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If I uninstall a managed CRM solution, what happens to the entity data? ... assuming the solution has a custom entity in it?

Similarly, if I install an updated managed solution, then revert by installing the original managed solution .. what happens to the actual data?

If I deploy an update of a solution to CRM Online, can I just uninstall it to revert all changes?

e.g. version 1.0 with a custom entity, with "First Name" and "Last Name" fields. Then I install version 1.1 with the addition of a "Department" field.

But there is an issue with version 1.1, so I reinstall version 1.0 ...

What would the data be?, i.e. just First Name" and "Last Name", or would "Department" still be there?

SteveC
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2 Answers2

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If I uninstall a managed CRM solution, what happens to the entity data? Assuming the solution has a custom entity in it?

-Any data stored in custom fields or entities removed by the uninstall will be lost.

Similarly, if I install an updated managed solution, then revert by installing the original solution .. what happens to the actual data?

-Solutions are additive and entities and fields are never removed by installing solutions. This means that you cannot "revert" back to a previous solution in the way you desire. There is no supported way to remove elements from a managed solution besides entirely removing the solution.

Solutions are additive ... does this apply to all the parts of a solution?, i.e. forms, views, reports, etc.

-They are additive in the sense that if you install a solution that does not have them they will not be removed from the target system. However if you install a solution with a newer (or older) version of a form/view/report the element will be updated to the newly installed version rather than duplicated. For example if in version 2 of a solution you have added a new field and added that field to a form and you install version 1 back over top it will remove the field from the form but not from the solution.

Zach Mast
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  • Solutions are additive ... does this apply to all the parts of a solution?, i.e. forms, views, reports, etc. – SteveC Mar 09 '15 at 09:31
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If a managed solution is uninstalled, then all of the data from custom entities and attributes in the solution are lost. However, with CRM online, you should be able to request a database backup before uninstalling the solution. Then, you would still have the data.

When you uninstall a managed solution, the following data is lost: data stored in custom entities that are part of the solution and data stored in custom attributes on system entities that are part of the solution.

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg327822.aspx

I am not 100% sure about the second part of your question. I would guess that when an earlier version of the solution is installed, then all entities and attributes in the earlier version would be kept, but any entities and attributes added as part of the revised solution would be deleted.

mike9182
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  • Minor point: MS will not release CRM Online backups at will, those are meant for disaster recovery purpose (data-center side). I believe you can ask to have backups once, maybe twice a year. – Alex Mar 09 '15 at 09:35
  • You are probably right, I know we requested a backup at one point for the purpose of moving from CRM online to on-premise. – mike9182 Mar 09 '15 at 14:26