Automating Solution Import and Export using PowerShell

Automating the import and export of solutions in Microsoft Power Platform using PowerShell helps in efficient, error-free, and repeatable deployments across environments (Development → Test → Production).

This guide provides a step-by-step process to:
✔ Export a solution from one environment
✔ Import it into another environment
✔ Automate the process using PowerShell

Step 1: Prerequisites

1.1 Install Power Platform PowerShell Modules

Before proceeding, install the required PowerShell modules:

Install-Module -Name Microsoft.PowerApps.Administration.PowerShell -Force
Install-Module -Name Microsoft.PowerApps.PowerShell -Force

1.2 Authenticate to Power Platform

Add-PowerAppsAccount

1.3 Identify Available Environments

Run the following command to list environments and get their Environment ID:

Get-AdminPowerAppEnvironment

Note down the IDs for your Development, Test, and Production environments.

Step 2: Exporting a Solution from Development

We first export the solution from the Development environment.

2.1 Define Variables

$solutionName = "YourSolutionName"
$devEnvironment = "YourDevEnvironmentID"
$exportPath = "C:\PowerPlatform\Exports\$solutionName.zip"

2.2 Export Solution

Export-CrmSolution -EnvironmentName $devEnvironment -SolutionName $solutionName -SolutionFilePath $exportPath -Managed

✅ Solution is now exported from Development.

You can also export Unmanaged solutions (for modifications) by removing -Managed.

Step 3: Importing the Solution into Test or Production

After exporting, import the solution into the next environment.

3.1 Define Target Environment Variables

$testEnvironment = "YourTestEnvironmentID"
$prodEnvironment = "YourProdEnvironmentID"

3.2 Import Solution to Test

Import-CrmSolution -EnvironmentName $testEnvironment -SolutionFilePath $exportPath

Solution is imported into Test.

3.3 Import Solution to Production

Once testing is complete, deploy to Production:

Import-CrmSolution -EnvironmentName $prodEnvironment -SolutionFilePath $exportPath

Solution is now in Production.

Step 4: Automating Solution Import & Export with PowerShell

To automate the entire process, create a PowerShell script.

4.1 Deployment Script (Deploy-Solution.ps1)

param (
    [string]$solutionName = "YourSolutionName",
    [string]$devEnvironment = "YourDevEnvironmentID",
    [string]$testEnvironment = "YourTestEnvironmentID",
    [string]$prodEnvironment = "YourProdEnvironmentID"
)

$exportPath = "C:\PowerPlatform\Exports\$solutionName.zip"

Write-Host "Exporting solution from Development..."
Export-CrmSolution -EnvironmentName $devEnvironment -SolutionName $solutionName -SolutionFilePath $exportPath -Managed

Write-Host "Importing solution into Test..."
Import-CrmSolution -EnvironmentName $testEnvironment -SolutionFilePath $exportPath

Write-Host "Importing solution into Production..."
Import-CrmSolution -EnvironmentName $prodEnvironment -SolutionFilePath $exportPath

Write-Host "Deployment completed successfully!"

4.2 Running the Script

Execute the script using:

.\Deploy-Solution.ps1 -solutionName "YourSolution"

This will export from Development, and import into Test and Production automatically.

Step 5: CI/CD Integration for Continuous Deployment

To implement CI/CD, add this PowerShell script to Azure DevOps or GitHub Actions.

5.1 Azure DevOps Pipeline YAML

- task: PowerShell@2
  inputs:
    filePath: 'Deploy-Solution.ps1'
    arguments: '-solutionName "YourSolution"'

Now, Power Platform solution deployments are fully automated!