Importing unmanaged solution from another environment fails on custom connector configuration

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Posted on by packnology

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Hi,

I want to move my solution from one development (sandbox) environment to another. I have exported the solution as unmanaged. The solution has a custom connector, and a connection reference for the custom connector. When I try to import it into the new environment it asks me to set up a new connection for the custom connector. When I click new connection, it fails with an error message (see screenshot attached) that the connector does not exist. So it seems to be trying to set up a connection before it has imported the custom connector. Can you please advise how I can import this solution successfully?

Some additional info that might relevant:

- the custom connector uses an on-premise gateway in the current dev environment to connect because the API is on-premise

- I have access to the same gateway in both environments

Thanks,

Greg

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Building Power Apps

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v-jefferni on at

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Hi @packnology ,

Have you tried adding that custom connector into the solution before exporting? See below screenshot:

With the custom connector in the solution, you will be able to transfer the connector with your app.

Hope this helps.

Best regards,
Community Support Team _ Jeffer Ni
If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it.

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packnology 138 on at

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Thanks @v-jefferni yes the custom connector is already in the solution, and when I try to import into the new environment it recognizes the connector and correctly requests a new connection be configured (see attached screenshot), but when I click on New Connection I get the error message from my original post.
Regards,
Greg

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packnology 138 on at

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Hi does anyone have any ideas on this issue? Should I open a support ticket?
Thanks,
Greg

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v-jefferni on at

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Hi @packnology ,

It would be a good choice to raise a support ticket since there is a custom connector in the solution which would be hard to test without details.

If you have any further information or updates please leave it here in the community, would be helpful to other users and very appreciated.

Best regards,
Community Support Team _ Jeffer Ni
If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it.

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packnology 138 on at

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Hi @v-jefferni I now have an open support ticket on this issue, but it seems they're not able to diagnose. I've done my own testing and I believe my original issue was caused by a bug which can be replicated as follows:

1) Add a new custom connector to a blank solution
2) Configure the custom connector as using an on-premise gateway and set the URL to localhost
3) Export the solution as unmanaged, and import into another environment.
4) The import fails with the message:
"Solution "Solution Template" failed to import: Connector import: FAILURE: {"error":{"code":"ApiDefinitionLocalhostWithoutGateway","message":"The custom connector is using a local-host address without on-premise gateway."}}".
5) This is a bug because the custom connector does in fact have the "use on-premise gateway" option selected (see attached screenshot).

I believe this bug creates the problem I had with the connection reference. The custom connector fails to import, and so the connection reference can't find the custom connector and also fails.

Other than my open support ticket, is there another way to report this as a bug?

Thanks,
Greg

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packnology 138 on at

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Following on from my previous post, I thought I'd try to work around the bug with the custom connector and localhost URL, and found some more bugs with solution import and custom connectors...
1) I changed the custom connector URL from "localhost:1880" to "gateway.network.local", and kept the "Connect via on-premises data gateway" option checked.
2) I added a connection reference to the solution, and configured a new connection with the on-premise gateway selected.
3) I exported the solution and imported into a new environment. During the import process I was asked to create a new connection for the connection reference. I noticed that it did not ask for the on-premise gateway, but the solution imported without errors.
4) In the new environment I checked the custom connector and noticed the on-premise gateway option was unchecked. Looks like it stripped that setting out during the import.
5) I also noticed the newly created connection had a "parameter missing" message even though all required fields had been completed.
6) I was able to manually fix the connector and connection settings.
My main reason for wanting to move the solution between environments is to create a CI/CD pipeline from Azure DevOps (using the Power Apps Pipeline Tools), but I'm guessing it will still require manual intervention (each time?) to fix the config in the new environment.
Any thoughts or assistance on how to push this up to the Power Apps dev team for a fix would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Greg

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packnology 138 on at

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Hi @v-jefferni,

Just a quick update on this. I opened a support ticket with Microsoft over 2 weeks ago and don't seem to be making much progress, even though I've provided simple instructions on how to reproduce the problem. I think I've boiled it down to the following but just need someone from Microsoft to confirm this is a known issue:

1) After importing a solution with a custom connector which requires an on-premise gateway, the "Connect via on-premises data gateway" setting is off/unchecked. It seems either the export or import process changes that setting in the background.
2) If the custom connector is configured to use a localhost API address, the custom connector import fails because the "Connect via on-premises data gateway" setting is off when it needs to be on (caused by #1 above). This prevents the solution from importing.
3) There is another case which causes the custom connector import to fail even when the address is not localhost, and this is happening with my WIP solution.

Hopefully Microsoft Support can provide some answers so I can decide whether to continue using Power Apps for my product development, or look at another platform.

If you have any additional information about this issue I'd appreciate a reply.

Thanks,
Greg

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dr1n 6 on at

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Hi @packnology I got the same error right now. Is there any update for this post?

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packnology 138 on at

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Hi @dr1n sorry for the slow reply. After a lengthy open support ticket with Microsoft on this they logged the localhost with gateway import failure as a bug. My workaround was to change the host to something other than localhost, add it to its own solution, import it into the new environment, edit the gateway setting back to True and host back to localhost, then import the dependent flows/apps in another solution. Very clunky but it seems this functionality is still experimental with Power Apps and has many gotchas. Hope that helps, let me know if you're still stuck as I'm reluctantly becoming an expert on custom connectors and solutions...

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HEATFreight 1,024 on at

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I'm having similar issues!

Have a "prod" and a "dev" environment. Dev is sandbox and prod is production. I just created the dev environment. Want to copy existing solution with canvas app, flows, custom connectors, and whatnot from prod to dev (production type environment to sandbox type).

Get error about the custom connector references when try to import. Made solution containing just the custom connectors and exported that unmanaged, then imported to dev. Then tried exporting unmanaged canvas app/ flow solution and importing that into dev gives same error.

What's the point of all this dev/QA/prod environment junk if you can't seamlessly copy/clone/patch/migrate/export/transport/move/ and otherwise relocate entire solutions and all their parts?!?!

Would exporting an unmanaged solution containing canvas app, flows, and custom connectors be easier if I converted prod (production type environment named "prod") to a sandbox type environment??? Are there more options and capabilities this way? I'm comparing the options available in the prod solution manager to the dev solution manager and not seeing anything that jumps out🤷‍

EDIT: Actually I just figured it out. I honed the solution down to just one custom connector (plus all the flows and canvas apps and whatnot). I have other custom connectors that will be used eventually but for now I am able to remove those without breaking any functionality. First I removed the test flows that I was using to build those custom connectors, then I removed the custom connectors themselves from the solution too. Can add them again later when I'm ready to implement that other functionality. So with the simplified solution containing only the one custom connector that I'm actually using, I was able to click "+ New connection" and select the desired custom connector within the target environment!

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