Supported customizations for Dataverse

You can customize Microsoft Dataverse by using tools that are available in Power Apps or that are described in the developer documentation. These customizations are supported and can be upgraded.

Customizations made using methods other than those described here are unsupported and could cause problems during updates and upgrades to Dataverse. For more information, see Unsupported Customizations.

Topics covered in technical articles published on Microsoft sites such as Microsoft Learn are supported, but might not be upgradable.

Customizations using Power Apps

There are a variety of tools included with Dataverse that you can use to customize it. Customizations made using Power Apps tools and web application are fully supported and fully upgradeable.

The following customization methods can be used to produce fully supported customizations:

• Customization in Power Apps or solution explorer. For more information, see What is Dataverse?

• Settings in the web application. For more information, see Administer Power Apps.

• Reporting Services. For more information, see Add reporting to your model-driven app.

For more information about using the customization tools in the web application, see the What is Dataverse?.

Customizations applied using code

The documentation on this site for developers, technical articles, and sample code published on this site, and information released by the Dataverse Developer Support Team are included in the area of customizations applied using code. The specific actions and levels of supportability and upgradeability are described later in this topic.

Dataverse web services

Use of the web services are fully supported. This includes: Web API, Organization service, and Discovery service. We strive to keep the APIs backward compatible but reserve the right to change APIs for additional features. Table columns may also change in future versions.

Solution file

Modification of an unmanaged solution file is supported as described in this documentation. Certain customization tasks for model-driven apps can be performed using these steps:

1. Export a solution component as an unmanaged solution.
2. Extract the contents of the solution package.
3. Edit the Customizations.xml file.
4. Repackage the solutions file.
5. Import the modified solution.

The following supported tasks can be performed using this procedure:

• Ribbon customization.
• Application navigation customization using SiteMap.
• Form and dashboard customization using FormXml.
• Saved query customization.

Plug-ins

The ability to create custom business logic using the plug-in mechanism described in this documentation is fully supported and upgradeable. Plug-ins can only be registered and executed in the sandbox (isolation). More information: Plug-ins

Workflow extensions

The ability to create custom workflow activities (assemblies) to be called from workflow rules is fully supported and upgradeable. Custom workflow activities can only be registered and executed in the sandbox (isolation). More information: Workflow extensions

Support for .NET Framework versions

The following describes the support considerations for custom code written the Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.2.

• Any web service client created by using the Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.2 or higher that calls the web services is fully supported in Dataverse.

  Important

  You should build any custom client applications using Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.2 or later. Only applications using Transport Level Security (TLS) 1.2 or better security will be allowed to connect. TLS 1.2 is not the default protocol used by .NET Framework 4.5.2, but it is in .NET Framework 4.6.2.

• Any .NET assembly that is created with the Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.2 for use in Dataverse as a plug-in assembly or as a custom workflow activity is supported.

Unsupported customizations

Modifications to Dataverse that are made without using either the methods described in this documentation or Dataverse tools are not supported and are not preserved during updates or upgrades of Dataverse. Anything that is not documented in this documentation and supporting documents is not supported. Additionally, unsupported modifications could cause problems when you update through the addition of hotfixes or service packs or upgrade Dataverse.

The following is a list of unsupported action types that are frequently asked about:

• Referencing any Dataverse dynamic-link libraries (DLLs) other than the following:

  • Microsoft.Crm.Outlook.Sdk.dll
  • Microsoft.Crm.Sdk.Proxy.dll
  • Microsoft.Xrm.Sdk.dll
  • Microsoft.Xrm.Sdk.Data.dll
  • Microsoft.Xrm.Sdk.Deployment.dll
  • Microsoft.Xrm.Sdk.Workflow.dll
  • Microsoft.Xrm.Tooling.Connector.dll
  • Microsoft.Xrm.Tooling.CrmConnectControl.dll
  • Microsoft.Xrm.Tooling.PackageDeployment.CrmPackageExtentionBase.dll
  • Microsoft.Xrm.Tooling.WebResourceUtility.dll

• The use of application programming interfaces (APIs) other than the documented APIs in the web services: Web API, SDK for .NET, Deployment service, Discovery service, Organization Data service.

• Plug-in and workflow assemblies must contain all the necessary logic within the respective DLL. Plugins may reference some core .NET assemblies. However, we do not support dependencies on .NET assemblies that interact with low-level Windows APIs, such as the graphics design interface. Previously, Dynamics 365 allowed for assemblies to refer to these interfaces, but to adhere to our security standards, changes to this behavior are required.

• Creating a plug-in assembly for a standard Dataverse assembly (Microsoft.Crm.*.dll) or performing an update or delete of a platform created pluginassembly is not supported.

• Editing a solutions file to edit any solution components other than ribbons, forms, SiteMap, or saved queries is not supported. For more information, see When to edit the customizations file. Defining new solution components by editing the solutions file is not supported. Editing web resource files exported with a solution is not supported. Except for the steps documented in Maintain managed solutions, editing the contents of a managed solution is not supported.

Outlook Client

• Modifications to any one of the Dynamics 365 forms or adding new forms, such as custom .aspx pages, directly to Office Outlook or making changes to .pst files. These changes will not be upgraded.
• Making customizations using any means other than the supported tools.

See also

Supported customizations for model-driven apps