Migrating one project to many and maintain links

[chris-pemberton-vital]

Scenario: Migrating On-Prem Azure DevOps to DevOps Services (Cloud) — Preserving Links Across Projects

We're migrating from an on-prem Azure DevOps server to DevOps Services (Cloud). The on-prem setup uses a single team project with multiple Area Paths to represent different domains.

In the cloud, we're splitting this into two separate projects. To handle the migration, I’ve created separate configs, each targeting a specific Area Path and migrating work items into either Project A or Project B.

Example
On-Prem (Single Project)
Work Item A —[Related]→ Work Item B

After Migration (DevOps Services)

Project A:
Work Item A

Project B:
Work Item B

The problem:
The "Related" link between Work Item A and B is lost after migration because they end up in different target projects.

Is it possible to maintain or reconstruct cross-project links after separately migrating work items into different projects using the Azure DevOps Migration Tools?

Any insight into how the TfsWorkItemLinkTool can be used in this scenario — or whether I need to run a post-processing step — would be appreciated.

[MrHinsh]

Hmm... we used to have a cross project linking feature, but I don't see it in the current docs.

[chris-pemberton-vital]

How did it work? i.e. what was the process?

[MrHinsh]

It just had a "AllowLinkingAcrossProjects" flag... which removed the project name from the queries for finding work items... let me take a look at the code

Yup its AllowCrossProjectLinking in TfsEndpointOptions... im looking at what its not passed through

yes, its in the sample, but not in the docs because of some range behaviour I'm looking to fix:

{
  "MigrationTools": {
    "Version": "16.0",
    "Endpoints": {
      "#KEY#": {
        "EndpointType": "TfsTeamProjectEndpoint",
        "AllowCrossProjectLinking": "False",
        "Authentication": {
          "AccessToken": "jklsadhjksahfkjsdhjksahsadjhksadhsad",
          "AuthenticationMode": "AccessToken",
          "NetworkCredentials": {
            "Domain": "",
            "Password": "",
            "UserName": ""
          }
        },
        "Collection": "https://dev.azure.com/nkdagility-preview/",
        "Project": "migrationSource1",
        "ReflectedWorkItemIdField": "Custom.ReflectedWorkItemId"
      }
    }
  }
}

If you add "AllowCrossProjectLinking": "False", to your TfsTeamProjectEndpoint it will stop adding the project to the queries that look for work items and allow cross project finds.

It docuimented on https://devopsmigration.io/docs/reference/endpoints/tfs-team-project-endpoint/

And Im working to get the generator fixed so it lists that item...

[Lokeshmaxi]

Hi @MrHinsh , Allowcrossproject linking will work for cross ado organization migration? I check this conversation, you have said cross organization linking not possible during migration. #1340

[MrHinsh]

No cross project does not work for cross organisation. Both projects must be in the same org.