How to keep templates in sync across multiple Administration Panels

Problem:

You work with one of CodeTwo Exchange Rules products and use multiple instances of the Administration Panel. You noticed that custom templates stored in the template library of one of the Administration Panels are not available for use from other Panels.

Solution:

Apart from using built-in templates, the user can create custom templates by using the Save as template option in the template editor (Fig. 1.).

Fig. 1. Saving a signature to the template library.

Templates, unlike rules, are not synchronized between Administration Panels. To make them available in other instances of the Administration Panel, you need to manually copy template data from one template library to another (located on a different server). Follow these steps to do so:

1. Your custom templates are stored in the following location on the local drive:

   %appdata%\CodeTwo Exchange Rules\My templates

   Open this folder. Every subfolder in this location is named just like a template in the local template library. Select and copy all the folders (templates) that you would like to access from another Administration Panel (Fig. 2.).

   Important

   If the Administration Panel is managed by multiple admin accounts on the same machine, you need to copy the contents of the My templates folder for each of these admins (each admin has only access to their own custom templates).

   If you cannot find this folder, it means that there are no custom templates saved on this machine or that you are using an older version of CodeTwo Exchange Rules. If the second scenario is true for you, go to this section instead.

Fig. 2. Copying template data.

2. Transfer the files to another machine with the Administration Panel installed. Open this location:

   %appdata%\CodeTwo Exchange Rules\My templates

   and paste all the folders copied in the previous step there.

3. The custom templates are now available in the template library of the Administration Panel installed on that machine.

Remember that if any changes are made to custom templates in any of the Administration Panels used in your organization, you will need to repeat the above procedure for all the instances. We recommend having as few Administration Panels as possible in your organization.

Transferring legacy templates

Once you update your CodeTwo Exchange Rules software from version x.14 (and older) to x.15 (and newer), all legacy templates and your custom templates will be automatically converted to the new template library the moment you launch the template editor for the first time.

However, if you are using:

• CodeTwo Exchange Rules Pro 2.13 and older with Exchange Server 2007 or 2010
• CodeTwo Exchange Rules 2010 3.14 and older (deprecated)
• CodeTwo Exchange Rules 2007 4.14 and older (deprecated)

and you cannot update the Administration Panel on a machine with Exchange Server 2007 or 2010 installed, you need to transfer templates manually. To do so, perform the following steps:

1. Log in to the machine where the Administration Panel is installed and copy the entire Template Library folder located in

   %appdata%\CodeTwo Exchange Rules

   to a different location (preferably to a network drive or an external storage device). If the Administration Panel is managed by multiple admin accounts on the same machine, you need to copy the Template Library folder for each of these admins (each admin can only access their own custom templates).
2. Update your CodeTwo Exchange Rules software to version x.15 (or newer) on all machines.

   Important

   Note that this will uninstall the Administration Panel from machines running Exchange Server 2007 or 2010. However, all your rules and signatures will remain intact and the program will continue to add signatures to your messages and perform other actions.

3. Install the Administration Panel of CodeTwo Exchange Rules on a machine (or machines) that meet(s) these requirements:
   • CodeTwo Exchange Rules
   • CodeTwo Exchange Rules Pro
   A new instance of the Administration Panel will have had all your rules and settings available (but not your custom templates yet).
4. Paste the Template Library folder (the one that you copied in step 1) into the following folder:

   %appdata%\CodeTwo Exchange Rules

5. If necessary, repeat step 4 for all machines where the Administration Panel is installed.
6. Launch the Administration Panel and open the editor. All the templates from the Template Library folder will be automatically converted and made available in the new template library. If the conversion doesn't start, refer to the Troubleshooting section below.

Troubleshooting

The Administration Panel will not convert templates from the old Template Library to the new template library if:

• the conversion has already been performed by the same instance of the Administration Panel,
• you have already saved a custom template in the new template library.

If that's the case, you need to:

1. Log in to the machine with the new version of the Administration Panel installed. Be sure to close the Administration Panel.
2. Go to

   %appdata%\CodeTwo Exchange Rules\My templates

   and copy all folders (templates) located in the My templates folder (if any) to another location.
3. Delete the My templates folder.
4. Check if the Template Library folder exists in

   %appdata%\CodeTwo Exchange Rules

   If not, perform these steps first. If it does, launch the Administration Panel and open the template editor to perform the conversion.
5. (Optional) Now, you can also paste the folders (templates) that you copied in step 2 above back into:

   %appdata%\CodeTwo Exchange Rules\My templates

   That way, you will have both your old and new custom templates available in the new template library.

If necessary, repeat these steps on every machine where the Administration Panel is installed.

See also:

How to save a signature as a template to reuse it in the future