Exercise 1 - Create a Power Platform environment

Task 1.1 - Power Platform Admin Center

Before you start the lab exercises, you must create a development environment for you to work in.

1. Open a web browser, navigate to https://admin.powerplatform.microsoft.com/manage/environments, and sign in using your credentials for this exercise.

2. If prompted, choose the option to stay signed in.

3. Close any pop-up messages that are displayed.

Task 1.2 - Add Dataverse to the default environment

1. Select the ellipsis (…) for the default environment (for example, Contoso (default)) and select Add Dataverse.

   

2. Leave all of the default settings and select Add.

Task 1.3 - Create a new environment

1. In the Environments page, select + New to create a new environment with the following settings:

   • Type: Developer
   • Macro Region Geography: North America
   • Name: Your name

   

2. Expand Change default settings and configure the following:
   • Environment group: None
   • Make this a Managed Environment: No
   • Create on behalf: No
   • Add a Dataverse data store?: Yes

3. Select Next and in the Add Dataverse section:

   • Language: English (United States)
   • Currency: USD ($)
   • Deploy sample apps and data?: No

4. Select Save and wait until the state of your environment is Ready (you can use the Refresh button to update the display).

   [!NOTE] Environment provisioning can take several minutes depending on tenant configuration.

   

5. In a new browser tab, navigate to https://copilotstudio.preview.microsoft.com/ and sign in if prompted.

   [!NOTE]
   If you experience issues loading Copilot Studio on your environment:

   • First, capture your environment ID (GUID) from the Power Platform admin center:
     1. Open the environment you created at https://admin.powerplatform.microsoft.com/manage/environments.
     2. Locate the environment ID in the URL (a long string such as 12345678-90ab-cdef-1234-567890abcdef).
     3. Copy and save this value.
   • Then try accessing your environment directly by pasting your ID into the following URL:

     https://copilotstudio.preview.microsoft.com/environments/<your-environment-id>/home
     

6. If prompted with a Get Started screen, accept the default country or region and continue. Skip any welcome messages.

7. In the bottom-left corner, select the environment selector that displays the name of the currently selected environment, and then choose the environment you created.

   

Task 1.4 - Create a solution

1. In the left navigation pane, select the ellipsis (…) next to your account name and then select Solutions.

   [!NOTE] Selecting Solutions may redirect you to the classic experience. If this occurs, close the classic experience. Then, select the ellipsis (…) next to your account name again and select Solutions a second time to open the solutions list.

2. If prompted with a Get Started screen, select Get Started and then skip any welcome messages.

3. You should see several solutions including the Default Solution and the Common Data Services Default Solution.

   

4. Select + New solution.

5. In the Display name text box, enter Lab Exercises

6. Verify that Name is automatically populated.

7. Select + New publisher below the Publisher drop-down.

8. For Display name, enter Fabrikam

9. For Name, enter fabrikam

10. For Prefix, enter fab

11. Select Save to create the publisher.

    [!NOTE] If Save is unavailable, create the solution in Power Apps at https://make.powerapps.com.

12. Verify that Fabrikam (fabrikam) is selected in the Publisher drop-down.

13. Select the Set as your preferred solution checkbox.

    [!NOTE] Setting this as your preferred solution ensures new assets created during later labs are added to the Lab Exercises solution by default.

    

14. Select Create.

15. Close the Solutions browser tab.

16. Refresh the Copilot Studio page.

You now have a Power Platform environment and solution to work in.