Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a suite of business applications that small, medium and enterprise organizations enhance productivity through streamlined workflow and business processes. When business applications are implemented at large scales, it is important to have a proper deployment process in place – going from Development to Quality Assurance (QA) to User Acceptance Testing (UAT) and finally, Production – your live Environment. But, how do you move all of you low-code and code based changes across these environments? This is where Dynamics 365 Solutions come into play.
Imagine you’re working on a big project at work. You have many different parts like documents, images, and presentations, and you need to organize them so you can work on them properly and share them with your team member. In Dynamics 365, a “Solution” is like your project folder where you keep and organize all these different parts. Translated into the Dynamics 365 world, “Solutions” are containers used to transport and maintain components such as entities, workflows, and plugins across different environments.
Managed vs Unmanaged Solutions
There are 2 types of solutions in Dynamics 365 – Managed Solutions and Unmanaged Solutions.
1. Managed Solutions:
Managed Solutions are the packaged versions of Dynamics 365 components, intended for distribution and installation on other environments. Once installed, the components cannot be modified or deleted. They can, however, be upgraded or patched with a higher version. This makes Managed Solutions suitable for production environments and for Software Vendors to distribute their Dynamics 365 based applications.
2. Unmanaged Solutions:
Unmanaged Solutions are collections of uncompiled components, allowing developers to add, modify, and delete the components. They are ideal for development and testing environments.
What is a Publisher in Dynamics 365?
When you go to create a solution, one of the things the system will prompt you to select is a Publisher.
A Publisher in Dynamics 365 defines who the author of the Solution is. It holds details like the name, prefix, and icon, which help in identifying the Solution. Every component within a Solution has a prefix associated with its Publisher to avoid naming conflicts.
Creating Your First Solution
Access the Power Platform
- Login to the Power Platform Maker Portal (https://make.powerapps.com) with your credentials.
- Navigate to the environment where you want to create the solution.
Create a New Solution
- Go to the left-side menu and select “Solutions”.
- Click on “New” to create a new solution.
- Fill in the required details such as Name, Publisher, and Version.
Add Components
- Open the newly created solution.
- Click on “Add Existing” and select the components you want to include.
Save and Publish
- After adding the necessary components, click on “Save”.
- Once saved, click on “Publish all Customizations” to apply the changes.
Exporting a Solution from Dynamics 365
Access the Power Platform
- Login to the Power Platform Maker Portal (https://make.powerapps.com) with your credentials.
- Navigate to the environment where you want to create the solution.
Navigate to Solutions
- Go to the left-side menu and select “Solutions”.
Select the Solution
- Find the solution you want to export and click on it.
Export
- Click on “Export”.
- Choose the type (Managed/Unmanaged) and click “Next”.
- Follow the prompts and click “Export”.
- Save the .zip file to your desired location.
Importing a Solution in Dynamics 365
Access the Power Platform
- Login to the Power Platform Maker Portal (https://make.powerapps.com) with your credentials.
- Navigate to the environment where you want to create the solution.
Navigate to Solutions
- Go to the left-side menu and select “Solutions”.
Import Solution
- Click on “Import”.
- Select the .zip file of the solution you want to import.
- Follow the prompts and click “Import”.
Publish
- After import, open the solution.
- Click on “Publish all Customizations” to apply the changes to the environment.
Summary
To summarize, let’s use the project example we started with.
- In Dynamics 365, “Solutions” are like project folders, helping you organize and share different components of a project.
- There are two types: “Managed Solutions,” which are finalized projects you can’t change, and “Unmanaged Solutions,” which are drafts you can edit.
- A “Publisher” is like putting your name on your project.
- Creating a solution involves starting a new project (creating a solution), adding your work (adding components), and letting everyone know it’s ready (publishing customizations).
- You can also share your project with others by handing it in (exporting) or receiving a project (importing).
This makes managing and sharing work in Dynamics 365 organized and straightforward!