K2 Package and Deployment

K2 Package and Deployment provides the ability to package K2 artifacts, such as SmartObjects, Forms, Views and Workflows, from one environment (the source) into a package file stored locally or on a network drive. This package is then opened in another K2 environment (the target) where some or all of the artifacts in the package are deployed.

The following concepts are used to define the process of creating and deploying packages:

Source Environment	Typically a development environment where a K2 solution was designed and tested.
K2 Package	A file containing all the solution artifacts necessary for the solution to function in the target environment.
Target Environment	Typically a test/QA or production environment to which a K2 solution must be deployed.
Conflict Resolution	Steps required to successfully deploy a package to the target environment when there are artifact conflicts between source and target.

Included Artifacts

Artifacts designed using K2 Studio, K2 for Visual Studio and K2 Designer can be packaged and deployed. These include:

• SmartObjects and SmartObject Data
• Workflows
• Forms
• Views
• Thick Client SharePoint events
• SQL Server Instances and Service Objects
• Supporting artifacts such as
  • Categories
  • Roles
  • Notification events
  • Environment library fields
  • K2 smartform custom controls

The SharePoint Package and Deployment topic contains a table outlining what artifacts are included or not included when using the SharePoint Package and Deployment tool. See Deploying Application elements to a different SharePoint environment

Some types of artifact require special handling:

• K2 connect SmartObjects can be packaged and deployed using K2 Package and Deployment. However, the K2 connect Service Objects associated with these SmartObjects must be manually pre-created on the target environment. For more information, refer to the Deployment of K2 connect Processes section of the Deploying a Package topic.
• Microsoft SharePoint events created using K2 Studio, K2 for Visual Studio and K2 Designer can be packaged and deployed using K2 Package and Deployment. However, the SharePoint lists and libraries associated with these SharePoint events must be manually pre-created on the target environment. For more information, refer to the Deployment of Microsoft SharePoint Event Processes section of the Deploying a Package topic.
• Processes containing ProjectReferences cannot be deployed to a target environment 'as is'. For a package containing ProjectReferences to be successfully deployed, the ProjectReferences within a process must first be deleted, then re-added as assembly references before the package is recreated and the process deployed. For more information, refer to the Deploying Processes which contain Project References section of the Deploying a Package topic.

Artifacts Not Included

The following K2 artifacts are not included at this time:

• Artifacts created using any Workflow Integration Wizards (i.e. InfoPath Workflow Integration, SharePoint Workflow Integration).
• K2 SQL Server databases and tables.
• Service Instances (only Custom Service Instances created using the SmartObject SDK can be packaged).
• Custom environment configurations (for example, changes to configuration files like 'K2HostServer.exe.config') cannot be packaged. These configurations must be manually applied to the target environment.

The following K2 Studio/K2 Designer for Visual Studio Workflow events cannot be deployed with a Package and Deployment package at this time:

• SharePoint Workflow-integrated events.
• Forms Generation Client events.
• InfoPath Integration events.
• InfoPath Client events.
• InfoPath-Form upload events.

Please review the information in the Important Considerations topic in order to be aware of situations where specific conditions need to be met.