I recently ran into this issue when trying to start an upgrade from GP 2010 to GP 2013. Here is the scenario:
- A test server had been created, and copies of the live gp databases restored
- A fresh install of GP 2010 was on the test server, and the companies could be accessed through the GP client.
- A new install of GP 2013 was completed, with the latest service pack. Rolled with the default to create a new data source, and to keep the system database name as DYNAMICS
- Windows Server 2008 R2 and SQL 2008 R2
When running GP 2013 Utilities, it asked to create a new system database, which I thought was weird since a DYNAMICS database was already present on the server, and I specified during the install to use that name. I clicked to create a Basic install, and then when it tried that, up popped this error message:
“A system database name was not supplied. Run a repair of the Microsoft Dynamics GP installation.”
I could only hit OK and then Utilities closed. Using my freshly gained knowledge at Convergence 2013, there is a new line in the Dex.ini file that keeps track of the system database name. That line is called “Pathname”, and it should look like this:
Pathname=DYNAMICS/dbo/
Where DYNAMICS is the name of the system database. However, it seems that after an initial install, that line reads Pathname=/dbo/ with no system database name.
After updating the file to read correctly (Pathname=DYNAMICS/dbo/) I was able to run GP 2013 Utilities and perform the update.
What fun!