Set up inventory components

This article helps you set up the inventory components of the Core solution of the Center of Excellence (CoE) Starter Kit. The inventory is the heart of the CoE. Your Microsoft Power Platform journey is most beneficial when you understand your apps, flows, and makers, and can lay the foundation to monitor new apps and flows being created.

The flows and dataflows in this solution sync all your resources into tables. This solution helps you build admin apps, flows, and dashboards on top of inventory. This setup gives you a holistic overview into the apps, flows, and makers that exist in your environment. Apps like DLP Editor and Set App Permissions help with daily admin tasks.

Prerequisites

1. Complete the CoE Starter Kit setup steps.
2. Create your environments.
3. Sign in with the correct identity.

Import the Creator Kit and make connections

Import the Creator Kit, establish required connections, and enable the core components solution in the CoE Starter Kit.

Import Creator Kit

The CoE Starter Kit requires the installation of the Creator Kit in the environment where you installed the CoE Starter Kit.

Install the Creator Kit before proceeding.

Create connections

Create these connections manually before installing the kit to ensure they're correctly configured.

1. Go to Power Automate.

2. Select your CoE environment and go to Data > Connections > + New connection.

3. Create a connection for HTTP with Microsoft Entra ID (preauthorized), and set Base Resource URL and Microsoft Entra ID Resource URI (Application ID URI) to https://graph.microsoft.com for commercial tenants.

   If your tenant is in GCC, GCC High, or DoD, check your service root endpoints for Microsoft Graph.

Import the core components solution

1. Download the CoE Starter Kit compressed file to your computer.

2. Extract the compressed file. The CoE Starter Kit compressed file contains all solution components in addition to the non–solution-aware components that make up the CoE Starter Kit.

3. Import the CenterOfExcellenceCoreComponents_x_x_x_xx_managed.zip solution file from the extracted folder.

4. For an environment in the commercial cloud, leave all environment variable values blank. For a GCC, GCC High, and DoD environment, check Microsoft Graph and Graph Explorer service root endpoints and enter the value for your cloud in the Graph URL Environment Variable environment variable.

The import can take up to an hour to complete, and upgrades can take up to two hours.

Set up the Inventory components by using the Setup Wizard

Use the Setup Wizard to complete the configuration.

Open the Setup Wizard

1. After the solution import succeeds, open the Center of Excellence - Core Components solution.

2. Open the CoE Setup and Upgrade Wizard app.

3. Follow the steps to complete the configuration.

Troubleshooting

If you see an Error Loading Control warning on opening the Setup Wizard app, it means some of the flows required to run the wizard couldn't be turned on automatically.

1. Navigate to the solution and turn on the following flows manually:

   • SetupWizard > GetCurrentEnvironment
   • SetupWizard > GetTenantID
   • SetupWizard > GetUserDetails

2. After you turn on these flows, return to the Setup Wizard to continue the setup.

Choose data source

You can choose your data source for inventory. Cloud flows is the default and currently recommended path for gathering your inventory.

However, you might want to experiment with the Data export (Preview) data source. To experiment, use the Data Export inventory setup instructions when you get to the Configure dataflows page.

Set up the CoE Admin Command Center app

Create a Microsoft Entra app registration to connect to Microsoft Graph

The CoE Admin Command Center connects to Microsoft Graph API to get Microsoft 365 Message center updates.

Use these steps to set up the Microsoft Entra app registration used in a cloud flow to connect to the Graph API. Learn more in Use the Microsoft Graph API.

1. Sign in to the Azure portal.

2. Go to Microsoft Entra ID > App registrations.

   

3. Select + New Registration.

4. Enter a name. For example, use the CoE Command Center name. Don't change any other settings and select Register.

5. Select API permissions > + Add a permission.

   

6. Select Microsoft Graph and configure permissions as follows:

   1. Select Application permissions, and then select ServiceMessage.Read.All.
   2. Select Add permissions.

7. Select Grant Admin Consent for (your organization).

8. Select Certificates and secrets.

9. Select + New client secret.

10. Add a description and expiration (in line with your organization's policies), and then select Add.

11. Copy and paste the Secret to a text document such as Notepad.

12. Select Overview and copy and paste the application (client) ID value to the same text document. Make sure you note which GUID corresponds to each value.

