Extracting Source Code of a Power Platform Solution with CLI

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Introduction

The Power Platform Command Line Interface (pac CLI) is a powerful tool that allows developers to manage and automate various tasks related to the Power Platform. In this blog post, we will walk through the detailed steps to extract the source code of a solution, specifically focusing on a solution that contains a Canvas App.

Prerequisites

Before we dive into the solution extraction process, make sure you have the following prerequisites in place:

  1. Install Power Platform Tools for Visual Studio:
    • If you haven't already, install the Power Platform Tools extension for Visual Studio Code. This extension provides additional tooling support for Power Platform development.Authentication and Organization Selection


Once you have the prerequisites installed, follow these steps to authenticate and select your Power Platform organization:

  1. Authenticate with pac CLI:
    • Open your terminal


    • run the following command to authenticate:

pac auth create


Sign-In to your organization account

  1. Select the Required Environment:
    • Run the following command to list all the environments for subsequent commands:

pac org list


    • Run the following command to select the required environment for subsequent commands:

pac org select --environment "https://<your-environment-name>.crm.dynamics.com"


  1. List Available Solutions:
    • Before proceeding with the cloning process, it's helpful to list the available solutions to identify the one you want to clone. Run the following command:

pac solution list




Cloning the Solution

Now that you are authenticated and have selected the organization, you can proceed with cloning the solution. Follow these steps:

  1. Clone the Solution:
    • Use the following command to clone the solution to your current directory:

pac solution clone --name <your-solution-name> --outputDirectory sourceode --processCanvasApps

  1. Replace <your-solution-name> with the name of the solution you want to clone. The --processCanvasApps flag indicates that Canvas Apps should be included in the cloning process.



  2. Explore the Cloned Solution:
    • After the cloning process is complete, navigate to the cloned solution directory. You will find the extracted source code in our output directory, including the Canvas App components.


Conclusion

The pac CLI provides a streamlined way to extract the source code of a Power Platform solution, making it easier for developers to manage and version-control their projects. By following the steps outlined in this blog post, you can efficiently clone a solution and access its source code, including Canvas App artifacts.

  

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