Updates and Hotfixes in Microsoft Power Platform
Understand the release cycles, GA versions, automatic hotfixes, and update procedures that keep your Power Platform secure and aligned with Microsoft’s innovation cadence.
Overview of Power Platform Update Management
Update management in Microsoft Power Platform follows a structured model that ensures stability, security, and consistency across environments. Updates are essential to keep the platform aligned with the latest innovations, performance improvements, and security patches.
Microsoft provides three main categories of updates:
- Major Power Platform Updates: Biannual releases (Wave 1 and Wave 2)
- First-party Application Updates: Manual updates for Dynamics 365 applications
- Hotfixes: Automatic minor and frequent updates
Each category has its own lifecycle, application method, and impact on development, testing, and production environments. Understanding these differences is essential for effective ALM strategies and ensuring operational continuity.
Major Power Platform Updates
Major updates are planned releases provided twice a year, known as Release Wave 1 (spring) and Release Wave 2 (autumn). These updates introduce new features, architectural changes, and performance improvements.
Main characteristics include:
- Availability of preview versions for early testing
- Automatic application by Microsoft, with no option to decline
- Detailed release notes and documentation published in advance in the official Release Plan
Administrators can prepare by creating a dedicated testing environment where the preview version can be installed to verify compatibility and ensure smooth transition once the general availability (GA) version is deployed.
First-party Application Updates
Updates for first-party applications, such as Dynamics 365 Sales or Customer Service, follow their own independent cycle from the platform’s major updates. These updates must be applied manually via the Power Platform Admin Center.
Main characteristics:
- Multiple releases per year, with no fixed cadence
- Require manual approval and installation by administrators
- Allow scheduling based on organizational readiness
- Include both feature and security updates for specific applications
Recently, Microsoft introduced a preview option to enable auto-update for selected applications, simplifying continuous management and reducing administrative workload.
Power Platform Hotfixes
Hotfixes are small unattended updates automatically delivered by Microsoft at frequent intervals. These quick fixes address bugs, vulnerabilities, and minor performance issues without user intervention.
Key characteristics include:
- Automatic updates across all environments
- Deployment within defined time windows
- Announcements published as Knowledge Base articles in the Microsoft 365 Admin Portal
- No administrator action required
Hotfixes ensure that all environments remain secure and consistent. Administrators can monitor deployment progress through the Microsoft 365 Admin Center dashboard and mobile apps.
Impact of Updates on ALM and DevOps
Update management directly influences Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) strategies. When new platform or app versions are released, ensuring compatibility with deployed solutions and automated deployment pipelines built on Azure DevOps Power Platform Build Tools is critical.
A typical automated deployment flow includes:
- Installing tools using Power Platform Tool Installer
- Exporting and importing solutions
- Automated post-update validation within pipelines
- Backup and rollback management through Power Platform Backup Environment
Synchronizing Microsoft updates with DevOps pipelines is essential to avoid version conflicts and ensure all environments operate on consistent platform and solution versions.
Frequently Asked Questions about Power Platform Updates
How can I test an update before deploying it to production?
It is recommended to use a preview or sandbox environment to install the preview version of a major update. This allows testing solution compatibility before rolling it out to production.
What is the difference between a hotfix and a major update?
A hotfix is a minor automatic update that fixes bugs or vulnerabilities, while a major update introduces new features and structural changes to the platform.
Can automatic hotfixes be disabled?
No, hotfixes are applied automatically by Microsoft to maintain the platform’s security and stability. However, you can monitor them through the Microsoft 365 Admin Center.
How are new updates announced?
Notifications are published in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center and mobile apps. Microsoft also publishes Knowledge Base articles with technical details.
Keep your Power Platform always up to date
Prepare for upcoming releases and automate update testing using Azure DevOps and dedicated sandbox environments. Learn how to enhance your ALM strategy.