Preventing Data Loss When Publishing Apps in Business Central Cloud

Question

Preventing Data Loss When Publishing Apps in Business Central Cloud

ron ronnie 0

Using Microsoft 365 Business Central Cloud, there have been instances where publishing a new app directly to the environment leads to the loss of data, specifically employee information and cues. The recreate option is not being utilized. What steps can be taken to publish the app without losing existing data?

ron ronnie 0 Reputation points

2025-09-03T12:49:17.3966667+00:00

Thanks for the response. My problem has not been solved. Some table records are deleted completely while others are altered. The deleted tables are custom tables while the altered tables are the base tables.

1 answer

Your answer

ron ronnie 0 Reputation points

2025-09-03T12:49:17.3966667+00:00

Thanks for the response. My problem has not been solved. Some table records are deleted completely while others are altered. The deleted tables are custom tables while the altered tables are the base tables.

Answer 1

TiNo-T 9,285 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Dear @ron ronnie

Thank you so much for contacting Microsoft Q&A Forum.

Based on your description, I can see that your concern about data loss when publishing a new app in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Cloud is valid and typically stems from how the schemaUpdateMode is configured during app deployment. Also, you mentioned that you are not using the Recreate option intentionally, but still experiencing data loss, it’s likely that the schemaUpdateMode is accidentally set to "Recreate" in their launch.json or during PowerShell publishing.

I have researched and found several ideas that you can try or consult to see if they can help:

To safely publish an app without losing existing data:

1.Use the Synchronize mode and avoid using "Recreate" unless explicitly needed in dev environments:

Ensure the launch.json file contains:

"schemaUpdateMode": "Synchronize"

This retains all existing data during publishing.

If it is in Recreate mode: deletes all data in tables and extensions every time the app is published.

Reference: Synchronizing extension test data - Business Central | Microsoft Learn

2.Avoid breaking schema changes:

If schema changes are needed:

Use upgrade codeunits to migrate data safely.
Avoid changing primary keys or deleting fields directly.

You can consult in this link: Debug upgrade and install code - Business Central | Microsoft Learn

3.Use PowerShell for controlled publishing: Use the following commands via Business Central Administration Shell, you can try this to see if it works:

Publish-NAVApp -ServerInstance YourServer -Path ".\YourApp.app" 
Sync-NAVApp -ServerInstance YourServer -Name "YourApp" -Version "1.0.0.0" -Tenant "default" 
Install-NAVApp -ServerInstance YourServer -Name "YourApp" -Tenant "default"

This method gives more control and avoids unintended schema resets. Reference: Publishing and Installing an Extension - Business Central | Microsoft Learn

Additional notes: you should have a backup data before major changes. Reference: Restoring an environment in the admin center - Business Central | Microsoft Learn

I hope this information can help you in this case and please kindly correct me if I misunderstand your concern.

Wish you a pleasant day!

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

User's image

TiNo-T 9,285 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-09-03T12:21:50.1833333+00:00

Dear @ron ronnie

I would like to kindly follow up to ask whether the solution I provided has addressed your concern. If not, please feel free to share any additional details so that we can work together to resolve the issue effectively.

If the response was helpful, it’d be great if you could mark it as an accepted answer. This helps others in the community who may be facing similar challenges and it can build our platform stronger.

Thank you for your time and understanding!
TiNo-T 9,285 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-09-03T14:33:45.24+00:00

Dear @ron ronnie

Good day! Thank you so much for your update to Microsoft Q&A Forum.

In this case, I really want to help you deeply. However, as a forum moderator, I have limitations in my resources and cannot access the internal databases to check it directly for you due to security protocols. Therefore, I highly recommend that you should contact Microsoft Support team via Microsoft 365 Admin Center for the most efficient help. This will allow our dedicated support engineers who have broader diagnostic tools and permissions to investigate and assist you more effectively.

I hope for your understanding in this time and if you found that my answers and responses were helpful in any way, it'd be great that you can mark it as an Accepted Answer. This action can help others in our community who find the same challenges, and it can build our platform stronger every day.

Once again, thank you for your time and understanding.
TiNo-T 9,285 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-09-05T08:24:00.8766667+00:00

Dear @ron ronnie

Just following up to see if the info I shared helped out with your issue.

If you’ve got any updates or still need help, feel free to give me a shout, I’m happy to dig into it more with you.

And if everything’s sorted, mark it as an accepted answer. It could be a big help to others in our community who might run into the same thing and make our platform stronger every day.

Wish you all the best!
TiNo-T 9,285 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-09-08T00:07:18.21+00:00

Dear @ron ronnie

I have researched more in order to find other solutions for you, but it is truly beyond of my limitations. However, your report is really precious and it can be an attention to Microsoft. I'm really sorry about it, but at this point, with my current access and my role here is to provide guidance based on official public documentation from Microsoft. I’m unable to assist further beyond the recommendations already provided. For cases like this, escalation is necessary.

That said, I strongly suggest raising a support ticket directly with Microsoft. The support team has access to diagnostic tools and internal insights that can help investigate this issue more deeply.

Apologies again for the inconvenience this issue may be causing.

Lastly, I’ll make sure to log this case internally as part of a potential break/fix report to escalate it further.

Thank you so much for your time and cooperation in this scenario.

Share via

Preventing Data Loss When Publishing Apps in Business Central Cloud

1 answer

Your answer