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Version: 0.45

Importing and exporting

Configuration lives as data inside each environment, so moving a change from one environment to another is not automatic. Importing and exporting is how you carry configuration items between environments, for example promoting work from a development environment to test, and then to production.

Both actions are available straight from the Configuration Studio. Right-click a module or a folder in the Solution Explorer and choose the import or export action. You can also reach them from the toolbar when a module or folder is selected.

The unit you move is a package: a single file that bundles the selected configuration items together.

Exporting to a package​

The Export to Package action produces a configuration package from the items you select. The package is a zip file with a .shaconfig extension, named in the format package[yyyyMMdd]_[HHmm].shaconfig, for example package20260613_0930.shaconfig. Inside, each configuration item is stored in JSON form.

The same .shaconfig format is used whether you move configuration by hand, as described here, or embed it in a module for automatic deployment on startup. The automatic option is covered in Configuration.

The Export Configuration dialog with the MembershipDemo.Cobalt module expanded and all of its items selected for export.

Importing from a package​

The Import from Package action takes a previously exported .shaconfig package and brings its items into the current environment.

Importing is a two-step process by design, so you are never surprised by what an import does:

  1. Preview. The Studio analyses the package and shows you what each item in it will do to the current environment. Nothing is changed yet.
  2. Confirm. After you have reviewed the preview and chosen the items to bring in, you confirm the import to apply it.

The preview​

In the preview, every item in the package is given one of the following statuses. The status compares the item in the package against the matching item already in this environment.

StatusMeaning
UnchangedThe item in the package matches the item already in this environment, so importing it changes nothing.
NewThe item does not exist in this environment yet and will be created.
UpdatedThe item already exists and differs from the package, so importing it will update the existing item.
ErrorThe item cannot be analysed or applied. Review the detail shown against the item before importing.

You can select which items to import from the preview, then confirm to apply the package.

The Import Configuration preview, listing every configuration item found in the selected package along with its origin module, name, and type, before anything is applied.

warning

Items shown as Updated will overwrite the matching items in the current environment with the versions from the package. Review the preview carefully before confirming, especially when importing into production. Anything you want to keep should be exported first.

A typical workflow​

A common way to use packages across environments looks like this:

  1. Make and save your configuration changes in the development environment.
  2. Export the affected items with Export to Package.
  3. In the target environment, run Import from Package and select the package.
  4. Review the preview, checking the New and Updated items.
  5. Confirm the import.
tip

Export in small, focused packages rather than one large package built up over a long period. Smaller packages are easier to review in the preview, easier to trace back to the change they belong to, and easier to deploy alongside related code changes.

See also​

  • Configuration - including how to embed a package in a module for automatic deployment on startup.
  • Solution Explorer - where the import and export actions live.