What will we do without your knowledge sessions like this? 🤔 .. Thanks, Reza, for this and for all your video sessions. Your service is so very valuable and very much appreciated.
this is brilliant , informative and much needed for me to get practical view of solutions and moving them across environments , very much appreciated!!!
Thanks for sharing Reza. This has made me keen to explore how will the updates happen to say your App or flow, once you move your solution from say QA to Production.
Completed agreed. On the Power Apps community call next week, there is a lot more on environment variables - powerapps.microsoft.com/id-id/blog/may-19th-power-apps-community-call-multilingual-power-apps-environment-variables-and-more-environment-variables/
Thank You. Managed vs Unmanaged is very well covered in the documentation - docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/alm/solution-concepts-alm#managed-and-unmanaged-solutions
Thanks @Reza this is really helpful, I was really struggling with this issue as all apps were created in Production and have to migrate manually. Awesome :)
Nice! Smart solution to support non-native (non dynamics) components like power apps power automate. It was working well with CDS before. I remember that in some scenarios it doesn't allow you to add existing flows to solution previously. Hoping that it works for everything now. Do we need cds enabled environment for it? How will it work for power apps list form with multi environment support now ( another video on that) ? Thanks Reza for this one. 😊👍Crystal clear.
Dataverse/CDS enabled environment is needed to work with solutions. Process of importing existing flows and apps to solutions has significantly improved. For SP customized list forms with Power Apps, I don't believe there are supported yet. For standalone Apps connected to SP Lists, this will work as demonstrated in the video.
@@RezaDorrani Thanks. Key ALM update announced does say that PowerApps list form will support ALM and multi environments. Roadmap is not clear. Could not imagine how but hoping environment variables will work for them as well. powerapps.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/key-alm-updates/
Thanks for amazing video. Nicely explained. I have one issue- not able to find environment variables in power automate. Even Add dynamic conent is not showing in trigger
I will have to look at your flow in action to provide guidance. I would recommend posting your issue/query with screenshots on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com
Tks a lot Reza !!!!! Just one question, every time that you bring some features from DEV to Prod environment, you need to compile the solution and import other time to production ???? The link URL to the App will always modified ? TKS so much!!!! 👏🏻
Thank u so much! Awesome content. Question, when creating a production sharepoint list(s), i believe the column names need to be the same. Is there an easy way to copy the test SP list to create a prod list or should i just manually create the new list and make sure the columns match?
Hey Reza! At 13:00 you mention that we need to remove the Environment Variable site value before we export the Solution- will I need to add that value BACK in after I export the Solution so I can continue work on that development Solution? And is this is a step I need to take EACH time I export a Solution with Environment Variables? I've been doing a lot of learning and work with Solutions, Environments, and Pipelines and your videos have been immensely helpful, thanks for all the great content!
Hi Reza so many thanks for all your tuto I'm learning so much with you thank you again. If you have time I'd like to ask you something... Is that possible to do the same things you do with solution in differents environment than in the same environment ?... One application for two users with differents sharepoint lists : how can I do the same kind of Environement Variables but in the same environnement?....
Thanks a lot for wonderful video Reza.. Your videos are awesome and very much detailed to help beginners as well. I see we can provide environment variables for power app and flows. I want to check if I customized SharePoint list form in power app. How can I deploy that form in production environment? Do we need to follow this solution and variable approach Or is there other way for the customized SharePoint list form?
Thanks so much Reza for the amazing content you always produce, it is very much appreciated!! I had a question with regards to a specific scenario and that is having multiple projects and for each project we need to deploy an App and a set a flows every single time. The App will be exactly the same and flows do the same thing but just pointing to a different SharePoint site each time. Would it be possible to create a solution to act as a template in a DEV environment and then basically deploy that template in a PROD environment but each time with a different name and also get it to recreate the resources within the templated solution as new ones (i.e. App and flows)? Hope that makes sense and thanks again very much for all your incredible efforts.
With SharePoint usage inside solutions, all you get is a reference to a data source. When you move from dev to test to prod, you would need to ensure your SharePoint sites and lists are all in place. You can automate that process through flow as well.
Excellent Rena as usual!! Thank so much for sharing. I would like to know how to move solutions from one tenant to another. That is painful. Also, I wonder if there is a way to duplicate the SharePoint site and lists so I don’t have to create them manually in production when I’ve already created them in development.
The process of moving solutions from one tenant to another is same as moving from one environment to another. To duplicate SharePoint sites and lists you would need to ensure that you create your lists via site designs feature in SPO. docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/dev/declarative-customization/site-design-overview You can even trigger site designs using flow. Long ago I had written an article on this - rezadorrani.com/index.php/2019/01/14/invoking-unlimited-actions-with-site-design-tasks-and-microsoft-flow/
You can also make use of PnP provisioning templates. They work great if to be used by support team rather than end users. They are more powerful as well. For end users Site design make most sense.
Wonderful presentation and highly needed feature. Thank you very much Reza. I have a question: when adding an Existing component e.g. app, how do I enforce the app to produce the Env. Vars? (Note: The app setting "Automatically create environment variables when adding data sources" was set to On and the app was republished consequently)
You will need to remove existing data source connection & re-add. If even after app setting it is not showcasing the environment variable, then it may be a bug.
