Clone an Instance

Instance Clone creates a new instance from the active, projected configuration of an existing instance. Open Instance Admin and select the Clone action on an instance you own. Administrators may clone any visible instance. A read-only source cannot be cloned.

The page reloads and authorizes the source on the server. Values passed from the Instance Admin row are navigation hints only and are not trusted as the clone source.

What is cloned

The plan can copy the following active instance graph:

• the instance definition, tags, and categories;
• instance APIs, path prefixes, apps, and app/API links;
• overridden configuration properties at instance, API, app, app/API, and deployment-instance scope;
• selected instance files;
• selected deployment definitions and their overridden properties;
• an optional current configuration snapshot.

Runtime instances, OAuth clients, authorization sessions/tokens, deployment jobs and operational status, audit history, notifications, and other transient records are not cloned. Create the target OAuth client after the clone reaches a successful terminal status.

Target identity

Enter a unique target instance name and environment tag. Environment defaults to the environment tag. Service and product version default to the source when left blank. The preview shows the resolved (host, service, environment) snapshot lookup tuple.

For the portal BFF workflow, use separate environment tags and instances:

Keeping these instances separate prevents one environment’s gateway redirect, cookie, host, or service configuration from being reused by another.

Masked configuration values

Every overridden property is masked initially. Choose one action per stable scope/property selector:

• COPY copies the source value server-side without revealing it;
• REPLACE validates and stores the replacement entered on the page;
• OMIT leaves the target override absent so effective lower-precedence configuration can apply.

Reveal returns one property value through a separate audited request. It never reveals file or certificate content. Revealed values are cleared when a selector changes or the plan is refreshed, and they are not included in the plan fingerprint.

COPY and REPLACE are checked against the current property schema. OMIT is checked against the resulting effective target configuration. If a source value no longer satisfies the current schema, replace or omit it and plan again.

Optional resources

Files and deployment definitions are excluded by default. Enable them and select individual IDs explicitly. Confirm certificate copying before planning any selected certificate/file set. File content remains server-side and is not returned in the preview.

Creating a current snapshot is also optional. When selected, the snapshot event is written last and successful completion is reported as SNAPSHOT_READY.

Plan and execute

Select Plan Clone to validate authorization, target uniqueness, current schemas, selected resources, limits, and source projection parity. The preview shows warnings plus exact event and serialized-byte counts.

Any target, property, file, deployment, certificate-confirmation, or snapshot change invalidates the preview and disables Clone until planning succeeds again. Clone submits the complete plan once. A browser timeout does not mean the clone failed and must not be followed by another submission; use Refresh status with the original request instead.

Status and recovery

The status values are:

• ACCEPTED: the atomic event/outbox transaction committed and is waiting for projection;
• PROJECTED: the target projected successfully without a requested snapshot;
• SNAPSHOT_READY: the target and requested snapshot projected successfully;
• FAILED_DLQ: projection rolled back and the transaction was moved to the dead-letter queue.

While accepted, the page polls one request at a time with capped backoff and pauses when the tab is hidden or the browser is offline. A transient status failure displays Still processing and offers a manual refresh; it does not resubmit the clone.

For FAILED_DLQ, record the clone request ID and safe error code and contact an administrator. Do not create another clone request until the original DLQ transaction is diagnosed. A repaired replay must use the original transaction metadata.

After PROJECTED or SNAPSHOT_READY, use Open Instance, Open Configuration, or Create OAuth Client to continue setup.