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Multiple K2 environments integrated with single SharePoint Online?

  • 11 December 2023
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Hi community, I'm looking for an answer to a simple question:
Is it possible and supported to integrate two separate K2 Five (5.7) environments/servers (test and production) with SharePoint Online in a single tenant? In a few minutes of looking through the documentation, I could not find this information. Can you advise me?

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Best answer by TinTex 12 December 2023, 18:25

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Userlevel 5
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Good day, @PavelS - 

Have you checked out this technical article: The K2 Environment Switcher App

Regards, 

-Sam

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@PavelS

Hello,

Although a separate SharePoint tenant is recommended, it is possible to integrate two separate K2 environments with a single SharePoint Online tenant.  A site collection can only be connected to one K2  environment, so you will need a separate site collection for your K2 test and a separate site collection for K2 production.

You will need to run the Registration wizard against each K2 environment.  Then deploy the K2 app to the test and production site collection.

Then download, add and can use the K2 environment switcher app:

Select the desired K2 environment and activate the corresponding site collection; Test K2 to test site collection, Prod K2 to prod site collection.

Userlevel 2
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Thank you both. So you're saying it can be integrated. I've noticed this K2 Environment Switcher App but never used it anywhere. Is this K2 Environment Switcher App and procedures also valid for K2 Five 5.7, where the new SPFx app is?
I think I understand the recommendation for a separate tenant for the second K2. But I feel that a separate tenant is uncomfortable for testing a developed app by regular/key users who may not have an understanding of why they have to log in with a different account and thus don't have the same user experience as with the primary tenant they are a member of, which is usually synced from the local AD.
I see that you are both Nintex employees, so I will add that I am missing some comprehensive article on this topic in the installation documentation, instead of several different older articles; under what conditions it can be done, what are the prerequisites and steps, and what are the risks and what is better to avoid. Or something like a FAQ on the subject. I think more people would find it useful.

Userlevel 3
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@PavelS

My apologies, I did not see that you meant brand new 5.7 installation.  The information provided regarding the Environment Switcher app would still be applicable for upgraded 5.7 environment or 5.6 and earlier that is still using the legacy Nintex K2 for SharePoint.

 

The process for brand new 5.7 installation and the SPFx model would be a little bit different, but the following would still apply:

  • it is possible to use multiple Nintex Automation environments with a single SharePoint/AAD tenant
  • however, a site collection can only be connected to 1 Nintex Automation environment
  • having a single or multiple AAD/SharePoint tenant would depend on your organization’s preference, as Nintex automation can work with either scenarios

 

If you want to use a single SharePoint/AAD tenant with multiple Nintex Automation environments, it is possible.

 

The pre-requisites would be as per:

https://help.nintex.com/en-US/nintexautomation/icg/5.7/Content/Prepare/SP/SP-PrepOnLine.htm

 

  The high level steps would be:

  1. install the SPFx app to your SharePoint Online App Catalog site using either the app from the store or the downloaded one
  2. Then navigate to your Test Management site > Features > SharePoint Site Collection > Add New Instance
    • Specify your SharePoint Online app catalog URL, complete that wizard (will need Global tenant admin to grant the permissions requested)
    • Then it will ask you which site collection you want to activate Nintex Automation to, specify the desired site collection URL (Test site collection) and proceed
    • As this is the first registered Nintex Automation environment, you won’t be asked to select which server
  3. Navigate to your Prod Management site > Features > SharePoint Site Collection > Add new Instance
    • Specify the same SharePoint Online app catalog URL, complete that wizard (will need Global tenant admin to grant the permissions requested)
    • Then it will ask you which site collection you want to activate Nintex Automation to, specify the desired site collection URL (Prod site collection) and proceed
    • As this is the second registered Nintex Automation environment, you will be prompted to select the desired K2 environment (the Prod K2 site in this case)
  4. For any site collections after that, make sure to select the desired K2 environments

This documentation will have all of the steps listed above in more detail:

https://help.nintex.com/en-US/nintexautomation/userguide/5.7/Content/K2-Management-Site/Features/SharePointOnline.htm

Userlevel 2
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@TinTex 

Thanks for the nice summary, I'm looking forward to trying it out with two K2 Five 5.7 somewhere in practice.

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