Moving from Hosted XML Process to Inherited Process - Generally Available

Last month we announced a private preview that allows you to move projects that use a Hosted XML process to an Inherited process. We received a fare share of feedback, watched the telemetry, and made some fixes.

This week we announced that the feature is now generally available!

If you are using Hosted XML, and you are ready to move to the modern inherited process model, please give it a try. If you have any questions or issues send us an email

How it works

Moving a project from a Hosted XML process to an Inherited process takes a few steps. Make sure you read through and understand all of the steps before attempting to migrate.

Step 1 – Clone the Hosted XML process to Inherited

First you need to clone the Hosted XML process to inherited. This will clone the Hosted XML process into a newly created inherited process.

Don’t worry, we don’t do anything to the projects that are attached to the Hosted XML process. It is simply creating a copy.

Tip: Select the parent process that closest matches the base process from the Hosted XML. This will require less configuration in the new inherited process.

Step 2 – Configure and verify

Verify the newly created inherited process is configured properly and includes all your customizations. At this point you may need to manually add some of the customizations that are not supported in step 1. This documentation provides all the details on what is supported and excluded.

One of the best ways to validate the new process is to create a test project using the newly created inherited process. This allows you to view the process in action without affecting any production users.

Step 3 – Change project to use new inherited process

Your new inherited process should be good go. Now it is time to change the project to use that new process. To be on the safe side we recommend that you create a new project under the original Hosted XML process. Add some work items. Then move that test project to use the new Inherited process.

Now you are able to test the move from end to end without causing any disruption to production.

Once you have tested and verified everything is working as expected, you are ready to move the production project to use the new inherited process.

Important – Moving your process from Hosted XML to Inherited cannot be undone. There is no path to move a project from Inherited back to Hosted XML. It is critical that you test and validate with a test project before moving a live project.