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Dynamics 365 Community / Forums / Small and medium business | Business Central, N... / Cannot publish Microso...
Small and medium business | Business Central, N...
Answered

Cannot publish Microsoft Base Application app when trying to upgrade from BC21 to BC25

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Posted on by JD-11042047-0 8
Hello, i'm trying to upgrade from BC21 to BC25. All steps described in the upgrade process where going well.
 
Except from Task 8 - step 3; When trying to publish the Business Central base application, I'm getting these errors:
 
This gives me the impression that the system is trying to do something with an old version.
Can some give me a direction what could be wrong here? I've following all steps in a second attempt on a fresh copy of the BC21 and this gave the same errors.
 
 
 
Thank you for the support,
Regards,
John
Categories:
Dynamics 365 Business Central migration
Task 8 step 3.jpg
Error when trying...
I have the same question (0)
  • Suggested answer
    Saif Ali Sabri Profile Picture
    Saif Ali Sabri 2,351 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at
    Cannot publish Microsoft Base Application app when trying to upgrade from BC21 to BC25
    You're encountering errors because you're trying to publish the BC21 Base Application on a BC25 server, which is causing compatibility issues—particularly with removed or changed objects like User Metadata and deprecated AL types (Microsoft.Dynamics.Nav.Ncl).
    ✅ Solution:
    Make sure you are using the correct BC25 Base Application .app file.
    Steps:
    1. Verify App Version: Ensure you're using the Microsoft_Base Application.app from the BC25 installation media, specifically from:
    CopyEdit
    \Applications\BaseApp\Source\
    NOT from BC21.
    1. Recompile from BC25 AL Source (if needed): If you built the .app file yourself, rebuild the Base Application using the BC25 AL compiler/tooling to match runtime and API changes.
    2. Clean Old Assemblies (optional): If lingering references from BC21 persist:
      • Restart the service tier.
      • Clear the server cache (C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Microsoft Dynamics NAV\...).
      • Re-run Sync-NAVTenant -Mode Clean.
    3. Check for Deprecated Objects: Review any custom extensions that might still reference obsolete objects like User Metadata or types from Microsoft.Dynamics.Nav.Ncl.
    Let me know if you're publishing any custom modifications or just the standard Base Application—this will help tailor the fix further.
  • Suggested answer
    JD-13041011-0 Profile Picture
    JD-13041011-0 15 on at
    Cannot publish Microsoft Base Application app when trying to upgrade from BC21 to BC25
    Thank you Saif for the quick reponse. 
     
    I see that the BC21 Base Application is still listed from the NavAppInfo command. But i cannot uninstall this app, because the system says it's is not installed.
    I'm very sure i'm trying to install the Base Application using the BC 25 Media.
    Do you have a further suggestion?
     
    Thank you for your support!
     
  • Suggested answer
    Khushbu Rajvi. Profile Picture
    Khushbu Rajvi. 19,351 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at
    Cannot publish Microsoft Base Application app when trying to upgrade from BC21 to BC25

    You're getting these errors because the .app file you're trying to publish contains references to deprecated or removed elements in BC25—mainly the User Metadata table (replaced by User Page Metadata) and .NET types from Microsoft.Dynamics.Nav.Ncl, which are no longer available in BC25 (e.g., DesignedQuery.AL.DqImportExportResults). To fix this, you must not use an old AL source or .app file from BC21 or before. Instead, go to your BC25 installation directory (\Applications\BaseApp\Source\) and recompile the Base Application using the BC25 AL compiler. Also, make sure you're not manually including older DLLs in your code. If these issues are coming from custom changes to the base app, you'll need to refactor the code to use the new APIs and metadata structures introduced in BC25.

  • Suggested answer
    Khushbu Rajvi. Profile Picture
    Khushbu Rajvi. 19,351 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at
    Cannot publish Microsoft Base Application app when trying to upgrade from BC21 to BC25
  • Verified answer
    JD-13041011-0 Profile Picture
    JD-13041011-0 15 on at
    Cannot publish Microsoft Base Application app when trying to upgrade from BC21 to BC25
    Hello I've followed all steps again and now it works! :)
    I think the issue was that the old Apps in the BC21 and upgrade DB where not unpublished or not uninstalled properly.
    Thank you for your help, and to make the reference to the old version app, that pointed in the right direction.
  • Suggested answer
    Saif Ali Sabri Profile Picture
    Saif Ali Sabri 2,351 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at
    Cannot publish Microsoft Base Application app when trying to upgrade from BC21 to BC25
    Thanks for the clear screenshot and explanation — you're absolutely right: the issue is that the BC21 Base Application is still registered in the BC25 environment, even though it shows as not installed.
    This kind of "ghost registration" can block publishing the correct BC25 Base Application, because the system treats it like there's already an app with that name and publisher.
    ✅ Solution Steps to Clean Up the Old (BC21) Base Application Registration
    Use the Unpublish-NAVApp cmdlet to remove the old Base Application registration from the environment.
    Run this in Business Central Administration Shell:
    powershell CopyEdit
    Unpublish-NAVApp -ServerInstance BC250 -Name "Base Application" -Publisher "Microsoft" -Version 21.0.46256.46853
    ⚠️ Important: Use Unpublish-NAVApp, not Uninstall-NAVApp. The latter fails because it’s not actually installed on any tenant, but it is still published.
    Then: Publish the correct BC25 Base App
    After the old version is successfully unpublished, run:
    powershell CopyEdit
    Publish-NAVApp -ServerInstance BC250 -Path "C:\temp\Dynamics.365.BC.18056.NL.BC25\Applications\BaseApp\Source\Microsoft_Base Application.app"
    Optional Cleanup (if publish still fails):
    If the app still fails to publish:
    1. Run Sync-NAVTenant -ServerInstance BC250 -Mode Clean
    2. Restart the Business Central server instance:
    powershell CopyEdit
    Restart-Service 'MicrosoftDynamicsNavServer$BC250'

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