Upgrade to .NET 4.5.2

Starting with Service Pack 5, Blackbaud CRM now requires Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5.2. Before you upgrade to Service Pack 5, you must update the .NET version on your web server, database server, and any other server that runs Blackbaud CRM components.

The .NET upgrade is necessary because Microsoft will end support for .NET Framework 4, 4.5, and 4.5.1 in January 2016. In addition, .NET 4.5.2 supports Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.2, which is a new Payment Application Data Security Standard (PA-DSS) requirement. TLS is an industry standard that protects the privacy of information communicated over the Internet.

After Blackbaud CRM Service Pack 5 is in place, the .NET upgrade requires a few additional steps for third-party developers. While existing customizations should continue to work after the upgrade, new customizations and updates to existing customization require .NET 4.5.2.

In order to use .NET Framework 4.5.2 with customizations in Visual Studio 2012 and Visual Studio 2013, you must install the .NET Framework 4.5.2 Developer Pack. The developer pack allows those versions of Visual Studio to target .NET 4.5.2, and you can download the pack from Microsoft's Download Center.

Note: The .NET Framework 4.5.2 Developer Pack is not available for earlier versions of Visual Studio. So starting with Service Pack 5, you can no longer use Visual Studio 2008 or Visual Studio 2010 to create customizations with the SDK.

After the developer pack is in place, you can select .NET as the target framework for your custom projects. In Visual Studio, you right-click the project in the Solution Explorer and select Properties. Then on the Application tab, you select ".NET Framework 4.5.2" in the Target framework field.

Before you recompile existing customizations or build new customizations, you must make sure that .NET 4.5.2 is selected in the Target framework field .

Tip: It is only necessary to update the target framework and recompile existing customizations when you upgrade to Blackbaud CRM Service Pack 5 if you need to make other changes to those customizations. Existing customizations that do not require any changes should continue to work as expected, and you do not need to recompile them.