Thanks for this. I have come up with an issue on the Environment Variable name because the 'The length of the 'displayname' attribute of the 'environmentvariabledefinition' entity exceeded the maximum allowed length of '100'."}}'. The naming convention for the SharePoint site is managed by the customer. Is there a way to get around this limit?
thank you for your amazing explanation I've try adding existing power automate flow into solution. but, the original flow in 'my flow' power automate was not there anymore. Thus, I copied back the flow and delete the solution. however, here come my problem. when I run the flow, it become redundant as run at two different places (my flow & solution). how can I turn off the flow in solution as it was not usable anymore?
Within solution, when you go to cloud flows, you should have option to turn them on or off. I will have to look at your solution in action to provide further guidance. I would recommend posting your issue/query with screenshots on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com
@@RezaDorrani recently I appeared for an power platform interview and in the end I mentioned your name to interviewer that I follow Reza :) and he was aware of you... :) you create nice content and have presentation skills. Keep up the good work 💪
Awesome Reza once again. The explanation was clear and understood. thank you so much!!! If you can answer this. 8:41 I do not see the option to "Add a custom item". Do we need to activate any feature? Or Do we need extra permission at Security Role area?
@@sharepoint2936 Cannot explain without looking at your issue in action. I will recommend posting your issue with screenshots on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com
Thank you so much for your videos. They are extremely helpful! Is there a way of doing this but with a SQL on prem data source instead of Sharepoint Lists?
Hello Reza Dorrani, Thanks a lot for the helpful video sessions! I have a doubt, Is there a possibility to move APP and Power Automate Flows from One Environment to the Other Environment, That I want it to be only for the Developers. If So Whether the App and Flow will function which is already linked to data of existing sharepoint and environment ? TIA :)
Welcome! Not sure I understand your question. Solutions can move apps and flows. Once moved to target environment, you can either connect to new site and list using environment variables or connect to existing ones without using it.
Hello Reza, Thanks for this wonderful video. I am facing an issue with Choices in PowerApps. Choices('list name'.'choice type column') This statement is giving an error after import - list not found. Is there any issue?
Awesome. Thank you. How would I handle running flows when I import an updated environment? Do I need self-recovering flows that will restart on every item and continue as needed?
Hey @Reza and wow that's a great video - I just tried it out with a rather complex flow & app and it works perfectly fine! One question though: if I want to duplicate a solution within same environment, what's the best way to go? It seems that I cannot just export a solution and import it again as it already exists The idea is to use this solution as a template, so others can just customize the app & flow contained within the solution. Thanks in advance
Thank you Reza for this video much appreciated. SharePoint will have different sites for dev and prod, is the flow shared between dev and prod? If we only have prod, can we go back and create dev and qa then package the prod and push into qa and dev? Thank you.
Thank you for all your videos! They have helped me tons! I will need to export solutions to different tenants soon. Here i noticed that after creating a Solution, you created new canvas app. If we had to add an existing App that was created prior to enabling Environment Variables from it's settings, it would add the Environment variables to the Default solution and not the one we created. Must we create All apps and flows within the Solution?
Thank you so much Reza for this great walkthrough on environment variables. I can understand if we used environment variables in the canvas app and we want to move the solution from dev to prod. it is not needed to re-add the datasource to the app and reconnect it to the form so it will avoid replacing datacards and we will not lose the datacards logic validations in the form right?
Great video. I am having issues with Choice fields in PowerApps are not populating data though I set environment variable of the Prod environment. getting "The specified record was not found. Server Response: ListURL failed: List not found ". May be this could be bug from MS?
I noticed everytime you connect to a List, it creates one variable for Site and one variable for List. When you connect to multiple Lists in a Site, it still creates as many Site vairables as the List variables eventhough the Site value is same. Can we get rid of the redundant Site variables, Reza?
When you try and connect to a new list, you do have an option now where you can select an existing environment variable. That way it does not create a duplicate. I think I showed it on the community call. czcams.com/video/xCgIwP7EUw0/video.html
Very good informative video. I have a question - Suppose I imported the managed solution in my test or prod environment from Dev one. Now I have to change some component or add some customization to the app. So do I have to repeat the process again like first change it it dev then export it to test and prod or it will be visible to the environment automatically? 🤔
Thanks a lot for this video. I have a question for you if possible. Is it possible to create a variable for a Microsoft form id and use it ? My idea was to create a first step when a form is submited and a second one to get the details. I have created an environment variable in my solution with the form id but wasn't able to use it in the two steps (the environment variable isn't displayed)
I have not tried this scenario but may be it is possible. I will recommend checking or posting your query on forums in case someone has done something similar powerusers.microsoft.com
It's really helpful as new developer of power platform. I'm trying to generate environment variable automatically. However, It pops up an error message says the length of the display name exceeded the maximum allowed length of 100. I've check the property of the column "Environment Variable Definition" but It could not be modified. Could you please kindly give me some hint?
There is a fixed length to the name of the variable. Your site url might be very long. You can also create your environment variable first (so u can name it) and then use it in your App. Check czcams.com/video/xCgIwP7EUw0/video.html
I make videos when I get multiple requests on a particular topic. Every quarter I ask subscribers for topic suggestions on the Community Tab of my CZcams channel. Subscribers vote for topics and the highest voted topics get added to my backlog.
Thanks for the video. I have one question. I have office 365 outlook connector added in my Powerapps app. This app is added in the solution. I was told to create connection reference for this but how do I use this connection reference in powerapps?
@@RezaDorrani yes, it got automatically added when solution was imported in target environment. So I do not need to create connection reference for powerapps, right?
