Importing and Exporting

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to export CSB configurations from Stage and import into Production.

Import and Export in CSB

Most changes are made to Production by doing them in the Stage instance, getting approvals, then doing the changes again in Production. This is the safest way for customers to make updates.

Sometimes it is necessary to move all of Stage to Production. This does not happen often, usually just for a big rebranding effort. In that case, follow these general steps, and see additional instructions below:

  1. Make sure it’s not a blackout period: between the Preview and Production releases. Career Site Builder will display a message and prevents your request. Mismatched files could cause your career site to break, and so you are prevented from importing them into the Production environment.
  2. From the Stage instance, export the XML files from CSB→Tools→Import & Export.
  3. Update values for specific fields in the SiteExport XML file.
  4. Update links in the SiteBuilderExport XML file, if necessary.
  5. Import to Production from CSB→Tools→Import & Export.
  6. Export and import Translations too from CSB→Tools→Translations.
  7. Open Stage and Production instances in two windows and check that everything came across correctly.

Before taking these actions for the first time, we recommend that you review the CSB Import and Export instructions in the Recruiting guide. It would also be a good idea to work with someone experienced in these actions the first time you perform them.

When a new XML file is imported to a site, the system takes a snapshot of the site's configuration before the changes from the XML are applied. This allows you to revert changes if necessary.

Import and Export Options

The Import and Export menu within the CSB tool allows you to move configurations from one version of a site to another, or to create basic site templates. Recent imports and exports for a site are also recorded on this page.

A screenshot of the Import and Export section showing that the Export tab is selected
A screenshot of the Import and Export section showing that the Import tab is selected
  • Site Settings – Exports settings that configure the site, including settings that implement and integrate the career site with SAP SuccessFactors Recruiting.

  • Career Site Builder Settings – The Source options determine where the site data included in the export file comes from. "As currently configured" uses Career Site Builder settings as they are saved right now. "From a previous configuration" uses the Career Site Builder settings that were backed up prior to an import on the selected date, with some exceptions. See the help text in CSB for details.

    The Contents checkboxes allow you to configure which site settings are included in the export file, such as Fonts, Images, and Email Layouts. You will usually select all options to export. (Remember the Data Privacy Consent Statement is normally created in Admin Center, not CSB.)

  • Category pages – This option exports all of the category page information. When you import this XML export file back in through CSB, it either adds new categories or overwrites the existing category pages with the same name. Any new category pages you create after you export the file are not overwritten.

Also remember to import and export the Translations XML from CSB→Tools→Translations. This file contains any replacements that you have made to system text that appears on Career Site Builder Sites.

A screenshot shows Import and Export options under Translations.

Export from Stage

The process is to export four separate XML files from the Stage instance and save the files locally. In some cases, you will need to edit the XML file. And then you import the XML files to the Production instance.

Export XML files from the source (Stage) instance in the following order:

  1. Export Site Settings* (file name: SiteExport)
  2. Export Career Site Builder Settings.* Typically you will choose "As currently configured," and check the options on the right. (file name: SiteBuilderExport)
  3. Export Category Pages (file name: CategoryExport)
  4. Export CSB Site Translations from Tools→Translations (file name: TranslationOverrideExport)

Note

* To maintain site integrity, always export Site Settings and Career Site Builder Settings together. There are some things, like Search configurations, that for legacy/historical reasons are in the Site Settings, not Career Site Builder Settings.

Update Values in the Site Settings XML File

The Import process will overwrite some of the settings in the Target environment (usually Production). After exporting Site Settings and before importing the file to the Target instance, update the values in these fields in the SiteExport XML file before importing: ＜name＞, ＜portalurl＞, ＜agentemailaddress＞, ＜companyname＞, ＜sitefolder＞, ＜phrasefilterback＞. See more details below.

  1. First make a copy of the SiteExport XML file. Name the new file SiteImport.
  2. In the Target instance, navigate to CSB→Settings→Site Configuration→Site Information, and note the Site Name, Company Name, Site URL (which also called the Portal URL), and Job Alert Email Address. (From the Target instance, you may want to export Site Settings to compare XML files.)
  3. Search through the SiteImport XML for the following tags, and replace them with Target values, taking care to not change the case (upper or lowercase). You will replace the values for these fields:
    • ＜name＞
    • ＜portalurl＞
    • ＜agentemailaddress＞
    • ＜companyname＞
    • ＜sitefolder＞
    • ＜phrasefilterback＞
A screenshot showing replacement of values in the Name and Portal URL tags

Update Links from the Stage Instance, if necessary

Remember that the leading practice is to use relative links in your career site whenever possible. A slash (/) represents home and "/search/" indicates an all-jobs search. If the source instance contains links that are not relative links, those will need to be updated in the target instance.

  1. To check if any links need to be replaced, search the SiteBuilderExport XML file for the source instance URL. For example, a stage URL may contain "Valhalla" or "sapsfdemojobs". If you find any links containing the source site URL, ideally go back to the Career Site Builder source instance and change these to relative links.
  2. If you cannot replace all links with relative links in the source CSB instance, then replace any source links that will be imported into the target instance with the correct links for that environment.

Alternatively, you can import the SiteBuilderExport file to Production and then make the replacements in Career Site Builder. Custom URLs are generally found in the following areas: headers, footers, logo, and any component that contains an External type link, including links to landing pages.

Import to Production

Import the CSB XMLs into the Production instance in the following order:

  1. Import the Site Settings XML (SiteImport)
  2. Import the Career Site Builder Settings XML (SiteBuilderExport)
  3. Import the Category Pages XML (CategoryExport)
  4. Import the Translations XML (TranslationOverrideExport)

Note: After selecting the import file, click Upload Import File.

A screenshot showing that Upload Import File is selected

Confirm Settings in Production

In the Target (Production) environment, navigate to CSB→Settings→Site Configuration→Site Information. Confirm that the following are correct:

  • Site Name
  • Company Name
  • Site URL
  • Job Alert Email Address

Job Sync

Active job requisitions from the Source (Stage) environment are not transferred to the Target (Production) environment. Allow time for Real Time Job Sync to run and confirm that the jobs have synced to the Production environment. If not, contact Support for assistance in running the "Sync all external job postings" job in Provisioning.

What Is Transferred During the Export/Import Process?

  • Site settings are transferred to the target instance, including settings that integrate the career site with SAP SuccessFactors Recruiting.
  • All site configurations and database records are updated, including locales and brands.
  • Settings that configure the look and feel of the career site are transferred.
  • Career site contents are transferred, including active category pages. New categories are added to the target, and existing category pages with the same name are overwritten.
  • Candidate Relationship Management functions in Career Site Builder are transferred, including landing pages, data capture forms, and email layouts. Landing pages and data capture forms on the target instance are removed and are replaced by the pages and forms from the source.
  • Be aware that all images, including archived images, are copied to the target instance.

What Does Not Come Over?

  • Jobs (requisitions) are not transferred to the target environment.
  • Pages that were saved using Save Draft will not be part of the export.
  • To maintain site integrity, site integration information is not included in the export, including the security key and API credentials.
  • Candidate Relationship Management functions within the SAP SuccessFactors Recruiting application do not transfer: talent pools and email campaigns.
  • The following elements do not transfer during the import process. These need to be configured in the target instance:
    • CSB Role Based Permissions (Users→Roles)
    • Job Alert Email Template (Layouts→Job Alerts Email Template)
    • Site Source Editor (Tools Users→Site Source Editor)
    • Advanced Analytics (Command Center→Recruiting Advanced Analytics)

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