Here is my next video on “Tips & Tricks in ALM with PowerApps Build Tools”.
Please do subscribe my channel.
In this video, I have explained how to Copy Azure DevOps Build/Release Pipeline to New Project.
Here is the link for my course on Power Platform – ALM Fundamentals https://powerspark.newzenler.com/
In this blog, we will see how to create the service connection for PowerApps Build Tools.
Pre-requisite: Azure DevOps
The service endpoint for the source and the target environment that you want to export and import the solution to. For example, https://powerappsbuildtools.crm.dynamics.com. Service endpoints can be defined under Service Connections -> Generic Service Connection in Project Settings.
Navigate to Project Settings -> Service connections -> Click on New service connection.
Select Generic in Service connection
Provide the below details for the generic service connection as follows:
NOTE: MFA is not yet available. May be in the upcoming release Microsoft will add MFA to the service connection.
Once the above step is done, you will see your service connection in the list. You could add multiple other connections to various other environments.
Once the connection is established, you will be able to see this service connection in the PowerApps Build tools task like exporting and importing the solution as follows:
I hope this helps. If you have any challenges in creating “service connection”then please feel free to reach me out to me I am also always happy to assist you on your queries.
In this blog, we will see how we can upload the video attachments into D365 using the Video Attachment Control – PCF Control.
The VideoAttachmentControl is used to upload any kind of video file which is of mp4 format as of now. It also lets you have a live preview of the video file uploaded and the files are stored in D365 as notes (Annotation).
Scenario – Once the field technician completes his work in the field, he can capture and upload the completed work as video. Without visiting the site inspector can play the video and review it.
Here is the reference link for the solution files and the source code.
Solution –https://github.com/DharanidharanBalasubramaniam/Video-Attachment-Control/tree/master/Solution
Source Code – https://github.com/DharanidharanBalasubramaniam/Video-Attachment-Control
How to configure:
. Click on “Add Control”, select “Video Uploader”.
6. Check Web, Phone and Tablet radio buttons to get it loaded in all the three devices.
Once the above step is done then you can save and publish the case form. Now, you will be able to see the Video attachment control in your case form as below:
I hope this helps. If you have any challenges in adding “Video Uploader” then please feel free to reach me out to me I am also always happy to assist you on your queries.
If you are interested in this topic and would like to do some further self-study I encourage you to check out my blog on this.
I have started my new series of videos “Tips & Tricks in ALM with PowerApps Build Tools” staring this week.
Please do subscribe my channel.
In this video, I have explained how to use the secrets from the azure key vault in VSTS Build & Release definition.
Here is the link for Power Platform – ALM Fundamentals https://powerspark.newzenler.com/
In this video, Myself and my partner Temmy Wahyu Raharjo has explained how we can implement Test Driven Development(TDD) for Dynamics 365 CE/CRM.
Here is my session recording from #PowerPlatformCommunityLearningDay2020 on “Implementing CI/CD for Dynamics 365 CE using Azure DevOps”.
In this session, I have explained how we can implement CI/CD for Dynamics 365 CE using Azure DevOps(VSTS).
Looking to learn ALM Fundamentals for the Power Platform, myself and Deepesh Somani have worked on creating this free course for you to learn it in under an hour.
In this blog, we will see how to export and import the Dynamics 365 CE solution using the PowerShell script.
In my PowerShell script, I am using Microsoft.Xrm.Data.Powershell.
InstallRequiredModuleThis function will check for this module (Microsoft.Xrm.Data.Powershell) in your machine. if not present then it will install this module
EstablishCRMConnectionThis function will establish the connection to the CRM by passing the Dynamics 365 CE instance URL, username and password.
Before running the PowerShell scripts please make sure you have updated the below values.
$solutionName ="BuildAutomation"
$SolutionFilePath="C:\Users\DBALASU\Source\Workspaces\BuildAutomation\BuildAutomation.Solutions\BuildAutomation"
$CRMSourceUserName=""
$CRMSourcePassword=""
$CRMDestinationUserName=""
$CRMDestinationPassword=""
$CRMSourceUrl="https://instancename.crm.dynamics.com"
$CRMDestinationUrl="https://instancename.crm5.dynamics.com"
After updating the values in the below script, you can copy and paste in Windows PowerShell and run it. This will establish the connection to the Dynamics 365 CE source instance and export the solution mentioned and import it into the Dynamics 365 CE destination instance.