Can you go in and modify the environment variable name afterward? It looks like it inherits the name of the datasource you use to create it initially? Small nitpick, but it'd be weird to have the env variable be called "ServiceDeskTest" in the production version of the solution. Also, very informative vid as usual. Thank you!
You can modify it in the Solutions page. However, I have noticed that if you modify it, you will need to go back to your app or flow and re-associate. Not ideal. Im sure these small issues will be fixed soon.
Hi Reza, thanks much for your Knowledge sharing for all out there and me. Can we do this for SQL connection as well? I see only 3 choices, SharePoint, dataverse, sap ERP under data sources in env variable.
I have not done any work with sql hence not sure. I will recommend checking on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com/ in case someone has done something similar.
SharePoint sites are not environment specific. They are tenant specific. If you need another site with similar config and permissions, you would need to look into site designs, site scripts & PowerShell.
Thanks again for the video Reza. Clearly explained. Is there any way to automate this entire process by passing environment variables as a parameters using through powershell? I'm going to figure out that option. Pls share your inputs on this.
Yes. Look out for the Power Apps community call this month. Follow me on twitter for more details of the call which we will post about in the coming weeks - twitter.com/rezadorrani
Hey reza, again great video. Do you know if its possible to manipulate the environment variables from inside a app or a flow? Actual i use sharepoint list to store needed variables which i need in runtime of my apps or flows. But think it would great to use a environment variables for it cause i am able to use them in flows without a special initalize.
Hello Reza, You know how to catch pulse of the community. You are a greatest asset for all of us. What needs to be taken care for existing apps and flows. These are the steps I followed but somehow the data sources are still pointing to my source tenant. I have SharePoint lists with the same schema on both source and Target. 1. Created solution and added my existing app and flow. Edited my app and enabled the environment variables setting. Anything else I need to do here? I have not removed and added data sources back. 2. Created environment variables for 1 SharePoint site and 2 SharePoint lists. 3. Removed the current values from all the 3 environment variables of the solution. 4. Exported and Imported the app. While Import it didn't ask me to update environment variables. So I went to default solution and updated the 3 environment variables there. 5. Edited the app and SharePoint lists are still pointing to my source tenant. Where was I wrong?
Again, Thanks for the great tutorial. As always appreciate great insights and tutorials that you provide. I have a problem that I want to see if you have a better alternative. The problem is, I want to display data from different SP list based on User's login. Usually the lists all are in the same site collection. The way I have done is, having connections to each of the list and different gallery control attached to each of this data connection. I show and hide based on user's access. The problem with my approach is when new list comes in, I have to add new connection and new gallery and publish the app. This just isn't efficient. I want to make it dynamic. Is there a way to dynamically change the data connection's site URL (this is not really needed in my case) and List (provided they have the same schema).
You can dynamically define data source in power apps. Your approach will cause performance issues since more lists will require more collections. If security is your issue then may be SharePoint is not the best data source. I will also recommend you post you query on the forums and see if someone has come across this scenario powerusers.microsoft.com
@@RezaDorrani Thanks Reza, Appreciate your insight. We had to use Azure SQL instead of SharePoint. We wanted to use Standard connectors instead of premium. We didn't had choice. Irrespective, always appreciate your responses and videos. Thanks
Hi Reza - thanks for your amazing video. Helps me so much. In my case I exported the solution and i tried to import it on another tenant (I created a SP site and a list which is exactly the same structure as on the dev tenant). Is that also possible or is an export/import between two tenants not possible? Thanks! BR Thomas
Thanks. I tried it exactly the same way as in your video. But I think the variable was not saved during import. After starting the app I got an error - "Unknown error occurred"
@@thmwg Seems like something is not configured right in your case. I will have to look at your App / env variable in action to provide guidance. I would recommend posting your issue/query with screenshots on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com
Great Video! We used the same approach in our apps but after we export the solution and choose Sharepoint site and list from environment variables, it still somehow pulls data from old values. Not sure if this is a bug. Any idea?
Hi Reza, Can you advise, please? On the flow part, when you tried to add SharePoint site by clicking "+ Add a custom item" to pick parameters from dynamic content, I don't see the link of "Add a custom items" link under the Site Address. I already enabled "Experimental Features" under Settings of "View all Power Automate Settings". Thank you in advance.
That is not an experimental feature. Add a custom site addresses is a standard feature of flow. Might be some bug in your environment. You may want to create a ticket with MSFT.
Hi Reza, thanks for this video. v. useful. Few issues I am facing if you could suggest. I am not getting the option to add the Environment var (you shown in 8:40) in Power Automate. Do we need to enable any settings ? 2. As shown in step 12:21, Flow component didn't add their connection reference - Office Outlook and SharePoint. PS - I am using Trial environment.
I cannot see any environment variables others have created and they cannot see or edit mine. Is there a way to share or change the owner of environment variables so everyone can use them?
The step taken for environment variables prior to exporting is important (shown in video). I have not come across this issue and hence not sure what is the cause for your issue. I recommend posting your issue/query with screenshots on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com
Hi Reza I have only one environment in powerapp but my datasource has 3 different setup Dev, QA and Prod. I usually have to create 3 setup for this app but the link changes are hard to handle is there a better approach I can take? Need your advice...
Hi Reza, I had a question, I have observed when I am passing a sharepoint site and sharepoint doc library as environment variables in a excel online connector (in power automate), I keep on getting 'Bad Request' error (observed only in excel online connector, for sharepoint or any other connector it works fine), but static address works fine. Could you please let me know if there a workaround for this?
