In this blog, I am providing the background info related to key considerations that you need to know while planning for Nintex Workflow migration to SharePoint Online. I have used Nintex, K2 and SharePoint designer based workflows in my earlier projects and thus hope that this blog will be of some help for projects involving Nintex.
Let me start with giving an overview of Nintex Workflow and related setup including actions as shown in below two diagrams:
Please note that the migration of Nintex workflows to SharePoint Online (Office 365) is a different method than currently employed for on-premises. The natural differences between on-premises vs online as well as the limited support of actions available from Nintex leads us to taking an alternate approach for these objects.
Requirements and Caveats
So, before migration, please note the following list of requirements and caveats:
- The latest version of the Nintex Workflow App must be deployed and licensed in the destination SharePoint Online site before migration. If you cannot open the Nintex Workflow Designer in your destination SharePoint Online site, create a workflow and successfully publish it, do not attempt to migrate into this location until this is resolved.
- The user authenticating against the destination SharePoint Online location must have Site Collection Administrator permission.
- User Defined Actions (UDAs) are not currently supported.
- Workflow status, workflow history and workflow metadata are not currently supported.
- If the workflow contains an "Action Set", please make sure to enable the destination site feature "Workflows can use app permissions" prior to the migration.
- Pleate note that Not all on-premises workflow actions are supported within the Nintex Workflow App. Please take a look at the following table for the list of currently supported actions for SharePoint Online. Please note that while the actions are mapped based on this table, the action label (it's name) will be retained from the source when viewed in Nintex Online Workflow Designer.
Supported Nintex Workflow Actions in SharePoint Online
The following table lists the on-premises Nintex workflow actions that can be migrated into SharePoint Online.
Please note that even though an action may be listed as supported, that does not mean that all parameters in the on-premise action has an equivalent in its online counterpart. Please be sure to review, test and adjust where necessary all migrated Nintex workflows.
| On-premises Actions |
Online Actions |
| Assign Flexi Task |
Start a task process |
| Filter |
Filter |
| Log in History List |
Log to History List |
| Change State |
Set Next State |
| Math Operation |
Do Calculation |
| Convert Value |
Convert Value |
| Create Item |
Create List Item |
| Pause for... |
Pause for Duration |
| Discard Check Out |
Discard Check Out Item |
| Build String |
Build String |
| End Workflow |
Terminate Current Workflow |
| Calculate Date |
Add Time to Date |
| Loop |
Loop with Condition |
| Check Out Item |
Check Out Item |
| Delete Item |
Delete Item |
| Pause Until |
Pause until Date |
| Query list |
Query List |
| Regular Expression |
Regular Expression |
| Set Field Value |
Set Field in Current Item |
| Set a Condition |
Conditional Branch |
| Send Notification |
Send an Email |
| Switch |
Switch |
| State Machine |
State Machine |
| Wait for item update |
Wait for Field Change in Current Item |
| Set Variable |
Set Workflow Variable |
| Run If |
Run If |
| Run Parallel Actions |
Parallel Block |
| Set Workflow Status |
Set Workflow Status |
| Update Item |
Update List Item |
Conclusion:
As a part of migration projects, I am always asked to provide consulting advice on differences between MS Flow, Nintex and SharePoint designer workflow. So I plan to prepare a matrix to publish the same in the near future.
Please do share your experience with similar migration work and if above blog was of any help then please Like, Share or Comment. Thanks.