Before you can compare and deploy any CPQ configuration with Gearset, both the source and target org CPQ and related objects must contain the Gearset external ID field. Before running the external ID setup feature to automatically add the external ID field, it is recommended to consider what is your specific situation with regards to CPQ configurations:
Scenario 1 - All CPQ configuration records are in my Production but not in the Sandbox
Scenario 1 - All CPQ configuration records are in my Production but not in the Sandbox
What do I do?
Option 1 - (details here)
run the setup on Prod
refresh your sandbox to automatically carry over the new external ID field (metadata) and records (data)
Option 2 - (details here)
run setup on Prod
run setup on Sandbox
if needed use the CPQ tool to move records over (source is PROD, target is Sandbox).
The records will have external IDs created from Production Salesforce IDs
Scenario 2 - All CPQ configurations were made in the Sandbox and need to be moved to Production
Scenario 2 - All CPQ configurations were made in the Sandbox and need to be moved to Production
What do I do?
run the setup on Prod (details here)
run setup on Sandbox
use the CPQ tool to move records over (Source is the Sandbox, Target is PROD)
The records will have external IDs created from Sandbox Salesforce IDs
Scenario 3 - Some CPQ configurations were created in the Sandbox, some others in Production, but the same record is never in both environments
Scenario 3 - Some CPQ configurations were created in the Sandbox, some others in Production, but the same record is never in both environments
What do I do?
run the setup on Prod (details here)
run setup on Sandbox
use the CPQ tool to move records over (the deployment can safely go in both directions: PROD to Sandbox, then Sandbox to PROD)
Some records will have external IDs created from Sandbox Salesforce IDs, some records will have External IDs created from Production Salesforce IDs. The ID will be picked from the org where the record was created. Records will be deployed without duplicates
Scenario 4 - The same CPQ configurations were created (manually or deployed) both in Production and in the Sandbox. Some others were created either in one org or the other.
Scenario 4 - The same CPQ configurations were created (manually or deployed) both in Production and in the Sandbox. Some others were created either in one org or the other.
What do I do?
run the setup on Prod (details here)
run setup on Sandbox
If the same record is present both in Prod and Sandbox (ex: CPU and Keyboard) there is a very hight possibility that they have different Salesforce ID, therefore different Gearset External IDs:
if the record was created manually in both Orgs, or if it was previously deployed from one Org to the other, Salesforce IDs will be different.
if the record was created in the Sandbox with a refresh from Prod, the Salesforce IDs will be the same
If a deployment with Gearset is attempted in this situation, some records will appear as different even if in reality they are the same and will be duplicated if deployed.
a possible fix would be to use the data deployment tool to overwrite the Gearset External ID fields, picking either Production or Sandbox as source of the deployment. This fix will be possible only if there are other fields that can be used for matching the records (i.e. another external ID)
after fixing the Gearset External IDs, it will be possible to move records over with the CPQ tool without problems.