This article is a general guide on the best way to migrate from a Dynamics 365 sandbox to a production environment.
- Prepare and Test in the Sandbox Environment
- Before starting the migration, make sure all customizations, configurations, and changes have been thoroughly tested and validated in the sandbox environment. This includes custom entities, fields, workflows, plugins, and any other components.
- Backup the Production Environment
- Before making any changes to the production environment, create a backup or take a snapshot of it. This ensures you have a safe point to roll back to in case of issues during the migration.
- Export Customizations or Solutions
- Use the Dynamics 365 Solution feature to package your customizations and changes in the sandbox environment. This creates a solution file that can be imported into the production environment.
- Go to Settings > Customizations > Customize the System > Solutions and create a new solution. Add all the required components to the solution.
- Export Data (If Necessary)
- If you have data in the sandbox environment that needs to be moved to the production environment (such as records created during testing), export the data using the Data Export Service or Data Import/Export tools.
- Import the Solution in the Production Environment
- In the production environment, go to Settings > Customizations> Customize the System > Solutions.
- Import the solution file created in the sandbox environment. During the import, Dynamics 365 will analyze and validate the changes to ensure they are compatible with the production environment.
- Review and Resolve Conflicts
- During the solution import, Dynamics 365 may find conflicts or issues that need to be resolved. Review the import summary and address any conflicts or errors.
- Publish Customizations
- After successfully importing the solution, publish all customizations to apply the changes to the production environment. This step may take some time, depending on the complexity of your customizations.
- Verify and Test in Production
- Thoroughly test the production environment after the changes have been applied. Ensure that everything works as expected and that there are no disruptions to existing processes.
- Communicate Changes
- Notify relevant stakeholders and end-users about the changes and any potential impacts on their workflows or processes.
- Monitor and Rollback Plan
- Monitor the production environment closely for any unexpected issues or performance problems. Have a rollback plan in place in case you need to revert to an earlier state.
- Documentation
- Document the migration process, including the customizations and changes made in both the sandbox and production environments. This documentation will be valuable for future reference and audits.
- Post-Migration Cleanup
- Once you are confident that the production environment is stable, you can clean up the sandbox environment, removing any test data and customizations that are no longer needed.
- User Training and Support
- Provide training and support to end-users to ensure they are comfortable with the changes in the production environment.
Important: Always have a rollback plan in case something goes wrong during the migration process to minimize downtime and disruptions.