BizTalk blog posts 02/2013 - 05/2013

The past time I haven't posted a lot on this blog, especially not much blog posts on BizTalk subjects. This doesn't mean that I haven't done any BizTalk related blog posts, I just haven't done it on my personal blog for a while... I've mostly posted on my companies blog, where I am the sole contributor and administrator.

But for all of you loyal readers of my personal blog, I thought it would be nice to give an overview of all of my latest posts. I'm thinking of doing this every once in a while to keep all of you updated on ALL of my posts.

So here goes for the period till May 2013...

• BizTalk error: ‘The message found multiple request response subscriptions’: solution to sending messages to multiple request-response send ports
• BizTalk file mask difference for windows 7 and windows server 2008 r2: A difference in file mask usage between windows 7 and windows server 2008 r2
• BizTalk360 v6.0: new features explained: a quick view on some of the improvements introduced in the new BizTalk360 version 6.0
• BizTalk Server 2013 is now RTM!: the announcement of the new BizTalk version release on MSDN, with the new features listed
• BTS2013 features explained: XslCompiledTransform: I started a new series on viewing some of the new features of BizTalk 2013 in more detail, the first one was about the XslCompiledTransform
• BTS2013 features explained: Improvements in dynamic send ports: follow up post on a new BizTalk 2013 feature on the Improvements in dynamic send ports
• BTS2013 features explained: Dependency tracking: an in depth view of the new dependency tracking feature of BizTalk 2013
• First Cumulative Update for BizTalk 2013… available through Microsoft Update!: the announcement that the very first cumulative update was released for BizTalk 2013, and that it even was available through Microsoft Update
• BAM error: Failed to list permissions for BAM view – System.Data.SqlTypes.SqlNullValueException: Data is Null: a solution to a BAM issue I encountered

Hope you enjoy these blog posts!

CU1 for BizTalk 2013... using Microsoft Update!

The Microsoft Team has just announced the release of the very first Cumulative Update For BizTalk 2013.

But an even more surprising news is that it is available using Microsoft Update!... This is the very first time a BizTalk Update can be obtained with Microsoft Update, as before it had to be done by downloading it manually through the hotfix download. An amazing improvement if you ask me, making it a whole lot easier for administrators.

The update will still be available through the hotfix download though.

The Content of the Cumulative Update

The very first CU for BizTalk 2013 brings 3 fixes:

• User cannot perform certain database-related operations in BizTalk Server 2013
• BAM tools cannot be configured in a multi-node BizTalk Server 2013 environment
• The vertical scroll bar on the target schema does not work correctly when you use Visual Studio to design a BizTalk Server 2013 map

How to install using Microsoft Update

The following steps are applicable if you have Microsoft Update enabled in the machine where BizTalk Server is installed.

1. Log into a server where BizTalk Server is already installed, and Microsoft Update is enabled
2. Check for windows update
3. Notice available fixes for BizTalk Server under optional updates
4. Select the update and install

(Perform the above operations in each of the BizTalk nodes)

The original announcement can be found here.

Microsoft BizTalk Server 2013 available on MSDN

It took a while, but here it is... BizTalk Server 2013 is now in RTM (Manufacturing)! as of now you can download BizTalk 2013 from MSDN, and it will be available for purchase in April.

Besides all kinds of new features, the new version of BizTalk also brings us a whole new licensing model. At least it is new in terms of BizTalk pricings... it will be a per-core licensing model, just like the SQL Server licensing.

A more detailed info can be found on my companies blog post.
the official announcement of the BizTalk team, can be found in this post on their blog.

Biztalk 2013 Beta released

Microsoft finally released a beta version of the new biztalk, wich can be found here.
The first thing that should be noticed is that Microsoft decided to change the next versions name from Biztalk 2010R2 to Biztalk 2013. This has some very important consequences… It indicates the next version to be a major release, which implies a much longer support from Microsoft.
Microsoft’s support lifecycle policy says that products will have 5+5 years (mainstream+extended) support. However, that applies to major versions. If the product would still be BizTalk Server 2010 R2, it will not get an extended support lifecycle end date.

So in conclusion, having the next Biztalk version being a full release is an important sign to the market, it implies a much longer support lifecycle for the product.


Biztalk 2013 will have following new features:

• Integration with Cloud Services: messages using different relay endpoints hosted on Azure.


• RESTful services: provides adapters to invoke REST endpoints as well as expose BizTalk Server artifacts as a RESTful service.


• Enhanced SharePoint adapter: the need for dependency on SharePoint farms has been removed, while still providing backward compatibility.


• SFTP adapter: added an SFTP adapter that will enable sending and receiving messages from an SFTP server.


• ESB Toolkit integration: ESB Toolkit is now fully integrated with BizTalk Server. Also, the ESB Toolkit configuration experience is vastly simplified to enable a quick setup.


• Dependency tracking: dependencies between artifacts can now be viewed and navigated in Admin console.


• Improvements in dynamic send ports: the ability to set host handler per adapter, instead of always using the default send handler of the adapters.