Connecting AX client [AX32.exe] to different AOS Server configuration using command line parameters

A scenario at our end required to have the same client able to connect to multiple AOS server instances, say DEVELOPMENT, TEST and PRODUCTION environments. One way is to have multiple client configurations, and toggle them to the desired server configuration when needed. See the image below;

Dynamics AX Client configuration utility

However for more ease of use and friendly behaviour, we can have a single client with multiple shortcuts each toggling the client configurations on run time based on command line parameters :) But to successfully do this, we obviously need to know the command parameters we can attach to the AX client executable [AX32.exe]. So here we go;

Client configuration commands [AX 2012]

http://technet.microsoft.com/EN-US/library/aa569653.aspx

Now with the information from the above link, we come to know that regConfig is the parameter we can provide with the AX32.exe to mention the client configuration name the client will run accordingly. A sample command is compiled as follows;

ax32.exe -regConfig=ConfigName

You can test the above command with correct configuration names from the Run command box [Windows+R] and can play with it too :)
Try to provide an incorrect configuration name and see what happens. Try giving a wrong command and notice the behaviour.

Coming back to the topic, what we did was to have two different shortcuts, each with its own command line parameters

• Client 1 - "AX32.exe - regConfig=YourFirstAOSClientConfig"  
• Client 2 - "AX32.exe - regConfig=YourSecondAOSClientConfig"  

See the image below;

Now both the shortcuts are pointing to the same single AX32.exe but with different values in the parameter '-regConfig' thus directing the client to connect to a different client configuration from the default one. Now these configurations can be a copy of each other or associated to the same server with different databases or entirely different AOS servers, this is entirely up to you how you need it :)