Dynamics Community Forum Thread Details

Hello nvrhughes,

Yes, encountering a situation where all administrators in your Dynamics 365 development environment suddenly cannot open Advanced Settings or make any customization changes with a generic error message is a serious issue that points to a potential problem at the environment level.

The error message "An error has occurred. Try this action again..." is quite general and doesn't give much specific information about the root cause. The fact that it's affecting all admins suggests it's not a user-specific permission problem.

Here's a breakdown of potential causes and troubleshooting steps you should take:

Possible Root Causes:

Recent Environment Changes or Deployments:
- Recent Solution Import/Export: A faulty or incomplete solution import or export could have corrupted some metadata or configurations that are preventing access to customization areas.
- Manual Customizations: If any manual customizations were made recently (even if seemingly unrelated), they might have introduced an error.
- Power Platform Updates: While Microsoft handles these, sometimes updates can have unintended side effects. Check if there was a platform update around the time this issue started.

Database Issues:
- Temporary Database Unavailability or Errors: Transient issues with the underlying Dataverse database could prevent access to these administrative functions.
- Database Corruption (Less Likely but Possible): In rare cases, database corruption could lead to such widespread issues.

Service Outage or Degradation:
- Check the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Status page for any reported outages or degradations affecting your region or services. This is the first place to look for widespread issues.

Plugin or Workflow Errors:
- A custom plugin or workflow that triggers during the loading of Advanced Settings or customization pages might be failing and causing the error.

JavaScript Errors on the Form:
- Although less likely to completely block access, a critical JavaScript error on the Advanced Settings or customization pages themselves could be preventing them from loading correctly.

Authentication or Authorization Issues:
- While it affects all admins, there could be a subtle issue with authentication or authorization within your specific environment.

Troubleshooting Steps:

Check the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Status Page: Immediately visit the official Dynamics 365 Status page to see if there are any reported outages or service degradations in your region.

Examine the "Show Technical Details": Click the "Show Technical Details" button on the error message. This might provide a more specific error code or message that can help pinpoint the problem. Share this detail if you have it.

Review Audit Logs:
- Navigate to Settings > Audit > Audit Summary (if you can access it). Look for any recent error events related to system operations, customizations, or security changes around the time the issue started.

Check Recent Solution History:
- Go to Settings > Customizations > Solutions and review the history of recently imported or exported solutions. If a recent operation failed or was interrupted, it could be the cause.

Inspect Asynchronous Jobs:
- Navigate to Settings > System Jobs. Look for any failed or pending system jobs that might be related to customizations or metadata updates.

Disable Custom Plugins and Workflows (If Possible):
- If you suspect a custom plugin or workflow, try to temporarily disable any recently deployed or modified ones (if you can access the settings). This can help isolate if a custom component is causing the issue.

Examine Browser Developer Tools:
- Open your browser's developer tools (usually by pressing F12) before attempting to open Advanced Settings. Check the "Console" and "Network" tabs for any error messages or failed requests when you try to access the settings.

Try a Different Browser and InPrivate/Incognito Mode: Rule out browser-specific issues or cached data by trying to access Advanced Settings using a different web browser and in a private/incognito window.

Check Power Platform Admin Center:
- Go to the Power Platform Admin Center (admin.powerplatform.microsoft.com).
- Select your environment.
- Check the "Health" section for any reported issues or notifications.
- Review the "Analytics" section for any unusual activity or errors.

Consider Rolling Back Recent Changes (If Applicable):
- If you recently imported a solution or made significant manual customizations, consider rolling back to a previous state if possible (e.g., by restoring a backup or deleting the problematic solution).

Contact Microsoft Support: Given that this is affecting all administrators and prevents access to core customization areas, and if the above steps don't reveal the cause, you should immediately contact Microsoft Support. Provide them with the error message, the timestamp, the Service Request Id, and details about when the issue started. They have more advanced diagnostic tools and can investigate potential platform-level problems.

In summary, a sudden inability for all admins to access Advanced Settings points to a significant environment-level issue. Start by checking the service status and reviewing recent changes and system jobs. If the problem persists, gathering detailed error information and contacting Microsoft Support is the most crucial step.

If my answer was helpful, please click Like, and if it solved your problem, please mark it as verified to help other community members find more. If you have further questions, please feel free to contact me.

My response was crafted with AI assistance and tailored to provide detailed and actionable guidance for your Microsoft Dynamics 365 query.

Regards,

Daivat Vartak

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