Table of Contents

Installing a FORNAV DLL on a NAV or Business Central Service Tier

This guide explains how to install the FORNAV runtime DLL on a Microsoft Dynamics NAV / Business Central (On-Prem) Service Tier.

1. Download and Unzip the FORNAV DLL

Start by downloading the FORNAV DLL from FORNAV or copying it from a machine where FORNAV is already installed.

If the DLL is downloaded as a ZIP file:

  1. Right-click the ZIP file
  2. Select Extract All…
  3. Extract the contents to a temporary folder

The service tier cannot load DLLs from a ZIP file. The DLL must be fully extracted before it can be used.

2. Unblock the DLL (Important)

Windows may block DLLs that are downloaded from the internet, which can prevent the service tier from loading them correctly.

To unblock the DLL:

  1. Right-click the FORNAV DLL
  2. Select Properties
  3. On the General tab, locate the Security section
  4. If an Unblock checkbox is present, check it
  5. Click Apply, then OK

If this step is skipped, FORNAV reports may fail to run with unclear or misleading errors.

3. Locate the Service Tier Add-ins Folder

On the server running the NAV or Business Central Service Tier, locate the Service\Add-ins folder.

Typical example (NAV 2018 / NAV 11.0):

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics NAV\110\Service\Add-ins

How to confirm the correct path

FORNAV recommends:

  1. Open Windows Task Manager
  2. Go to the Details tab
  3. Enable the Command line column
  4. Locate the NAV/BC Server process
  5. Use the executable path to identify the correct Service directory

4. Copy the DLL to the Service Tier Add-ins Folder

Copy the extracted and unblocked FORNAV DLL into the Service\Add-ins directory.

FORNAV best practice

  • Place the DLL in a version-specific subfolder

  • Example:

    Service\Add-ins\ReportsForNAV\7.3.0.225

This allows multiple FORNAV versions to coexist and avoids conflicts during upgrades.

5. Restart the Service Tier

After the DLL was added or replaced manually:

  1. Restart the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server or Business Central Server service
  2. This ensures the service tier can find the new DLL. The service tier will scan the add-ins folder and subfolders again after a restart.

6. Client Deployment Notes

  • Client-side installation is usually not required
  • The service tier automatically deploys the add-in to NAV/BC clients

If users experience issues after an update:

  • Clear the client add-in cache
  • Restart the client to force a fresh download from the service tier

Summary

  1. Download and unzip the FORNAV DLL
  2. Unblock the DLL via File Properties
  3. Locate the correct Service\Add-ins folder
  4. Copy the DLL into a versioned subfolder
  5. Restart the service tier

This completes the installation of the FORNAV DLL on the service tier.