Power Pages Website Lifecycle: From Trial to Production
When creating a Power Pages website, it’s important to understand the lifecycle it goes through, especially if it starts as a trial website. This guide will walk you through the different stages of the website lifecycle and highlight key considerations for administrators managing Power Pages websites.
Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-pages/admin/lifecycle
Stages of the Power Pages Website Lifecycle
1. Trial Website
Every Power Pages website begins as a trial site. This allows you to explore the capabilities of Power Pages without any cost. The trial site’s expiration timeline depends on the environment it was created in:
- Trial Environment: If your website is created in a trial environment, it expires after 30 days or when the trial environment expires, whichever comes first.
- Non-Expiring Environment: If the trial site is created in a production or sandbox environment, it will expire after 90 days.
Once the trial website is created, administrators receive notifications as the trial period nears expiration. During this time, you can convert the trial site to a production website to prevent expiration.
2. Converting a Trial Website to Production
To avoid suspension or deletion, you can convert the trial site to a production website. This requires that the Power Platform environment is also set to production or sandbox. A key point is that a trial website cannot be converted in a trial or developer environment. You must ensure that you have the appropriate Power Platform licensing in place for the site.
- Licensing Requirements: Before converting the site, ensure that you have the necessary licenses, especially for external users or internal Power Apps and Power Automate licenses. Once the site is converted, it’s critical to assign the correct authenticated or anonymous user capacity based on the website’s expected user volume.
3. Suspended Website
If the trial period expires without converting the website to production, the site will be suspended. You will still have a 7-day grace period to convert the site from suspended to production status. During suspension, the website is shut down, and access is restricted.
- Key Consideration: Administrators will receive notifications regarding suspension, giving them a chance to convert the site before it’s permanently deleted.
4. Deleted Website
If the website is not converted during the suspension period, the website host is deleted after seven days. Although the website data remains in the environment, the resources allocated to the site are released, and you can start fresh by creating a new website.
Converting vs. Migrating Websites
It’s essential to understand the difference between converting a website and migrating one:
- Converting a website means taking a trial or suspended website and turning it into a production website.
- Migrating a website involves moving a trial, developer, or production website to another website or environment, either within the same environment or a new one.
For trial websites, it is critical to ensure they are converted to production on time to avoid suspension and deletion. Additionally, while developer websites cannot be converted to production, they can be migrated if needed.
Conclusion
The lifecycle of a Power Pages website includes multiple stages, from its creation as a trial site to its potential conversion to production. Administrators must be aware of the expiration timelines based on the environment and ensure the proper licensing and capacity are allocated to avoid performance degradation.