Hi, I have not tried env variable with the excel online connector. I will recommend checking on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com/ in case someone has done something similar.
Awesome video, as always :) I was wondering if you have faced similar problem recently (to me it looks like some kind of a bug from Microsoft): I used this approach with SharePoint based application but when ran the app and edited a record it threw an error in message bar: "The specified record was not found". I checked the app in edit mode and it seems that all form elements that were using Choices(DataSource) expression were failing, saying that List that is a Data Source doesn't exist. I had to remove Data Source and add it again but this makes using Environment Variables pointless. Do you have any suggestion where to look at?
I believe it is a bug as of now related to the Choices function specifically. I will recommend you report this on the user voice section on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com/
What will we do without your knowledge sessions like this? 🤔 .. Thanks, Reza, for this and for all your video sessions. Your service is so very valuable and very much appreciated.
Thank You so much for liking and watching my videos.
I wish I had found this video earlier. Thank you Reza! Your service to us in the community is invaluable! Thank you again!
Glad it was helpful!
Agree....much appreciated ! thanks Reza!
Each time I need to gain some PowerApps knowledge, Reza your channel is always my first choice!
Thanks Eric!
From zero to hero in power apps developer with the help of Reza videos ❤️❤️❤️
Thanks so much
No words to describe the value of this video, thank you Reza for sharing your knowledge with us.
Thanks Saulo
this is brilliant , informative and much needed for me to get practical view of solutions and moving them across environments , very much appreciated!!!
Great to hear!
Thank you so much sir🥰 really very informative and understanding. i was tired of searching for how to achieve this. Really thgank you so much
You are most welcome
Again Reza, your videos have been a time saver. Awesome work and thank you.
Glad to hear it!
Reza, you are the man! Thanks for this super helpful video and for taking the time to share your knowledge.
You are most welcome. Thank You for watching the video.
Perfect timing Reza, I have been looking at Solutions and understand how they work for Dataverse Tables but was wondering how SP sites and lists work.
These new data source variables make it easier to work with SP sites and lists
perfectly explained. Thanks for the video..
You're most welcome!
Asusual amazing, you are the KINGPIN of Powerapps .....KUDOS
Thank You so much Sridhar
Thanks for replying on video which was published 2 years ago.
Thank You
Wonderful!! Thank you for sharing and updating us.
You bet!
Ah, long awaited feature.
A true game changer for Power Platform projects with SharePoint as a data source
This is really awesome! I was setting up the connections manually 😪
It surely is awesome
Thanks for sharing Reza. This has made me keen to explore how will the updates happen to say your App or flow, once you move your solution from say QA to Production.
I feel every SharePoint and Power Platform related solution needs to use these variables going forward.
Awesome. I have a lot of fun learning with you. Thanks Reza
Happy to hear that!
Many thanks for sharing... this is so powerful and makes life so much easier going forward 🙂
Completed agreed. On the Power Apps community call next week, there is a lot more on environment variables - powerapps.microsoft.com/id-id/blog/may-19th-power-apps-community-call-multilingual-power-apps-environment-variables-and-more-environment-variables/
@@RezaDorrani Perfect cheers... Now in my calendar!
Great video Reza! What I currently do is to create a Choice column that represent the environments 😅. I will try this out and see which is better.
Thanks for watching
Very awesome feature
Much needed.
Thanks.👍🏼
Can you pls create detailed video for managed vs unmanaged?
It will be helpful.
Thank You.
Managed vs Unmanaged is very well covered in the documentation - docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/alm/solution-concepts-alm#managed-and-unmanaged-solutions
the best of the bests!!
Thanks Juan!
Thank you Reza 🙏
Welcome!!
Wonderful video
Thank You
Hi Reza,
Thanks for the wonderful explanation about the ALM
You’re most welcome
What can i say on this video , except Wow. Migrate a powerapps to an another environnement will be no pain now
Awesome!
You are awesome boss 😊 This is an advanced learning topic for me but great video, Thank you
Glad to hear that! I try to include a mix of beginner and advanced topics to keep things interesting 😊
Fantastic tutorial
Thanks
Excellent Reza...thanks a lot for the video
You are most welcome
This is so valuable, thank you Reza
Most welcome
Thanks @Reza this is really helpful, I was really struggling with this issue as all apps were created in Production and have to migrate manually. Awesome :)
You're very welcome!
Thank you! Amazing content.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Excellent video! Thank you for sharing
Thank you Praveen
common knowledge, this is how we have been doing it for a long time.
Very nice.
This is a great tutorial. Thank you!
Your most welcome
Thanks Raza!
👍
Brilliant
Thanks
Thanks Reza 😊...This is very useful video
My pleasure 😊
Nice! Smart solution to support non-native (non dynamics) components like power apps power automate. It was working well with CDS before. I remember that in some scenarios it doesn't allow you to add existing flows to solution previously. Hoping that it works for everything now. Do we need cds enabled environment for it? How will it work for power apps list form with multi environment support now ( another video on that) ? Thanks Reza for this one. 😊👍Crystal clear.
Dataverse/CDS enabled environment is needed to work with solutions.
Process of importing existing flows and apps to solutions has significantly improved.
For SP customized list forms with Power Apps, I don't believe there are supported yet.
For standalone Apps connected to SP Lists, this will work as demonstrated in the video.
