the MessageBox and Tracking (DTA) databases:
  • In a high throughput BizTalk Server environment, the MessageBox and Tracking databases can significantly increase. If auto-growth is set to a percentage, then auto-growth will be substantial as well.
  • As a guideline for auto-growth, for large files increment should be no larger than 100 MB, for medium-sized files 10 MB, or for small files 1 MB.
  • This should be done so that, if auto-growth occurs, it does so in a measured fashion. This reduces the likelihood of excessive database growth.
• Also allocate sufficient space for the BizTalk Server databases in advance to minimize the occurrence of database auto-growth.

To define auto-growth and Pre-allocate space for BizTalk Server databases check the following post: Pre-allocate space and define auto-growth settings for BizTalk Server databases

Configure BizTalk Server Windows Services

By default, the “Startup type” propriety of BizTalk Windows Services, Enterprise Single Sign-On Service, Microsoft UDDI Notification Service and the BAMAlerts service are set as “Automatic”, however some of this Windows Services may not start automatically after a system restart, to avoid this behavior you must configure the “Startup type” to “Automatic (Delayed Start)” option in this services:

• BAMAlerts
• Microsoft UDDI Notification Service
• Rule Engine Update Service

The previous version of BizTalk Server also had this problem for:

• Enterprise Single Sign-On Service
• BizTalk Service BizTalk Group : BizTalkServerApplication Service

Despite being configured as “Automatic“, the Recovery properties are configured properly to restart the service after failures.

To proper configure the BizTalk Services, “Enterprise Single Sign-On Service”, “BAMAlerts” and “Microsoft UDDI Notification Service” Windows service:

• Press the “Windows key” to switch to the Start screen, type “Services” and click in “View local services” option rom the Search menu.

• In the Services window, on the Services (Local) panel select the service for example “BAMAlerts”, right click and select “Properties” option.

• On the BAMAlerts Properties (Local Computer) window:
  • On the General tab apply the following configuration.
    • Startup type: “Automatic (Delayed Start)”

• On the Recovery tab, apply the following configuration:
  • First failure: “Restart the Service”
  • Second failure: “Restart the Service”
  • Subsequent failures: “Restart the Service”
  • Reset fail count after … day: 1
  • Restart service after … minutes: 1

• Click “OK” to apply the changes and close the window
• Repeat the steps for the other services.

You could and should apply the same Recovery properties configurations for the SQL Server services:

• SQL Full-text Filter Daemon Launcher
• SQL Server
• SQL Server Agent
• SQL Server Analysis Services
• SQL Server Browser
• SQL Server Integration Services 12.0
• SQL Server Reporting Services
• SQL Server VSS Writer

By default they are configure as “Take No Action”

And should be configured as:

• Startup type: “Automatic”
• and First, Second and Subsequent failures: “Restart the Service”

Install and configure BizTalk Health Monitor V2

BizTalk Health Monitor is a snap-in, basically it’s the same of BizTalk MsgBoxViewer tool that we used monitor a BizTalk environment by gathering all information of a BizTalk group and detecting any issues, non-critical or critical warnings to detect any potential problems in advance, but in this case is integrated more closely with the BizTalk Administration Console to provide BizTalk administrators a quick and complete dashboard of a BizTalk group which will help them monitor the health of their BizTalk platform.

You can download the standalone version of BHM from Microsoft Download Center here: BizTalk Health Monitor

Prerequisites:

• BizTalk Server 2010, 2013 or 2013 R2 should be installed and configured.

To install and configure BizTalk Health Monitor V2 check the following post: Installing the new BizTalk Health Monitor snap-in on Biztalk Server 2010 or BizTalk Server 2013

Related links

• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Important considerations before set up the server (Part 1)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install Windows Identity Foundation (WIF) (Part 3)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and configure SMTP Server Feature (Part 4)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install Microsoft Office Excel 2013 (Part 5)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install Visual Studio 2013 (Part 6)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install SQL Server 2014 (Part 7)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Configure SQL Server Database Mail feature (Part 8)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and Configure BizTalk Server 2013 R2 (Part 9)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Configure SQL Server Network Configuration protocols (Part 10)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Validate Mail account used by BizTalk to send BAM Alerts (Part 11)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Installing BizTalk Adapter Pack (Part 12)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and Configure Microsoft UDDI Services (Part 13)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and Configure the Microsoft BizTalk ESB Toolkit (Part 14)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Configure BizTalk Server SQL Jobs (Part 15)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Optimize the BizTalk Server 2013 R2 environment (Part 17)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Optimize the BizTalk Server 2013 R2 environment (Part 18)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install additional Developer tools (Part 19)

This next posts will focus on optimizing some BizTalk Server 2013 R2 configurations. The following recommendations can be used to increase BizTalk Server performance or just to make the platform more resilient to failures. The optimizations listed in this topic are applied after BizTalk Server has been installed and configured.

