With Box Automate now generally available, you can migrate existing Box Relay workflows to Box Automate. Migration lets you keep running and updating your Relay workflows while you adopt Automate for new work, so nothing breaks during the transition.
Review the considerations below before you begin, then follow the steps to migrate a workflow.
Before you migrate
Consider the following before starting a migration.
General considerations
- The Relay tab in Box is renamed to Automate. You can still create new Relay workflows from this tab, and existing Relay workflows remain editable from within the new Automate tab.
- Workflows are migrated 1:1 as-is. Migration converts the existing workflow rather than redesigning it.
- Disabling Automate does not disable Relay. If you turn off Automate, existing Relay workflows continue to run, but your users cannot access the new Automate builder or migrate workflows.
Who can migrate workflows
- Only the workflow owner can migrate a Relay workflow, because they are the only user with access to it.
- Relay migration is available only in the Box web app.
- As an admin, go to Users & Groups > Managed Users, select the More Options menu next to the user, and select Log in to this account. From there, you can migrate that user’s workflows.
Migrating a workflow
- Open the workflow list in the Automate tab.
- Hover over the Relay workflow you want to migrate.
- If the selected workflow can be migrated, a Migrate button appears.
- If the Migrate button does not appear, the selected workflow cannot be fully transferred with all its components.
- Review the Automate draft to confirm the following:
- Triggers and outcomes
- Workflow name
- Variables
- Conditions
- Branches
- Loop-backs
- Select Activate to run the workflow, or Save to keep working on it.
- If you only Save the workflow, disable the original Relay workflow after you activate the new Automate version so the two do not run in parallel.
- If you select Activate during migration, the original Relay workflow is deactivated automatically.
- If you do not Save or Activate during migration, the Automate workflow is not created. You can still migrate the workflow later.
- If activation fails, one or more Automate workflows created during migration has a validation issue. Resolve the issue in the affected workflow, manually activate the Automate workflow, and deactivate the corresponding Relay workflow.
After activation, the migrated workflow runs in Automate. The original Relay workflow is disabled and retains its execution history for reference.
Inventory your Relay workflows before migrating and flag any that use metadata triggers or current-outcome variables. Those workflows may need to be rebuilt in Automate.
Known limitations
Consider the following gaps before migrating:
- Workflows with multiple flows are converted into separate Automate workflows, each named Workflow name.
- Trigger conditions from Relay are extracted into Automate conditional logic and can be configured with conditional gateways.
- File and folder copy outcomes do not have a built-in rename option. Relay copy outcomes are migrated to Automate as two outcomes: a Copy step followed by a Rename step.
- Automate does not support multiple-file operations for all outcomes. Where an outcome does not support multiple files (for example, Move File or Folder, Add Metadata), the Relay outcome is migrated as a loop in Automate.
- Manual Start workflows in Automate must be shared with other users so they can view and trigger them from Files. Verify the Automate workflow is shared with the appropriate group before deactivating the Relay workflow.
- If Apply Classification is enabled only for admin, co-admin, or owner roles, classifications are not available for the Automate workflow. Confirm these settings are not in use in your organization before migrating.