@@RezaDorrani Thanks. Key ALM update announced does say that PowerApps list form will support ALM and multi environments. Roadmap is not clear. Could not imagine how but hoping environment variables will work for them as well. powerapps.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/key-alm-updates/
I hope so too.
You are the man!!! Great resource, thanks for sharing!! :)
You bet!
Exactly what I need!!! Thanks Reza!
By the way, how do you usually replicate SharePoint sites when setting them up for different environments?
SharePoint Site Templates.
Thanks for amazing video. Nicely explained.
I have one issue- not able to find environment variables in power automate. Even Add dynamic conent is not showing in trigger
I will have to look at your flow in action to provide guidance. I would recommend posting your issue/query with screenshots on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com
Nicely explained
Thank You
Very nice .. it's very helpful.
Glad it was helpful!
Tks a lot Reza !!!!!
Just one question, every time that you bring some features from DEV to Prod environment, you need to compile the solution and import other time to production ????
The link URL to the App will always modified ?
TKS so much!!!! 👏🏻
Yes, you would need to export solution and import.
It will keep app URL same in downstream environments.
Give it a try and check.
Thank u so much! Awesome content. Question, when creating a production sharepoint list(s), i believe the column names need to be the same. Is there an easy way to copy the test SP list to create a prod list or should i just manually create the new list and make sure the columns match?
Column names and schema have to match.
SharePoint has a concept of creating lists using JSON schema. I recommend checking SharePoint documentation
Hey Reza!
At 13:00 you mention that we need to remove the Environment Variable site value before we export the Solution- will I need to add that value BACK in after I export the Solution so I can continue work on that development Solution? And is this is a step I need to take EACH time I export a Solution with Environment Variables?
I've been doing a lot of learning and work with Solutions, Environments, and Pipelines and your videos have been immensely helpful, thanks for all the great content!
No, once per env variable
Hi Reza so many thanks for all your tuto I'm learning so much with you thank you again.
If you have time I'd like to ask you something...
Is that possible to do the same things you do with solution in differents environment than in the same environment ?... One application for two users with differents sharepoint lists : how can I do the same kind of Environement Variables but in the same environnement?....
You can create multiple environment variables - one for each type of list.
It could be used in same or different environments.
Awesome, thanks for sharing 😊
Thanks Viraj
Thanks a lot for wonderful video Reza..
Your videos are awesome and very much detailed to help beginners as well.
I see we can provide environment variables for power app and flows.
I want to check if I customized SharePoint list form in power app.
How can I deploy that form in production environment?
Do we need to follow this solution and variable approach Or is there other way for the customized SharePoint list form?
SharePoint customized list forms have a lot of limitations. One of them is the fact that they are only available in default environment.
@@RezaDorrani Thanks a lot for the clarification..
Thanks so much Reza for the amazing content you always produce, it is very much appreciated!! I had a question with regards to a specific scenario and that is having multiple projects and for each project we need to deploy an App and a set a flows every single time. The App will be exactly the same and flows do the same thing but just pointing to a different SharePoint site each time. Would it be possible to create a solution to act as a template in a DEV environment and then basically deploy that template in a PROD environment but each time with a different name and also get it to recreate the resources within the templated solution as new ones (i.e. App and flows)? Hope that makes sense and thanks again very much for all your incredible efforts.
With SharePoint usage inside solutions, all you get is a reference to a data source. When you move from dev to test to prod, you would need to ensure your SharePoint sites and lists are all in place. You can automate that process through flow as well.
Excellent Rena as usual!! Thank so much for sharing. I would like to know how to move solutions from one tenant to another. That is painful. Also, I wonder if there is a way to duplicate the SharePoint site and lists so I don’t have to create them manually in production when I’ve already created them in development.
The process of moving solutions from one tenant to another is same as moving from one environment to another.
To duplicate SharePoint sites and lists you would need to ensure that you create your lists via site designs feature in SPO.
docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/dev/declarative-customization/site-design-overview
You can even trigger site designs using flow. Long ago I had written an article on this - rezadorrani.com/index.php/2019/01/14/invoking-unlimited-actions-with-site-design-tasks-and-microsoft-flow/
You can also make use of PnP provisioning templates. They work great if to be used by support team rather than end users. They are more powerful as well. For end users Site design make most sense.
@@parwejp + 1 for PnP templates
@@RezaDorrani thank you so much! I will look into this.
Awesome it's
Thank you! Cheers!
Wonderful presentation and highly needed feature. Thank you very much Reza. I have a question: when adding an Existing component e.g. app, how do I enforce the app to produce the Env. Vars? (Note: The app setting "Automatically create environment variables when adding data sources" was set to On and the app was republished consequently)
You will need to remove existing data source connection & re-add. If even after app setting it is not showcasing the environment variable, then it may be a bug.
Thanks for this. I have come up with an issue on the Environment Variable name because the 'The length of the 'displayname' attribute of the 'environmentvariabledefinition' entity exceeded the maximum allowed length of '100'."}}'. The naming convention for the SharePoint site is managed by the customer. Is there a way to get around this limit?
You can create the variable directly in solution and then connect it in App.
Check czcams.com/video/xCgIwP7EUw0/video.html
Thanks Reza for such valuable video and knowledge sessions.
Still environment variables can be used only for SharePoint as a data source?
You can check and see :)
I believe Yes
thank you for your amazing explanation
I've try adding existing power automate flow into solution.
but, the original flow in 'my flow' power automate was not there anymore.