$solutionName ="BuildAutomation"
$SolutionFilePath="C:\Users\DBALASU\Source\Workspaces\BuildAutomation\BuildAutomation.Solutions\BuildAutomation"
$CRMSourceUserName=""
$CRMSourcePassword=""
$CRMDestinationUserName=""
$CRMDestinationPassword=""
$CRMSourceUrl="https://instancename.crm.dynamics.com"
$CRMDestinationUrl="https://instancename.crm5.dynamics.com"
Set-StrictMode -Version latest
function InstallRequiredModule{
Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope Process -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Force
$moduleName = “Microsoft.Xrm.Data.Powershell”
$moduleVersion = “2.7.2”
if (!(Get-Module -ListAvailable -Name $moduleName )) {
Write-host “Module Not found, installing now”
$moduleVersion
Install-Module -Name $moduleName -MinimumVersion $moduleVersion -Force
}
else
{
Write-host “Module Found”
}
}
function EstablishCRMConnection{
param(
[string]$CRMUserName,
[string]$CRMSecPasswd,
[string]$crmUrl)
Write-Host "UserId: $CRMUserName Password: $CRMSecPasswd CrmUrl: $crmUrl"
$CRMSecPasswdString = ConvertTo-SecureString -String $CRMSecPasswd -AsPlainText -Force
write-host "Creating credentials"
$Credentials = New-Object System.Management.Automation.PSCredential ($CRMUserName, $CRMSecPasswdString)
write-host "Credentials object created"
write-host "Establishing crm connection next"
$crm = Connect-CrmOnline -Credential $Credentials -ServerUrl $CrmUrl
write-host "Crm connection established"
return $crm
}
InstallRequiredModule
#Update Source CRM instance details below:
Write-Host "going to create source connection"
$CrmSourceConnectionString = EstablishCRMConnection -user "$CRMSourceUserName" -secpasswd "$CRMSourcePassword" -crmUrl "$CRMSourceUrl"
Write-Host "source connection created"
Set-CrmConnectionTimeout -conn $CrmSourceConnectionString -TimeoutInSeconds 1000
Write-Host "going to create destination connection"
$CrmSourceDestinationString = EstablishCRMConnection -user "$CRMDestinationUserName" -secpasswd "$CRMDestinationPassword" -crmUrl "$CRMDestinationUrl"
Write-Host "destination connection created"
Set-CrmConnectionTimeout -conn $CrmSourceDestinationString -TimeoutInSeconds 1000
Write-Host "Publishing Customizations in source environment"
Publish-CrmAllCustomization -conn $CrmSourceConnectionString
Write-Host "Publishing Completed in source environment."
Write-Host "Exporting Solution"
Export-CrmSolution -conn $CrmSourceConnectionString -SolutionName "$solutionName" -SolutionFilePath "$SolutionFilePath" -SolutionZipFileName "$solutionName.zip"
Write-host "Solution Exported."
Write-host "Importing Solution"
Import-CrmSolution -conn $CrmSourceDestinationString -SolutionFilePath "$SolutionFilePath\$solutionName.zip"
Write-host "Solution Imported"
Write-Host "Publishing Customizations in destination environment"
Publish-CrmAllCustomization -conn $CrmSourceDestinationString
Write-Host "Publishing Completed in destination environment"
I hope this helps.
If you are interested in this topic and would like to do some further self-study I encourage you to check out my blog on this.
In my previous blog, I wrote about how to set up a gated check-in, In this blog, we will see how to move the master data from source to target instance using our CI/CD pipeline.
