Identify upgrade scenarios and appropriate tools

  • 7 minutes

Upgrades, updates, and hotfixes can include moving to new product versions, code migration and upgrade, moving to an update, or deploying a hotfix.

  • Upgrade from Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 to finance and operations apps
  • Apply updates to an on-premises version of finance and operations apps
  • Apply updates to cloud version of finance and operations apps
  • Install hotfixes in development environments

The processes for each type of upgrade are similar, but we recommend that you review the link provided with information on several types of upgrades. Always check the most recent info on upgrade using Microsoft Learn. The process to upgrade from Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 to finance and operations apps is divided into three phases:

  1. Analyze - The tasks in the analyzing phase assist you in estimating the effort that is needed for the upgrade. These tasks help you prepare a project plan. During the Analyze phase, developers receive several reports that aid in project estimation.

  2. Execute - After completing the tasks that are identified in the analyze phase, a resource needs to work on code and data upgrades in the Execute phase. Hotfixes related to each task need to be installed in the development machine.

  3. Validate - Validation is the last step before going live. During this phase, users must perform cutover testing, complete functional testing, and create a cutover plan.

Apply updates to an on-premises version of finance and operations apps

Updates are applied as deployable packages to on-premises environments from Lifecycle Services. Depending on the type of update, users need to complete the following steps to generate a deployable package. Updates can be of type Platform binary update, Application binary update, or Application X++ update.

Apply updates to the cloud version of finance and operations apps

For non-production environments, upgrades are started manually from the Maintain in Lifecycle Services environment page. For continuous updates to the production and sandbox, update settings under project settings must be configured in Lifecycle Services before going live.

For more information about upgrades and updates, see Upgrades, updates, and hotfixes resources - Finance & Operations.