Power Platform: New GitHub Sample Workflows Guide

Microsoft's Power Platform Build Tools or Developer Tools, also known as GitHub actions for Power Platform, have been available for GitHub users for over a year now. Blog author Kartik Kanakasabesan discusses these in detail. It's worth noting that there are sample workflows available in the Power Platform Hands-on lab, where the team posts examples of tasks that can be done with Power Platform and GitHub.

The author then introduces the new workflows that have been added. He mentions that they provide a clearer understanding of the versatility of the tasks offered by the Power Platform in GitHub actions. Regarding authorization, both Username/Password and Service Principal are feasible options, but the author suggests the latter due to potential issues with MFA policies for cloud-based pools.

The sample workflows listed include creating environments, exporting, unpacking and committing, deleting environments, deploying managed applications, and deploying unmanaged applications. All these workflows are manually activated using workflow_dispatch calls.

Regarding the Create environment workflow, users can set up a developer environment for Dev, a Sandbox environment for Test, and a Production environment for Production. After creation, developer environments can be deleted once they're no longer needed. Detailed code snippets are provided showing how these workflows are implemented in GitHub actions using service principals.

Another workflow mentioned is the "Export Unpack and Commit". Here, a solution is exported as unmanaged, unpacked, then a managed version of the solution is exported and committed to the GitHub repository. The author discusses different strategies in detail, like committing only unmanaged contents, or exporting both managed and unmanaged versions of the solution.

The blog post also discusses the process of deleting and deploying applications, where environments along with any data present in them can be deleted, and managed as well as unmanaged applications can be deployed to the target environment. Code examples provide insights into both these workflows.

Indeed, the diversifications of utilising these workflows are copious. The author concludes the blog post by suggesting the idea of creating a community repository for users to share their workflows.

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More on Workflows in Power Platform

Microsoft Power Platform's workflows provide users the capability to automate processes across applications. They streamline business operations, enhance productivity, and enable seamless integration with multiple platforms. These workflows also include tools that allow developers to create, manage, and distribute applications swiftly. Regardless of being managed or unmanaged, these workflows facilitate customization of applications according to individual business needs, thus driving efficiency and innovation.

Read the full article New GitHub Sample Workflows for Power Platform

Learn about New GitHub Sample Workflows for Power Platform

If you've been following the latest advancements in Microsoft's Power Platform, it's likely you've come across Power Platform Build tools. These tools, which have been on GitHub for over a year, provide users with a range of features to enhance their work on the platform. This includes GitHub actions, which allows users to automate their workflows, and a samples folder, where the Microsoft development team frequently shares sample workflows.

However, you might be wondering: what are GitHub actions for the Power Platform? Simply put, it's a system that allows you to automate your workflows. There's documentation available from Microsoft to guide you on how to use these GitHub actions.

The samples folder showcases various ways tasks can be performed using Power Platform in combination with GitHub. It comes with step-by-step walkthroughs of essential tasks, including creating environments, exporting and unpacking data, committing changes, and more. The choice between entering your username and password or using a Service Principal boils down to what suits your organization's policies and needs.

Here's a brief rundown of some of the sample workflows you'll encounter:

• Create environments
• Export, Unpack and Commit
• Delete environments
• Deploy Managed Application
• Deploy Unmanaged Application

Each of these workflows operates in a specific way to achieve a specific kind of output. For instance, the Create Environment workflow enables you to create different types of environments (dev, test, and production environments), while the Export, Unpack, and Commit workflow allows you to export a solution as unmanaged, unpack it, and then commit the changes to your GitHub repository.

The samples folder also includes other useful workflows. For instance, there's the Delete Environments workflow, which simply deletes the requested environments. This is particularly useful for developer environments, which are typically short-lived and deleted once the developer is done with them.

There are also workflows for deploying applications. The Deploy Managed Application workflow deploys a solution file and imports it to the target environment, while the Deploy Unmanaged Application workflow reconstitutes the solution.zip file and then imports it to the target environment. Note that deploying unmanaged solutions allows changes to be made, so if changes are made in a QA environment, ensure you export the unmanaged changes to the source repository before exporting the managed solution.

It's clear that taking advantage of these tools can significantly streamline your work with the Power Platform. If you're interested in learning more, I recommend looking at the full documentation and playing around with these sample workflows for further insight.

There are many other sample workflows in the repository, and feel free to share your own with the community! We're excited to hear your thoughts and see what other patterns you've implemented using these tools.

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