I recently investigated a GP 10 issue where the application unexpectedly stopped working. During a batch posting, GP crashed and resisted any further launch attempts.

Launching GP presented the user with a message insisting on running GP Utilities first: “You need to run Microsoft Dynamics GP Utilities before you can run Microsoft Dynamics GP.”

However, GP Utilities presented its own message, stating the Dynamics system database was absent and required setup: “The Microsoft Dynamics GP system database has not been created for this installation.”

It seemed as if GP had vanished from both the machine and SQL Server.

Investigating further, I examined the SQL Server and verified the databases’ existence. The database files were present, visible within SQL Server Management Studio, and I could query them without encountering problems.

While everything appeared normal on my end, GP clearly disagreed.

To understand why GP Utilities couldn’t locate the Dynamics database, I utilized SQL Profiler during its launch.

The profiler revealed that Utilities was searching for a database with a blank name, explaining why it couldn’t find the Dynamics database.

Testing Utilities on a different machine confirmed the expected query structure.

This confirmed Utilities wasn’t executing the correct SQL statements and, consequently, couldn’t correctly query the Dynamics database.

Progressing through the Utilities setup’s initial steps, I encountered another peculiarity in the System Database setup window.

The database file names were missing the usual “DYNAMICS” prefix.

The core issue seemed to be affecting both GP and GP Utilities’ memory, making them forget the Dynamics database name.

Considering the problem surfaced before SQL queries and the SQL Server and databases appeared fine, I deduced the Dynamics GP client was at fault.

Examining the Dex.ini file revealed an anomaly. It contained only the following:

Comparing it to a functional Dex.ini file from a working GP server highlighted the discrepancy.

The crash during posting had inexplicably erased most of the Dex.ini file’s contents.

This missing information caused both GP and GP Utilities to lose crucial system details, leading to the encountered errors.

Copying the content from the working Dex.ini file, with minor adjustments, successfully restored GP functionality.

This unusual case reinforces the importance of a reliable backup procedure for any Dynamics GP environment.