Install SSO Configuration Application MMC Snap-In

BizTalk Server leverages the Enterprise Single Sign-On (SSO) capabilities for securely storing critical information such as secure configuration properties (for example, the proxy user ID, and proxy password) for the BizTalk adapters. Therefore, BizTalk Server requires SSO to work properly. BizTalk Server automatically installs SSO on every computer where you install the BizTalk Server runtime.

But it also can keep your own application configuration data in SSO database, let say the usual configurations that we normally keep in a configuration file (“app.config”)). One of the great and useful tool that we normally use for archiving this is a custom tool original created by Richard Seroter, the: SSO Config Data Store Tool.

However since 2009 that Microsoft released a MMC snap-in to tackle this exact issue: SSO Configuration Application MMC Snap-In provides the ability to add and manage applications, add and manage key value pairs in the SSO database, as well as import and export configuration applications so that they can be deployed to different environment.

To install SSO Configuration Application MMC Snap-In you need to:

• Unzip the SSOConfigurationMMCSnapIn.zip file available in Microsoft page.
• This file is composed by three zip files, so after unzip the first file you should unzip also the SSOMMCSnapInSetup.zip file.
• Run as Administrator the setup.exe or SSOMMCSnapInSetup.msi file
• In the Welcome to the SSO Application Configuration Setup Wizard page, click “Next”

• In the Select Installation Folder page:
• Accept the default installation folder or set another one
• In the “Install SSO Application for yourself, or for anyone who uses this computer” option, select “Everyone”
• And click “Next”

• In the Enter Company Name page, enter the name of your company and click “Next”

• In the Confirm Installation page, click “Next” to install the SSO Application Configuration MMC Snap-In

• In the installation Complete page, click “Close”

However unfortunately this tool will not work properly in BizTalk Server 2013 R2, at least running in Windows Server 2012 R2. At the first sight it seems that everything is working properly but when you try to create a key value pair you will see that nothing happens and no key is created:

To fix this issue I recompile the SSOMMCSnapIn.dll using the latest version of “Microsoft.EnterpriseSingleSignOn.Interop.dll” available with BizTalk Server 2013 R2 that you can download at Microsoft TechNet Gallery: BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Fix for SSO Configuration Application MMC Snap-In

To solve the issue you just need to overlap the existing SSOMMCSnapIn.dll file, normally present in "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Enterprise Single Sign-On" folder with this version of the file. Now if you try to add a new key value pair everything will work fine.

Configure BizTalk Jobs History (Microsoft SQL Server Agent job history log)

Have you ever notice that you never have present a log history of the Monitor BizTalk Server job?

The reason why this happens is that BizTalk Server is shipped out with a total of 13 SQL Agent jobs, most of them running each minute, the only exception is the Monitor BizTalk Server job that by default occurs every week on Sunday at 00:00:00.

And to be completely honest there are two problems present:

• We rarely inspect our environment in the weekend, only in critical situations or customers that have a 25x 7 administration team.
• By default the Microsoft SQL Server Agent job history log is configure to
• “Limit size of job history log” with a maximum of 1000 rows
• And “Maximum job history row per job” with 100 rows

Which means that a few minutes after the Monitor BizTalk Server job run successfully or unsuccessfully, it’s historic is overwritten with the row log historical of the remaining 12 jobs. Therefore never expected to have this historic job on Monday when you arrive to the office.

Because BizTalk Server has 13 Jobs to keep a decent and consistent job history log you should increase the “Limit size of job history log” according to the number of existing jobs in your environment, for example at least 1300 for BizTalk Server environment (100 for each job)

To resize the job history log based on raw size

• In Object Explorer, connect to an instance of the SQL Server Database Engine, and then expand that instance.
• Right-click SQL Server Agent, and then click Properties.
• Select the History page, and then confirm that Limit size of job history logis checked.
• In the Maximum job history log size box, enter the maximum number of rows the job history log should allow.
• In the Maximum job history rows per job box, enter the maximum number of job history rows to allow for a job.