Generally, we use the configuration migration tool to move the master data across multiple environments and organizations. Configuration data is used to define custom functionality in model-driven apps in Dynamics 365, such as Dynamics 365 Sales and Customer Service, and is typically stored in custom entities. Configuration data is different from end-user data (account, contacts, and so on). A typical example of configuration data is what you define in the Unified Service Desk for Dynamics 365 to configure a customized call center agent application. The Unified Service Desk entities, along with the configuration data that is stored in the entities, define an agent application.
Note: Disable plug-ins before exporting data and then re-enable them on the target system after the import is complete for all the entities or selected entities.
Define the schema of the source data to be exported: The schema file (.xml) contains information about the data that you want to export such as the entities, attributes, relationships, definition of the uniqueness of the data, and whether the plug-ins should be disabled before exporting the data.
Use the schema to export data: Use the schema file to export the data into a .zip file that contains the data and the schema of the exported data.
Import the exported data: Use the exported data (.zip file) to import into the target environment. The data import is done in multiple passes to first import the foundation data while queuing up the dependent data, and then import the dependent data in the subsequent passes to handle any data dependencies or linkages.
Instead of moving it manually we are going to automate this above process using Azure DevOps.
We have to create a separate Build Definition for moving the master data from source to target instance. Once the solution movement is done this below build definition should trigger.
In my previous blog, I have explained how to create a new build definition. Please refer to that for creating a new build definition.
What will do – It will connect to the source instance and export the master data using the configuration.xml and push it to artifacts repository
In this Build Definition we have used the following MSCRM Build Tools tasks:
You have to update the connection string variable name and select the configuration.xml input location.
Once the above definition gets succeded, this Release Definition will trigger automatically and performs the following tasks:
You have to update the connection string variable name and select the exported data zip from the artifacts repository(drop).
This will import the master data/configuration data into our Dynamics Online sandbox instance.
In my next blog, we will see how to integrate the unit testing framework with the VSTS Build definition.
If you are interested in this topic and would like to do some further self-study I encourage you to check out my blog on this.
In my previous blog, I wrote about how to set up a VSTS Release definition. In this blog, I am goint to explain the gated-check-in but before heading to it. We must know why we need gated check-in
Gated check-in helps to restrict developers from checking in a broken code into a source control system and thus helps to avoid blocking your team. With gated check-in when check-in is initiated by a developer, it will build the project and will check-in the code only if the build is successful. Gated check-in is suitable for projects whose overall build time is less than a few minutes.
C# we have used StyleCop and FxCop and for JavaScript and Jquery we have used JSHint
StyleCop for the custom code such as Plugins, Workflows, Actions, and WebApi.
Consider there is a group of developers working together and each one writes the code in the exact same way.
More often than not, one isn’t better than the other and it’s just a matter of taste. In a team or in a single project, it’s more important to be consistent than it is to choose the right style.
Agreeing on a style can be hard enough, but enforcing it shouldn’t be something you do manually. It will be tedious and error-prone.
StyleCop is a tool that can automate this. Let’s have a look at how to set it up.
What is StyleCop?
StyleCop analyzes C# source code to enforce a set of style and consistency rules.
StyleCop used to be a Visual Studio plugin and a NuGet package. You can still use this in Visual Studio 2019, 2017 etc.
Installing StyleCop
To add StyleCop to your project, right-click your project in Visual Studio’s Solution Explorer, and choose “Manage NuGet Packages?”:
Search for “StyleCop.Analyzers” and install the latest stable version:
Once it is installed, you build the project solution. You might get the below StyleCop warnings.
Setup
The first step in integrating StyleCop into an MSBuild system is to obtain the default StyleCop MSBuild targets file. To do so, run the StyleCop installer, and select the MSBuild files option on the Custom Setup page. This will install the StyleCop MSBuild files into the {Program Files}\MSBuild\StyleCop folder.
Adding the Import Tag
Once the StyleCop MSBuild files are installed, the next step is to import the StyleCop targets file into your C# projects. This is done by adding an Import tag to each C# project file.
