How to choose the best Update Window in Dynamics 365 Business Central Online
Explains how to pick a Business Central Online update window so that application hotfixes, which follow the 6-hour window set in Tenant Admin Center, and most platform hotfixes, which Microsoft times itself, fall in the same period. Gives KQL telemetry queries that count platform hotfix deployments by local hour and weekday to guide job queue scheduling.
post Dynamics 365 Business Central tales, myths, legends. And something serious.
"Application Hotfixes typically observe the 6-hours Update Window setup per environment in Tenant Admin Center."
Key points
- Application hotfixes follow the per-environment 6-hour update window and can be tracked with telemetry signal LC0159; platform hotfixes roll out node by node at times Microsoft decides
- Background sessions and web services get no UI warning, so long jobs such as MRP can break and log errors in Job Queue Log Entry
- The KQL query removes version changes caused by planned upgrades, converts UTC to local time and groups platform hotfix changes by hour or weekday
- For Italian environments the best 6-hour window was 2 to 8 AM, and platform hotfixes were rare before midnight
- Tuesday and Friday showed fewer platform hotfixes, Wednesday and Thursday the most, and weekends almost none
Quotes
- “Application Hotfixes typically observe the 6-hours Update Window setup per environment in Tenant Admin Center.” (Shows that application hotfixes are controllable, unlike platform hotfixes which deploy independently)
- “These are critical components and/or platform changes that are applied node by node in the cluster that is serving multiple customers.” (Explains why platform hotfixes cannot follow the update window schedule and impact multiple environments)
- “If you want to plan the best update window for your customer, you must use telemetry to better understand when platform hotfixes are applied.” (Provides the key strategy for minimizing disruptions by using data-driven analysis rather than assumptions)
AL objects mentioned
As named in the post. A name that matches one object page by exact type and name links to it; the others stay as named.
- other “Job Queue Log Entry”
Context
- Features: Update window configuration, Application hotfixes, Platform hotfixes, Telemetry analysis, Background job scheduling, Environment lifecycle tracking
Source: Duilio Tacconi, community blog. Summary, key points and quotes are derived (CONTENT-NOTICE.md); read the original for the full text.