Moving your workflows to the cloud
Contents:
Overview
Existing global workflows and space workflows are included in the migration. A global workflow in a space is migrated as an active space workflow in the cloud. If a global scope workflow was included in a migrated space, space scope workflows are migrated with a “~” prefix in the cloud to support preservation of the workflow order from the hosted instance.
Page workflows are not migrated, but you can use the Page Workflows dashboard to review active page workflows in your data center instance and consolidate them into a space workflow before migration.
A global administrator can run Workflow Usage Reports as part of the pre-migration assessment to generate CSV files listing the global and space workflows and page workflows in spaces across the instance.
Some workflow features function differently in the cloud (see the Product comparison page for details). Space workflows not fully cloud-compatible are flagged in the Atlassian CCMA app vendor pre-migration checks, along with a list of global and page workflows in each space.
The Atlassian Confluence cloud and Confluence-hosted platforms work differently, so exact feature parity between the environments is not possible. Because of these functional differences, it is recommended that you review the functionality of each workflow in the cloud.
Before migration, you can also use the Workflow Translator for Cloud tool in your Data Center app to convert hosted app workflows into cloud-compatible workflow templates. Adding these templates to Confluence Cloud lets you review workflow functionality and make any necessary adjustments. For example, our cloud app supports a different set of workflow trigger events and actions.
Workflow usage
Before migration, you can review your current usage of Comala Document Management workflows in your hosted instance to check your workflow usage.
Go to Confluence Global Administration > Comala Document Management > Workflow Usage to generate the following reports as downloadable CSV files:
Space Workflows and Linked Global Workflows Report
Page Workflows Report
Global workflows and space workflows including linked global workflows are migrated to the cloud. Page workflows are not migrated, but before migration, you can consolidate a page workflow as a labeled space workflow to include in the migration.
Global workflows and space workflows
A migration includes all global workflows and space workflows including global workflows linked to a space as a global scope workflows. These workflows are translated into their cloud-compatible equivalents. Global workflows are added to the app global workflows screen and space workflows to the related app space settings in Confluence Cloud.
Each migrated workflow includes the following:
Label workflow conditions
Invert labels as the Exclude labels option
Workflow triggers with supported trigger events in the cloud
The values of the workflow parameters that are defined at the space level
Workflow parameters defined at the page level can be included in the migration as metadata by running a job to export the page metadata before migration.
If the space workflows in your hosted instance include a linked global workflow, they are included in the migration and added as active space workflows in the cloud space. When a global scope workflow is migrated for a space, the space scope workflows are appended with a “~” to ensure the migrated global scope workflows are ordered at the top of the app space settings.
In Confluence Cloud, all the workflow users and user groups (in any macro that uses them) are replaced with the cloud IDs created in the cloud spaces.
After migration, the hosted app workflow template markup can be accessed from the app visual editor in Confluence Cloud. This option is only accessible and visible for a migrated workflow.
Consolidate page workflows
Page workflows are not included in the migration. However, these can be consolidated as a space workflow before migration.
The active page workflows on a page or blog post in a space in your data center instance are displayed in the Page Workflows dashboard.
All active page workflows are listed, even if there is currently an active space workflow applied to the page.
You can use the Page Workflows dashboard to consolidate a page workflow using the Consolidate option in the Actions menu.
You must add a text string in the Consolidate Page Workflow dialog box. This string is used as a content label filter when you Transform the workflow into a space workflow.
The workflow is added to the Space Workflows dashboard in your hosted instance as an active space workflow with a content label filter and is included in a migration as a space workflow with a label condition.
In the data center instance, consolidating the workflow:
Removes it as a page workflow from the linked pages and blog posts.
Adds the label to the linked pages and blog posts.
Applies it as a space workflow to the labeled pages, subject to other existing active workflows.
You can also run a bulk consolidation of your page workflows using a script.
CCMA Pre-Migration Workflow Assessment
The Atlassian Confluence Cloud Migration Assistant includes a vendor app Pre-Migration Workflow assessment, which checks the cloud compatibility of workflows included in the migration plan.
You should use the Workflows Usage reports in your hosted app global administration to identify where workflows are configured.
Global workflows and space workflows are automatically recreated in cloud as part of the migration, but you need to review the incompatible elements that might be changed or removed when the workflow is migrated.
Page workflows are not migrated. Before migrating, you can consolidate these as space label workflows to include these in the migration.
Moving an individual workflow to the cloud
You translate a hosted app workflow to a cloud-compatible workflow template using the Workflow Translator for Cloud tool.
We recommend that you review the functionality of your workflows in the cloud as part of preparing for your migration to Confluence Cloud.
The translated workflow template code can be copied and pasted into the code editor in the document management app space settings or global workflows screen in Confluence Cloud
Saving the copied workflow adds it to the document management app space settings or global workflows screen.
The tool is not able to translate all the workflow elements into a cloud-compatible workflow.
Unsupported workflow elements
Migrated workflows and the Workflow Translator for Cloud tool are not able to translate all the workflow elements into a cloud-compatible workflow.
The Workflow Translator for Cloud tool workflow template markup highlights unsupported workflow elements
The Unsupported Macros message box provides further details
Some workflow elements, such as layout parameters for adding footers, headers, or workflow instructions, are not supported in Confluence Cloud.
The translation of a workflow trigger is supported when it has an equivalent workflow trigger event in the cloud.
Details of the workflow elements translated to the cloud are available on the Workflow elements translated from data center page.
A trigger with a supported event might be translated without some trigger actions if the action is unavailable in the cloud. When this occurs, the workflow trigger in the translated cloud-compatible workflow template can have empty trigger actions.
These triggers must be edited or recreated using the code editor or the visual editor in the cloud app.
Changes in workflow functionality
Some workflow elements are translated, but there can be functional differences that need you to review. For example:
Assignment of approval reviewers
No option in the workflow in the cloud to limit the users who can assign reviewers.
View-only users can be assigned as a reviewer to an approval. Whilst assigned, they can assign other users as a reviewer.
Workflow final state and draft view restriction
Users are directed to the latest version of the page.
View-only users are not restricted by the workflow to the latest approved (final state) version.
To manage access to the latest approved pages in the cloud, you should consider using the integration with Comala Publishing Cloud to publish and sync pages to a separate space and manage user permissions separately from the space with your draft pages.
It is recommended to undertake a test migration and explore the workflow functionality in Confluence Cloud. This can help identify functional differences in Confluence Cloud and the required apps.
Related pages
https://appfire.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/CDMC/pages/2232485018
https://appfire.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/CDML/pages/649957481
https://appfire.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/CDML/pages/649924970
https://appfire.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/CDMC/pages/2192677102
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