Transflo DMS Import and Export Configurations

To perform standard maintenance on your TRANSFLO® Server, you might prepare changes to your configuration and test them in a staging or testing environment. After you are satisfied with your configuration, follow the change control process at your organization and migrate the changes to your production environment.

  • This process can be labor-intensive since all of the new configuration changes are then manually re-entered in production.

  • Manual processes can also introduce errors.

  • These risks can be magnified if you need to synchronize functionality on multiple production TRANSFLO® Server environments.

The TRANSFLO® Import/Export Utility provides a way to export your TRANSFLO® Server configurations to an XML file which you can then import in another TRANSFLO® Server instance. This method solves the problem of keeping your environments synchronized. Before you make configuration changes, you can export your old configuration and save it as an XML backup file that you can import again if you need to rollback the changes or restore your previous configuration.

  • The TRANSFLO® Server you are exporting the configuration from and the TRANSFLO® Server you are importing to must be running the same software release version.

  • If you want to upgrade the TRANSFLO® Server that you are importing the configuration to, you must first import the configuration and then upgrade your server.

Since all TRANSFLO® Server configuration is performed using the TRANSFLO® Administration Tool, it is logical to provide the means to launch the TRANSFLO® Configuration Import/Export Utility from the TRANSFLO® Administration Tool.

The TRANSFLO® Import/Export Utility requires Microsoft® Internet Explorer® which is no longer supported by Microsoft. Use Microsoft Edge in its new default mode. If you experience any issues, activate the IE mode features inside Microsoft Edge.

 

To open the TRANSFLO® Configuration Import/Export Utility:

  1. In the menu tree, click the Configuration Import/Export menu item.

  2. The main window of the TRANSFLO® Configuration Import/Export utility shows the current database configuration.

    • The first time you run the TRANSFLO® Configuration Import/Export Utility you may see a progress bar during the download.

    • If the Configuration Import/Export Utility fails to connect, you may be prompted to log in.

When you export a specific TRANSFLO® Server Configuration, all the items you configured in the TRANSFLO® Administration Tool are exported to an XML file. This file can then be imported to another TRANSFLO® Server.

The version of the TRANSFLO® Server that you are exporting from must match the version of the TRANSFLO® Server that you will be importing to. If the TRANSFLO® Servers are on different versions the import will fail. If the TRANSFLO® Servers are not on the same version, upgrade both to the latest released version of the TRANSFLO® Server.

 

To export a TRANSFLO® Server configuration, follow these steps:

  1. Open the TRANSFLO Configuration Import/Export Utility.

  2. In the database configuration tables in the left pane, select a table to view its content in the right pane.

  3. Verify that the configuration loaded correctly.

  4. Click the Export button.

  5. In the Export Configuration Data window: 

    1. Enter a name for your export file.

    2. Navigate to the folder where you would like to save the XML file and click the Save button.

  6. To verify that the XML file was saved, open Windows Explorer and navigate to the folder where you saved your export file.

You can import a TRANSFLO® Server configuration from a previously exported XML file to another TRANSFLO® Server. Importing a TRANSFLO® Server configuration simplifies the migration of changes from a test or staging environment to production.

Importing a TRANSFLO® Server is also useful in creating a baseline of your existing TRANSFLO® Server.

To import a TRANSFLO® Server configuration:

  1. Log on to the TRANSFLO® Configuration Import/Export Utility on the TRANSFLO® Server that will receive the configuration.

  2. If you are attempting t o import a configuration on a new TRANSFLO® Server, you must clear the existing default configuration. To do this run the usp_erase_system_configuration stored procedure.

    Important! Do not run the usp_erase_system_configuration stored procedure on an existing TRANSFLO® database. This will corrupt the database.

     

  3. Click the Import button at the top of the window.

  4. In the resulting Import Configuration Data window, navigate to the location of your exported XML file, select it, and click the Open button.

  5. The Import Configuration window opens to the Overview tab.

  1. The Overview tab summarizes how the new configuration to be imported compares with the existing configuration. Review the following information:

    • Server Name

    • Database Name and Database Version

    • The list of customers and the last time they were updated.

    • The list of remaining tables and row counts for each.

    • Ensure that the database versions are the same and that the information on this screen is correct.

  2. Click the Next button at bottom right.

  3. The Path Conversion tab on the Import Configuration window opens. This tab shows the storage path for TRANSFLO® and all gateway queues.

  4. If the server you are migrating to has a different folder structure, change the values by highlighting the rows to be changed and clicking the Replace button. The Replace Paths dialog box opens.

    1. To change the root paths, enter the original path you want to replace in the Original Value field, the new root path on the server you are importing to in the Replace With field, and select the Starts With option.

    2. To change all references to a portion of the paths, enter the text to be replaced in the Original Value field, the new text in the Replace With field, and select the Match Any Text radio button.

    3. Once you are ready to replace the paths, click OK.

    4. The selected path is modified.

    5. (Optional) To revert back to the original path of the selected rows click the Restore Path button. To revert back to the original paths for all paths click the Restore All button.

    6. When you are satisfied with the path configuration, click the Next button.

  5. The Data Changes tab on the Import Configuration window opens. When you are satisfied with the configuration , click the Import button to import the configuration.

  6. If the system cannot import some data or fields into the new TRANSFLO® database, the error log may appear. Save this file so you can make adjustments to your TRANSFLO® Server manually.

The following practices are recommended for companies with multiple databases:

  • Install a new blank database in development.

  • Export the configuration from production.

  • Import the configuration into development.

  • Only one database should be updated manually; all others should be updated using the Import/Export Utility.

  • The tool can also be used to rollback changes in a practice known as establishing a baseline. This will ensure that the development environment is an exact duplicate of the production database.

When you import a config.xml configuration file to a new database, you might get the following error:

Cannot insert duplicate key row in object 'dbo.tf_config' with unique index 'UIX_tf_config_code_name'. The statement has been terminated.

 

This is a known issue with the way the configuration file is imported. The following tables may show some records that will be updated regardless if they are identical:

  • TF_CUSTOMER

  • TF_CONFIG

  • TF_GROUP

  • TF_MONITOR

  • TF_USER

This will not affect the import operations. While importing an existing configuration to a newly installed TRANSFLO® Server, you may receive the insert error to the TF_CONFIG table above. The TRANSFLO® Import/Export utility will show the records that failed. These can be exported to an XML file and then the affected rows can be added to the database manually.