Content ID assignment

When you run an import deployment, you can choose how to assign content IDs for objects in the content store.

Objects in the content store have content IDs that are deleted and replaced with new IDs by default when you run an import deployment and move content to a target environment. However, there may be situations when you must preserve content IDs, for example, when archiving report output to an external report repository. If so, you can choose to preserve content IDs when you run the import. For more information about how to assign IDs when importing objects, see Run an Import.

Preserving content IDs can be applied to a partial deployment or a deployment of the entire content store.

Content ID conflicts

When you retain existing content IDs, conflicts can occur on import. Here are the conflict situations that can occur.

Table 1. Conflict with matching content ID
Information	Details
Description	When an imported object exists in the target environment in a different location but with an matching content ID, the ID is not preserved on import but replaced with a newly generated ID. The object that exists in the target environment could be another version of the same object or it could be a completely different object.
Warning	A warning message will describe that the content was not preserved and, if the security privileges allow, will identify which object in the target environment is in conflict. No information is issued about how to resolve the conflict.
Resolution	To resolve any content ID conflicts, you can Make no changes to content IDs after import and keep IDs as they are. Any links for the imported object would now point to the target environment object which most likely is an older version of the same object. If the content ID for the imported object is not referenced from outside the content store, then there will be no broken external references after the import. The imported object will continue to exist as a separate object. Delete the imported object and the object in the target environment. If the object is re-imported, the object is added to the same location with its content ID. Manually update the target object with properties from the imported object. Any links for the object are preserved as the content ID will not have changed. The imported object could then be deleted.

Table 2. Conflict with different content ID
Information	Details
Description	When an imported object exists in the target environment in a same location but with a different content ID, the ID will be preserved on import and will replace the existing ID in the target environment.
Warning	No warning message is issued.
Resolution	Note that all existing external references to the target content ID, if any, are permanently lost when the content ID is replaced.