Core Devops Specialist for Business Central
The Core DevOps Specialist booster is a comprehensive, self-paced programme for Business Central developers who want to master the tools and practices that make professional AL development teams productive. Built around a realistic case with Solutize, this on-demand course takes you through the full DevOps lifecycle for Business Central, from Azure Boards and Git source control through to CI/CD pipelines with Azure Pipelines and ALOps, and modern GitHub-based workflows using AL-Go for GitHub.
Every topic is grounded in practical assignments with full solutions, and real-time support from a team of instructors is available throughout. Whether you are setting up your first DevOps environment or looking to bring structure and automation to an existing AL development practice, this booster gives you the tools, the workflow knowledge, and the hands-on experience to deliver Business Central extensions with confidence and consistency.
1. Getting Started
- About the platform and this course
- Technical requirements
- Case story: Solutize
- Setting up a Business Central environment
- Docker and BcContainerHelper
- Introduction to Application Lifecycle Management
2. Azure DevOps Fundamentals
- What is Azure DevOps?
- Azure DevOps vs GitHub
- Setting up an Azure DevOps organisation
- Process templates
- Creating and managing projects
3. Azure Boards and Sprint Planning
- Work items and the backlog
- Sprint planning with Azure Boards
- Linking code to work items
4. Git and Azure Repos
- Source control with Git and TFVC
- Git vs TFVC
- Installing and configuring Git
- Local and remote repositories
- Git commands and workflow
- Git with Visual Studio Code
- Pushing AL projects to Azure Repos
5. Branching Strategies and Pull Requests
- Why branching matters
- Branching and merging
- Rebase in Git
- Branching strategies for AL teams
- Branch policies in Azure DevOps
- Pull requests and code review
- Handling merge conflicts
- Source control best practices
6. CI/CD with Azure Pipelines and ALOps
- What is CI/CD?
- Build agents: install and configure
- Defining build pipelines
- Build validation with pipelines
- Release pipelines and continuous deployment
- Introduction to ALOps
- Managing dependencies with ALOps
- Handling breaking changes and app versions
- Fast compile and release management
7. AL-Go for GitHub
- Setting up a GitHub environment
- GitHub Actions: hosted and self-hosted runners
- Creating a repository with AL-Go for GitHub
- Online development environments
- CI/CD flow with GitHub Actions
- Managing dependencies from multiple sources
- Adding and running test apps
- Creating releases and deploying your app
8. Assessment and Certification
- Core DevOps exam
- Certificate and badge
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Who is this course for?
AL developers and technical consultants working with Dynamics 365 Business Central who want to implement professional DevOps practices in their development workflow. Familiarity with AL development and basic Git concepts is beneficial; completing the Core Developer booster first is recommended.
What will you learn?
- How to set up and manage Azure DevOps organisations, projects, backlogs, and sprints using Azure Boards.
- How to work with Git for source control, including local and remote repositories, branching strategies, pull requests, and merge conflict resolution.
- How to configure branch policies and enforce code review workflows in Azure DevOps.
- How to build CI/CD pipelines in Azure Pipelines using build agents, ALOps, and release pipelines with continuous deployment.
- How to set up and manage a complete AL-Go for GitHub workflow, including dependencies, test apps, releases, and automated deployment.
- What the key differences are between Azure DevOps and GitHub as platforms, and how to choose and apply the right toolchain for your project.