Moving your workflows to Cloud
- Robert Alexander Marshall
- Comala Publishing
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, you must review the functionality of each workflow in the cloud.
Overview
Existing space workflows are included in the migration. A global workflow in space is migrated as an active space workflow in the cloud space. 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 if needed.
Some workflow features function differently in the cloud. Space workflows that are 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.
Before migration, you can 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, the cloud version supports a different set of workflow trigger events and actions.
Space workflows
A migration includes all space workflows, including global and space-scope workflows. These workflows are translated into their cloud-compatible equivalents and added to the app space settings in Confluence Cloud.
Each migrated workflow includes
label workflow conditions
Invert labels as 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 the Attach Metadata utility in a space 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.
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 workflow that have been migrated.
Consolidate page workflows
Page workflows are not included in the migration. However, these can be consolidated as a space workflow before migration.
The page workflows added to pages in a space in your hosted instance are displayed in the Page Workflows dashboard. All 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 Actions menu.
In the Consolidate Page Workflow dialog box, you must add a text string. This 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 hosted instance, consolidating the workflow
removes it as 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
CCMA Workflow Definition’s Cloud Compatibility pre-migration verification check
The Atlassian Confluence Cloud Migration Assistant includes a vendor app pre-migration assessment, Workflow Definition’s Cloud Compatibility, that checks the cloud compatibility of space workflows in the spaces included in the migration plan.
The Atlassian CCMA space workflows migration pre-migration check for space workflows that are not fully cloud-compatible:
space workflows defined in the spaces
linked global workflows in the spaces
The assessment also checks if there are page workflows present that you might need to consolidate.
Space workflows are migrated to the cloud, but you might need to review these for the incompatible elements that might be changed or removed when the workflow is migrated.
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 in Confluence Cloud
Saving the copied workflow adds it to the document management app space settings in each cloud space.
The tool is not able to translate all the workflow elements into a cloud-compatible workflow.
Unsupported workflow elements in cloud
Migrated workflows and the Workflow Translator for Cloud tool are not able to translate all the workflow elements into a cloud-compatible workflow.
a space workflow included in a migration that is not fully cloud-compatible is identified in the CCMA migration prechecks
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.
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 workflow builder visual editor or code editor in the cloud app.