To resize the job history log based on time

• In Object Explorer, connect to an instance of the SQL Server Database Engine, and then expand that instance.
• Right-click SQL Server Agent, and then click Properties.
• Select the History page, and then click Automatically remove agent history.
• Select the appropriate number of Days(s), Week(s), or Month(s).

Force Full Backup BizTalk Server (BizTalkMgmtDb) job

I will not enter in much details in this steep, you can read more about it in my blog at: A different way to Force a Full Backup of the BizTalk Server databases.

The standard way is to use the “BizTalkMgmtDb.dbo.sp_ForceFullBackup” stored procedure. However, and unlike what many people think, this stored procedure does not perform a full backup it only marks internally on BizTalk Server databases that the next time the Backup BizTalk Server job runs it will need to perform a full backup of the data and log files. You really need to be aware of two important things:

• The Backup BizTalk Server job is the only supported method for backing up the BizTalk Server databases. Use of SQL Server jobs to back up the BizTalk Server databases in a production environment is not supported.
• You can use the SQL Server methods to backup the BizTalk Server databases only if the SQL Server service is stopped and if all BizTalk Server processes are stopped.

Alternative, to help one of my DBA teams you may create a custom Force Full Backup BizTalk Server job that is composed by two steps:

• Step 1: Force Full Backup
• That will call the “BizTalkMgmtDb.dbo.sp_ForceFullBackup” stored procedure
• Step 2: Backup BizTalk Server
• That will call the standard Backup BizTalk Server (BizTalkMgmtDb) job

You can download the custom “Force Full Backup BizTalk Server (BizTalkMgmtDb)” Job from Microsoft | TechNet Gallery: Force Full Backup BizTalk Server (BizTalkMgmtDb) Job

Related links

• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Important considerations before set up the server (Part 1)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install Windows Identity Foundation (WIF) (Part 3)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and configure SMTP Server Feature (Part 4)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install Microsoft Office Excel 2013 (Part 5)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install Visual Studio 2013 (Part 6)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install SQL Server 2014 (Part 7)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Configure SQL Server Database Mail feature (Part 8)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and Configure BizTalk Server 2013 R2 (Part 9)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Configure SQL Server Network Configuration protocols (Part 10)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Validate Mail account used by BizTalk to send BAM Alerts (Part 11)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Installing BizTalk Adapter Pack (Part 12)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and Configure Microsoft UDDI Services (Part 13)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and Configure the Microsoft BizTalk ESB Toolkit (Part 14)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Configure BizTalk Server SQL Jobs (Part 15)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Optimize the BizTalk Server 2013 R2 environment (Part 16)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Optimize the BizTalk Server 2013 R2 environment (Part 18)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install additional Developer tools (Part 19)

This next posts will focus on optimizing some BizTalk Server 2013 R2 configurations. The following recommendations can be used to increase BizTalk Server performance or just to make the platform more resilient to failures. The optimizations listed in this topic are applied after BizTalk Server has been installed and configured.

Configure host and Host instances

One of the task that we need to do in all our new BizTalk environment over and over again is creating and configuring the Host, Host Instances and of course the adapter handlers.

BizTalk Server provides great flexibility for addressing high availability, because you can strategically dedicate logical hosts to run specific areas of functionality such as receiving messages, sending messages or processing orchestrations.
By default the BizTalk configuration will create two BizTalk Host and Host Instances:

• BizTalkServerApplication: This is the default Host and Host Instance created during configuration that will do all the work on the BizTalk Server, i.e. is the default send and receive handler for all installed adapters (other than HTTP, WCF (BasicHttp, CustomIsolated, WebHttp and WSHttp) and SOAP Receive Handlers), and is also used for processing orchestration and tracking.

• BizTalkServerIsolatedHost: The logical container for HTTP, WCF (BasicHttp, CustomIsolated, WebHttp and WSHttp) and SOAP Receive Handlers.

Although a single BizTalk Host can contain items that receive, send, and process messages, it is considered a best practice to create different hosts for each function to create security boundaries and for easier management and scalability. In particular, we recommend that you use different hosts for processing and for receive/send operations, and that you separate trusted and non-trusted items.

As the official documentation specify, in addition to the high availability aspects of the host instance configuration, you should separate sending, receiving, processing, and tracking functionality into multiple hosts. This provides flexibility when configuring the workload in your BizTalk group and is the primary means of distributing processing across a BizTalk group.

This also allows you to stop one host without affecting other hosts. For example, you may want to stop sending messages to let them queue up in the MessageBox database, while still allowing the inbound receiving of messages to occur.

