Import and Export from version 7

How to export content and schema from Umbraco 7 and import into a newer version

The import and export features are available for Umbraco Deploy supporting Umbraco 8 and above. It's not been ported back to Umbraco 7, hence you cannot trigger an export from the backoffice or use the service.

However, you can still use this feature to help migrate from Umbraco 7 to a supported major version. This requires adding additional logic to your Umbraco 7 project to create an export ZIP archive similar to newer versions.

Exporting Umbraco 7 content and schema

You can generate an export archive in the same format as the import/export feature. This is done by adding the Umbraco.Deploy.Contrib.Export assembly to your Umbraco 7 project (that already has Deploy and Deploy Contrib installed, see below). This archive can be imported into a newer Umbraco version by configuring the legacy import migrators. You can also apply additional migrators to update obsolete data types and property data into newer equivalents.

This is possible via code, by temporarily applying a composer to an Umbraco 7 project to generate the export archive on start-up:

DeployExportApplicationHandler.cs (export Umbraco 7 content and schema to ZIP archive)

using System;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web.Hosting;
using Umbraco.Core;
using Umbraco.Deploy;
using UmbracoDeploy.Contrib.Export;

public class DeployExportApplicationHandler : ApplicationEventHandler
{
    protected override void ApplicationInitialized(UmbracoApplicationBase umbracoApplication, ApplicationContext applicationContext)
    {
        // Set a default value connector that doesn't use object type prefixes
        DefaultValueConnector.SetDefault();

        // Run export after Deploy has started
        DeployComponent.Started += (sender, e) => DeployStarted();
    }

    protected void DeployStarted()
    {
        var udis = new[]
        {
            // Export all content
            Constants.UdiEntityType.Document,
            Constants.UdiEntityType.DocumentBlueprint,
            Constants.UdiEntityType.Media,
            // Export all forms data
            Constants.UdiEntityType.FormsForm,
            Constants.UdiEntityType.FormsDataSource,
            Constants.UdiEntityType.FormsPreValue
        }.Select(Udi.Create);

        var dependencyEntityTypes = new[]
        {
            // Include all related schema
            Constants.UdiEntityType.DataType,
            Constants.UdiEntityType.DataTypeContainer,
            Constants.UdiEntityType.DocumentType,
            Constants.UdiEntityType.DocumentTypeContainer,
            Constants.UdiEntityType.MediaType,
            Constants.UdiEntityType.MediaTypeContainer,
            Constants.UdiEntityType.MemberType,
            Constants.UdiEntityType.MemberGroup,
            Constants.UdiEntityType.Macro,
            Constants.UdiEntityType.DictionaryItem,
            Constants.UdiEntityType.Template,
            Constants.UdiEntityType.Language,
            // Include all related files
            Constants.UdiEntityType.MediaFile,
            Constants.UdiEntityType.MacroScript,
            Constants.UdiEntityType.PartialView,
            Constants.UdiEntityType.PartialViewMacro,
            Constants.UdiEntityType.Script,
            Constants.UdiEntityType.Stylesheet,
            Constants.UdiEntityType.UserControl,
            Constants.UdiEntityType.TemplateFile,
            Constants.UdiEntityType.Xslt
        };

        // Create export
        var zipArchiveFilePath = HostingEnvironment.MapPath("~/data/" + "export-" + Guid.NewGuid() + ".zip");
        ArtifactExportService.ExportArtifacts(udis, Constants.DeploySelector.ThisAndDescendants, zipArchiveFilePath, dependencyEntityTypes);
    }
}

Importing Umbraco 7 content and schema

To import this archive into a newer Umbraco project, you need to install either of these packages:

• UmbracoDeploy.Contrib 4.3 for Umbraco 8

• Umbraco.Deploy.Contrib for Umbraco 10.2, 12.1, 13.1 or later

Then you need to configure the legacy artifact type resolver and migratory.

Artifact type resolvers allow resolving changes in the type that's stored in the __type JSON property of the artifact. This is in case it moved to a different assembly or namespace (or got renamed) in a newer version. The legacy migrators handle the following changes:

• Moving the pre-values of data types to the configuration property;

• Moving the invariant release and expiration dates of content to the (culture variant) schedule property;

• Moving the 'allowed at root' and 'allowed child content types' of content/media/member types to the permissions property;

• Migrating the Data Type configuration from pre-values to the correct configuration objects and new editor aliases for:

  • Umbraco.CheckBoxList (pre-values to value list)

  • Umbraco.ColorPickerAlias to Umbraco.ColorPicker (pre-values to value list)

  • Umbraco.ContentPicker2 to Umbraco.ContentPicker (removes invalid start node ID)

  • Umbraco.ContentPickerAlias to Umbraco.ContentPicker (removes invalid start node ID)

  • Umbraco.Date to Umbraco.DateTime

  • Umbraco.DropDown to Umbraco.DropDownListFlexible (pre-values to value list, single item select)

  • Umbraco.DropDownListFlexible (pre-values to value list, defaults to multiple item select)

  • Umbraco.DropdownlistMultiplePublishKeys to Umbraco.DropDownListFlexible (pre-values to value list, defaults to multiple item select)

  • Umbraco.DropdownlistPublishingKeys to Umbraco.DropDownListFlexible (pre-values to value list, defaults to single item select)

