Manual Deployment

A manual deployment moves a set of changes from a source environment to a target environment by exporting a ZIP file from the source and importing it into the target. Manual deployments are the recommended deployment type when you are not able to connect environments.

Import and export details are available in the Deploy view of every environment.

The successful import of your package can depend on managing certain additional files and settings. For example, you may need to add an import customization file (ICF) during import. Be sure to evaluate and manage these package dependencies for each import.

All manual imports and exports occur asynchronously. Appian queues your imports and exports as background processes, allowing you to continue development in Appian Designer while the system processes. You can review the status of both imports and exports from the Deploy view, and an email is sent when your import or export completes.

To learn more about our other deployment types, see Direct Deployments and External Deployments.

Before you begin

Before you deploy, you should make sure that all of your objects, packages, applications, and accompanying files are ready for a successful deployment. Review the following best practices to help facilitate a successful deployment.

Determine what needs to be deployed

If you're unsure about what you need to deploy, check the table below to see which best matches your use case.

Deployment Contents	When to Use	More Information
Entire application	Deploy your application configurations and all related design objects. Use if the application does not exist in your target environment.	You can include database scripts and plug-ins with your application deployment.
Packages	Create a package or select existing packages to deploy a set of changes to your target environment. You can deploy multiple packages from the multiple applications simultaneously. Learn how to create a package.	You can add application configurations, database scripts, and plug-ins to a package during development and when you deploy your package.
ONLY database scripts or plug-ins	If your application already exists in your target environment and you only need to deploy plug-ins or make changes to the environment's database via scripts, you can deploy these changes without objects. Database scripts and plug-ins can only be deployed to a target environment using Compare and Deploy if you are an application administrator.	To deploy database scripts and plug-ins without other objects, the application must already exist in your target environment.
Admin Console Settings	If you need to change Admin Console settings, you can export specific settings from your source environment and import them into the target environment. You can import an application or package along with Admin Console settings via the Admin Console.	Certain settings that are specific to a given environment cannot be deployed, such as API keys or certificates.
Import customization files (ICF)	Use to change or configure the values of certain objects or settings during deployment. Primarily, ICFs specify values that vary between environments or that are not exported for security reasons, such as passwords. You can also use an ICF to dictate specific import behaviors such as forcing an update of unchanged objects or triggering a manual sync for record types in the target environment.	Appian generates a template import customization file, which you download, edit, and upload for deployment.

Check deployment readiness

Check that your deployment contents are prepared and ready to be sent to your target environment. If you're deploying a package, make sure that you've properly prepared it for deployment.

Determine the best time to deploy

For production environments, perform any deployment activities, including inspections, during off-peak hours. If necessary, a maintenance window can be scheduled in the Admin Console. A post-deployment process to your application can be used to automate deployment tasks and integrations such as initiating automated tests to further optimize your development lifecycle.

Back up your production objects

If you are moving complete applications from a staging environment to a production environment, take standard precautions to ensure continuity by creating a backup of your production objects. If the deployment fails for any reason, this backup allows you to restore the previous state of the application.

To create a backup of your production objects, export all of the existing objects associated with your application.

Check security

Check that your permissions and security for deployment are set up correctly to ensure that the right users can deploy to or from an environment, as well as ensure that the permissions for objects are appropriate for the target environment.

Export manually

Once you've checked your application for missing precedents, you're ready to manually export your packages.

Export an application

When you export an application, the exported ZIP file includes application configurations and all associated objects. In addition to the ZIP file, you can optionally download an import customization file.

To manually export an application:

1. In the Applications view, select your application.
2. Click EXPORT.
3. Select Application in the dropdown list.
4. In the Export Application dialog, review or edit the file name.
5. Click EXPORT.
6. When the export is complete, click DOWNLOAD PACKAGE to download the ZIP file.
7. If your application contains objects with environment-specific or sensitive values, click Download Import Customization File.
8. Click CLOSE to close the dialog.

Export a package

To manually export one or more packages from a single application:

1. Open the Export Package dialog in any of the following ways:
   • In the application level of the Packages view, select the packages you want to export from the packages list.
     1. Click EXPORT.
   • In the BUILD view, select your package from the dropdown menu in the deployment actions bar.
     1. Click EXPORT PACKAGE.
2. (Optional) In the Export Package dialog, turn off the Include application configurations in this deployment toggle to remove the application configurations from the packages. If you are deploying multiple packages simultaneously, you cannot add or remove application configurations individually for the packages.
3. Review the design objects included in the export. As needed, click next to objects you want to remove.
4. (Optional) Edit the File Name property.
5. (Optional) Select Delete after export to automatically delete the package once the export completes. If you are exporting multiple packages simultaneously, this option deletes all packages after export completes.
6. Click EXPORT.
7. Download the files you need:
   • Click DOWNLOAD PACKAGE to download the ZIP file. If you are exporting multiple packages simultaneously, they are exported into a single ZIP file.
   • If your application contains objects with environment-specific or sensitive values, click Download Import Customization File.
   • (Optional) Click Download Export Log to download a record of the export.
8. Click CLOSE to close the export dialog.

To learn about deploying and exporting multiple packages from multiple applications, see the Packages View.

Manually inspect and import

Since you can't undo an import, you must always inspect a package before completing the import to check for warnings or missing precedents. At the same time as inspecting the package, you can also review the status of package items compared to those items in the target environment.

Importing a package at the environment level adds the objects to the specific application.

Importing an application into another application adds objects to that specific application. You can remove them by selecting the imported objects and clicking REMOVE FROM APP in the toolbar.

If the package you're importing includes design objects or application configurations that already exist in the target environment, the imported version can overwrite the existing object depending on the object's comparison status during inspection. Learn more.

To inspect and import a package:

1. Depending on your package type, click one of the following buttons in your target environment:
   • Application: In the Applications view, click IMPORT.
   • Packages: In the application, click IMPORT PACKAGE.
   • Admin Console settings: In the Admin Console, click IMPORT.
2. Upload your exported ZIP file and related import customization file if applicable.
3. Click INSPECT and review the inspection results.
4. Click IMPORT PACKAGE.

Export and import multiple packages

To manually export packages from different applications:

1. In the Applications view, select With Packages in the applications toolbar.
2. Select all the applications with packages you want to include.
3. In the applications toolbar, click EXPORT.
4. Select Packages from the dropdown list.
5. (Optional) In the Export Packages dialog, edit the File Name of the combined package.
6. Select a package from each application.
7. (Optional) Verify the contents of the combined package:
   • Click View all package contents.
   • Review the list of items in the package. Appian informs you if the source packages include application configurations.
   • Click CLOSE to return to the Export Packages dialog.
8. When your review of the package is complete, click EXPORT.
9. Download the files you need:
   • Click DOWNLOAD PACKAGE to download the ZIP file.

   • If your application contains objects with environment-specific or sensitive values, click Download Import Customization File.

     Note:  The template import customization file contains all properties needed by objects in the selected packages. This template file does not reflect any import customization files you may have added to individual packages, so you'll likely want to reconcile this template file with the files you've added to the packages.

   • (Optional) Click Download Export Log to download a record of the export.
10. Click CLOSE.

The IMPORT option in the Applications view handles packages with multiple applications. When your import contains multiple packages, Appian adds the corresponding objects and application configurations to the appropriate applications in the target environment.

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