How can I automate the process of deploying an InfoPath Form to SharePoint Server 2007?

Question

It is a real pain to deploy my InfoPath 2007 Forms from the designer into our development environment's SharePoint server. All of our forms require "full trust" since they include business logic written in C#. Here are the manual steps:

1) Run the "Publish Form" wizard in InfoPath, specifying the target site to publish to and location to save the xsn file.

2) De-activate the existing version of the form from the site collection features (if an older version exists).

3) Log into Central Admin on the development server. Navigate to Application Management -> Manage Form Templates and upload the xsn file.

4) Activate the form as a site collection feature.

Does anyone have an idea how this can be automated? Maybe via stsadm?

Answer 1

You can package InfoPath forms in SharePoint solutions (WSP files). These can be deployed by making use of STSADM. For more information:

• http://blogs.importchaos.com/alonsorobles/2008/06/04/creating-a-sharepoint-solution-for-an-infopath-form-template-deployment/#comments
• http://www.crsw.com/mark/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=37
• http://blah.winsmarts.com/2008-8-Deploying_InfoPath_2007_Forms_to_Forms_Server_-and-ndash_Properly.aspx