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Dynamics 365 Community / Forums / Microsoft Dynamics CRM (Archived) / Difference between Ins...
Microsoft Dynamics CRM (Archived)

Difference between Instance & Solution in Dynamics CRM

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Posted on by Community Member

I really can't find the difference between Instance and Solution in Dynamics CRM.

I can understand the difference between SandBox instance & production instance.

And also I get what solution means in Dynamics.

But the Difference between Instance & Solution ??????????

Would someone help me please.

Thanks.

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  • Verified answer
    Aiden Kaskela Profile Picture
    Aiden Kaskela 19,696 on at

    Hi,

    An instance is a CRM environment. My production CRM and yours are two separate instances, my production and my stage are two different instances.

    A solution is a way for people to share and transfer customizations within CRM. If you install an add-on, you get a solution zip file which you can import into your CRM organization (instance). Solutions can contain entities, fields, workflows, templates and more, and they make distributing your customizations very easy.

    Hope this helps! I'd appreciate if you'd mark this as Answering your question.

    Thanks,

     Aiden

  • Community Member Profile Picture
    Community Member on at

    That clears a lot of thing. Thank you.

    But I have additional questions if I may.

    1) Does what you've said means that no data (records) can be transfered with solution ?

    2) And What is really an add-on ?

    And Thanks again.

  • Verified answer
    Aiden Kaskela Profile Picture
    Aiden Kaskela 19,696 on at

    Hi,

    CRM record data, like contacts and accounts, cannot be included in a solution. They can be bundled as a Deployment Package but it takes a good bit of effort to build that - it's an installer and you need to build it in code whereas a solution is completely inside CRM.

    An add-on is functionality which can be installed on your CRM environment - it's like an app for your iPhone. CRM is very customizable so there are hundreds of add-ons that offer new functionality. They can either be free or cost money (Microsoft has an app store for it - appsource.com).

    As my own shameless plug, I built a free add-on that gives you new functionality in the workflow editor windows Workflow Elements at kaskela.wordpress.com).

    Thanks,

     Aiden

  • Community Member Profile Picture
    Community Member on at

    so an add-on is the same as a plugin ?

  • Verified answer
    Aiden Kaskela Profile Picture
    Aiden Kaskela 19,696 on at

    A plugin is a custom .Net assembly that can be registered in crm to add new behavior (ex, when a contact is created, send an email). Solutions will typically include one or more plugins to add behavior to those entities.

    For example, let's say you find an addon for Event Management you like. You'll download it and get the zip file (solution). The solution contains a meeting entity and a meeting registration entity. It also has a plugin assembly that does two things 1) when a new registration is created,  generate an order 2) when an order for a meeting is paid, set a Paid flag on the meeting registration. By combining customizations and plugins in one solution, companies are are to sell very robust modules and easily distribute them.

    Thanks,

     Aiden

  • Community Member Profile Picture
    Community Member on at

    That was really really helpful, And so so so thankful I am.

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