Introduction

  • 3 minutes

In this self-paced module, you learn how to configure host environments to support pipelines in Microsoft Power Platform to support application lifecycle management (ALM) processes.

Environments

ALM principles recommend that you set up, at a minimum, separate Microsoft Power Platform environments for development and production. To perform end-to-end validation, you also need a test environment. In addition, pipelines in Microsoft Power Platform require a host environment. Therefore, for healthy ALM, you should set up or have access to at least four environments: development, test, production, and pipeline host.

Every organization is unique, so make sure that you carefully consider the environments that your organization needs.

Solutions

Microsoft uses Microsoft Power Platform solutions to package apps and customizations and export the package from one Microsoft Dataverse environment into another. Solutions are the basis for implementing ALM in Microsoft Power Platform.

You can perform ALM manually or by using tools, such as Microsoft Azure DevOps or GitHub actions. However, such tools require skills, knowledge, and effort to configure and maintain.

Pipelines in Microsoft Power Platform

Pipelines in Microsoft Power Platform reduce the effort and skills that are required for implementing healthy, automated ALM processes for your Microsoft Power Platform solutions. You can deploy any Microsoft Power Platform customization that's contained in your solution by using pipelines.

Pipelines in Microsoft Power Platform allow admins to govern customizations with minimal effort by setting up environments and host configuration. This feature simplifies the ALM process for developers and makers and ensures that they follow the organization’s ALM processes.

Administrators can configure automated deployment pipelines in minutes. Other admin benefits include:

  • Lowering the total cost of ownership.

  • Minimizing ongoing maintenance.

  • Implementing ALM at your own pace.

  • Meeting compliance, safety, monitoring, and automation goals.

Makers and developers can run these preconfigured pipelines without knowledge of ALM tools and processes.

This module focuses on the admin’s perspective, configuring Microsoft Power Platform environments for pipelines.

Next steps

Now that you have an overview of pipelines in Microsoft Power Platform, you can learn about the required steps for setting up pipeline environments and roles.