Good morning Kevin,

I've seen this behavior when setting connection profiles for starting rules (technically, the "Get metadata from:" dropdown--I don't mean to split hairs, just to point out that its purpose is ambiguous). What I've discovered is that the value in this dropdown doesn't appear to have any effect on how the workflow performs, assuming the correct connection profile is specified in the workflow's properties.

For example, if you create a "test" connection profile that refers to your DRepo, and assign it to a WF's starting rules, and then you subsequently assign a different connection profile in that WF's properties and delete the "test" connection profile, you'll notice that the "Get metadata from:" dropdown is blank for that WF's starting rules, but you'll still be able to publish the WF.

TL;DR This appears to be a bug that has no effect on the WF assuming the correct connection profile is specified in the WF's properties. I might be mistaken re: whether this is a bug, but this has been my experience.

Best,

Rob

TL;DR: "Get Metadata From" is only used when adding conditions to a starting rule. It ensures that any conditions such as Entry: Path, Entry: Field(...), etc. load the correct options for the repository defined in the Connection Profile. Once the conditions are set and the starting rule is defined, the "Get Metadata From"  purpose is complete. As others mentioned, it does not impact how workflows run. 

I have a similar set up on the same version. We currently have three production repositories and a fourth repository we use for development and testing, all with corresponding WF connection profiles. Yesterday, I was posting WF's to the newest production environment and noticed, as you had, that when I set the "Get Metadata From" on the starting rule, it changed on all rules for all existing workflows. 

I read a few comments on Answers and I'm pretty sure someone else explained it, but it's difficult to understand, so I hope I can help clarify its purpose.

As others have said, the setting doesn't impact the way a workflow runs, which was my initial concern. What it does do is help you access the correct folder structure, templates, fields, etc. WHEN you are adding conditions for a starting rule. That is, if you add a condition for Entry Path equals... and you use the ellipses (...) to select the folder path, you will see the folder structure for whichever repository is defined in "get metadata from." If "get metadata from" is pointed to the wrong repository, you won't be able to use the ellipses to define the path. Similarly, if you add a condition for Entry Field equals, the "get metadata from" needs to point to the correct repository in order to access the correct list of metadata fields.