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Configure Dataverse virtual entities

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This article explains how to configure virtual entities for finance and operations apps in Microsoft Dataverse.

Important

The configuration steps in this article are required only for finance and operations apps environments for which the Microsoft Power Platform integration is not enabled. For finance and operations apps environments for which the Microsoft Power Platform integration is enabled, the virtual entity configuration that is outlined in this article is automatically performed as part of the process for enabling the integration.

If Dataverse virtual entities were configured manually prior to enabling the Microsoft Power Platform integration, following the guidance in this article, the manual configuration is no longer used for the linked Power Platform environment after the Microsoft Power Platform integration is enabled. The virtual entities connect to the Dataverse environment using the automatic configuration provided by the Microsoft Power Platform integration. However, manual configuration for virtual entities may still be used to connect the finance and operations apps environment to additional Power Platform environments with which the Microsoft Power Platform integration has not been enabled.

For more information about how to enable the Microsoft Power Platform integration for finance and operations apps environments, see Enable the Microsoft Power Platform integration.

Getting the virtual entity solution

The Dataverse solution for finance and operations virtual entities must be installed from Microsoft AppSource virtual entity solution. For more information, see finance and operations virtual entity.

Ensure the following solutions are installed in Dataverse.

  • Dynamics365Company - This adds the Company entity, which is referenced by all finance and operations entities with a PrimaryCompanyContext metadata value.

  • MicrosoftOperationsVESupport - This provides the core support for the finance and operations virtual entity feature.

  • MicrosoftOperationsERPCatalog - This provides a list of available finance and operations entities through the mserp_financeandoperationsentity virtual entity.

  • MicrosoftOperationsERPVE - This is the API-managed solution that contains the generated virtual entities as they're made visible.

When updates are available for the virtual entity solution, they can be manually applied in the Power Platform admin center. For more information about how to manually install and update the virtual entity solution, see Manage Dynamics 365 apps.

Note

For finance and operations apps environments that the Microsoft Power Platform integration is enabled for, available updates to the virtual entity solution are automatically applied.

Authentication and authorization

After the solutions are imported into the Dataverse environment, both environments must be set up to connect to each other. Dataverse calls finance and operations apps by using Service-to-Service (S2S) authentication, based on a Microsoft Entra application. This new Microsoft Entra application represents the single instance of the Dataverse environment. If you have multiple pairs of Dataverse and finance and operations apps environments, separate Microsoft Entra applications must be created for each pair to ensure that connections are established between the correct pair of finance and operations apps and Microsoft Power Platform environments.

Note

Virtual entities are not supported across tenants. The Microsoft Power Platform environment must be on the same Microsoft Entra tenant as the finance and operations apps environment.

Register the app in the Azure portal

The following procedure explains how to create the Microsoft Entra application.

Important

The Microsoft Entra application must be created on the same tenant as the finance and operations apps.

  1. Go to https://portal.azure.com > Microsoft Entra > App registrations.

  2. Select New Registration. Enter the following information:

    • Name - Enter a unique name.

    • Account type - Enter Any Microsoft Entra directory (single or multitenant).

    • Redirect URI - Leave blank.

    • Select Register.

    • Make a note of the Application (client) ID value, because you need it later.

  3. Create a symmetric key for the application.

    • Select Certificates & secrets in the newly created application.

    • Select New client secret.

    • Provide a description and an expiration date.

    • Select Save. A key is created and displayed. Copy this value for later use.

Grant app permissions in finance and operations apps

The Microsoft Entra application that you created is used by Dataverse to call finance and operations apps. Therefore, it must be trusted by finance and operations apps and associated with a user account that has the appropriate rights. A special service user that has rights only to the virtual entity functionality must be created in finance and operations apps. This service user must have no other rights. After you completed this step, any application that has the secret of the Microsoft Entra application that you created is able to call this finance and operations apps environment and access the virtual entity functionality.

  1. In finance and operations, go to System Administration > Users > Users.

  2. Create a user in your Microsoft Entra ID. For example, dataverseintegration@contoso.com.

  3. Go to System Administration > Users, and then select Import Users and import this user to your finance and operations apps environment.

    • Assign the security role Dataverse Virtual entity integration app to this user.

    • Remove all other roles including System user.

  4. Go to System Administration > Setup > Microsoft Entra applications to register Dataverse.

    • Add a new row.

    • Client ID - The Application (client) ID created above

    • Name - Enter Dataverse Integration (or a different name).

    • User ID - The user ID created above.

Configure the virtual entity data source

The next step in the process is to provide Dataverse with the finance and operations instance to connect to. The following steps walk through this part of the process.

  1. In Dataverse, go to Advanced Settings > Administration > Virtual Entity Data Sources.

  2. Select the data source named "finance and operations".

  3. Fill in the information from the steps above.

    • Target URL - The URL at which you can access finance and operations.

    • OAuth URL - https://login.windows.net/

    • Tenant ID - Your tenant, such as "contoso.com".

    • Microsoft Entra Application ID - The Application (client) ID created above.

    • Microsoft Entra Application Secret - The secret generated above.

    • Microsoft Entra Resource - Enter 00000015-0000-0000-c000-000000000000 (this is the Microsoft Entra application representing finance and operations, and should always be this same value).

  4. Save the changes.

When the virtual entity configuration is completed, you can enable the virtual entities in Dataverse. For more information, see Enable Microsoft Dataverse virtual entities.