Last month Microsoft announced the availability of a new PowerShell module for Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Created by Microsoft’s Kenichiro Nakamura (mission critical specialist) and Sean McNellis (field engineer), it is a single module that provides over 60 PowerShell functions to perform data operations and manipulate user and system settings in Microsoft Dynamics CRM. This module works with Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online and with CRM 2013 and later on-premises, and it requires PowerShell 4.0 or later. The module is labeled Microsoft.Xrm.Data.PowerShell.
The module enables you to perform all of the following operations in Microsoft Dynamics CRM using PowerShell:
- Create, retrieve, update, and delete records.
- Manage CRM security by adding/managing users, teams, and roles.
- Import and export CRM solutions.
- Manage user and system settings.
Some of this was possible before using the official CRM PowerShell cmdlets, but it required using multiple PowerShell snap-ins.
To use the module, download it from Microsoft and import it on your computer. Then use the following command to display a list of functions available in the module: Get-Help *crm*
Each command has a detailed explanation. For a list of all commands, use the following command: Get-command *crm*
The PowerShell functions in the module also come with built-in Help, handily enough, to enable you to use these functions effectively. To get detailed Help on a function, in this example Import-CrmSolution, use the following command: Get-Help Import-CrmSolution-Detailed.
For more detailed information or to download the module, visit the Microsoft Script Center.
