For up-to-date product documentation, see the IBM MobileFirst Foundation Developer Center.
Exporting and importing applications and adapters from the MobileFirst Operations Console
From the console, under certain conditions, we can export an application or one of its versions, and later import it to a different runtime on the same server or a different server. We can also export and reimport adapters. Use this capability for reuse or back-up purposes.
Before you begin
Open the MobileFirst Operations Console. For more information, see Opening the MobileFirst Operations Console.
If you are granted the mfpadmin administrator role and the mfpdeployer deployer role, we can export one version or all versions of an application. The application or version is exported as a .zip compressed file, which saves the application ID, descriptors, authenticity data, and web resources. We can later import the archive to redeploy the application or version to another runtime on the same or on a different server.
Important: Carefully consider your use case:
- The export file includes the application authenticity data. That data is specific to the build of a mobile app. The mobile app includes the URL of the server and its runtime name. Therefore, if we want to use another server or another runtime, we must rebuild the app. Transferring only the exported app files would not work.
- Some artifacts might vary from one server to another. Push credentials are different depending on whether you work in a development or production environment.
- The application runtime configuration (that contains the active/disabled state and the log profiles) can be transferred in some cases but not all.
- Transfer web resources might not make sense in some cases, for example if you rebuild the app to use a new server.
We can also transfer application descriptors by using the REST API or the mfpadm tool. For more information, see Transfer an application configuration with the administration service.
Procedure
- From the navigation sidebar, select an application or application version, or an adapter.
- Select Actions > Export Application or Export Version or Export Adapter.
You are prompted to save the .zip archive file that encapsulates the exported resources. The aspect of the dialog box depends on your browser and the target folder depends on your browser settings.
- Save the archive file.
The archive file name includes the name and version of the application or adapter, for example export_applications_com.sample.zip.
- To reuse an existing export archive, select Actions > Import Application or Import Version or Import version, browse to the archive, and click Deploy.
The main console frame displays the details of the imported application or adapter.
Results
If you import to the same runtime, the application or version is not necessarily restored as it was exported. That is, the redeployment at import time does not remove subsequent modifications. Rather, if some application resources are modified between export time and redeployment at import time, only the resources that are included in the exported archive are redeployed in their original state. For example, if you export an application with no authenticity data, then you upload authenticity data, and then you import the initial archive, the authenticity data is not erased.
Parent topic: Transfer server-side artifacts to a test or production server