Add test data to your environment

Article
11/29/2024

You can test your Microsoft Teams app with sample data with a Microsoft 365 developer subscription.

Prerequisites

Join the Microsoft 365 Developer Program, if you don't have a test tenant.
Set up a Microsoft 365 Developer Subscription.
Use sample data packs with your Microsoft 365 developer subscription to install the Users content pack.
Install the Teams PowerShell module.
Install the Azure AD PowerShell module.

Note

You must have Global Administrator permissions in the tenant to run the scripts.

Allow users to upload apps

By default, only Global Administrator or Teams service admins can upload the custom apps in a tenant. You can also allow users to upload custom apps for their own use or to teams for testing. For more information, see manage custom app policies and settings in Teams.

Create teams and channels for testing

Note

Azure AD PowerShell is deprecated on March 30, 2024. For more information, see deprecation update. To interact with Microsoft Entra ID, we recommend you to migrate to Microsoft Graph PowerShell. Microsoft Graph PowerShell allows access to all Microsoft Graph APIs and is available on PowerShell 7. For more information, see migration FAQ.

Save the following snippet as a .xml file and note the file path. This XML defines the structure of the team and channel that is created along with its members:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<Teams>
  <Team Name="Store Portal" ID="storeportal" Description="" Type="Private" Creator="admin">
    <Members>
      <Member UserName="AlexW" IsOwner="false"/>
      <Member UserName="PattiF" IsOwner="false"/>
      <Member UserName="PradeepG" IsOwner="false"/>
      <Member UserName="JoniS" IsOwner="false"/>
      <Member UserName="JohannaL" IsOwner="false"/>
      <Member UserName="NestorW" IsOwner="false"/>
      <Member UserName="IsaiahL" IsOwner="false"/>
      <Member UserName="AdeleV" IsOwner="false"/>
      <Member UserName="LeeG" IsOwner="false"/>
      <Member UserName="MeganB" IsOwner="true"/>
      <Member UserName="LynneR" IsOwner="false"/>
      <Member UserName="GradyA" IsOwner="false"/>
      <Member UserName="LidiaH" IsOwner="false"/>
      <Member UserName="DiegoS" IsOwner="false"/>
      <Member UserName="MiriamG" IsOwner="true"/>
    </Members>
    <Channels>
      <Channel Name="Sales" ID="sales" Description="" Creator="Admin" />
      <Channel Name="Inventory" ID="inventory" Description="" Creator="Admin" />
      <Channel Name="Los Angeles Store 239" ID="losangelesstore239" Description="" Creator="Admin" />
      <Channel Name="Seattle Store 121" ID="seattlestore121" Description="" Creator="Admin" />
      <Channel Name="Online" ID="online" Description="" Creator="Admin" />
      <Channel Name="Store Layout" ID="storelayout" Description="" Creator="Admin" />
      <Channel Name="Promotions" ID="promotions" Description="" Creator="Admin" />
    </Channels>
  </Team>
  <Team Name="Mark 8 Project Team" ID="Mark8ProjectTeam" Description="Welcome to the team that we've assembled to create the Mark 8." Type="Private" Creator="admin">
    <Members>
      <Member UserName="meganb" IsOwner="true" />
      <Member UserName="alexw" IsOwner="false" />
      <Member UserName="lynner" IsOwner="false" />
      <Member UserName="isaiahl" IsOwner="false" />
      <Member UserName="leeg" IsOwner="false" />
      <Member UserName="pradeepg" IsOwner="false" />
      <Member UserName="lidiah" IsOwner="false" />
      <Member UserName="diegos" IsOwner="false" />
      <Member UserName="johannal" IsOwner="false" />
      <Member UserName="miriamg" IsOwner="false" />
      <Member UserName="adelev" IsOwner="false" />
      <Member UserName="jonis" IsOwner="false" />
      <Member UserName="nestorw" IsOwner="false" />
      <Member UserName="gradya" IsOwner="false" />
      <Member UserName="pattif" IsOwner="false" />
    </Members>
    <Channels>
      <Channel Name="Research and Development" ID="researchanddevelopment" Description="Channel for Research and Development!" Creator="meganb" />
      <Channel Name="Design" ID="design" Description="Discuss design projects." Creator="meganb" />
      <Channel Name="Digital Assets Web" ID="digitalassetsweb" Description="Discuss digital assets." Creator="meganb" />
      <Channel Name="Go to Market Plan" ID="gotomarketplan" Description="Our go-to-market plan!" Creator="meganb" />
    </Channels>
  </Team>
  <Team Name="District 9 Road Safety Audit" ID="district9roadsafetyaudit" Description="" Type="Private" Creator="admin">
    <Members>
      <Member UserName="meganb" IsOwner="true" />
      <Member UserName="alexw" IsOwner="false" />
      <Member UserName="lynner" IsOwner="false" />
      <Member UserName="isaiahl" IsOwner="false" />
      <Member UserName="leeg" IsOwner="false" />
      <Member UserName="pradeepg" IsOwner="false" />
      <Member UserName="lidiah" IsOwner="false" />
      <Member UserName="diegos" IsOwner="false" />
      <Member UserName="johannal" IsOwner="false" />
      <Member UserName="miriamg" IsOwner="false" />
      <Member UserName="adelev" IsOwner="false" />
      <Member UserName="jonis" IsOwner="false" />
      <Member UserName="nestorw" IsOwner="false" />
      <Member UserName="gradya" IsOwner="false" />
      <Member UserName="pattif" IsOwner="false" />
    </Members>
    <Channels>
      <Channel Name="Audit Planning" ID="auditplanning" Description="" Creator="Admin" />
      <Channel Name="Delivery" ID="delivery" Description="" Creator="Admin" />
      <Channel Name="Findings" ID="findings" Description="" Creator="Admin" />
      <Channel Name="Recommended Actions" ID="recommendedactions" Description="" Creator="Admin" />
      <Channel Name="Survey" ID="survey" Description="" Creator="Admin" />
    </Channels>
  </Team>
  <Team Name="ACC-1000 Product Team" ID="acc1000productteam" Description="" Type="Private" Creator="admin" >
    <Members>
      <Member UserName="meganb" IsOwner="true" />
      <Member UserName="alexw" IsOwner="false" />
      <Member UserName="lynner" IsOwner="false" />
      <Member UserName="isaiahl" IsOwner="false" />
      <Member UserName="leeg" IsOwner="false" />
      <Member UserName="pradeepg" IsOwner="false" />
      <Member UserName="lidiah" IsOwner="false" />
      <Member UserName="diegos" IsOwner="false" />
      <Member UserName="johannal" IsOwner="false" />
      <Member UserName="miriamg" IsOwner="false" />
      <Member UserName="adelev" IsOwner="false" />
      <Member UserName="jonis" IsOwner="false" />
      <Member UserName="nestorw" IsOwner="false" />
      <Member UserName="gradya" IsOwner="false" />
      <Member UserName="pattif" IsOwner="false" />
    </Members>
    <Channels>
      <Channel Name="Corporate Communication" ID="corporatecommunication" Description="" Creator="Admin" />
      <Channel Name="Lean Process Improvement" ID="corporatecommunication" Description="" Creator="Admin" />
      <Channel Name="Training and Certification" ID="trainingandcertification" Description="" Creator="Admin" />
      <Channel Name="Production" ID="production" Description="" Creator="Admin" />
      <Channel Name="Research and Development" ID="researchanddevelopment" Description="" Creator="Admin" />
      <Channel Name="Supplier Collaboration" ID="suppliercollaboration" Description="" Creator="Admin" />
    </Channels>
  </Team>
</Teams>

