Using Power Platform CLI to download/upload sites

Power Platform CLI (Command Line Interface) is a command-line tool that allows you to interact with your Power Platform environments. It simplifies tasks such as downloading and uploading data, managing environments, and automating deployment processes for Power Pages (formerly Power Apps Portals). Here’s a guide to downloading and uploading Power Pages sites using the Power Platform CLI.

Prerequisites

Before using the Power Platform CLI, make sure you have the following prerequisites set up:

Install Node.js: Power Platform CLI requires Node.js. You can download and install it from the official website: Node.js.
Install Power Platform CLI: Use the following command to install the CLI globally via npm: npm install -g pac
Sign in to Power Platform: You need to sign in to your Power Platform environment to interact with it using the CLI. Run the following command to log in:
pac auth create --url https://<your-environment-url> Replace <your-environment-url> with the URL of your Power Platform environment.

Downloading Power Pages Site

You can download your Power Pages (or portal) site using the Power Platform CLI. Downloading a site allows you to export portal configurations, including web files, pages, templates, and other portal resources.

Step 1: Authenticate to Power Platform

If you haven’t already authenticated, run the following command:

pac auth create --url https://<your-environment-url>

This command authenticates your Power Platform environment and gives you access to your portals.

Step 2: Download Portal Site

To download the portal site, use the pac portal download command. This will export all portal configurations, including templates, web files, and other portal assets into a local folder.

Run the following command:

pac portal download --portalUrl https://<your-portal-url> --path <download-path>

Replace <your-portal-url> with your Power Pages site URL.
Replace <download-path> with the path where you want to store the downloaded portal files.

Example:

pac portal download --portalUrl https://contoso.crm.dynamics.com/portals/contoso-portal --path C:\Projects\contoso-portal

This command downloads the portal data (web files, web pages, etc.) into the C:\Projects\contoso-portal directory.

Uploading Power Pages Site

Once you have made changes to your downloaded portal files or created new ones, you can upload them back to the portal to deploy the changes. This process is done using the Power Platform CLI.

Step 1: Prepare Files for Upload

Ensure that all your modified or new portal files (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Liquid templates) are saved in the folder you intend to upload from.

Step 2: Upload Portal Site

To upload the changes or new files back to your Power Pages portal, use the pac portal push command. This command pushes all portal customizations (web files, web pages, templates) to the specified portal.

Run the following command:

pac portal push --portalUrl https://<your-portal-url> --path <upload-path>

Replace <your-portal-url> with the Power Pages URL where you want to upload the files.
Replace <upload-path> with the path to the folder containing your local portal files.

Example:

pac portal push --portalUrl https://contoso.crm.dynamics.com/portals/contoso-portal --path C:\Projects\contoso-portal

This command uploads the portal assets from the local folder C:\Projects\contoso-portal to your Power Pages site.

Automating the Process

To automate the download and upload process, you can create scripts using PowerShell or batch files to invoke the Power Platform CLI commands. Here’s an example of a PowerShell script to automate the download and upload processes.

PowerShell Script for Downloading Portal

# PowerShell Script to Download Power Pages Portal

$environmentUrl = "https://<your-environment-url>"
$portalUrl = "https://<your-portal-url>"
$downloadPath = "C:\Projects\contoso-portal"

# Authenticate to Power Platform
pac auth create --url $environmentUrl

# Download Portal Site
pac portal download --portalUrl $portalUrl --path $downloadPath

PowerShell Script for Uploading Portal

# PowerShell Script to Upload Power Pages Portal

$environmentUrl = "https://<your-environment-url>"
$portalUrl = "https://<your-portal-url>"
$uploadPath = "C:\Projects\contoso-portal"

# Authenticate to Power Platform
pac auth create --url $environmentUrl

# Upload Portal Site
pac portal push --portalUrl $portalUrl --path $uploadPath

You can schedule these scripts or trigger them through a CI/CD pipeline to automate the deployment process.

Troubleshooting

While working with Power Platform CLI, you may encounter issues such as authentication errors, missing permissions, or problems with portal data. Here are some troubleshooting steps:

Authentication Issues: Ensure you are authenticated using the correct environment URL. If necessary, run pac auth list to list active authentication contexts.
Permissions: Verify that your user account has the necessary permissions to download and upload portal resources in the Power Platform environment.
CLI Errors: If you encounter errors, check the CLI documentation or use the --verbose flag to get more detailed error logs: bashCopyEditpac portal download --portalUrl https://<your-portal-url> --path <download-path> --verbose

Best Practices

Backup Portal Files Regularly: Always create backups of your portal configurations before making significant changes.
Version Control: Store your downloaded portal files in a version-controlled repository (like Git) for easy tracking of changes.
Automate with CI/CD: Set up automated pipelines to download and upload portal assets during development and deployment.