This page provides general guidance and best practices for creating, managing, and maintaining the import customization files that your applications use. The guidance here is directed towards users who fill the role of deployment manager for their organization. This role requires:
If you're deploying robotic processes using Appian RPA, you may use a second file to manage these values. Learn more about what's included in the Appian RPA import customization file.
Values of certain objects can be changed during deployment with an import customization file. Use the import customization file for values that vary between environments or that are not exported for security reasons, such as passwords.
When exporting objects or admin console settings that can be customized, an import customization .properties
file is generated. This file lists all the values that can be configured for the applicable objects or settings (they are commented out by default). You will need to fill this out and provide it in the Import Settings dialog in the admin console along with the application or admin console package.
An example customization file contains the following:
## Administration Console Setting: Third-Party Credentials ## Name: Jira thirdPartyCredentials.6f59ef17-672d-444c-9c1c-31410474aad0.username=jira.system thirdPartyCredentials.6f59ef17-672d-444c-9c1c-31410474aad0.password=1password! ## Administration Console Setting: Data Source ## Name: jdbc/LegacyDB ## Valid types: MySQL, MariaDB, Oracle, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, DB2 dataSource.935f04f8-e8ac-449f-8410-d9ac13cac74e.USERNAME=db.user dataSource.935f04f8-e8ac-449f-8410-d9ac13cac74e.PASSWORD=1234abcd #dataSource.935f04f8-e8ac-449f-8410-d9ac13cac74e.TYPE= #dataSource.935f04f8-e8ac-449f-8410-d9ac13cac74e.CONNECTION_STRING= ## Constant: CO_WEB_SERVICE_URL ## Type: Text ## ## Text values will be displayed in Appian exactly as they are ## specified here. No spaces are trimmed. Values do not need to be ## encased in quotation marks. content._a-0000de3d-42e6-8000-1c9f-01ef9001ef90_5573.VALUE=https://testsite.com/BLZService?wsdl
The following rules apply to how an import customization file is read and values are set:
#
are ignored.=
character and the next line break, including any whitespace.An import customization file can also be provided when performing an import using the ImportExportService
. For more information, please refer to the Appian Public API.
See the next section on Managing Multiple Files to learn more about how to maintain these files for your deployment processes.
Since administration console settings and application objects (like environment specific constants, integrations, and connected systems) are exported separately, they will generate separate import customization files. Appian recommends that you have a single import customization file for each environment in your deployment pipeline. This way all the environment specific values for administration console settings and design objects for a single environment can be managed in one place. These master files should be named according to the environment they are intended for and should be version controlled in your version control system. The deployment manager will need to keep the values and files in sync when values are changed or new environment specific values are introduced.
As mentioned above, all environment specific values for a single environment should be stored in their own master import customization file for that particular environment. Whenever introducing new values that will require import customization, you should add the generated lines for these into the single master file for each environment with the applicable values.
During import, only the values that reference a setting or environment specific design object field that are in the current import package will be used. This allows you to continue to use the same master import customization file for every import (admin console settings, application, or package) on that environment since the non-applicable values will be ignored.
The basic steps for importing values set by import customization are:
Some constants today are used to hold values that are unique to each environment but are not static, these include:
It makes sense for these constants to be environment specific constants because environment specific constants that are imported without a value provided in an import customization file will not override the constant's current value on the target system. However, for these constants, you will need to actively manage that you are not providing a value in the import customization file for them when they are in your import package but not intending to overwrite their values.
It is recommended that once imported onto an environment for the first time, the lines in your import customization file that correspond to these types of constants should be commented out and grouped together in their own section so they are easily discoverable. This way, subsequent imports with the environment's import customization file that include these constants will not override their values that may have changed on the system over time.
Learn more about about the import behavior of environment specific constants on the Application Deployment Guidelines page.
It is a best practice to import applications using a System Administrator service account, so process models that are configured to run as their designer will have the proper permissions and not be at risk of the designer user becoming deactivated. If you accidentally import an application with a personal account, you can add an import-specific setting to the import customization file to force an import of unchanged objects.
To re-import the exact same application using a different user account, add the following lines to your import customization file and include it with your application deployment:
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## Import Setting: Force Update
## Forces the import of objects that were detected to be Not Changed on inspect/import
importSetting.FORCE_UPDATE=true
For more information about the Not Changed status, see Inspect Package and Application Deployment Guidelines