Power Platform Community Forum Thread Details

PowerPages - webfiles - System.NullReferenceException

Hello All,

I am trying to edit Power Page code with VSCode - in the process setup the VSCode environment - able to connect and authenticate with Power Page environment. But when I try to download the Power page files using below command received an exception. please let me know if you faced the issue or know the resolution.

Thanks

Executed a command - similar to -> pac paportal download --path c:\pac-portals\downloads -id d44574f9-acc3-4ccc-8d8d-85cf5b7ad141 --modelVersion 2

Downloading - webfiles
Downloading - powerpagesite
Downloading - powerpagesitelanguage
Downloading - powerpagecomponent
Downloaded - powerpagesite
Downloaded - powerpagesitelanguage
Downloaded - powerpagecomponent
Downloaded - webfiles
Sorry, the app encountered a non recoverable error and will need to terminate. The exception details have been captured and will be forwarded to the development team, if telemetry has been enabled. Session Id: 91d13074-bc8e-464a-a7b8-2de8cf0ab1ec, Exception Type: System.NullReferenceException

Exception stack trace

2024-09-05 15:10:50.6520 | FTL | bolt.Session :: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.|EXCEPTION: System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
at bolt.module.paportal.core.download.CoreEntityDownloader.<>c__DisplayClass16_0.<GroupRecordsByComponentType>b__2(IGrouping`2 g)
at System.Linq.Enumerable.ToDictionary[TSource,TKey,TElement](IEnumerable`1 source, Func`2 keySelector, Func`2 elementSelector, IEqualityComparer`1 comparer)
at bolt.module.paportal.core.download.CoreEntityDownloader.GroupRecordsByComponentType(IDictionary`2 rawRecords, XmlDocument targetSchema)
at bolt.module.paportal.core.download.CoreEntityDownloader.ExportDownloadedRecords(IDictionary`2 rawRecords, String tempRootFolder)
at bolt.module.paportal.core.download.CoreEntityDownloader.ExportDataForAllEntities(String tempRootFolder)
at bolt.module.paportal.PortalDataExporter.ExportDataForCoreEntities(String exportFolder, CliExecutionContext cliInfra, DownloadContext downloadContext)
at bolt.module.paportal.PortalDataExporter.ExportDataForAllEntities(AuthProfile authProfile, String exportFolder)
at bolt.module.paportal.PortalDataExporter.DownloadData(AuthProfile authProfile)
at bolt.module.paportal.verbs.PAPortalDownloadVerb.<ExecuteAsync>d__16.MoveNext()
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()

2024-09-05 15:10:50.6756 | ERR | bolt.Session :: at bolt.module.paportal.core.download.CoreEntityDownloader.<>c__DisplayClass16_0.<GroupRecordsByComponentType>b__2(IGrouping`2 g)
at System.Linq.Enumerable.ToDictionary[TSource,TKey,TElement](IEnumerable`1 source, Func`2 keySelector, Func`2 elementSelector, IEqualityComparer`1 comparer)
at bolt.module.paportal.core.download.CoreEntityDownloader.GroupRecordsByComponentType(IDictionary`2 rawRecords, XmlDocument targetSchema)
at bolt.module.paportal.core.download.CoreEntityDownloader.ExportDownloadedRecords(IDictionary`2 rawRecords, String tempRootFolder)
at bolt.module.paportal.core.download.CoreEntityDownloader.ExportDataForAllEntities(String tempRootFolder)
at bolt.module.paportal.PortalDataExporter.ExportDataForCoreEntities(String exportFolder, CliExecutionContext cliInfra, DownloadContext downloadContext)
at bolt.module.paportal.PortalDataExporter.ExportDataForAllEntities(AuthProfile authProfile, String exportFolder)
at bolt.module.paportal.PortalDataExporter.DownloadData(AuthProfile authProfile)
at bolt.module.paportal.verbs.PAPortalDownloadVerb.<ExecuteAsync>d__16.MoveNext()
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()

Categories:

General topics

Hi,

It looks like the download process is successfully retrieving the portal metadata, but then fails during the export phase when the PAC CLI tries to group components. The NullReferenceException in CoreEntityDownloader.GroupRecordsByComponentType is typically caused by a portal component or record that has missing, orphaned, or unexpected metadata that the CLI doesn't handle correctly.
A few things I'd check:

Verify your PAC CLI version and update to the latest available version. There have been several fixes over time related to Power Pages download/export operations.
Try downloading with a different model version if supported by your portal. Some users have encountered issues with specific model versions while another version completed successfully.
Review recently added Power Pages components, especially:
- Web Templates
- Content Snippets
- Page Templates
- Web Files
- Custom components created through solutions

An orphaned record or missing reference can trigger this type of exception.

Run the command against another Power Pages site (if available). If another site downloads successfully, that helps confirm the issue is specific to metadata in this portal rather than the PAC CLI installation.
Since the download reaches:
- webfiles
- powerpagesite
- powerpagesitelanguage
- powerpagecomponent

before failing, I'd focus on custom Power Pages components and related configuration records that may contain incomplete data.

Check whether there are any unmanaged customizations, deleted references, or solution import issues in the environment. I've seen PAC CLI fail when portal records reference components that no longer exist.

If you're still blocked, please share: