In this article, I will provide information on how to export an existing Power Automate and explain various options we get while exporting. I will be writing another article on the second part of the migration which is, importing Power Automate to another destination environment.
Below are the components used in this document.
Introduction
It is very normal for a developer to build the power automate in one environment and then export that automate & import it to another destination environment. It could be part of a migration project. In this article we will have a look at the correct way and things to consider when we are exporting a power automate. In my example: I would be exporting the existing power automate as a packaged (.zip) file and importing it as a new power automate in another destination environment. Below is the step by step way to export power automate as a packaged (.zip) file.Open Power Automate and open your flow to export.
Browse to
here and provide your Office 365 account details to login into your account.
Select “My flows” from the left side navigation on the page.
Page will list down all power automates. Click on the automate which you want to export. In my case I have only one flow, and I would be clicking on “Send approval email when a new item is added”
Click on “Export” drop down to start the export process and then click on “Package (.zip)” button from the drop down options as shown in the below screenshot.
Export Power Automate
Under “Package details” section, provide the input for “Name”, “Environment” and “Description” fields. As shown in below screen shot.
Scroll down to “Review Package Content” section and click on “Update” under “Import setup” field. This setting would allow user to choose what should happen when each resource used inside the power automate is imported to the new environment
Import setup page will open.
Here we have 2 options. “Create as new” would have this power automate as a new automate in the destination environment where this automate would be imported.
Choose “Update (default)” option; power automate would already be present in the destination environment where this automate will be imported. For my example: I am selecting “Create as new” as my destination environment is not having this automate and I will be importing it for the first time. Finally click on “Save” button.
Make sure “Review Package Content” section is showing “Create as new” under “Import Setup”
Scroll down to “Related resources” section. This will display all the resources we have used inside our power automate.
Make sure we have “Select during import” selected under “Import Setup” field, as all these resources might have to be revisited when we are importing the power automate in destination environment. In my Example: I have used “Approvals”, “Office 365 Outlook” and “SharePoint” resources in my power automate. The real meaning for this settings option is that, URLs and other properties of these resources might change when we move to another environment.
Finally click on “Export” button on the bottom of the page.
Make sure you get below message after “Export” button is clicked, making sure that export is in progress and there were no errors while exporting.
Your power automate will be zipped and downloaded. This zipped package will be used as is for importing this power automate into the destination environment in the next article.
That is it. I hope you have learned something new from this article and will utilize this in your work