D365 Solution Comparer

D365 Solution Comparer is a custom XrmToolBox plugin for Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Dataverse. It helps compare solutions between a source environment and a target environment so teams can quickly spot differences before deployments, validation, troubleshooting, and general ALM review.

Overview

This tool provides a side by side comparison of solution metadata across two environments and highlights the differences that matter most during release validation and support work.

It compares:

• Solution Unique Name
• Display Name
• Version
• Publisher
• Package Type based on managed or unmanaged state

The plugin is designed for deployment validation, release readiness checks, ALM drift review, support investigations, and general environment comparison work.

Features

• Load source environment solutions from the current XrmToolBox connection
• Connect to a separate target environment
• Load target environment solutions
• Compare source and target solutions side by side
• Highlight differences by status with color-coded results
• Multi-select status filtering
• Changed only quick filter
• Managed/unmanaged differences only filter
• Reset Filters button
• Summary counts for visible results
• Double-click row details popup
• About dialog with version information
• Export visible filtered rows
  • XLSX export as the default workbook option
  • Excel XML Spreadsheet 2003 export for improved Excel readability without heavier Excel library dependencies
  • CSV export option for simple plain-text export

Comparison Statuses

The tool can identify and display these statuses:

• Match
• Version Mismatch
• Publisher Mismatch
• Display Name Mismatch
• Package Type Mismatch
• Managed/Unmanaged Mismatch
• Multiple Differences
• Missing in Source
• Missing in Target

Requirements

• Windows
• XrmToolBox
• Microsoft Dynamics 365 / Dataverse access
• .NET Framework 4.8
• Appropriate permissions to read solution metadata in the source and target environments

How to Use

1. Open XrmToolBox.
2. Open D365 Solution Comparer.
3. Connect XrmToolBox to your source environment.
4. Click Load Source.
5. Click Connect Target and connect to the target environment.
6. Click Load Target.
7. Click Compare.
8. Review the results grid, summary counts, and status coloring.
9. Use filters as needed:
   • status filter
   • Changed only
   • Managed/unmanaged differences only
   • Reset Filters
10. Double-click any comparison row to open detailed row information.
11. Export the visible results when needed.

• XLSX is the default workbook export format.
• Excel XML export remains available as an Excel-friendly fallback.
• CSV export remains available when a plain-text export is preferred.

Export Output

The export includes the currently visible rows and includes:

• Solution Unique Name
• Source Display Name
• Target Display Name
• Source Version
• Target Version
• Source Publisher
• Target Publisher
• Source Package Type
• Target Package Type
• Package Type Status
• Overall Status

When XLSX export is used, the tool generates a native Excel workbook with preserved layout, filtering, and status styling. When Excel XML export is used, the tool generates a cleaner Excel-friendly report layout than CSV while avoiding heavier workbook library dependencies. When CSV export is used, the file is plain text and final column sizing or styling depends on the application used to open it.

Notes

• Package Type in the tool is derived from the solution managed state.
• Filter state is saved between sessions.
• Solution matching should remain based on Unique Name, not Display Name.
• On some machines, exported .xml files may open more reliably when opened from inside Excel first, depending on local file associations.
• NuGet package version and assembly version should remain aligned for clean update behavior.

Repository

GitHub project:
https://github.com/Lucarian77/D365SolutionComparer

NuGet package:
https://www.nuget.org/packages/D365SolutionComparer

Current Version

1.2026.1.3

Author

Adrian Lucaci

License

MIT