Configure, install, and activate Modern POS (MPOS)

This article explains how to configure, download, and install, and activate Microsoft Dynamics 365 Commerce Modern POS (MPOS) on various platforms.

This article describes how to configure, download, and install Modern point of sale (MPOS) on various platforms. This article is based on the legacy self-service installer. For more information about sealed self-service installers, see Mass deployment of sealed Commerce self-service components. It then describes how to activate Modern POS through device activation.

Technology

The self-service process lets you download the appropriate version of the Modern POS installer and install it on the physical device that you want to use as the point of sale (POS) register. Device activation is the main onboarding step that ties the physical device to a register in Dynamics 365 Commerce headquarters. Here are the main technical functions of this feature:

• Tie a physical device to a business entity (register).
• Provide enhanced security through Microsoft Entra and a device token/ID.
• Stop unauthorized remote use of Modern POS. (In other words, deactivate a device remotely.)
• Initialize settings for easy Modern POS functioning (number sequence, hardware profile, merchant information) as the first touchpoint of the POS.
• Comply with payment card industry (PCI) standards, and report on device information from headquarters.

Setup

Before you start the steps that are outlined in this article, follow these steps.

• Verify that you have credentials to sign in to headquarters.
• Verify that you have administrative or root access to install Modern POS on a device.
• Verify that you can access the Commerce Scale Unit from the device.
• Verify that the environment contains the Commerce permission groups and jobs in the Human resources module. These permission groups and jobs should be installed as part of the demo data.

Download and install Modern POS

Verify that the device is correctly configured

1. In headquarters, go to Retail and Commerce > Channels > Channel deployment.

2. On the Channel deployment page, select the Registers tile.

3. On the Registers page, select a store register. The demo data thoroughly defines the Houston store and registers for self-service. To find the Houston registers, enter Houston in the filter at the top of the list of devices.

4. Select a register by selecting the register number in the Register number column. In the Houston store, register Houston-3 is well defined and is therefore useful as an example.

5. On the page for the register, under General, verify that the Support offline option is set to No. To use offline support, on the Action Pane, select Edit, and then set Support offline option to Yes.

   Note

   When you use Microsoft Entra authentication, POS offline doesn't function because online connectivity is always required.

Download the Modern POS installer

1. On the Welcome page, use the menu in the upper left to go to Retail and Commerce > Channels > Channel deployment.

2. On the Channel deployment page, select the Devices tile.

3. Select a device.

   Note

   • The Houston devices are well defined. Houston-3 is useful as an example for a Microsoft Windows desktop or tablet. Houston-21 is useful as an example for a Windows Phone.
   • When you select a device, the Download button on the Action Pane becomes available.

4. Select Download, and then select Configuration file.

   • Browsers might block the download pop-up that is generated. You must select either Allow once or Options for this site > Always allow. Then, while the device is still selected, select Download again.
   • The configuration file must be saved to the same location as the Modern POS installer. For security reasons, delete this file after installation is completed. If the configuration file isn't the same file name as the installer executable, you must either run the executable using the command line to specify the configuration file, or you must rename the XML configuration file to have the same base name as the executable file name.

5. On the notification bar that appears at the bottom of the Microsoft Edge window, select Save. (The notification bar might appear in a different place in other browsers.)

6. Select Download, and then select Retail Modern POS.

   • Browsers might block the download pop-up that is generated. You must select either Allow once or Options for this site > Always allow. Then, while the device is still selected, select Download again.
   • The installation package that you must use depends on whether you require offline support, and whether the device that Modern POS is installed on is a Windows tablet or an Android or iOS phone. The correct package is automatically selected for download, based on the register settings and the application type that is set for the device. If the offline package is selected for a Windows tablet, but Microsoft SQL Server isn't already installed, or if it doesn't meet the requirements for the offline package, SQL Server isn't downloaded. Install SQL Server (and the associated prerequisite features, such as Full-text search) and attempt the installer again.

7. On the notification bar that appears at the bottom of the Microsoft Edge window, select Save. (The notification bar might appear in a different place in other browsers.)

8. After the setup installer is saved, on the notification bar, select Run. (This step might differ, depending on your browser.)

Before running the Modern POS installer

• Make sure that all system requirements are met. If you plan to use an offline database, Microsoft recommends that you first first review the Commerce Data Exchange implementation guidance section and the related best practices content it references.

• Microsoft recommends that you temporarily turn off antivirus applications. For aggressive antivirus solutions, the installation may stall due to the antivirus solution checking active files while in use.

• The installer sideloads a modern application. Therefore, a Group Policy entry must be set to allow for sideloaded applications. The installer changes the associated registry key as follows to allow for this installation:

  • Path: HKLM:SoftwarePoliciesMicrosoftWindowsAppx
  • Property: AllowAllTrustedApps
  • Value: 1

• If offline is used (an offline database created), then a default SQL Server instance must exist. If SQL Server instances exist but none are set as the default, then the installer fails to install the offline database.

If you're installing Modern POS for use with an on-premises environment, you must start the installer from a command line as follows:

ModernPosSetupOffline.exe -UseAdfsAuthentication

Run the Modern POS installer on a Windows computer

The Modern POS installer first extracts the associated files and then starts the installation.

1. The installer validates that all prerequisites are met.

   • If a system restart is required, the installer informs you about this requirement, but the installation can typically continue.
   • A sideloaded installation of Modern POS requires a Group Policy change. The installer informs you if this change is required and then makes the change automatically.