Thus, I copied back the flow and delete the solution. however, here come my problem. when I run the flow, it become redundant as run at two different places (my flow & solution).
how can I turn off the flow in solution as it was not usable anymore?
Within solution, when you go to cloud flows, you should have option to turn them on or off.
I will have to look at your solution in action to provide further guidance. I would recommend posting your issue/query with screenshots on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com
Very well explained :) thanks for sharing
Thanks Ashish
@@RezaDorrani recently I appeared for an power platform interview and in the end I mentioned your name to interviewer that I follow Reza :) and he was aware of you... :) you create nice content and have presentation skills. Keep up the good work 💪
@@MrDashingAshish Wow. I feel it is all thanks to my subscribers who constantly share my content.
I hope you cracked the interview 💪
@@MrDashingAshish Congrats!
Valeu!
Obrigado
Hi Reza, great video. Quick question... Do you need to be a global admin to run this?
As long as you have environment maker access you should be able to work with this.
@@RezaDorrani Many thanks
Awesome Reza once again. The explanation was clear and understood. thank you so much!!! If you can answer this.
8:41 I do not see the option to "Add a custom item". Do we need to activate any feature? Or Do we need extra permission at Security Role area?
I have the experimental feature for flow turned ON.
In your scenario, if you open list dropdown, at the end you will get the custom option.
@@RezaDorrani unable to add parameter value or unable to select enviornment variable pls explain
@@sharepoint2936 Cannot explain without looking at your issue in action. I will recommend posting your issue with screenshots on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com
@@RezaDorrani ok thanks I'll post on community
Thank you so much for your videos. They are extremely helpful! Is there a way of doing this but with a SQL on prem data source instead of Sharepoint Lists?
Currently, data source environment variables only support SharePoint.
Hello Reza Dorrani,
Thanks a lot for the helpful video sessions!
I have a doubt, Is there a possibility to move APP and Power Automate Flows from One Environment to the Other Environment, That I want it to be only for the Developers. If So Whether the App and Flow will function which is already linked to data of existing sharepoint and environment ?
TIA :)
Welcome!
Not sure I understand your question.
Solutions can move apps and flows. Once moved to target environment, you can either connect to new site and list using environment variables or connect to existing ones without using it.
Hello Reza, Thanks for this wonderful video. I am facing an issue with Choices in PowerApps.
Choices('list name'.'choice type column')
This statement is giving an error after import - list not found.
Is there any issue?
Data source env variables are in preview. I believe this is a known issue. Hopefully these will be fixed soon.
@@RezaDorrani Hey Reza is there any update on this?
@@Recker096 I am not following up on this. Best place to report this would be on the ideas board on the forums.
Awesome!! Thank you😆✨
Thanks Tetsuya
Awesome. Thank you. How would I handle running flows when I import an updated environment? Do I need self-recovering flows that will restart on every item and continue as needed?
The flows that are in running mode will continue to use the previous flow schema.
New flow runs will adhere to the updates pushed out via solutions.
Hey @Reza and wow that's a great video - I just tried it out with a rather complex flow & app and it works perfectly fine! One question though: if I want to duplicate a solution within same environment, what's the best way to go? It seems that I cannot just export a solution and import it again as it already exists The idea is to use this solution as a template, so others can just customize the app & flow contained within the solution. Thanks in advance
I don't believe you can use solutions as templates. Solutions are containers for components. They play a key role in enabling ALM.
Thank you Reza for this video much appreciated. SharePoint will have different sites for dev and prod, is the flow shared between dev and prod? If we only have prod, can we go back and create dev and qa then package the prod and push into qa and dev? Thank you.
Check czcams.com/video/Xo-TvZ9N3BM/video.html
Flow is not shared. There will be 2 separate flows.
Thank you for all your videos! They have helped me tons! I will need to export solutions to different tenants soon. Here i noticed that after creating a Solution, you created new canvas app. If we had to add an existing App that was created prior to enabling Environment Variables from it's settings, it would add the Environment variables to the Default solution and not the one we created. Must we create All apps and flows within the Solution?
I showed adding existing environment variables to App in the community call. Check czcams.com/video/xCgIwP7EUw0/video.html
@@RezaDorrani Awesome. But we still need to point and reference in all the places we have already coded in the Power Apps, right?
@@rpavanshetty Ideally No.
Thank you so much Reza for this great walkthrough on environment variables. I can understand if we used environment variables in the canvas app and we want to move the solution from dev to prod. it is not needed to re-add the datasource to the app and reconnect it to the form so it will avoid replacing datacards and we will not lose the datacards logic validations in the form right?
In an ideal world Yes. But I have noticed some challenges with these environment variables.
Great video. I am having issues with Choice fields in PowerApps are not populating data though I set environment variable of the Prod environment. getting "The specified record was not found. Server Response: ListURL failed: List not found ". May be this could be bug from MS?
This one is a known bug. Choice fields cause issues.
I noticed everytime you connect to a List, it creates one variable for Site and one variable for List. When you connect to multiple Lists in a Site, it still creates as many Site vairables as the List variables eventhough the Site value is same. Can we get rid of the redundant Site variables, Reza?
When you try and connect to a new list, you do have an option now where you can select an existing environment variable. That way it does not create a duplicate.
I think I showed it on the community call. czcams.com/video/xCgIwP7EUw0/video.html
Very good informative video.
