Creating Stub Users with predefined GUIDs

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Posted on by Nate N.

Hello all,

I am working on a project that will be doing a D365 CRM 9.1 to PowerApps migration. It's worth mentioning that due to technical limitations in our tenant, FastTrack is not an option for us.

We are currently investigating the possibility of creating our on-prem users in PowerApps, with 1:1 GUIDs (as you would expect with a FastTracked environment).

We have attempted different methods of creating Stub Users in the target environment with specific GUIDs - using the API, Excel Import - but neither seem to work.

Does anyone have experience with this? Is this a technically impossible task?

Thanks in advance!

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Holly Huffman 6,538 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Good morning, afternoon, or evening depending on your location!

Creating Stub Users with predefined GUIDs in a Dynamics 365 CRM to PowerApps migration can be challenging due to the platform's restrictions on GUID assignment.
Here's an overview of the situation and potential approaches:

Why This is Challenging

GUIDs in Dataverse:

GUIDs are automatically generated by the Dataverse platform when a record is created.

Directly assigning a specific GUID to a record (such as a user) is not supported natively.

FastTrack Alternative:

FastTrack migrations handle GUID preservation, but since this isn't an option for you, manual methods are required

Potential Workarounds

Use Non-Interactive Users:

Create Non-Interactive Users in the target environment and map them to the original GUIDs during the migration process.

This approach ensures that the users exist in the system but do not consume licenses.

Custom Data Migration Tool:

Use a tool like KingswaySoft or SSIS to migrate data while preserving GUIDs for ownership and historical tracking.

Stub users can be created as placeholders, but their GUIDs cannot be directly set.

Custom API for GUID Mapping:

Develop a custom API to map the original GUIDs to new GUIDs in the target environment.

Store the mapping in a separate table for reference during the migration.

Use a Pre-Migration Staging Database:

Create a staging database where you can assign the desired GUIDs to stub users.

Import the data into PowerApps while maintaining the mapping.

Leverage Dataverse Plugins:

Write a plugin to intercept the creation of user records and assign the desired GUIDs.

Note: This approach may violate platform constraints and should be tested thoroughly.

Key Considerations

Licensing: Stub users may require licenses depending on their access mode.

Data Integrity: Ensure that GUID mapping does not compromise data integrity or relationships.

Microsoft Support: Engage with Microsoft Support to explore any undocumented options for GUID preservation.

Hope this helps some!

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Nate N. 11 on at

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Thank you for the excellent response, @Holly Huffman. We have anticipated going the route you have described (specifically, mapping the on-prem users to the online users during migration).

One thing I will note: After a bit more testing on my end, I have learned that creating systemuser records with a predefined GUID is actually possible - via data import, using a CSV file. Here's an example of my test CSV:

UserId,DomainName,First,Last,InternalEmail e11794b0-556b-47a0-844d-b88c75c2fedf,test.stub@testing.com,Test,Stub,test.stub@testing.com

Mapping the columns accordingly during the pre-import phase allowed this record to be created with the specific GUID we desired.

I hope this helps someone else in the future.

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