For example, to integrate StyleCop to the project SampleProject, open the project file SampleProject.csproj within your favorite text editor. Scroll down to the bottom of the file and add a new tag to import the StyleCop.targets file. This import tag should be added just below the import of Microsoft.CSharp.targets:
| Code |
| <Project DefaultTargets=”Build” xmlns=”http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003″> …Contents Removed… <Import Project=”$(MSBuildBinPath)\Microsoft.CSharp.targets” /> <Import Project=”$(ProgramFiles)\MSBuild\StyleCop\v4.4\StyleCop.targets” /> …Contents Removed… </Project> |
Save the modified .csproj file. The next time you build this project either within Visual Studio or on the command line, StyleCop will run automatically against all of the C# source files within the project.
Build Warnings Vs Errors
By default, StyleCop violations will show up as build warnings. To turn StyleCop violations into build errors, the flag StyleCopTreatErrorsAsWarnings must be set to false. This flag can be set as an environment variable on the machine, or within the build environment command window. Setting the flag this way will cause StyleCop violations to appear as build errors automatically for all projects where StyleCop build integration is enabled.
Alternately, this flag can be set within the project file for a particular project. Open the .csproj file for your project again, and find the first PropertyGroup section within the file. Add a new tag to set the StyleCopTreatErrorsAsWarnings flag to false. For example:
| Code |
| <Project DefaultTargets=”Build” xmlns=”http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003″> <PropertyGroup> <Configuration Condition=” ‘$(Configuration)’ == ” “>Debug</Configuration> <Platform Condition=” ‘$(Platform)’ == ” “>AnyCPU</Platform> <ProductVersion>8.0.50727</ProductVersion> <SchemaVersion>2.0</SchemaVersion> <ProjectGuid>{4B4DB6AA-A021-4F95-92B7-B88B5B360228}</ProjectGuid> <OutputType>WinExe</OutputType> <AppDesignerFolder>Properties</AppDesignerFolder> <RootNamespace>SampleProject</RootNamespace> <AssemblyName>SampleProject</AssemblyName> <StyleCopTreatErrorsAsWarnings>false</StyleCopTreatErrorsAsWarnings> </PropertyGroup> |
The configuration described above will suffice to enable StyleCop build integration on an individual development machine. However, development teams working within a well-defined development environment can set up the build integration in a more global way, so that each developer does not have to manually install StyleCop on his machine.
To do this, copy all of the files from {Program Files}\MSBuild\StyleCop into a custom folder within your build environment, and check all of these files into your source control system. Next, define an environment variable within your development environment which points to the location of the StyleCop targets file. For example:
set StyleCopTargets=%enlistmentroot%\ExternalTools\StyleCop\v4.4\StyleCop.targets
With this configuration in place, it is simply a matter of adding the following import tag to each .csproj file within your development environment:
| Code |
| <Import Project=”$(MSBuildBinPath)\Microsoft.CSharp.targets” /> <Import Project=”$(StyleCopTargets)” /> |
StyleCop will automatically run each time this project is built, no matter which developer is building the project. There is no need for each developer to install StyleCop manually, since the StyleCop binaries are checked directly into your source control system and are centrally integrated into your build environment.
What is CodeAnalysis?
To integrate Code Analysis in build, unload and edit project and add following tags. Note that paths might be different depending on Solution configuration.
<ItemGroup>
<CodeAnalysisDictionary Include="$(SolutionDir)\CodeAnalysisDictionary.xml" />
</ItemGroup>
<Import Project="$(SolutionDir)\ExternalDlls\StyleCop 4.7\StyleCop.targets" />
Code Analysis configuration
Configure project Debug configuration to use Code Analysis rules in Solution root. Do the same for the Release configuration. Only difference is that in debug mode Code Analysis should not be run because it slows down the build. We keep CA running in Release to get error report from continues integration and to allow easily turning CA on by altering solution mode from Debug to Release.
Once the above step is done, please commit the project solution files in Azure DevOps/VSTS repository.
How to enable Gated Check-in VSTS build definition.
Go to Build definition -> Triggers-> you can see the gated check-in as follows:
Check the gated check-in checkbox. Now gated check-in is enabled for this particular build definition.
In my next blog, we will see how to move the master data from source to target instance using our CI/CD pipeline.
If you are interested in this topic and would like to do some further self-study I encourage you to check out my blog on this.