Dataverse Solutions: Version Control for Your Platform

If you have ever lost track of customizations or accidentally overwritten changes in your Power Platform environment, you need to understand Dataverse solutions.

What Are Solutions?

Solutions are containers that package your Dataverse customizations — tables, columns, apps, flows, dashboards — into a single deployable unit. Think of them as Git repositories for your Power Platform work.

Managed vs Unmanaged

Unmanaged Solutions

• Used in development environments
• Components can be edited freely
• Changes are additive — they merge into the default solution

Managed Solutions

• Used in production environments
• Components are locked and cannot be edited
• Can be cleanly uninstalled without leaving artifacts

Solution Layering

Dataverse uses a layering system to resolve conflicts:

1. System layer — Microsoft's base components
2. Managed layers — Your managed solutions (in order of installation)
3. Unmanaged layer — Active customizations on top

When conflicts occur, the topmost layer wins.

Best Practices for ALM

1. One solution per project — Keep related components together
2. Use a publisher with a unique prefix — Avoid conflicts with other solutions
3. Never customize directly in production — Always use dev > test > prod pipeline
4. Export regularly — Keep backups of your unmanaged solutions
5. Use environment variables — For connection references and configuration values
6. Automate deployments — Use Azure DevOps or GitHub Actions with Power Platform Build Tools

Solution Components You Can Include

• Tables and columns
• Model-driven and canvas apps
• Power Automate cloud flows
• Security roles
• Dashboards and charts
• Web resources
• Plugins and custom connectors
• Environment variables and connection references