Learn how to apply a D365 service update in this tutorial. Microsoft releases four service updates, containing new hotfixes and features. Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations administrators use Life Cycle Services (LCS) to apply these updates to the environments. In a previous article, I explained the schedule of when these updates are released and the overall steps for upgrading all the environments. Learn in this tutorial the steps necessary to apply the D365 service update to an environment.
Get The Service Update Package
The first step before you apply a D365 service update is you need to download the package containing the latest code.
First, after the new version is released, go into Life Cycle Services (LCS), and get the package.
To do that, click the ‘Full details‘ link next to one of your Tier 2 environments that is on the same version as PROD.
Next, scroll down to the ‘Available updates‘ fast tab. Compare the version under ‘My current version‘ to the value under ‘Service update‘. The current version is 10.0.38, whereas the new version is 10.0.41.
Service Updates Versus Quality Updates
In practice, I hear people use ‘service update‘ and ‘quality update’ interchangeably. I often do.
That said, there is a difference. Essentially a ‘Service update‘ refers to when you take an update that is a whole new version number, such as upgrading from 10.0.39 to 10.0.41. Not only will this package contain hotfixes, but this package will contain new features and functionality.
Whereas a ‘Quality update‘ refers to when you take a new package that is on the same core version as the existing environment, but the build version is different. This package will only contain hotfixes on top of the existing core version.
Notice, in the screenshot below, the ‘View update’ button is under a section labeled ‘Quality update‘. Whereas the previous screenshot showed the button in the ‘Service update‘ section.
Also, notice that the core version 10.0.41 is the same in both the current and quality update sections. Whereas the ‘build’ version numbers are different. The current version is 10.0.21015.54 and the new version is 10.0.21015.105. This last number shows roughly how many more hotfixes are included in the new version.
Ultimately, regardless of the label, the saved package contains all of the cumulative code for that core and build version specified. They are NOT ‘incremental’ packages.
See this Microsoft documentation for more information on the differences between service updates, quality updates, and binary updates.
Saving The Package
After the dialog opens, you will see a list of all of the hotfixes and changes included in this service/quality update. The all-in-one package that this update is put in is also called a Binary update.
Next, click the ‘Save package‘ button.
Then, click ‘Select all‘ and then ‘Save package‘ again.
In the dialog that opens, specify a name, then click ‘Save package‘ once more.
After a few minutes, the package will be saved to the asset library in LCS.
All Hotfixes Are Included
Before showing how to apply the D365 service update, I want to explain something that can be confusing.
Despite the ability to select only a few rows in the previous dialog, when saving a package ALL available hotfixes will be saved every time. I believe the option to select just some is more specifically useful for Exporting a list of updates to a CSV file.
Importantly, there is no way to download just one of the hotfixes listed. Instead, when you click ‘Save package‘, a package will be created with ALL available changes. To explain the reason for this is that as Microsoft adds new changes they run tests on ALL changes up to the latest change. Thoroughly testing the entire system for every combination of only one or more changes taken would be impractical.
Validate The Package
The next step to apply a D365 service update is to validate that the package was downloaded. First, go to the three-lines button. Then, select the Asset Library.
Second, confirm you see the service update package you previously saved. Also, check that the ‘Valid‘ checkbox is checked.
If the package is not shown, you may need to reload your browser page or wait longer. If the package is still not visible after some time, try saving the service update package once more.
For more information, see the Microsoft documentation here.
Applying The Service Update Package
Finally, apply the D365 service update package. Which might also be called a quality update depending on what version the environment was on when you saved it. The regular application of these updates has also been called ‘continuous updates’.
First, navigate in Life Cycle Services (LCS) to the details section of the environment you wish to update. For example, navigate to your TEST environment.
Then, click ‘Maintain>Apply updates‘.
In the dialog that opens, enter the name of the package in the field provided. Note, the ‘Apply’ button on the form will be disabled until a valid package is specified.
Finally, click the ‘Apply’ button to begin the D365 service update package deployment.
After an hour or more, the process will finish. Note, that the status shown on the browser page does not always update itself. Instead, you likely will need to refresh the page to see the latest status.
Microsoft Documentation
For further information see this article on all-in-one deployable packages. As well as this article on updating an environment.
Conclusion
Ultimately, applying a D365 service update to each of your environments is very important to ensure you are utilizing the most up-to-date functionality that Microsoft provides. Not only are new features and functionality included but hotfixes are as well. Oftentimes, when I report an issue to Microsoft, they have already found and fixed the issue in a hotfix I had not taken yet. Therefore, plan to take regular service updates which will provide you with the best user experience. Lastly, it is also important to use the same package to update all environments to ensure database refreshes and replicating issues across environments is successful.
