Migrating a project to a different process template

To migrate a project from one process template to another, you must copy the process configuration from the new template to the existing project. If the project has assigned various roles and work items states, you might need to merge the configurations or change existing roles and states to comply with the new process.

About this task

Important: Although it is possible to change the process for a project area to match that of a different process template, it is often infeasible because it changes the data model on top of your existing work item data. It is usually easier to create a project area with the template that you want, and then migrate work items from the original project area to the new project area.

Simple process replacement

For projects that have few users, roles, and work items, and a minimum of work item state changes, you might be able to simply copy and replace one configuration source with another:

  1. Open the project that you want to migrate and click the Process Configuration Source tab.
  2. Press Ctrl+a to select all. Press Delete.
  3. In the Process Templates view, open the process template that you want to migrate to, and click the Process Configuration Source tab. Press Ctrl+a to select all. Right-click and click Copy.
  4. In the existing project on the Process Configuration Source page, right-click and click Paste.
  5. If the new configuration references process attachments that were not used in the old configuration, add the new attachments by using the controls on the Links tab.

This replaces the Roles, Project Configuration, and Team Configuration data on the Process Configuration page. It does not replace the timelines and process iterations shown on the Overview page or the entries on the Work Item Categories page. You must manually change that data to comply with the new process template.

Note: When you completely replace the process configuration source of a project area with the process configuration from a template, any changes to roles, permissions, or operation behavior that were made since the project area was created are lost. To avoid losing those changes, use complex process merge.

Complex process merge

For projects with many assigned roles, work item types, and work item state changes, you might need to carefully merge the process configuration source from the new template with the process configuration source in the existing project. Build the new configuration in a separate text editor. When it is complete, delete the existing project configuration process source, as described above, and paste in the new merged version from the text editor.

Post-migration cleanup

To make bulk changes in work items, use a query to retrieve all work items of a particular type, status, or other property. In the Work Items view, select all work items that you want to change and right-click the appropriate column to change the work item type, status, or other properties, such as priority or severity.

Open the Members list in the Project Area or Team Area editors, select a user, and click Process Roles to reassign roles to comply with the new configuration.