I have a question - Suppose I imported the managed solution in my test or prod environment from Dev one. Now I have to change some component or add some customization to the app. So do I have to repeat the process again like first change it it dev then export it to test and prod or it will be visible to the environment automatically? 🤔
You will need to make updates in dev and re-export. There are azure devops pipelines that help in automating this.
Thanks a lot for this video. I have a question for you if possible. Is it possible to create a variable for a Microsoft form id and use it ? My idea was to create a first step when a form is submited and a second one to get the details. I have created an environment variable in my solution with the form id but wasn't able to use it in the two steps (the environment variable isn't displayed)
I have not tried this scenario but may be it is possible. I will recommend checking or posting your query on forums in case someone has done something similar powerusers.microsoft.com
It's really helpful as new developer of power platform. I'm trying to generate environment variable automatically. However, It pops up an error message says the length of the display name exceeded the maximum allowed length of 100. I've check the property of the column "Environment Variable Definition" but It could not be modified. Could you please kindly give me some hint?
There is a fixed length to the name of the variable. Your site url might be very long. You can also create your environment variable first (so u can name it) and then use it in your App. Check czcams.com/video/xCgIwP7EUw0/video.html
What if you already have an app built and then need to move it? I figured it out but a video showing that would be great (and unique). Thanks
I make videos when I get multiple requests on a particular topic.
Every quarter I ask subscribers for topic suggestions on the Community Tab of my CZcams channel.
Subscribers vote for topics and the highest voted topics get added to my backlog.
Hi Reza, thank you for the great content you share. Is it possible to point environment variables to Document Library? My flow failed when I tried it.
Should be possible but not something I have tried
@@RezaDorrani, thank you. This is the error I am getting "Root folder is not found". When I put the library name instead, it works with no issue.
@@stevebekele4083 Not sure. I will recommend posting your issue with screenshots on forums powerusers.microsoft.com/
Thanks for the video. I have one question. I have office 365 outlook connector added in my Powerapps app. This app is added in the solution. I was told to create connection reference for this but how do I use this connection reference in powerapps?
It does so automatically
learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-apps/maker/data-platform/create-connection-reference
@@RezaDorrani yes, it got automatically added when solution was imported in target environment. So I do not need to create connection reference for powerapps, right?
@@673ritesh As long as you build in solutions, you don't have to do anything else
Can you go in and modify the environment variable name afterward? It looks like it inherits the name of the datasource you use to create it initially? Small nitpick, but it'd be weird to have the env variable be called "ServiceDeskTest" in the production version of the solution.
Also, very informative vid as usual. Thank you!
You can modify it in the Solutions page. However, I have noticed that if you modify it, you will need to go back to your app or flow and re-associate. Not ideal. Im sure these small issues will be fixed soon.
Hi Reza, thanks much for your Knowledge sharing for all out there and me. Can we do this for SQL connection as well? I see only 3 choices, SharePoint, dataverse, sap ERP under data sources in env variable.
I have not done any work with sql hence not sure. I will recommend checking on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com/ in case someone has done something similar.
Thanks Reza
Your most welcome Sundra
The video is informative, But how can I move sharepoint list with its permissions also from dev to production env ?
SharePoint sites are not environment specific. They are tenant specific.
If you need another site with similar config and permissions, you would need to look into site designs, site scripts & PowerShell.
Thanks again for the video Reza. Clearly explained. Is there any way to automate this entire process by passing environment variables as a parameters using through powershell? I'm going to figure out that option.
Pls share your inputs on this.
Yes. Look out for the Power Apps community call this month.
Follow me on twitter for more details of the call which we will post about in the coming weeks - twitter.com/rezadorrani
Hey reza, again great video. Do you know if its possible to manipulate the environment variables from inside a app or a flow? Actual i use sharepoint list to store needed variables which i need in runtime of my apps or flows. But think it would great to use a environment variables for it cause i am able to use them in flows without a special initalize.
I believe you need to update them from within the Solutions interface. Storing variables as env variables is a better option that SP list.
Hello Reza, You know how to catch pulse of the community. You are a greatest asset for all of us.
What needs to be taken care for existing apps and flows. These are the steps I followed but somehow the data sources are still pointing to my source tenant. I have SharePoint lists with the same schema on both source and Target.
1. Created solution and added my existing app and flow. Edited my app and enabled the environment variables setting. Anything else I need to do here? I have not removed and added data sources back.
2. Created environment variables for 1 SharePoint site and 2 SharePoint lists.
3. Removed the current values from all the 3 environment variables of the solution.
4. Exported and Imported the app. While Import it didn't ask me to update environment variables. So I went to default solution and updated the 3 environment variables there.
5. Edited the app and SharePoint lists are still pointing to my source tenant.
Where was I wrong?
Not sure to be honest. You steps seem fine.
Check czcams.com/video/xCgIwP7EUw0/video.html
Again, Thanks for the great tutorial. As always appreciate great insights and tutorials that you provide. I have a problem that I want to see if you have a better alternative. The problem is, I want to display data from different SP list based on User's login. Usually the lists all are in the same site collection. The way I have done is, having connections to each of the list and different gallery control attached to each of this data connection. I show and hide based on user's access. The problem with my approach is when new list comes in, I have to add new connection and new gallery and publish the app. This just isn't efficient. I want to make it dynamic.
Is there a way to dynamically change the data connection's site URL (this is not really needed in my case) and List (provided they have the same schema).
You can dynamically define data source in power apps. Your approach will cause performance issues since more lists will require more collections. If security is your issue then may be SharePoint is not the best data source.
