Plan to upgrade form templates during an upgrade to SharePoint Server 2010
Applies to: SharePoint Server 2010
This article describes the additional steps that are required to upgrade form templates when you upgrade InfoPath Forms Services from the version in Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Forms Server 2007 to the version in Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010.
In this article:
About upgrading forms during an upgrade to SharePoint Server 2010
Upgrade form templates during a database attach upgrade to SharePoint Server 2010
Upgrade form templates during an in-place upgrade to SharePoint Server 2010
About upgrading forms during an upgrade to SharePoint Server 2010
When you upgrade from Office SharePoint Server 2007 or Microsoft Office Forms Server 2007 to SharePoint Server 2010, InfoPath Forms Services is also upgraded.
The following upgrade and migration scenarios are relevant for InfoPath Forms Services in SharePoint Server 2010:
Database attach upgrade
Upgrades forms and form templates from InfoPath Forms Services in Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 or from Microsoft Office Forms Server 2007 to another server that is running SharePoint Server 2010. Existing administrator-approved form templates and data connections must be migrated to the new deployment and upgraded to work with InfoPath Forms Services in Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010.
Note
A database attach upgrade is the only way to upgrade Microsoft Office Forms Server 2007 to SharePoint Server 2010.
In-place upgrade
Upgrades forms and form templates from InfoPath Forms Services for Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 to SharePoint Server 2010 on the same server. All forms and form templates are upgraded automatically during an in-place upgrade.
For more information about how to upgrade from Office SharePoint Server 2007 to SharePoint Server 2010, see Upgrading to SharePoint Server 2010.
Upgrade form templates during a database attach upgrade to SharePoint Server 2010
A database attach upgrade enables you to move your content to a new farm or new hardware. During a database attach upgrade, you detach all the content databases from an existing farm and then attach the databases to a new server farm installation. When you attach the databases to the new server farm, the upgrade process runs and upgrades the data in place. A database attach upgrade is the only way to upgrade Microsoft Office Forms Server 2007 to SharePoint Server 2010.
The content database contains only some files that are used by InfoPath forms. These files include the following:
User form templates (.xsn), which are form templates that are deployed by non-administrators. They do not require full trust and do not use data connections that are managed by an administrator. User form templates (.xsn) can be published to lists and form libraries by individual contributors.
Data connection files (.udcx) for user form templates.
Content from filled-out forms (.xml) in lists and form libraries.
These files are upgraded automatically when you perform a database attach upgrade.
On the other hand, administrator-approved form templates and data connection files in the Central Administration libraries are stored in the configuration database and must be migrated separately. These files include the following:
Administrator-approved form templates (.xsn files) that are uploaded to the Manage Form Templates library on the Central Administration site.
Data connection files (.udcx files) that are uploaded to the Manage Data Connection Files library on the Central Administration site.
If you copy and attach the content database before these files have been imported, the sites that contain content that depend on administrator-approved forms will produce errors during import.
To avoid these errors, we recommend that you follow these steps in the order listed:
Perform the prerequisite steps for upgrading to SharePoint Server 2010.
Install and configure SharePoint Server 2010 on the new server.
Export administrator-approved form templates and data connection files from the configuration database on the original server that is running Office SharePoint Server 2007 or Microsoft Office Forms Server 2007. For more information about how to export and import administrator-approved forms, form templates, and data connection files between configuration databases, see the Export and import forms between configuration databases section later in this article.
Import the files to the configuration database on the new server that is running SharePoint Server 2010.
Follow the steps in Attach databases and upgrade to SharePoint Server 2010 to attach and upgrade the databases from the original server to the new SharePoint Server 2010 server.
If the URL of the new server differs from the URL of the previous server, run a Windows PowerShell 2.0 cmdlet to update links that are used in the upgraded forms and form templates. For more information about how to update the links that are used in upgraded forms and form templates, see the Update links to server section later in this article.
Export and import administrator-approved form template files between configuration databases
The forms data in the content database includes only the files that are used by user forms, form templates, and data connection files that are uploaded to lists and document libraries. It does not include administrator-approved form templates and data connection files that are uploaded to the Central Administration site.
To avoid problems when you upgrade form templates, export the content in the configuration database of the original server that is running Office SharePoint Server 2007 or Microsoft Office Forms Server 2007 and import it to the new server that is running SharePoint Server 2010.
To export administrator-approved form templates and data connection files that are stored in the Office SharePoint Server 2007 or Microsoft Office Forms Server 2007 configuration database, use the -o exportipfsadminobjects command in the Stsadm command-line tool.
To import administrator-approved form templates and data connection files to the configuration database on the new server, use the Windows PowerShell 2.0 Import-SPInfoPathAdministrationFiles cmdlet.
Data-connection time-out settings and other settings on the Configure InfoPath Forms Services administration page are not migrated and must be configured on the new server.
For more information about how to use the Stsadm command-line tool, see Stsadm command-line tool (Office SharePoint Server) (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=186993).
Update form template links to the server
During upgrades or content migrations, it is common to change the URL of the server that contains forms and form templates. If the URL of the new server differs from the URL of the previous server, links that forms and form templates use might have to be updated to the URL of the new server. These include links in the form data to the form template file location, or links in the form template to data connection files or other resource files.
Both user form templates and administrator-approved templates can be affected.
To update links that are used in user form templates and data connection files, run the Update-SPInfoPathUserFileUrl cmdlet.
To update links that are used in administrator-approved form templates and data connection files, run the Update-SPInfoPathAdminFileUrl cmdlet.
These cmdlets update the name of the server in URLs that form templates and data connection files use. They do not update links in forms that are moved between libraries by users, or in other forms content that is stored in the content database. Users can fix those links by using the Relink All command that is available in the form library settings. Forms and form templates that are upgraded or migrated by using the database attach process are relinked automatically.
Upgrade form templates during an in-place upgrade to SharePoint Server 2010
Form templates for InfoPath Forms Services are upgraded automatically as part of any in-place upgrade of SharePoint Server.
For more information about how to upgrade in place to SharePoint Server 2010, see Upgrade in place to SharePoint Server 2010.
See Also
Other Resources
Downloadable book: Upgrading to SharePoint Server 2010
Resource Center: Upgrade and Migration for SharePoint Server 2010