  • Umbraco.DropDownMultiple to Umbraco.DropDownListFlexible (pre-values to value list, defaults to multiple item select)

  • Umbraco.MediaPicker2 to Umbraco.MediaPicker (removes invalid start node ID, defaults to single item select)

  • Umbraco.MediaPicker (removes invalid start node ID)

  • Umbraco.MemberPicker2 to Umbraco.MemberPicker

  • Umbraco.MultiNodeTreePicker2 to Umbraco.MultiNodeTreePicker (removes invalid start node ID)

  • Umbraco.MultiNodeTreePicker (removes invalid start node ID)

  • Umbraco.MultipleMediaPicker to Umbraco.MediaPicker (removes invalid start node ID, defaults to multiple item select)

    • Umbraco.NoEdit to Umbraco.Label

  • Umbraco.RadioButtonList (pre-values to value list, change database type from integer to nvarchar)

  • Umbraco.RelatedLinks2 to Umbraco.MultiUrlPicker

  • Umbraco.RelatedLinks to Umbraco.MultiUrlPicker

  • Umbraco.Textbox to Umbraco.TextBox

  • Umbraco.TextboxMultiple to Umbraco.TextArea

  • Umbraco.TinyMCEv3 to Umbraco.TinyMCE

• Migrating pre-value property values for:

  • Umbraco.CheckBoxList

  • Umbraco.DropDown.Flexible

  • Umbraco.RadioButtonList

The following composer adds the required legacy artifact type resolver and migrators. It also adds a custom resolver that marks the specified Document Type alias testElement as the element type. Element types are a concept added in Umbraco 8 and are required for Document Types that are used in Nested Content.

LegacyImportComposer.cs (configure artifact type resolver and artifact migrators)

using Umbraco.Cms.Core.Composing;
using Umbraco.Deploy.Contrib.Migrators.Legacy;

internal class LegacyImportComposer : IComposer
{
    public void Compose(IUmbracoBuilder builder)
    {
        builder.DeployArtifactTypeResolvers()
            .AddLegacyTypeResolver();

        builder.DeployArtifactMigrators()
            .AddLegacyMigrators()
            .Append<ElementTypeArtifactMigrator>();
        
        builder.DeployPropertyTypeMigrators()
            .AddLegacyMigrators(); // Available from Deploy Contrib 13.3.0 and 14.2.0+
    }

    private class ElementTypeArtifactMigrator : ElementTypeArtifactMigratorBase
    {
        public ElementTypeArtifactMigrator()
            : base("testElement")
        { }
    }
}

It is recommended to start by importing only the schema and schema files (by deselecting 'Content' and 'Content files' in the dialog). Then, you can proceed with importing all content and schema together. The order in which the artifacts are imported depends on their dependencies. By importing the schema first, we ensure that the schema is updated before any content is processed.

Obtaining Umbraco Deploy for Umbraco 7

Umbraco Deploy for Umbraco 7 is no longer supported and was only available on Umbraco Cloud. It was not released for use on-premise.

As such if you are looking to migrate from an Umbraco Cloud project running on Umbraco 7, you already have Umbraco Deploy installed.

If you have an Umbraco 7 on-premises website, you can use this guide to migrate from on-premises to Umbraco Cloud. Or to upgrade to a newer Deploy On-premises version. You need to obtain and install Umbraco Deploy for Umbraco 7 into your project, solely to use the export feature.

The export feature can be used without a license.

A license is required for the Umbraco project you are importing into. This can be a license that comes as part of an Umbraco Cloud subscription, or a Deploy On-premises one.

Use this guide to migrate from on-premises to Umbraco Cloud or to upgrade to a newer Deploy On-premises version.

1. Download the required dll files for Umbraco Deploy for Umbraco 7 from the following links:

• Umbraco Deploy v2.1.6: Latest Deploy Version 2 release for Umbraco CMS Version 7 (officially for use on Cloud)
• Umbraco Deploy Contrib v2.0.0: Latest/only Deploy Contrib Version 2
• Umbraco Deploy Export v2.0.0: For exporting all content/schema in Version 7

1. Install Umbraco Deploy with the Contrib and Export extensions.

• Install Umbraco Deploy, Deploy.Contrib, and Deploy.Export by copying the downloaded .dll files into your Umbraco 7 site.

• When copying the files over from Umbraco Deploy you should not overwrite the following files (if you already had Umbraco Deploy installed):

 Config/UmbracoDeploy.config
 Config/UmbracoDeploy.Settings.config

• Run the project to make sure it runs without any errors

1. Update the web.config file with the required references for Umbraco Deploy:

web.config

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<configSections>
    <sectionGroup name="umbraco.deploy">
      <section name="environments" type="Umbraco.Deploy.Configuration.DeployEnvironmentsSection, Umbraco.Deploy" requirePermission="false" />
      <section name="settings" type="Umbraco.Deploy.Configuration.DeploySettingsSection, Umbraco.Deploy" requirePermission="false" />
    </sectionGroup>
  </configSections>
  <umbraco.deploy>
    <environments configSource="config\UmbracoDeploy.config" />
    <settings configSource="config\UmbracoDeploy.Settings.config" />
  </umbraco.deploy>
</configuration>

1. Export Content.

• Export your content, schema, and files to zip.