Save the following snippet as a PowerShell script (.ps1) and note where you've saved it. This script executes the steps to create the team and channel, and add members to them:

Param(
    [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)]

    # This specifies the location of your configuration XML.

    [string] $teamsFilePath 
)

[xml]$XmlDocument = Get-Content -Path $teamsFilePath.ToString()

if ($XmlDocument.Teams.Team.Count -gt 0) {

    try {

        # 1. Login with the Global Administrator account for your Microsoft 365 Developer Program tenant. This script uses these credentials to connect to the PowerShell modules for Azure Active Directory and Microsoft Teams

        $creds = Get-Credential

        # Connecting to Azure AD PowerShell
        Connect-AzureAD -Credential $creds | Out-Null

        # Connect to Microsoft Teams PowerShell
        Connect-MicrosoftTeams -Credential $creds | Out-Null

        Write-Host "Connected to Microsoft 365 and configuring your organization with test teams and channels"

        # 2. Create the teams as specified in the XML.

        foreach ($team in $XmlDocument.Teams.Team ) {
            try {
                $group = New-Team -DisplayName $team.Name -Description $team.description -visibility public 
                Write-Host "Successfully created team: " $group.DisplayName
            }
            catch {
                Write-Host "Unable to create team: $_"
            }

            # 3. Add users to the newly created teams.
            foreach ($user in $team.Members.Member) {
                try {
                    $newUserPrincipalName = (Get-AzureADUser -SearchString $user.UserName).UserPrincipalName

                    if($user.IsOwner -eq $true){
                        Add-TeamUser -GroupId $group.GroupId -User $newUserPrincipalName -Role Owner | Out-Null
                    }else{
                        Add-TeamUser -GroupId $group.GroupId -User $newUserPrincipalName | Out-Null
                    }

                    Write-Host "Successfully added user : " $user.UserName
                }
                catch {
                    Write-Host "Unable to add team user: $_"
                }

            }

            # 4. Add a set of channels to each newly created team
            foreach ($channel in $team.Channels.Channel) {
                try {
                    # Adding each team channel
                    New-TeamChannel -GroupId $group.GroupId -DisplayName $channel.Name -Description $channel.Description | Out-Null
                    Write-Host "Successfully created channel: " $channel.Name
                }
                catch {
                    Write-Host "Unable to add new Team Channel: $_"
                }   
            }

            Clear-Variable -Name group
        }

        Clear-Variable -Name creds

        # 5. Disconnect from all PowerShell sessions

        Write-Host "Completed execution and disconnecting from Microsoft 365 PowerShell sessions."
        Disconnect-MicrosoftTeams
        Disconnect-AzureAD
    }
    catch {
        Write-Host "Unable to complete the operation: $_"
    }
}
else {
    Write-Host "Content file has invalid data."
}

Open a Windows PowerShell session in Administrator mode, and run the script that you saved.
When you're prompted to provide the credentials, enter the Global Administrator credentials you received when you first signed up for your developer subscription.

Note

Do not close your PowerShell session as the script takes several minutes to execute. If you have modified the users in your subscription from what is created in the default content pack, some users may not be added to Teams. As the script executes it displays successful or failed actions.
After the script has finished execution, you can sign in to the Teams client with one of the user accounts and view the newly created teams.

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Add test data to your environment

Prerequisites

Allow users to upload apps

Create teams and channels for testing

See also

Additional resources