Microsoft Dynamics NAV for Mobile Devices

Microsoft Dynamics NAV for Mobile Devices

From the very beginning of the investigation it's important to define what Microsoft Dynamics NAV for mobile devices is.In Microsoft documentation there is mentioned such an appellation as Microsoft Dynamics NAV Universal App. This is the common name for the NAV app across all devices.

So Dynamics NAV Universal App includes:

• - Dynamics NAV Windows client
• - Dynamics NAV Web Client
• - Dynamics NAV Tablet Client
• - Dynamics NAV Phone Client

As shown on the schema above Dynamics NAV Tablet Client and Dynamics NAV Phone Client are included to NAV for mobile devices.

It’s important to know that mobile clients have being available since NAV 2015 version was released.
Dynamics NAV Tablet and Phone Clients are released for different operation systems:

• - Windows (Windows Store)
• - Android (Google Play)
• - iOS (App Store)

NAV can be downloaded from these stores absolutely free.

Looking ahead it’s important to say that Dynamics NAV Tablet and Phone Clients can not support networks with domains. So if your NAV server is in domain it will be impossible to log in. To solve this issue your system administrator should start Device Registration Service which is available on Windows Server 2012 R2. Also system administrator should install special certificate on your mobile device.
This issue concerns Android, iOSs and Windows.

How to make it work

To make your NAV database available on your mobile device you should set up Dynamics NAV Web Client.There are several steps to do it:

1. Choose the database to work with.

2. Add and start an NAV Server instance to chosen database.

3. Install Web Server Components (if not installed already).
To install Web Server Components you should run NAV setup file. Then click on “Add or remove components”. In next window you should make Web Server Components available.Then click "Next" and follow the installation instructions.

4. Add a NAV web server instance.

When all necessary components are set up NAV web server should be run. To reproduce it follow next steps (information from msdn.microsoft.com):

4.1. On the computer or virtual machine that is running Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server, run Microsoft Dynamics NAV Administration Shell as an Administrator.

Choose Start, in the Search box, type Microsoft Dynamics NAV Administration Shell.

Right-click the related link, and then choose Run as Administrator.

4.2. At the command prompt, type command in the following format:

New-NAVWebServerInstance -WebServerInstance <MyWebApp> -Server <NAVServer> -ServerInstance <NAVServerInstance> -ClientServicesCredentialType <NAVCredentialType>

Example:

New-NAVWebServerInstance -WebServerInstance MyNavApp –Server MyNavServer –ServerInstance DynamicsNAV90 –Company MyNavCompany -ClientServicesCredentialType NavUserPassword

Addition information is here.

5. Run NAV Web Client.

To run a NAV Web Client you should run your browser and type string in a next format to address field:

http://ComputerName:Port/WebServerInstance/WebClient

Example:

http://MyNAVWeb:8080/DynamicsNAV90/WebClient

6. Run NAV Tablet or Phone Client.

So if Web Client opens without errors you can start with overview of Tablet and Phone client. If you have downloaded NAV for your Windows, Android or iOS phone you can log in with your mobile device. If not, you can just see how these clients look like with help of your browser. Fill in address field with links for tablet and phone accordingly:

http://MyNAVWeb:8080/DynamicsNAV90/WebClient/tablet.aspx

http://MyNAVWeb:8080/DynamicsNAV90/WebClient/phone.aspx 

There is quite big list of limitations in NAV Web, Tablet and Phone clients. You can find information about it here.

In conclusion we can say that NAV Tablet and Phone Clients do not replace NAV Windows or Web Clients, because NAV for mobile devices allows to run limited set of simple application scenarios. The main idea is to let user be online when he or she is out of desk.