Extract an Installed Package from one Instance and install into another?

Question

This is an interesting one, I would like to migrate the exact same Installed package from one Salesforce instance to another. I can't simply install this package because the original provider is defunct and installation from app exchange is not viable.

Is there a way to extract the installed package from one Salesforce instance to another using an IDE tool like Eclipse?

Answer 1

Maybe

If you know three key pieces of information, and if the app isn't deleted, you can still reinstall it. This assumes it is a "managed package". You will need the "namespace", the "version", and the "password", if any.

First, create a folder on your desktop. Inside of this folder, create another folder called installedPackages. Note the capitalization. Inside the first folder you created, create a package.xml. Inside the second folder, create a file called namespace.installedPackage, where namespace is the package to install.

Inside of the package.xml file, place the following text:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<Package xmlns="http://soap.sforce.com/2006/04/metadata">
    <types>
        <members>*</members>
        <name>InstalledPackage</name>
    </types>
    <version>40.0</version>
</Package>

Inside of the namespace.installedPackage file, place the following text:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<InstalledPackage xmlns="http://soap.sforce.com/2006/04/metadata">
    <versionNumber>X.YZ</versionNumber>
    <password>password</password>
</InstalledPackage>

Where X.YZ is the version of the package to install. Omit the password line if it is not required.

Here's what your file structure should look like:

└───FieldTrip
    │   package.xml
    │
    └───installedPackages
            Field_Trip.installedPackage

This is for the Field_Trip package that you can install from the AppExchange, but any app that you know the name, version, and optional password for you can deploy in this manner.

Once you have all these details, you can zip it up and deploy it using DX or the Workbench, or you may be able to do this from the Force.com IDE.