Deploy, configure,
validate, operate.

Prerequisites and Microsoft licensing

DGH is customer-installed and does not include Microsoft licenses. The current release uses Microsoft first-party standard connectors for its core workflow. Your organization remains responsible for licensing, tenant policy, capacity, and service availability.

Supported deployment assumptions

• Use a solution-capable Power Platform environment and a customer-controlled SharePoint Online site.
• A clean dedicated SharePoint site is the simplest first deployment; adopting an existing compatible governed-document library is supported only when deliberately configured.
• Source files must be direct file URLs on the configured SharePoint site. OneDrive URLs, external sites, and sharing-link formats are not supported by the current publication path.
• All connection references must be rebound to customer-owned connections during deployment.

Installation and first configuration

1. Import the authorized DGH package into the target environment and bind the required SharePoint, Teams, Office 365 Users, Approvals, and optional Forms connections.
2. Set the initial environment values. Configure DGH Site URL, administrator email, governed library name, existing-library choice, and optional Forms settings. Leave generated list IDs blank until provisioning returns them.
3. Run Install SharePoint Foundation. Require the entire run to succeed. The installer provisions or extends the schema, reference data, stages, views, indexes, and activation output.
4. Capture generated IDs. Open the ready-for-configuration output and populate the Requests List ID and, when using native intake, Intake List ID environment values.
5. Run Configure Access. Select the SharePoint group that contains intended requesters/reviewers and confirm the resulting container permissions.
6. Create approval routes. Run Add Approval Route for each active human stage. A global fallback is useful as the starting route; add more-specific routes as needed.
7. Run Validate Installation. Resolve every finding before enabling production processors.
8. Share run-only entry points. Share Submit Document Request and Manage Request only with intended users. Keep administrator helper flows restricted.
9. Enable processing and monitoring. Enable Process Document Request, Publish Controlled Document, and Monitor Requests and Reviews. Enable intake flows only for configured channels.
10. Run an end-to-end test. Submit a test request, complete approvals, and verify the published bytes, version, lifecycle metadata, notification, and history before using real business documents.

Environment values

Routing and approvals

Routes can use document type, category, department, business unit, risk, request type, and effective dates. Available approver sources include named people and supported request/configuration identities. Lower numeric route priority wins.

• All Must Approve: every assigned approver must approve.
• First Response Decides: the first approval or rejection ends the stage.
• Global fallback: a route with no matching criteria can act as a fallback. It is not automatically added to every more-specific route.
• Ambiguity: two equally best matching routes are treated as a configuration error rather than selected randomly.

Reviewers receive the protected review copy. When content needs editing, return the request for rework, edit the original source, and resubmit so DGH captures a new review copy and restarts approvals.

Submission options

Operations, lifecycle, and recovery

Administrators use DGH issue, publication, request, assigned-work, and history views to follow workflow health. Monitoring handles reminders, escalation, expiry, operations alerts, and future-effective activation.

• Return/resubmit: authorized requester/admin resubmission increments request revision and resets review state.
• Revision: reviewed bytes replace the existing governed document while preserving its controlled document number.
• Periodic review: follows the review/publication workflow; there is no separate one-click “no changes” bypass in this release.
• Retirement/reactivation: retirement retains the document with lifecycle metadata; reactivation returns through controlled publication.
• Future effective dates: approved content remains in the approved lifecycle state until monitoring activates it on the effective date.
• Publication failure: inspect the library and failed run first. Reconcile Publication can close a request only when it verifies that the approved major version, bytes, workflow identity, and metadata already match.

Upgrade and uninstall considerations

Finish or administratively resolve in-flight runs before an upgrade. Preserve a known-good export and SharePoint backup. Upgrade testing should confirm that customer data, environment values, connections, routes, and governed documents are preserved. Do not uninstall a solution or delete DGH business containers as an upgrade shortcut.

Uninstalling the managed solution does not automatically define a safe data-retention plan. Before removal, export or retain customer records according to the organization’s policy and confirm how SharePoint lists/libraries, approvals, and flow-created records will be handled.

Troubleshooting checklist

1. Run Validate Installation and resolve any configuration finding.
2. Confirm the flow owner and connection references are active and customer-owned.
3. Confirm the source URL is a direct file URL on the configured SharePoint site.
4. Check route coverage and route priority for the active stage.
5. Check DGH Issues and Publication Queue plus the specific flow run history.
6. For stale approval concerns, check the current request revision and workflow ownership rather than reusing an old card.
7. For publication failures, inspect the governed library before retrying. Use Reconcile Publication only when the controlled publication already completed and can be verified.