Separating host instances by functionality also provides some of the following benefits:

• Each host instance has its own set of resources such as memory, handles, and threads in the .NET thread pool.
• Multiple BizTalk Hosts will also reduce contention on the MessageBox database host queue tables since each host is assigned its own work queue tables in the MessageBox database.
• Throttling is implemented in BizTalk Server at the host level. This allows you to set different throttling characteristics for each host.
• Security is implemented at the host level; each host runs under a discrete Windows identity.

However this also may bring some potential drawbacks if too many host instances are created because each host instance is a Windows service (BTSNTSvc.exe or BTSNTSvc64.exe), which generates additional load against the MessageBox database and consumes computer resources (such as CPU, memory, threads), so you need to be careful.

The following figure will provide you with a general overview of the relationship between servers, hosts and host instances, however is not intended to be the best practices. This architecture will depend from many factors and will change from client to client:

Normally we read that we need to create at least 4 host instances:

• Sending
• Receiving
• Processing
• And tracking

but that’s not absolutely true because, at least since BizTalk Server is supported in 64 bits, we typically use 64-bits versions and in this case we also need to create at least one Host Instance that will run on 32-bits because FTP adapter, SQL adapter, POP3 adapter and MIME Decoder on 64-bit host instances is not supported by the product (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa560166.aspx)

We can define that one of the best practices for hosts and host instances is the following:

• BizTalkServerTrackingHost: A BizTalk Host that hosts tracking is responsible for moving the DTA and BAM tracking data from the MessageBox database to the BizTalk Tracking (DTA) and BAM Primary Import databases.
• BizTalkServerReceiveHost: This host will be responsible for processing messages after they are picked up in a receive location.
• BizTalkServerReceive32Host: has the same goal as the previous however this must have the “32-bits only” option select so that we can run the 23-bits adapters.
• BizTalkServerSendHost: This host will be responsible for processing messages before they are sent out to the send port.
• BizTalkServerSend32Host: has the same goal as the previous however this must have the “32-bits only” option select so that we can run the 32-bits adapters.
• BizTalkServerApplication: This host will be responsible for process messages based on the instructions in orchestrations that need to run in 32-bits.
• BizTalkServerApplication64Host:This host will be responsible for process messages based on the instructions in all or most common orchestrations.

Note: You can create other Application Host if you want to separate process base in some application logic.

You can read more about this topic in more details in my previous post: PowerShell to Configure BizTalk Server Host and Host Instances according to some of the Best Practices or in TechNet Wiki: BizTalk Server Best Practices: Create and Configure BizTalk Server Host and Host Instances.

You can find a simple script to configure Host, Host Instance and Adapter Handlers described earlier in this post optimized for BizTalk Server 2013 R2 (and also 2013) in TechNet Gallery:

• PowerShell to Configure BizTalk Server 2013/2013 R2 Host and Host Instances

Power Mode

The different performance states are dynamically managed by Windows in conjunction with hardware and platform firmware to respond to varying workload requirements. The 3 default power plans exposed by Windows provide varying tradeoffs of performance vs. power consumption. For example, if the High Performance power plan is selected, Windows places the system in the highest performance state and disables the dynamic scaling of performance in response to varying workload levels. Therefore, special care should be taken before setting the power plan to High Performance as this can increase power consumption unnecessarily when the system is underutilized.

In some cases you may experience degraded overall performance on a machine when running with the default (Balanced) power plan. The issue may occur irrespective of platform and may be exhibited on both native and virtual environments. The degraded performance may increase the average response time for some tasks and cause performance issues with CPU-intensive applications

To change a power plan:

• Press the “Windows key” to switch to the Start screen and type “Power Options” and click in “Power Options” option from the Search menu.

• From the power plan page, choose the High Performance option

• Close the Power Option window.

Consider setting the ‘text in row’ table option to boost BizTalk Server Performance

SQL Server provides a table option called text in row to declare that the contents of the fields of type text, ntext, or image data whose dimensions are smaller than those of a data page (8Kb) must be stored in a data row. By setting this option on BizTalkMsgBoxDb tables (Parts table, Spool table and DynamicStateInfo Tables), you can increase message throughput when working with small messages which have a small context and orchestrations that have a small persistence size. This makes reading and writing the in-row strings about as fast as reading or writing limited size varchar, nvarchar, or varbinary strings. Similarly, when the values are stored off-row, the Database Engine incurs an additional page read or write.

