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Staging export

Introduction to staging exports in ConSol CM​

Staging exports allow to transfer data between two ConSol CM systems, usually from a development system to a production system. Data is exported from the source system and imported to the target system using a scene file.

Concepts, terms and definitions​

  • Scene / scenario: ZIP file which contains ConSol CM data for staging
  • Transfer key: Unique identifier of ConSol CM objects
  • Workflow deployment: Process to put a new workflow version into production
  • Development system / dev system: System where ConSol CM is adjusted to match the customer requirements and where the processes are implemented
  • Production system / prod system: System where ConSol CM is in use for the daily work at the customer's

Purpose and usage​

The customization of ConSol CM for a specific customer usually involves several ConSol CM systems, e.g. a development system, a test / integration system and a production system. Staging exports allows to transfer data between such ConSol CM systems. A scene file is exported from the source system and imported to the target system. This file can include both configuration and runtime data.

warning

Since ConSol CM works with transfer keys for all objects, it is highly recommended to transfer data by using a scene. Do not implement the same functionality in both systems, because the created objects will have different transfer keys which will result in duplicate objects in case a transfer is performed later on.

When you create a scene file, you can choose which kind of data to include, see Available settings for exports. This file can be imported on the Import page of the target system afterwards, see Import.

All export and import actions are logged in the file transfer.log.

Best practice

You can export the configuration data and check it in to a version control system, such as git, to keep track of the changes made to the configuration.

Available settings for exports​

The scope of the export, i.e. which objects will be included in the scene file, is determined by the selections which you make on the Staging export page. If you select an option which has dependencies to other options, these options are selected automatically, so that you can see which objects will be exported with your current selection.

The available export options are grouped in several sections.

Runtime data​

The options in this section export runtime data, as actual cases, contacts and resources, and the related configuration.

  • All data: Exports all runtime and configuration data, except for the system documentation.

  • Single case*: Enter the name of the case in the field Case name. This case and all configuration data, except for the system documentation, is exported. You can select the Anonymized checkbox to anonymize the data as follows:

    • Content and history of case fields (except some values as list values)
    • Comments and emails
    • Case attachments
    • Content and history of contact fields (except some values as list values)

    This option should be used for bug analysis only.

  • All data except cases: Exports all contacts and resources, and all configuration data, except for the system documentation.

  • Contact data: Exports all contacts and the contact data model.

  • Resource data: Exports all resources and the resource data model.

Configuration data​

The options in this section export configuration data.

  • All: Exports all configuration data except for the system documentation.
  • Users: Exports all users, including portal user profiles, and the references to their assigned roles.
  • Sorted lists definitions: Exports all lists.
  • Hierarchical lists definitions: Exports all hierarchical lists. This includes the used lists and the data fields.
  • Scripts: Exports all scripts.
  • Webhooks: Exports all webhook configurations and integration scripts.
  • Labels: Exports all labels.
  • Templates (WAS): Exports all templates created in the Web Admin Suite.
  • Customer data models: Exports the customer data models, including data fields, actions, relations and portal user profiles.
  • Resource data models: Exports the resource data models, including data fields, actions and relations.
  • Queues: Exports the queues, including all related data.
  • Text classes: Exports text classes and visibility configurations.
  • Page customizations: Exports all page customizations which have been defined specifically for the system. These are the values which are stored in the database tables cmas_web_customization and cmas_web_customization_values. Default values are exported only if they were set to another value and have been changed back to the default value manually by clicking the Update button.
  • Web forms: Exports all web forms.
  • Skin and web resource files: Exports the content of the design and resources folders of the ConSol CM data directory.
  • Text templates (WEB): Exports all text templates, i.e. the templates created in the Web Client.
  • Document templates: Exports all document templates.
  • Client configurations: Exports all client configurations.
  • Custom export collections: Exports all collections of references to the entities which can be exported with the custom export feature.
System properties

Only system properties created by the customer whose module starts with custom- are included in the staging export by default, see Importing and exporting system properties.

Workflows​

When the export contains workflows, the options in the Workflows panel become active. There are two options:

  • Only the newest deployed version: Exports only the installed versions of the workflows, i.e. only one version of each workflow is included in the export.
  • All workflow versions: Exports all versions of all workflows, i.e. both the currently installed version and all older versions are included in the export.
info

Depending on the number of workflows stored in the system, the export might take very long and result in a large scene file. Usually, it is not required to export all workflow versions.

System documentation​

Contains one option to export the system documentation. This option is independent of all other options. The export file can be used to generate a system documentation on the System documentation page.