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Export a Solution

Goal​

Export a solution from the environment where you built it as a portable, versioned package that can be imported into another environment.

Prerequisites​

  • You are signed in to the Admin Control Center as a platform administrator or maker.
  • A solution exists and contains the components you want to move (entities, forms, views, and server plugin steps). See Create a solution and Add a component to a solution.
  • You know which source environment holds the built components — export reads the real component definitions from that environment.

Steps​

  1. Select the source environment at the top of the Admin Control Center — the environment where the solution's components were built (for example, Development). Export reads the real component definitions from that environment.
  2. Open the Solutions page from the top navigation.
  3. Select the solution you want to export.
  4. Select Export.
  5. The platform produces a package file that describes the solution: its publisher, version, the list of components, and each component's full definition.
  6. Save the package. You import this same file into another environment (see Import a solution into an environment).

Ship a change: raise the version first​

When you change a solution that is already in Test or Production, raise its version before you export it again:

  1. Open the solution.
  2. Select Set version, type the new version, such as 1.1.0, and select Save.
  3. Select Export. The file is named after the new version.

A version is two to four numbers separated by dots. Importing the file where an earlier version is installed is an upgrade (see Import a solution into an environment). Only a solution you build in has Set version: a managed solution's version is the one it was imported at.

What happens behind the scenes​

The export reads every Model-Driven component of the solution from the source environment and embeds its complete definition in the package, not just a reference. Because the definitions travel inside the package, importing it into another environment re-creates the real entities, forms, views, and rules there — the target environment does not need access to the source environment's data.

Troubleshooting​

  • "Solution not found." — the solution does not exist in your tenant; refresh the Solutions list.
  • The export fails referencing the source environment — the chosen source environment could not return the component definitions. Confirm the components were actually built in that environment before exporting.
  • Create a solution.
  • Add a component to a solution.
  • Import a solution into an environment.
  • Ship seed data with a solution — make a table's rows travel in the package too.