How to exploit the Text in Row table option in BizTalk Server

The following section explains how and when applying the text in row table option to boost BizTalk performance.

• Parts Table: When the message size is smaller than the dimensions of a data page that are of 8kb, applying the text in row table option on the Parts table can lead to BizTalk Server performance improvement.
• Spool Table: When the average size of the message context is less than 8 kb, enabling the text in row table option on the Spool table helps you reduce the number of accesses when reading messages from the MessageBox along with their context. To apply this option to the Spool table, you must eliminate unnecessary context properties and distinguished fields to reduce the size of the message context lower than 8 Kb.

• DynamicStateInfo Tables: These tables, one for each host, contain a field of type image called imgData that contains binary-serialized orchestration state when they encounter a persistence point during their execution. When the internal state of orchestrations within a host HostA is so small that its size once serialized is less than 8 kb, the text in row technique can successfully be applied to the DynamicStateInfo_HostA table. Therefore we recommend that you keep the internal state of orchestrations as small as possible. This technique can significantly reduce the time that is spent by the XLANG Engine to serialize, persist, de-serialize and restore the internal state of an orchestration in case of persistence point.

See more about this topic in the following resources:

• Post-Configuration Database Optimizations
• How to exploit the Text In Row table option to boost BizTalk Server Performance
• Microsoft BizTalk Server 2013 Performance Optimization Guide

You can use the following settings sample that in your environment:

• EXEC sp_tableoption N’Spool’, ‘text in row’, ‘6000’
• EXEC sp_tableoption N’Parts’, ‘text in row’, ‘6000’

Related links

• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Important considerations before set up the server (Part 1)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Enable Internet Information Services (Part 2)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install Windows Identity Foundation (WIF) (Part 3)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and configure SMTP Server Feature (Part 4)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install Microsoft Office Excel 2013 (Part 5)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install Visual Studio 2013 (Part 6)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install SQL Server 2014 (Part 7)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Configure SQL Server Database Mail feature (Part 8)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and Configure BizTalk Server 2013 R2 (Part 9)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Configure SQL Server Network Configuration protocols (Part 10)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Validate Mail account used by BizTalk to send BAM Alerts (Part 11)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Installing BizTalk Adapter Pack (Part 12)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and Configure Microsoft UDDI Services (Part 13)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and Configure the Microsoft BizTalk ESB Toolkit (Part 14)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Configure BizTalk Server SQL Jobs (Part 15)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Optimize the BizTalk Server 2013 R2 environment (Part 16)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Optimize the BizTalk Server 2013 R2 environment (Part 17)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install additional Developer tools (Part 19)

This part of the article will focus on the installation of additional useful tools to help you develop your BizTalk Server projects. The goal here is not to address all the tools available instead I will address only the most important ones that may have direct impact on the efficiency of your developments, because there are a number of tools that can aid you as BizTalk developer, which you can find on Codeplex or Microsoft Download Center, that are not offered out of the box by BizTalk Server like WCF Publishing Wizard and so on.

Install BizTalk NoS Addin for Visual Studio 2013

Although the current available version for download at Visual Studio Gallery has not been developed and not be “officially” supported for Visual Studio 2013/BizTalk Server 2013 R2 it can be installed and used without problems in this new environment conjugation: Visual Studio 2013 and BizTalk Server 2013 R2 with a small workaround.

What is BTSG NoS Addin purpose?

The purpose of BTSG NoS addin is to help all BizTalk Developer, why not, all BizTalk Administrator too in a lot of different situations, by improving the developer experience and why not reduce the development time in new or existent BizTalk projects.

It will provide several functionalities like quick search inside artifact, fast register/unregister in GAC, find critical, internal or external dependencies… and many fore functionalities like JackHammering, which will compare your VS artifact with the artifact deployed in BizTalk environment, you can also extract the artifact (Orchestration, map, schema and so on) from BizTalk environment and put it in the VS solution or even test your pipeline in VS simply… several features that are usefully in our day by day work and a time saver in a lot of situations.

How can I install BTSG NoS Addin for Visual Studio 2013

Because the current version of the Addin in not officially supported for Visual Studio 2013, you cannot install it through “Extensions and Updates” option from Visual Studio, instead you need to:

You can install BTSG NoS Addin directly from Visual Studio “Extensions and Updates” option. For that you must:

• Download the BizTalk NoS Addin from Visual Studio Gallery: BizTalk NoS Addin
• Execute “BTSGSetup.exe” file with administration writes by, right-click on the file and select “Run as administrator” option.

