File System Migration

Source Platform - File System

CloudM Migrate can be used to migrate file system files to Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive or SharePoint.  Folder structures, files, timestamps and file ACLs can be transferred to the destination system along with many other features.  The sections below describe how to migrate files from a file system to Google Drive or OneDrive / SharePoint.

To migrate a file system, you should first choose File System as the migration source platform.

Migrating to Google Drive

To migrate files to Google Drive, CloudM Migrate must be configured so that it knows the folder path that contains files for each user.

This file path should be specified on the user's tab on a per-user basis.  File paths can be specified as local file paths or UNC file paths (in the form \\server\share\folder\etc).  The ‘Drive’ option must also be selected for each user.

All of the files within the specified folder will be migrated into the user’s Google Drive.  Various choices are available as to how folders are migrated. Files and folders can be migrated to the same folder structure as the file system, files can be migrating into a single collection, a combination of both can be done, or no structure at all can be applied.  See the settings in the Google destination platform settings for more information.

Migrating to OneDrive for Business/Sharepoint

To migrate files to OneDrive/SharePoint, CloudM Migrate must be configured so that it knows the folder path that contains files for each user.

This file path should be specified on the users tab on a per-user basis.  File paths can be specified as local file paths or UNC file paths (in the form \\server\share\folder\etc).  

The ‘Drive’ option must also be selected for each user.  

If migrating to ‘Team Sites’ see Migrating SharePoint Document Libraries

One other setting is required before migrating to OneDrive, which is the ‘SharePoint Admin URL’ setting in the destination platform server settings.  This URL is required to determine the location to perform the required admin tasks as part of a migration.

All of the files within the specified folder will be migrated into the user’s OneDrive or Team Site.  The folder structure of the file system will be preserved during migration.  See the Microsoft 365/OneDrive destination platform settings for more information about other options.

Excluding Folders?

It's not possible to explicitly exclude folders from a File migration. If you require to exclude source folders from such a migration, you can either:

  • Move the unwanted folders, or;
  • Specify a list of the folders (separated by semi-colons) that you do want to migrate under Documents Path (and not include the ones you don't).

Migrating ACLs to Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive

It is possible to migrate file system ACLs and this should be turned on via ‘File System Document Sharing’ in the File System migration settings.  Note that when migrating to OneDrive, an email notification is not available.

Resolving Permissions to Email Addresses

File system NTFS permissions (ACLs) are always stored on the file as login names like: domain\username.  To migrate them to either destination system, CloudM Migrate must map them to email addresses.  If an ACL cannot be mapped to an email address (by any means) then no ACL is added in the destination account.

Various ways are provided to map file system permissions to email addresses:

  • If the migration station is logged into an Active Directory domain (and the user you run the tool with has permissions) then we attempt to obtain a list of users from Active Directory and map to their email address.  This requires the user to explicitly have an EmailAddress set in Active Directory.  If the workstation is not connected to Active Directory, the option ‘Resolve Email Addresses’ in the File System source migration settings should be turned off.
  • If not logged into AD, or the option to resolve Active Directory Email Addresses is disabled then no mapping to email addresses is done by default and explicit mappings must be provided by a CSV file (see below).
  • When the ACLs are processed, CloudM Migrate uses the address replacement schemes to map to possible email addresses:
    • If an entry has explicitly been specified in the ‘Address Replacements (File)’ option in the Address Replacements settings then it will be explicitly mapped according to the provided mappings. 
      • For example, if you want to map an NTFS permission of domain\paul to paul@example.com, the CSV file should contain an entry of domain\paul,paul@example.com
  • If the resolved permission is an email address (when it was available in Active Directory) and its not been explicitly mapped via a CSV then the domain name will be replaced according to the ‘Address Domain Replacements’ options and the name part of the email will be mapped according to entries on the user tab.
    • For example: The original ACL is domain\paul
    • This was mapped via Active Directory to paul@domain.com
    • ‘Address Domain Replacements’ included a mapping from domain.com to example.com
    • On the user tab there was a row with an export name of paul and an import name of paul.jones
    • The final ACL email address will be paul.jones@example.com

Advanced Options

While the default options are recommended for the majority of organisations the CloudM Migrate gives users the ability to customise their migration experience. The following are some of the Advanced Options available to customers migrating from a file system.

Active Directory Options

  • Resolve Email Addresses – attempt to resolve NTFS permissions to email addresses. Email addresses for users are obtained from Active Directory and CloudM Migrate must be installed on a workstation connected to Active Directory and logged into Active Directory as a user with permissions to read users from the Directory. If migrating files only from a local workstation, not connected to Active Directory, set this option to false. For more information about how ACLs are mapped, please see the specific section regarding file system migrations.

Document Options

  • File System Document Sharing – specify how to share files migrated from the file system. Note that when migrating to Microsoft OneDrive, email notifications are not sent.
  • Excluded Account Permissions – specify a list of login users who’s file ACLs will be ignored. For example, an ACL for ‘NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM’ is present on all files. To ignore this ACL, specify this value in this option. In order to help list the possible permissions for a particular system, an option is available in the Tools menu to list all local and Active Directory users under ‘Tools > File System > Export User List’.
  • Migrate Top Level Folder – Migrate the folder hierarchy into a top-level folder named the same as the top-level folder specified in this option. The first top level folder name migrated to will be fixed for future migrations.
  • Set Migrating User as Owner - Change the owner to the migrating user. This setting also ensures that the file owner from the file system is added as a writer at the destination.Troubleshooting

If the path is from a network drive, you need to ensure that you map the network drive exactly per our documentation here.

The CloudM Migrate Service may need to be run using your logged in Windows user or a dedicated account per this article.

Occasionally, CloudM Migrate can have difficulty enumerating a UNC file path. This appears to be caused by an unstable network connection which underpins the UNC path.  Creating a Mapped Drive within Windows to the UNC path can mitigate this issue in some circumstances.

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