2. If you selected offline support, but a valid version of SQL Server isn't found, the installer fails during the prerequisites check. If a prerequisite fails during this step, retry the installer.

3. The installer installs Modern POS.

4. On the page that states that installation was successful, select Close to exit the installer.

You can now start the program.

Run the installer on any other device (Windows Phone, Google Android device, or Apple iOS device)

1. If the application wasn't downloaded directly to the device, transfer the downloaded app file and the associated configuration file to the same folder on the device. Depending on the type of device, the app file can be an APPX, APK, or IPA file.

   • This step can be done in various ways. For example, the files can be accessed through a shared folder, transferred via USB cable, or securely mailed to the user's device.

2. To browse to the app directory, use a file explorer on the device.

3. To begin the application installation, tap the app. (If the configuration file was saved to the same location, the Commerce Scale Unit URL is automatically entered when you start the application and begin device activation.)

   • Some devices require that you double-tap the file to begin application installation. Some devices might not notify you that an application is installed. On those devices, Microsoft recommends that you look at the application list to verify that the application was correctly installed.

4. When the installation is completed, you should be able to start the application from the application list on the device. For example, after you install the application on a Windows Phone, you can start it from the home screen tiles list.

You can now start the program.

Create a worker

Workers have already been created and assigned to the Houston address book in the provided demo data, so the following procedures use pregenerated data.

Create a worker

To create a worker, follow these steps.

1. In headquarters, go to Retail and Commerce > Employees > Workers.
2. On the Action Pane, select New to create a new employee.
3. Enter the first and family name. For example, enter John as the first name and Smith as the family name.
4. Verify that the Legal entity field is set to USRT, the Worker type field is set to Employee, and the Employment start date field is set to the current date at 12 AM, so that the worker's employment starts immediately.
5. Select the Assign a position check box. Select position number 000544, which is the Store manager position.
6. Set the Personnel action type field to Hire Action to hire a new employee immediately.
7. Select Continue.
8. On the Action Pane, select Complete to finish creating the new worker.
9. Return to the worker list. Search for the newly created worker (for example, John Smith). Select the worker's name to see the details of the new worker.
10. On the Action Pane, select Edit.
11. Verify that the language for the worker is en-us.
12. Under Worker summary, in the Address books field, select the Houston store.
13. On the Commerce tab, you can reset the POS password. For this tutorial, reset the password to 123.
14. On the Commerce tab, under Screen layout, assign a screen layout. For example, select F2MP16:9M (Fabrikam MPOS Manager (16:9)).
15. On the Action Pane, select Save.
16. Go to Retail and Commerce > Periodic > Distribution schedule.
17. Select the 1060 – Staff job, and then, on the Action Pane, select Run now to sync the worker data to the channel database.
18. After the new worker is created and synchronized to stores, the worker can sign in to any POS device that the worker is assigned to in the HOUSTON store, and can perform transactions on that device. However, the device must be activated first. The following section explains how to activate a device for a new worker.

Map an Azure AD account to a worker who has POS permissions for device activation

You must complete this procedure before you activate Modern POS for a new worker.

1. In Commerce, from the Worker page, open the Worker details page for the worker that you created in the previous procedure.

2. On the Action Pane, select Edit.

3. On the Commerce tab, select the POS permissions link. Under POS permission group, verify that the value is Manager.

4. When verification is completed, return to the Worker details page for the new worker.

   • To return to the Worker details page, select the Close button (X) on the right side of the Action Pane.

5. On the Action Pane, select Commerce, and then select Associate existing identity.

6. In the dialog box that appears, select the Azure AD account that is named admin AX Admin. (If an alternative administrator Microsoft Entra account is created, select that account instead.)

7. Select OK. In the demo data, the Azure AD account that is associated with the administrator account in headquarters is your administrator Microsoft Entra account.

8. On the Action Pane, select Save, and then refresh the page. The External identity section should now be updated with the new information.

   • The External identifier field remains empty. This behavior is expected, so you can ignore it.

This procedure should be completed before you activate Retail Cloud POS or Modern POS. For more information, see Manage activation accounts and validate devices.

Run the Validate Devices for Activation check

1. In headquarters, open the Device page (Retail and Commerce > Setup POS > Devices).
2. Select the device to validate for device activation, and then select Validate Devices for Activation. For example, select device HOUSTON-3.
3. In the dialog box that appears, select the worker to validate the device for (that is, the worker that you mapped to the Azure AD account in the previous procedure). For example, select worker 000160.
4. Select OK, and make sure that you receive the following message: "Pre-Activation validation completed for Device HOUSTON-3 and Staff 000160. Validation: Passed"

Activate a device

1. Start Modern POS on your computer. Read the instructions on the Before you start page, and make sure that you complete the steps. Then select Next.
2. Select Activate. You're redirected to the Azure AD sign-in page.
3. Enter the Azure AD account that you mapped earlier, such as admin@<MyCompany>.onmicrosoft.com, and the password.
4. When activation is completed, select Get Started.
5. Sign in to Modern POS by using worker account 000160 and the password 123.

The device should now be activated and ready to use.

Update the Modern POS application

1. After a Modern POS application is uploaded into the environment, the version of the package can be selected on the device. The package listings should include the new uploaded application.
2. To update the Modern POS application, follow the steps in the Download and install Modern POS section. To do an in-place update, just run the newer version of the self-service installer. Uninstallation isn't required or recommended. Device activation status will be maintained after the update.
3. The installer uses the currently installed configuration settings. If the configuration file is changed, an update doesn't change the Modern POS application settings.

Additional resources

Install the POS layout designer