Migrating an Angular application manually

Older Angular Versions

If you are using older versions of Angular (version 13 or lower), make sure to use the appropriate version of Nx that matches your version of Angular. See the Nx and Angular Version Compatibility Matrix to find the correct version. The generated files will also be slightly different.

If you are unable to automatically transform your Angular CLI workspace to an Nx workspace using the ng add method, there are some manual steps you can take to move your project(s) into an Nx workspace.

Generating a new workspace

To start, run the command to generate an Nx workspace with an Angular application.

Using npx

npx create-nx-workspace myorg --preset=angular-standalone

Using npm init

npm init nx-workspace myorg --preset=angular-standalone

Using yarn create

yarn create nx-workspace myorg --preset=angular-standalone

When prompted for the application name, enter the project name from your current angular.json file.

A new Nx workspace with your org name as the folder name, and your application name as the root-level application is generated.

<workspace name>/
├── e2e/
│   ├── src/
│   ├── .eslintrc.json
│   ├── cypress.config.ts
│   ├── project.json
│   └── tsconfig.json
├── src/
│   ├── app/
│   ├── assets/
│   ├── favicon.ico
│   ├── index.html
│   ├── main.ts
│   ├── styles.css
│   └── test-setup.ts
├── .eslintrc.json
├── .eslintrc.base.json
├── .gitignore
├── .prettierignore
├── .prettierrc
├── jest.config.app.ts
├── jest.config.ts
├── jest.preset.js
├── nx.json
├── package.json
├── project.json
├── README.md
├── tsconfig.app.json
├── tsconfig.base.json
├── tsconfig.editor.json
├── tsconfig.json
└── tsconfig.spec.json

Review Angular installed packages versions

Creating an Nx workspace with the latest version will install the Angular packages on their latest versions. If you're using a lower version that's supported by the latest Nx, make sure to adjust the newly generated package.json file with your versions.

Copying over application files

Your application code is self-contained within the src folder of your Angular CLI workspace.

Copy the src folder from your Angular CLI project to the apps/<app name> folder, overwriting the existing src folder.
Copy any project-specific configuration files, such as browserslist, or service worker configuration files into their relative path under src in the root of the repo.
Transfer the assets, scripts, styles, and build-specific configuration, such as service worker configuration, from your Angular CLI angular.json to the root-level project.json file.

Verify your application runs correctly by running:

ng serve <app name>

Updating your unit testing configuration

Nx uses Jest by default. If you have any custom Jest configuration, you need to update the workspace Jest configuration also.

Verify your tests run correctly by running:

ng test <app name>

If you are using Karma for unit testing:

Copy the karma.conf.js file to the root folder.
Copy the test.ts file to your src folder.
Copy the test target in your architect configuration from your Angular CLI angular.json file into the targets configuration in the project.json file in your Nx workspace.
Run nx format to change architect to targets and builder to executor.

Jest will be used by default when generating new applications. If you want to continue using Karma, set the unitTestRunner to karma in the generators section of the nx.json file.

Update test-setup.ts to test.ts in the files array of the tsconfig.spec.json file.

tsconfig.spec.json
{
  "extends": "./tsconfig.json",
  "compilerOptions": {
    "outDir": "../../dist/out-tsc",
    "types": ["jasmine", "node"]
  },
  "files": ["src/test.ts", "src/polyfills.ts"],
  "include": ["**/*.spec.ts", "**/*.test.ts", "**/*.d.ts"]
}

Verify your tests run correctly by running:

ng test <app name>

Updating your E2E testing configuration

Nx uses Cypress by default. If you are already using Cypress, copy your E2E setup files into the apps/<app name>-e2e folder and verify your tests still run correctly by running:

ng e2e <app name>-e2e

If you are using Protractor for E2E testing:

Delete the e2e folder that was generated to use Cypress.
Copy the e2e folder from your Angular CLI workspace into the root folder.
Create the project configuration file at e2e/project.json.
Copy the project configuration for e2e from the Angular CLI workspace angular.json file to e2e/project.json and adjust the file paths to be relative to e2e.
Run nx format to change architect to targets and builder to executor.

Create a tsconfig.json file under e2e folder:

e2e/tsconfig.json
{
  "extends": "../tsconfig.base.json",
  "compilerOptions": {
    "outDir": "../dist/out-tsc"
  }
}

Update the tsconfig.app.json to extend the root tsconfig.json:

tsconfig.app.json
{
  "extends": "./tsconfig.json",
  "compilerOptions": {
    "outDir": "./dist/out-tsc",
    "module": "commonjs",
    "target": "es5",
    "types": ["jasmine", "jasminewd2", "node"]
  }
}

Verify your E2E tests run correctly by running:

ng e2e e2e

Cypress will be used by default when generating new applications. If you want to continue using Protractor, set the e2eTestRunner to protractor in the generators section of the nx.json file.

Updating your linting configuration

For lint rules, migrate your existing rules into the root .eslintrc.base.json file.

Verify your lint checks run correctly by running:

npm run lint

yarn lint

Learn more about the advantages of Nx in the following guides:

Using Cypress for e2e tests
Using Jest for unit tests
Rebuilding and Retesting What is Affected