cli server

URL: https://github.com/phuocle/Dynamics-Crm-DevKit/wiki/cli-server

Overview

The server command deploys Plugin, Custom Action, Custom API, Workflow, and Data Provider assemblies (.dll or .nupkg) to Dynamics 365 / Dataverse.

Command Line Syntax

devkit server --conn "YourConnectionString" --json "DynamicsCrm.DevKit.Cli.json" --profile "ProfileName"

Parameters

Required Parameters

Parameter	Description	Example
--conn	Dynamics 365 connection string	--conn "AuthType=ClientSecret;Url=https://yourorg.crm.dynamics.com;..."
--json	Path to DynamicsCrm.DevKit.Cli.json file	--json "DynamicsCrm.DevKit.Cli.json"
--profile	Profile name from json file	--profile "DEBUG"

Optional Parameters

Parameter	Description	Example
--sdk-login	Use SDK login dialog	--sdk-login
--onlyupdateassembly, --only-assembly	Only update assembly without registering steps	--only-assembly
--type	Optional server profile type: servers, plugins, workflows, dataproviders.	--type plugins

JSON Configuration

Add a servers section in your DynamicsCrm.DevKit.Cli.json:

{
  "servers": [
    {
      "profile": "DEBUG",
      "solution": "YourSolution",
      "folder": "bin\\Debug",
      "includefiles": [
  "*.dll",
 "*.nupkg"
      ],
      "excludefiles": [
        "*.pdb",
        "Microsoft.*.dll"
      ]
    }
  ]
}

JSON Properties

Property	Type	Required	Description
profile	string	Yes	Profile identifier
solution	string	Yes	Target solution unique name
folder	string	Yes	Folder path containing assemblies (relative to json file)
includefiles	array	Yes	File patterns to include (e.g., ["*.dll", "*.nupkg"])
excludefiles	array	Yes	File patterns to exclude (e.g., ["*.pdb", "Microsoft.*.dll"])

Assembly Registration

The task automatically registers:

• Plugins - Steps with Pre/Post images
• Custom Actions - Custom workflow actions
• Custom APIs - Custom APIs
• Workflows - Custom workflow activities
• Data Providers - Virtual entity data providers

Features

Auto-Detection

• Automatically detects plugin types from [CrmPluginRegistration] attributes
• Registers/updates plugin steps, images, and secure configurations
• Handles plugin isolation modes (Sandbox/None)

Smart Deployment

• Only updates changed assemblies
• Preserves existing registrations
• Updates secure configurations
• Manages plugin step states (Active/Inactive)

Package Support

• Supports .dll files
• Supports .nupkg (NuGet packages) for plugin packages
• Extracts and deploys assemblies from NuGet packages

Data Provider Support

• Registers virtual entity data providers
• Links data sources with CRUD operations
• Validates data source existence

Examples

Example 1: Deploy Debug Build

DynamicsCrm.DevKit.Cli.exe ^
  /conn:"AuthType=Office365;Url=https://contoso.crm.dynamics.com;Username=admin@contoso.com;Password=pass" ^
  /json:"DynamicsCrm.DevKit.Cli.json" ^
  /type:servers ^
  /profile:"DEBUG"

Example 2: Deploy with SDK Login

DynamicsCrm.DevKit.Cli.exe ^
  /sdklogin:"yes" ^
  /json:"DynamicsCrm.DevKit.Cli.json" ^
  /type:servers ^
  /profile:"DEBUG"

Example 3: Only Update Assembly (Fast Deploy)

DynamicsCrm.DevKit.Cli.exe ^
  /conn:"AuthType=Office365;Url=https://contoso.crm.dynamics.com;Username=admin@contoso.com;Password=pass" ^
  /json:"DynamicsCrm.DevKit.Cli.json" ^
  /type:servers ^
  /profile:"DEBUG" ^
  /onlyupdateassembly:"yes"

Output

The task outputs:

• ? REGISTER - New items registered
• ? UPDATED - Existing items updated
• ? ACTIVATED - Items activated
• ?? DEACTIVATED - Items deactivated
• ?? DO_NOTHING - No changes needed

Common Issues

Issue: Assembly not found

Solution: Check the folder path is correct and contains the assembly files

Issue: Solution not found

Solution: Ensure the solution unique name exists in target environment

Issue: Plugin step registration failed

Solution: Check [CrmPluginRegistration] attributes are correct and entity logical names exist

Related Tasks

• cli-plugin - Deprecated plugin alias
• cli-workflow - Deprecated workflow alias
• cli-dataprovider - Deprecated data provider alias

See Also

• DynamicsCrm.DevKit.Cli
• Connection Strings