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Dynamics 365 Community / Forums / Small and medium business | Business Central, N... / Business Central Migra...
Small and medium business | Business Central, N...
Suggested Answer

Business Central Migration from onPrem to SaaS - export/import permission sets

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Posted on by Nadsch 88
Hello
 
I will migrate a BC20 onPrem environment to BC27 SaaS. In previous migration, I created new permission sets. For now, I want to export the origin permission sets and import them into BC27. It's a XML file, but unfortunately beacuse of the version jump, the file has not the same structre or naming anymore. So I am not able to import it. Do you have any idea, is there a way to convert the XML into the right format?
 
best
nadja
Categories:
Dynamics 365 Business Central migration
I have the same question (0)
  • Suggested answer
    Aman Kakkar Profile Picture
    Aman Kakkar 3,532 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at
  • Suggested answer
    Grigorios Mavrogeorgis Profile Picture
    Grigorios Mavrogeorgis 2,107 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at
    Hi,
     
    That’s a very common issue when jumping from BC20 on-prem to BC27 SaaS.
    Unfortunately, there isn’t an official or automatic way to “convert” permission set XML files between those versions. The XML schema and object references for permission sets have changed over time, so BC27 simply won’t recognize older structures or naming conventions from BC20.
    In practice, you have a few realistic options:
    • Recreate or refactor the permission sets in BC27
      This is usually the safest and recommended approach, especially for a major version jump. You can use the old XML as a reference, but rebuild the permission sets using the current BC27 structure.
    • Use AL permission sets instead of XML
      If possible, export the permissions into AL permission set objects (or recreate them as AL). These are version-controlled, easier to maintain, and much more future-proof than XML.
    • Write a custom transformation script (last resort)
      Technically, you could parse and transform the XML using PowerShell or another tool, but you’d still need to manually map renamed objects, permission types, and removed elements. In most cases, the effort outweighs the benefit.
    • Leverage standard permission sets and extensions
      BC27 has improved standard permission sets and extension-based permissions. Often you can reduce the amount of custom permissions compared to older on-prem setups.
    So short answer: no direct conversion tool exists, and Microsoft doesn’t support importing old permission set XML across such a big version gap. Recreating them (preferably in AL) is usually the cleanest and most future-proof solution.
     
  • Suggested answer
    YUN ZHU Profile Picture
    YUN ZHU 101,643 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at
    Hi, try the following method.
    Dynamics 365 Business Central: Convert permission sets into AL object (Conversion Tool: XML -> PermissionSet Object)
     
    Thanks.
    ZHU

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