I will also recommend you post you query on the forums and see if someone has come across this scenario powerusers.microsoft.com
@@RezaDorrani Thanks Reza, Appreciate your insight. We had to use Azure SQL instead of SharePoint. We wanted to use Standard connectors instead of premium. We didn't had choice. Irrespective, always appreciate your responses and videos. Thanks
@@RezaDorrani Dynamic data source in power apps ? you mean using Environment variables ?
@@fsfasable No, I meant loading data from multiple sources into a collection (not recommended).
Hi Reza,
Thanks for knowledgeable video.
Could you please advise if Power Platform DLP policies applies to Power BI Connectors?
I dont think it does but not sure
@@RezaDorrani Thanks Reza.
Hi Reza - thanks for your amazing video. Helps me so much. In my case I exported the solution and i tried to import it on another tenant (I created a SP site and a list which is exactly the same structure as on the dev tenant). Is that also possible or is an export/import between two tenants not possible? Thanks! BR Thomas
Import export across tenants is possible. All you need to provide is the site and list reference of SharePoint in env variable.
Thanks. I tried it exactly the same way as in your video. But I think the variable was not saved during import. After starting the app I got an error - "Unknown error occurred"
@@thmwg Seems like something is not configured right in your case. I will have to look at your App / env variable in action to provide guidance. I would recommend posting your issue/query with screenshots on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com
Great Video! We used the same approach in our apps but after we export the solution and choose Sharepoint site and list from environment variables, it still somehow pulls data from old values. Not sure if this is a bug. Any idea?
I am mainly referring to choice fields :)
Thank You.
If referring to Choices function for Choice fields, then yes, it is a bug currently.
It's a bug.
@@RezaDorrani Thanks for the reply. Good to know. I thought I was doing something wrong 😄
Hi Reza, Can you advise, please? On the flow part, when you tried to add SharePoint site by clicking "+ Add a custom item" to pick parameters from dynamic content, I don't see the link of "Add a custom items" link under the Site Address. I already enabled "Experimental Features" under Settings of "View all Power Automate Settings". Thank you in advance.
That is not an experimental feature.
Add a custom site addresses is a standard feature of flow.
Might be some bug in your environment.
You may want to create a ticket with MSFT.
Hi Reza, thanks for this video. v. useful.
Few issues I am facing if you could suggest. I am not getting the option to add the Environment var (you shown in 8:40) in Power Automate. Do we need to enable any settings ?
2. As shown in step 12:21, Flow component didn't add their connection reference - Office Outlook and SharePoint.
PS - I am using Trial environment.
Seems weird. There is no setting as such.
@@RezaDorrani - Ok let me google once more time. thanks
Great video! Are environment variables supported for any other connector besides SharePoint? I can't seem to get it working for SQL Server.
Data source environment variables only supports SharePoint for now
Just a query, if we are using Site Data Source Environment variables, how the current user login will be taken for the Item Addition and Patching?
Current logged in user logic would work as normal. No change there. User would need access to that SharePoint site.
Can you please demo adding Power BI as the solution moves across dev>>testing>>prod. Thanks.
I make videos when I get many requests on a topic. I would need a lot more folks asking for this topic in order for me to add it to my backlog.
Again Thanks was very useful, just wondering if we can use the environment variable within the Powerapps sendmailV2?
Possible but currently reading environment variable in Power App requires querying Dataverse.
czcams.com/video/xCgIwP7EUw0/video.html
@@RezaDorrani Sorry I should have mentioned earlier but that will require a premium license which I want to avoid.
@@rahullko28 That is the only option for now. Better to use flow.
I cannot see any environment variables others have created and they cannot see or edit mine. Is there a way to share or change the owner of environment variables so everyone can use them?
The step taken for environment variables prior to exporting is important (shown in video).
I have not come across this issue and hence not sure what is the cause for your issue. I recommend posting your issue/query with screenshots on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com
While building flows in Power Automate will environment variables also be created by default? Or is this feature only available in power apps?
Flows use connection references when built in solution context. I will recommend reading documentation on connection references.
Hi Reza
I have only one environment in powerapp but my datasource has 3 different setup Dev, QA and Prod. I usually have to create 3 setup for this app but the link changes are hard to handle is there a better approach I can take? Need your advice...
You would need multiple environments to truly take advantage of environment variables and ALM.
Hi Reza,
I had a question, I have observed when I am passing a sharepoint site and sharepoint doc library as environment variables in a excel online connector (in power automate), I keep on getting 'Bad Request' error (observed only in excel online connector, for sharepoint or any other connector it works fine), but static address works fine. Could you please let me know if there a workaround for this?
Hi, I have not tried env variable with the excel online connector.
I will recommend checking on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com/ in case someone has done something similar.
Awesome video, as always :)
I was wondering if you have faced similar problem recently (to me it looks like some kind of a bug from Microsoft):
I used this approach with SharePoint based application but when ran the app and edited a record it threw an error in message bar: "The specified record was not found". I checked the app in edit mode and it seems that all form elements that were using Choices(DataSource) expression were failing, saying that List that is a Data Source doesn't exist. I had to remove Data Source and add it again but this makes using Environment Variables pointless. Do you have any suggestion where to look at?
I believe it is a bug as of now related to the Choices function specifically.
I will recommend you report this on the user voice section on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com/
@@RezaDorrani Thanks for your response! Will do so :)