After creating a Power Platform Pipeline, we can use it to import a solution from the development environment into the test environment, before pushing it to production. The test environment allows us to perform quality tests on the solution and validate the deployment while not blocking development. It is recommended to check solutions into git-based source control before moving them into test.
Table Of Contents:
• Deploy The Solution To The Test Environment With Pipelines
• Configure Connection References And Environment Variables
• Write Deployment Notes To Explain Solution Updates
• Review The Deployment To The Test Environment
• View The Pipeline Run History
• Get The Managed & Unmanaged Solution ZIP File
Deploy The Solution To The Test Environment With Pipelines
Go to the development environment and open the solution you want to move to the test environment.
Select the pipelines menu item from the left navigation.
On the Pipelines page, select the ALM Tutorial Pipeline. Then press the Deploy here button.
Choose to deploy the solution now, then press the Next button.
Configure Connection References And Environment Variables
The sample solution contains two connection references used in a Power Automate flow. One for Dataverse and another for Outlook. Wait for the green checkmark to appear beside each connection reference. If it does not appear, press the three dots to troubleshoot the issue. Then press the Next button.
The sample solution also contains an environment variable for Email Notifications. The email address in this environment variable will receive email. Set this value to the tester’s email address then press Next.
Write Deployment Notes To Explain Solution Updates
Each deployment will update a the solution in the target environment. To make it easier to track changes it is important to write good deployment notes. Explain the difference between each deployment as opposed to giving an overview of the entire solution. Do not use AI generated deployment notes.
Press the deploy button once finished.
Wait For The Test Stage Deployment To Complete
Power Platform Pipelines will begin to the deploy the solution to the test environment. This operation takes a few minutes to complete.
When the deployment successfully completes the last installed version and the deployment date appear in the test stage.
Review The Deployment To The Test Environment
Go to the test environment and open the solutions menu to check on the deployment of the sample solution. Look under the managed solutions tab.
It is recommended to verify the deployment by opening applications and automations to ensure they are working in the new environment.
View The Pipeline Run History
To look at the run history of the Power Platform Pipeline, go to the host environment and open the Deployment Pipeline Configuration app. Then go to the run history page and select a run.
The run details page looks like this.
Get The Managed & Unmanaged Solution ZIP File
During manual exports we download a solution zip file to our machine then import it into the test environment. This gives us a valuable copy of the solution zip file which we can use in redeployments. The Power Platform Pipeline also stores the solution zip files as solution artifacts. Go to the solution artifacts page and open an artifact.
The managed and unmanaged solution zip files are found on the solution artifact details page.
Next Steps
Continue to the next steps in the Power Platform Pipelines & ALM Setup Guide.
Next: Deploy A Solution To The Production Environment >>
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