• On the Welcome to the BTSG NoS Addin Installer Setup page, click “Next” to continue

• On the End-User License Agreement page, accept the terms by selecting the “I accept the terms of this License Agreement” option and click “Next” to continue.

• On the Destination Folder page, set the destination folder and click “Next” to continue

• On the Ready to install BTSG NoS Addin page, click “Install” to start the installation process.

• On the Completed the BTSG NoS Addin Installer Setup page, click “Finish” to complete the installation of the Addin.

Add-In Registration for Visual Studio 2013 (Workaround)

Visual Studio add-ins are deprecated in Visual Studio 2013. You should upgrade your add-ins to VSPackage extensions. For BizTalk NoS Addin to work in Visual Studio 2013 we need to implement the following workaround:

• When Visual Studio starts, it looks in the .addin file location (\Documents\Visual Studio 2013\Addins\) for any available .addin files
  • For example: C:\Users\Administrator\Documents\Visual Studio 2013
• Because BizTalk NoS Addin is meant to work with Visual Studio 2012 you should go to
  • For example: C:\Users\Administrator\Documents\Visual Studio 2012
  • You will find in this location an “Addins” folder containing “BTSG NoS” addin file

• Copy the “Addins” folder to Visual Studio 2013 .addin file location
  • For example: C:\Users\Administrator\Documents\Visual Studio 2013
• Go to “Addins” folder:
  • For example: C:\Users\Administrator\Documents\Visual Studio 2013\Addins
  • And edit the file ADDIN File.AddIn in notepad and change the <HostApplication> element with the following data:

<HostApplication>
   <Name>Microsoft Visual Studio</Name>
   <Version>12.0</Version>
</HostApplication>

• Save and close the file.

To load BTSG NoS Addin into Visual Studio 2013

• Open a BizTalk Server Visual Studio Project and on the Tools menu, click Add-In Manager.

• In the Add-in Manager window, select the add-in from the Available Add-ins column list and then click “OK”.

Back to your BizTalk project, right click in your BizTalk solution or in one of your BizTalk artifacts and you can see the new options provided by BTSG NoS Addin:

You can find all the documentation about this addin in:

• TechNet Gallery: BizTalk NoS Addin Documentation

Or in my posts:

• What is BTSG NoS Addin purpose and what features are available? (Part 1)
• What is BTSG NoS Addin purpose and what features are available? (Part 2)
• What is BTSG NoS Addin purpose and what features are available? (Part 3)
• What is BTSG NoS Addin purpose and what features are available? (Part 4)
• What is BTSG NoS Addin purpose and what features are available? (Part 5)

Install BizTalk Server Pipeline Component Wizard

The Pipeline Component Wizard is intended to ease to development of pipeline components used within a BizTalk Server environment. Supports both C# and VB.NET. The following resources can be used to download the tool, find guidance in usage and background information:

• BizTalk Server 2013 R2 Pipeline Component Wizard (BizTalk Server 2013 R2 download version)
• CodePlex project page
• Blog post for guidance

Install BizTalk Server Functoids Project Wizard

BizTalk MapperExtensions Functoid Wizard is a Custom Functoid Project Wizard for Visual Studio 2010. It allows you to create new Functoids project for BizTalk Server 2010 without having to create manually the project. Supports both C# and VB.NET.

The following resources can be used to download the tool, find guidance in usage and background information:

• Available soon

Related links

• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Important considerations before set up the server (Part 1)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Enable Internet Information Services (Part 2)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install Windows Identity Foundation (WIF) (Part 3)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and configure SMTP Server Feature (Part 4)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install Microsoft Office Excel 2013 (Part 5)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install Visual Studio 2013 (Part 6)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install SQL Server 2014 (Part 7)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Configure SQL Server Database Mail feature (Part 8)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and Configure BizTalk Server 2013 R2 (Part 9)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Configure SQL Server Network Configuration protocols (Part 10)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Validate Mail account used by BizTalk to send BAM Alerts (Part 11)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Installing BizTalk Adapter Pack (Part 12)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and Configure Microsoft UDDI Services (Part 13)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Install and Configure the Microsoft BizTalk ESB Toolkit (Part 14)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Configure BizTalk Server SQL Jobs (Part 15)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Optimize the BizTalk Server 2013 R2 environment (Part 16)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Optimize the BizTalk Server 2013 R2 environment (Part 17)
• BizTalk Server 2013 R2: Installation and Configuration – Optimize the BizTalk Server 2013 R2 environment (Part 18)