Microsoft navcontainerhelper

By default, containers use the CRONUS demo license. To use your own license file, use the -licenseFile parameter with New-NavContainer. You have three primary methods:

1. Secure URL: Provide a URL starting with http or https. The script will download and import it.
2. Local Path: Provide a path to a file on the host. To make this work, you must first share the host folder with the container using -additionalParameters (e.g., -v c:\temp:c:\temp).
3. Override SetupLicense: Add a custom SetupLicense.ps1 to the -myScripts parameter to manually handle the import logic.

To import a license into an already running container, use the Import-NavContainerLicense function.

# Example: Using a secure URL
New-NavContainer -accept_eula `
                 -containerName "test" `
                 -auth NavUserPassword `
                 -imageName "microsoft/dynamics-nav" `
                 -Credential $credential `
                 -licensefile "https://www.dropbox.com/s/abcdefghijkl/mylicense.flf?dl=1"

# Example: Importing to a running container
Import-NavContainerLicense -containerName test -licenseFile "https://www.dropbox.com/s/abcdefghijkl/mylicense.flf?dl=1"

You can extract the SQL Express CRONUS Demo Database files from a standard NAV container image by overriding the navstart.ps1 script. This process starts the SQL Server inside the container, takes the database offline, and copies the .mdf and .ldf files to a shared host folder.

To perform this, use New-NavContainer with the -myScripts parameter to provide a custom navstart.ps1 script and the -additionalParameters parameter to map a host folder to the container's database destination.

$navstartScript = @'
Write-Host "Extracting databases..."
# ... (script logic to start SQL, take DB offline, and copy files) ...
'@

$hostFolder = "c:\temp\navdbfiles"
$imageName = "microsoft/dynamics-nav"
$additionalParameters = @("-v ${hostFolder}:c:\navdbfiles")
$tempcredential = New-Object System.Management.Automation.PSCredential -argumentList "admin", (ConvertTo-SecureString -String "<YourPassword>" -AsPlainText -Force)

New-NavContainer -accept_eula `
                 -containerName "temp" `
                 -imageName $imageName `
                 -Credential $tempcredential `
                 -memoryLimit "1g" `
                 -shortcuts None `
                 -additionalParameters $additionalParameters `
                 -myScripts @{"navstart.ps1" = $navstartScript}

Remove-NavContainer -containerName "temp"

To use an existing database backup, you can create a standalone SQL Server container and restore a .bak file into it.

1. Define the host folder containing your .bak file.
2. Run a docker run command to start a SQL Server container (e.g., microsoft/mssql-server-windows-express), mounting your host folder to the container.
3. Use Restore-SqlDatabase with RelocateFile to ensure the database files are placed in the correct container paths.

$hostFolder = "c:\temp\navdbfiles"
$databaseCredential = New-Object System.Management.Automation.PSCredential -argumentList "sa", (ConvertTo-SecureString -String "<YourPassword>" -AsPlainText -Force)
$dbPassword = [System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::PtrToStringBSTR([System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::SecureStringToBSTR($databaseCredential.Password))

# Start SQL Server container
$dbserverid = docker run -d -e sa_password="$dbPassword" -e ACCEPT_EULA=Y -v "${hostFolder}:C:/temp" microsoft/mssql-server-windows-express
$databaseServer = $dbserverid.SubString(0,12)
$databaseInstance = ""

$databaseName = "Demo Database NAV (11-0)"
$databaseServerInstance = @{ $true = "$databaseServer\$databaseInstance"; $false = "$databaseServer"}["$databaseInstance" -ne ""]

# Relocate files during restore
$RelocateData = New-Object Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo.RelocateFile("${databaseName}_Data", "c:\temp\${databaseName}_Data.mdf")
$RelocateLog = New-Object Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo.RelocateFile("${databaseName}_Log", "c:\temp\${databaseName}_Log.ldf")

Restore-SqlDatabase -ServerInstance $databaseServerInstance -Database $databaseName -BackupFile "C:\temp\$databaseName.bak" -Credential $databaseCredential -RelocateFile @($RelocateData,$RelocateLog)

When creating a new container with New-NavContainer, you can specify a custom .bak file using the bakfile environment variable passed via -additionalParameters. There are three ways to provide the file:

1. Secure URL: Provide a direct URL to the .bak file.
2. Shared Host Folder: Map a host folder to the container using --volume and point bakfile to the path inside the container.
3. myScripts: Include the .bak file in the -myScripts parameter. The file will be copied to c:\run\my inside the container, and you can then point bakfile to that location.

Note: Container initialization and Super user creation still occur when using a .bak file. If using Windows Authentication, only the username is compared (domain is ignored).

# Option 1: Secure URL
New-NavContainer -accept_eula -containerName "test" -Auth NavUserPassword -imageName $imageName -Credential $navcredential -licenseFile "https://url.to/license.flf" -additionalParameters @('--env bakfile="https://url.to/database.bak?dl=1"')

# Option 2: Shared Host Folder
New-NavContainer -accept_eula -containerName "test" -Auth NavUserPassword -imageName $imageName -Credential $navcredential -licenseFile "https://url.to/license.flf" -additionalParameters @('--volume c:\temp\navdbfiles:c:\temp', '--env bakfile="c:\temp\Demo Database NAV (11-0).bak"')

# Option 3: Using myScripts
New-NavContainer -accept_eula -containerName "test" -Auth NavUserPassword -imageName $imageName -Credential $navcredential -licenseFile "https://url.to/license.flf" -myScripts @("c:\temp\navdbfiles\Demo Database NAV (11-0).bak") -additionalParameters @('--env bakfile="c:\run\my\Demo Database NAV (11-0).bak"')

Use the -includeCSIDE parameter with New-NavContainer to share the Classic Development Environment (CSIDE) and the Windows Client from the container to the host computer.

This process:

1. Shares C:\ProgramData\NavContainerHelper\Extensions\<containername>\Program Files with the container.
2. Copies files from the Windows Client folder to the shared folder via a script.
3. Places a ClientUserSettings.config file in the folder.
4. Creates desktop shortcuts for CSIDE and the Windows Client.
5. Exports baseline objects to a folder (unless -doNotExportObjectsToText is specified).

Prerequisites for host CSIDE: You must install vcredist_x86 and sqlncli on the host machine.

Note: When using CSIDE, you cannot modify or compile table schemas unless you are using Windows Authentication.

New-NavContainer -accept_eula `
                 -containerName "test" `
                 -auth NavUserPassword `
                 -imageName "microsoft/dynamics-nav" `
                 -includeCSIDE `
                 -doNotExportObjectsToText