Update environment variables

Update the environment variables that hold the client ID and secret, as shown in the following table.

You can store the client secret either in plain text in the Command Center - Client Secret environment variable (not recommended) or store the client secret in Azure Key Vault and reference it in the Command Center - Client Azure Secret environment variable (recommended).

Review the required permissions to use Azure Key Vault secrets in environment variables.

Modify the Command Center app for a GCC High or DoD tenant

If your CoE Starter Kit is installed in a GCC High or DoD tenant, update the Authority in HTTP action:

1. Go to make.powerautomate.com.

2. Select Solutions and open the Center of Excellence - Core Components solution to view the flows.

3. Edit the Command Center App > Get M365 Service Messages flow.

4. Update the List serviceAnnouncements from Graph action and change the Authority to https://login.microsoftonline.us for a GCC High or DoD tenant.

5. Save this flow.

Set up Audit Logs solution

The Audit Log Sync flow connects to the Microsoft 365 audit log to gather telemetry data (unique users and launches) for apps. The CoE Starter Kit works without this flow. However, usage information, such as app launches and unique users, in the Power BI dashboard is blank. Learn more in Collect audit logs by using the Office 365 Management API.

Set up the Power BI dashboard

The CoE Power BI dashboard provides a holistic view with visualizations and insights into resources in your tenant: environments, apps, Power Automate flows, connectors, connection references, makers, and audit logs. Telemetry from the audit log is stored from the moment you set up the CoE Starter Kit. Over time, you can identify trends longer than 28 days. Learn more in Set up the Power BI dashboard.

Share apps with other admins

The core components solution contains apps designed to give admins better visibility and an overview of resources and usage in their environments.

Share these apps with other Power Platform admins and assign them the Power Platform Admin SR security role:

• CoE Admin Command Center
• Power Platform Admin View

Explore the CoE Admin Command Center app, your central hub for accessing all CoE Starter Kit apps.

Learn more in Share an app from a production environment.

Wait for flows to finish

After the sync flows finish running, you can start using many of the features of the CoE Starter Kit core solution.

The first inventory run might take several hours depending on the number of environments and resources in your tenants. Future runs are faster because they only check new and modified resources.

To check the status of a flow

1. Select Admin > Sync Template v4 (Driver).

   A new tab opens to the Flow detail page.

2. View Runs.

All environment variables

This section includes the full list of environment variables that affect the inventory sync flows, including environment variables with default values. You might need to update environment variables after you import.

Use environment variables to store application and flow configuration data with data specific to your organization or environment.

Default value for eMail Header Style environmental variable

<head> <style> 
body {
    background-color: #efefef;
    font-family: Segoe UI;
    text-align: center;
}

#content {
    border: 1px solid #742774;
    background-color: #ffffff;
    width: 650px;
    margin-bottom: 50px;
    display: inline-block;
}

#logo {
    margin-left: 52px;
    margin-top: 40px;
    width: 60px;
    height: 12px;
}

#header {
    font-size: 24px;
    margin-left: 50px;
    margin-top: 20px;
    margin-bottom: 20px;
}

#ribbon {
    background-color: #742774;
}

#ribbonContent {
    font-size: 20px;
    padding-left: 30px;
    padding-top: 10px;
    padding-bottom: 20px;
    color: white;
    width: 100%;
    padding-right: 10px;
}

#message > td {
    font-size: 14px;
    padding-left: 60px;
    padding-right: 60px;
    padding-top: 20px;
    padding-bottom: 40px;
}

#footer > td {
    font-size: 12px;
    background-color: #cfcfcf;
    height: 40px;
    padding-top: 15px;
    padding-left: 40px;
    padding-bottom: 20px;
}

#form {
    width: 100%;
    border-collapse: collapse;
}

#app {
    width: 60%;
    font-size: 12px;
}

.label {
    color: #5f5f5f
}

table {
    border-collapse: collapse;
    width: 100%;
}

th, td {
    padding: 8px;
    text-align: left;
    border-bottom: 1px solid #ddd;
}

</style> </head>

How to file an issue

To file a bug against the solution, go to aka.ms/coe-starter-kit-issues.

What's next?

• Learn how to regularly upgrade and extend the CoE Starter Kit.
• Check out other components part of the core solution, and the governance and nurture solutions.