Create packages for the CRM Package Deployer

Start Microsoft Visual Studio, and create a new project.

In the New Project dialog box:

1. From the list of installed templates, expand Visual C#, and select CRM SDK Templates.
   
   
2. Ensure that .NET Framework 4.5.2 is selected.
   
   
3. Select CRM Package.
   
   
4. Specify the name and location of the project, and click OK.
   
   

In the Solutions Explorer pane, add your solutions and files under the PkgFolder folder.

For each file that you add under the PkgFolder folder, in the Properties pane, set the Copy to Output Directory value to Copy Always. This ensures that your file is available in the generated package.

In the Solution Explorer pane, expand PkgFolder > Content > en-us. You’ll find two folders called EndHTML and WelcomeHTML. These folders contain the HTML and associated files that enable you to display information at the end and beginning of the package deployment process. Edit the files in the HTML folder of these folders to add information for your package.

You can also add the HTML files in your package in other languages so that the content in the HTML appears in the language based on the locale settings of the user’s computer. To do so:

1. Create a copy of the en-us folder under PkgFolder > Content.
   
   
2. Rename the copied folder to the appropriate language. For example, for the Spanish language, rename it to es-ES.
   
   
3. Modify the content of the HTML files to add Spanish content.
   
   

Define the package configuration by adding information about your package in the ImportConfig.xml file available in the PkgFolder. Double-click the file to open it for editing. The following table lists information about each parameter and node in the config file.

Parameter/Node	Description
installsampledata	true or false. If true, installs sample data to CRM instance. This is the same sample data that you can install from Settings > Data Management area.
waitforsampledatatoinstall	true or false. If true, and if installsampledata is also set to true, waits for sample data to install before deploying the package.
agentdesktopzipfile	File name of the zip file to unpack. If you specify a .zip file name here, it adds a screen during the package deployment process that prompts you to select a location where you want to unpack the contents of the file. This is commonly used for creating packages for Unified Service Desk for Microsoft Dynamics CRM. For information about Unified Service Desk, see the Unified Service Desk Administration Guide.
agentdesktopexename	Name of the .exe or .msi file in the zip file or a URL to be invoked at the end of the deployment process. This is commonly used for creating packages for Unified Service Desk.
crmmigdataimportfile	File name of the data file (.zip) exported using the Configuration Migration tool. Important If your data file contains user information, the user information won’t be imported. To import user information from the source CRM instance to the target instance, you must use the Configuration Migration tool. For more information, see Manage your configuration data in theDeploying and administering Microsoft Dynamics CRM documentation.
<solutions> node	Contains an array of <configsolutionfile> nodes that describe the solutions to import. The order of the solutions under this node indicates the order in which the solutions will be imported on the target server.
<configsolutionfile> node	Use this node under the <solutions> node to specify the individual solution file name to be imported. You use the solutionpackagefilename attribute under this node to specify the .zip file name of your solution. You can add multiple solution file names in a package by adding as many <configsolutionfile> nodes. For example, if you want three solution files to be imported, add them like this: Copy <solutions> <configsolutionfile solutionpackagefilename="SampleSolutionOne_1_0_managed.zip" /> <configsolutionfile solutionpackagefilename="SampleSolutionTwo_2_0_managed.zip" /> <configsolutionfile solutionpackagefilename="SampleSolutionThree_3_0_managed.zip" /> </solutions>
<filestoimportnode> node	Contains an array of <configimportfile> and <zipimportdetails> nodes that are used to describe individual files and zip files respectively to be imported.
<configimportfile> node	Use this node under the <configimportfile> node to describe a file to be imported to CRM. You can add multiple files in a package by adding as many <configimportfile> nodes. Copy <filestoimport> <configimportfile filename="File.csv" filetype="CSV" associatedmap="FileMap" importtoentity="FileEntity" datadelimiter="" fielddelimiter="comma" enableduplicatedetection="true" isfirstrowheader="true" isrecordownerateam="false" owneruser="" waitforimporttocomplete="true"/> <configimportfile filename="File.zip" filetype="ZIP" associatedmap="FileMapName" importtoentity="FileEntity" datadelimiter="" fielddelimiter="comma" enableduplicatedetection="true" isfirstrowheader="true" isrecordownerateam="false" owneruser="" waitforimporttocomplete="true"/> ... ... </filestoimport> This has the following attributes:   Attribute Description filename Name of the file that contains the import data. If the file is a .zip file, a <zipimportdetails> node must be present with a <zipimportdetail> node for each file in the .zip file. filetype This can be csv, xml, or zip. associatedmap Name of the CRM import data map to use with this file. If blank, attempts to use the system determined import data map name for this file. importtoentity Can be the name of the exe in the zip file, a URL, or an .msi file to provide a link to invoke at the end of the process. datadelimiter Name of the data delimiter used in the import file. Valid values are singlequote or doublequotes. fielddelimiter Name of the field delimiter used in the import file. Valid values are comma or colon, or singlequote. enableduplicatedetection Indicates whether to enable duplicate detections rules on data import. Valid values are true or false. isfirstrowheader Used to denote that the first row of the import file contains the field names. Valid values are true or false. isrecordownerateam Indicates whether the owner of the record on import should be a team. Valid values are true or false. owneruser Indicates the user ID that should own the records. The default value is the currently logged in user. waitforimporttocomplete If true, the system waits for the import to complete before proceeding. If false, it queues the jobs and moves on.
<zipimportdetails> node	This node contains an array of <zipimportdetail> nodes that describe the files included in a zip file that is used to import to CRM.
<zipimportdetail> node	Use this node under the <zipimportdetails> node to provide information about an individual file in a .zip file that is specified in the <configimportfile> node. Copy <filestoimport> ... ... <zipimportdetails> <zipimportdetail filename="subfile1.csv" filetype="csv" importtoentity="account" /> <zipimportdetail filename="subfile2.txt" filetype="csv" importtoentity="contact" /> </zipimportdetails> </filestoimport> This has the following attributes:   Attribute Description filename Name of the file that contains the import data. filetype This can be csv or xml. importtoentity Can be the name of the exe in the zip file, a url, or an .msi file to provide a link to invoke at the end of the process.
<filesmapstoimport> node	This node contains an array of <configmapimportfile> nodes to import. The order of the map files in this node indicates the order in which they are imported. For information about data maps, see Create data maps for import.
<configimportmapfile> node	Use this node under the <filesmapstoimport> node to provide information about an individual map file to import in CRM. Copy <filesmapstoimport> <configimportmapfile filename="FileMap.xml" /> </filesmapstoimport>

