Error Configuring Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 for Outlook

Ahmed Anwar, 04 December 2014

Recently I assisted a customer in troubleshooting an issue configuring Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 for Outlook. After pointing to the correct Discovery service, entering the user’s credentials and then selecting an organization from the list, I received the following error:

Object reference not set to an instance of an object.    at Microsoft.Crm.Passport.IdCrl.OnlineServicesFederationLogOnManager.GetBrowserClientAuthInfo(String redirectEndpoint, String partner, String policy, String& postData)

   at Microsoft.Crm.Outlook.ClientAuth.PassportAuthProvider`1.SignIn()

   at Microsoft.Crm.Outlook.ClientAuth.ClientAuthProvidersFactory`1.SignIn(Uri endPoint, Credential credentials, AuthUIMode uiMode, IClientOrganizationContext context, Form parentWindow, Boolean retryOnError)

   at Microsoft.Crm.Outlook.ClientAuth.ClientAuthProvidersFactory`1.GetAuthProvider(Uri endPoint, Credential credentials, AuthUIMode uiMode, Uri webEndPoint, IClientOrganizationContext context, Form parentWindow)

   at Microsoft.Crm.Application.Outlook.Config.ServerInfo.LoadUserId()

   at Microsoft.Crm.Application.Outlook.Config.ServerInfo.Initialize(Uri discoveryUri, OrganizationDetail selectedOrg, String displayName, Boolean isPrimary)

   at Microsoft.Crm.Application.Outlook.Config.ServerForm.LoadDataToServerInfo()

   at Microsoft.Crm.Application.Outlook.Config.ServerForm.<InitializeBackgroundWorkers>b__2(Object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)

   at System.ComponentModel.BackgroundWorker.OnDoWork(DoWorkEventArgs e)

   at System.ComponentModel.BackgroundWorker.WorkerThreadStart(Object argument)

I found a Knowledge Base Article released by Microsoft which outlines a possible solution to the problem. It outlines that the cause of the issue is related to the version of the Microsoft Online Services Sign-in Assistant that was installed on the clients machine.

To solve this problem go to Control Panel > Program Features > Find Microsoft Online Services Sign-in Assistant.

If the appearing version number of the component DOES NOT match either 7.250.4259.0, 7.250.4287.0, or 7.250.4303.0, then uninstall it and download the latest version from the Microsoft Download Center. Please note that you may need to restart the computer.