Every time I start a new job or get a new machine at work I need to go through a ritual of setting up the tools that I will need for my job doing development work with Dynamics 365. Below are the tasks that I consider essential for anyone tasked with working with the product.
Dynamics SDK
The dynamics 365 SDK (Software Development Tools) will be needed to register plugins and custom code onto the platform. To get these resources use the following link: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/customerengagement/on-premises/developer/download-tools-nuget
XRM Toolbox
Next up is a tool that can be thought of as an app store for development tasks and tools that can make your life easier.
Visual Studio
For the most part if you are working in the Microsoft ecosystem this tool will be needed in general but I will put it here because this is where you will want to be doing your plugin development.
SSDT/SSIS
You will use this for data loading and integrations into and out of Dynamics. SSIS is a standard tool in the Microsoft ecosystem and is very powerful for loading massive amounts of data into and out of the system.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/ssdt/download-sql-server-data-tools-ssdt?view=sql-server-ver15
Kingswaysoft
To integrate the SSIS tool with Dynamics you will need a connector. My favorite is Kinsgwaysoft – which is a custom connector that allows for easy interaction with Dynamics 365 in terms of data integrations. You will need a license to schedule jobs but for local development everything works! This tool is amazing and I cannot recommend it enough.
https://www.kingswaysoft.com/products/ssis-integration-toolkit-for-microsoft-dynamics-crm
Node.js
Node will be used as a framework for building PCF Controls within Dynamics. Long story short – you will need Node before you can start using the PCF control framework that you will install below. I would download the LTS version on the left side of the screen.
PCF Control
PCF Controls are basically plugins to interact and display data within the system using web development front end skills with javascript.
Visual Studio Code
Some of the tools and tutorials will be focused around using Visual Studio code as the primary way to interact and develop PCF Controls. It is good to have this tool due to its convenience and ease-of-use as well.
https://code.visualstudio.com/
Dynamics 365 Trial Instance
Sometimes you will need to try stuff out on your own but you will not want to pollute your company’s Dynamics 365 instance with your work. What you will want to do is set up a Trial instance of Dynamics 365 to do this discovery work. It will expire after a period of time but it will allow you to have an isolated place where you can do whatever you need to do within dynamics without causing a mess in your organization’s instance.
Here is a blog post on steps on how to get started: https://arunpotti.wordpress.com/2017/12/06/how-to-setup-dynamics-365-30-days-online-trial-version/
There you have it – all of the tools that you will need to get started working on Dynamics 365. This might seem overwhelming but I assure you will get the hang of all of these tools and they will come in very handy.
Go forth!
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