Click Save All.

In the Solution Explorer pane, double-click the PackageTemplate.cs file at the root to edit it.

In the PackageTemplate.cs file, you can:

1. Enter custom code to execute when the package is initialized in the override method definition of InitializeCustomExtension().
   
   
2. Enter custom code to execute before the import starts in the BeforeImportStage() function.
   
   
3. Use the RunSolutionUpgradeMigrationStep() function to perform data transformation or upgrade between two versions of a solution while a solution update is occurring.
   
   
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   public override void RunSolutionUpgradeMigrationStep(string solutionName, string oldVersion, string newVersion, Guid oldSolutionId, Guid newSolutionId)
   {
       base.RunSolutionUpgradeMigrationStep(solutionName, oldVersion, newVersion, oldSolutionId, newSolutionId);
   }
   

   This function expects the following parameters:
   
   

    

   Parameter	Description
   solutionName	Name of the solution
   oldVersion	Version number of the old solution
   newVersion	Version number of the new solution
   oldSolutionId	GUID of the old solution.
   newSolutionId	GUID of the new solution.

4. Enter custom code to execute after the import completes in the AfterPrimaryImport() function.
   
   
5. Change the default name of the package folder from PkgFolder to something else. To do so, rename the PkgFolder in the Solution Explorer pane, and then edit the return value under the GetImportPackageDataFolderName property.
   
   
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   public override string GetImportPackageDataFolderName
   {
       get
       {
           // WARNING this value directly correlates to the folder name in the Solution Explorer where the ImportConfig.xml and sub content is located. 
           // Changing this name requires that you also change the correlating name in the Solution Explorer 
           return "PkgFolder";
       }
   }
   

6. Change the package name by editing the return value under the GetNameOfImport property.
   
   
   Copy

   public override string GetNameOfImport(bool plural)
   {
        return "Package Short Name";
   }
   

   This is the name of your package that will appear on the package selection page in the CRM Package Deployer wizard.
   
   
7. Change the package description by editing the return value under the GetImportPackageDescriptionText property.
   
   
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   public override string GetImportPackageDescriptionText
   {
          get { return "Package Description"; }
   }
   

   This is the package description that will appear alongside the package name on the on the package selection page in the Package Deployer wizard.
   
   
8. Change the package long name by editing the return value under the GetLongNameOfImport property.
   
   
   Copy

   public override string GetLongNameOfImport
   {
        get { return "Package Long Name"; }
   }
   

   The package long name appears on the next page after you have selected the package to install.
   
   

Additionally, the following function and variables are available to the package:

public enum ProgressPanelItemStatus
{
    Working = 0,
    Complete = 1,
    Failed = 2,
    Warning = 3,
    Unknown = 4
}

You can use any of these functions or variables using the this keyword:

Save your project, and then build it (Build > Build Solution) to create the package. The entire contents in the <Project>\Bin\Debug folder is your package. Note that an assembly file (.dll) is created with the same name as your Visual Studio project name; this file contains the custom code that that you created in this section.