Introduction
As organizations are moving to the cloud, IT professionals will be charged with migrating their file shares/SharePoint on-premises content in SharePoint Online. In this article, we will explore the Metalogix Content Matrix tool for migrating to SharePoint Online.
Content Matrix Console
Content Matrix Console - SharePoint Edition is a client application used to migrate SharePoint Lists, Libraries, and even entire SharePoint Site Collections / Site. These migrations can be made within the same SharePoint version or can be performed between two separate SharePoint versions. Any site can be promoted into a Site Collection. In the same way, any Site Collection can be copied to become a sub-site during the migration process.
Supported Source Systems
- Office 365-Dedicated (2013 & 2010)
- SharePoint Server 2016
- SharePoint Server 2013
- SharePoint Foundation 2013
- SharePoint Server 2010
- SharePoint Foundation 2010
- Office SharePoint Server 2007 & WSS 3.0
- SharePoint Portal Server 2003 & WSS 2.0
- Exchange PST files
- eRoom (versions that include the eRoom XML API)
- Wikis & Blogs
- All HTTP-accessible (or HTTPS) static websites such as ASP, PHP, ASP.NET, or HTML
- File Shares
- Exchange Public Folders (from Exchange 2007, 2010)
Supported Target Systems
- SharePoint Server 2016
- SharePoint Server 2013
- SharePoint Foundation 2013
- SharePoint Online (Office 365)
- Access - Mobile: Access via an IMAP server
- SharePoint Server 2010
- SharePoint Foundation 2010
- Office SharePoint Server 2007
- Windows SharePoint Services 3.0
- Office 365 Dedicated (2013 & 2010)
Installation
Content Matrix Console - SharePoint Edition can be installed on any computer that meets the basic hardware and software requirements. If the product is installed on a computer that is also a SharePoint web front-end, it is immediately able to connect to that SharePoint Object Model through the server with the rights of the connecting user.
Trial Version of Metalogix can be downloaded from this link.
Brief on Migration
SharePoint migration is a process of taking all the content you have in your existing file share or SharePoint and moving it either to a new or existing environment. In this article, we are migrating a site which has Site Column, Content Type, List with Lookup field and Metadata field, Custom View, Document Library with versioning enabled, List associated with Designer Workflow, and Pages with web parts. Also, we will look how to use the filters in the Metalogix Content Matrix tool to filter a site/list/library and rename the site/list/library during migration from On-Premise SharePoint 2013 to SharePoint Online using Metalogix Content Matrix Tool.
Steps Of Migration
Below are the steps to be followed to migrate a site from On-Premise to SharePoint Online. We would also look into the configuration required to promote a site to a site collection during migration.
- Connect SharePoint 2013 and SharePoint Online Sites to the tool
- Prerequisite Migration Step
- Migration Configuration
Connect SharePoint 2013 and SharePoint Online Sites to the tool
To migrate a site from a source to target, both the sites should be connected to the tool. Below are the steps to connect On-Premise and SharePoint Online site to the tool, and how to configure proxy and add a certification.
Connect to source and target site
In the ribbon menu, Connection -> Connect to SharePoint, this will open a “SharePointLogon” pop-up.
Connection Options
Next, we will connect the On-Premise site by giving the site URL in the Address text box.
Proxy Option
A proxy server is a computer that functions as an intermediary to forward a client request to another server so as to return the results to the client. Using a proxy server can help increase intranet security and can help improve response times for client search requests. Such settings might not allow the tool to connect to the source/target server.
To Connect proxy enabled server, Check “Enable Proxy” in Proxy Options tab and provide the Server name and port in the text area.
Included Certificates
SSL certificates provide secure connectivity between client-server. Setting up HTTPS in SharePoint sites is a security addition. Such sites might not be connected to the tool, to connect such site click on “Add Installed Certificate” and add the appropriate certificate in “Included Certificates”.
After providing site URL, and configuring Proxy and Certificate click “OK” to connect the source site to the tool. Once the connection is established site will be listed in the below Pane.
Connecting SharePoint Online Tenant Site
Once the source site connection is made and settings are configured, we will now connect to the SharePoint Online Tenant Site.
To connect SharePoint Online Tenant Site provide the Tenant URL in the Address input box and click on ‘OK“, Once tenant Site is connected it would be listed in below pane.
Prerequisite Migration Step
Performing prerequisite steps, such as mapping users between the source and the target environment and giving appropriate permission to the user before performing the migration.
Below steps will elaborate how to use Configure Global Mapping to map the users between the source and the target environment and provide term store administrator access in Sharepoint Admin Center to an account which has been used to connect the tenant site to the tool.
Configure Global Mapping
User mapping should be done before migrating the site. This will help the tool to recognize and map SharePoint Online user account with an existing user in the On-Premise environment.
In the ribbon menu, go to Settings -> Configure Global Mapping, this will open Specify Global Mapping dialog.
Select Source Site in the left pane of the dialog box, after selecting the site all user will be listed in below Items pane.
Select Target Site in the right pane of the dialog box, after selecting the site all user will be listed in below Items pane.
Select the User in left and a right pane of "Specify User Mapping" dialog box and click “Map”. The entry will be made in the below pane.
To unmap a user, select the entry in below pane and click “Unmap”.
Configuring Term Store Administrator
Metadata terms would migrate only when account used to connect tenant site to the tool has administrator privileges under Term Stores in SharePoint Admin Center Page.
Open Term Store in SharePoint Online Tenant Site.
Provide Administrator username in “Term Store Administrators” people picker.
Migration Configuration
Configuration wizard has various sections, where each section could be controlled by configuring the option provided by the Metalogix. We will go through all the sections and explore the option provided. Below are the steps to be followed to migrate the site.
Copy Site
In the ribbon menu, select “Connection”, As we have already connected the source and the target site it would load the site.
Under Explorer view, select desired site node, Right click and choose “Copy Site”.
Paste Site as Subsite
Select the desired site, right-click and choose “Paste Site as Subsite”.
Clicking “Paste Site as Subsite” will open a Simplified View of Configure Site Copying Options.
Simplified View
In Simplified View, the default value that displays in Advanced mode will automatically be applied. If you want to change the value of the option, click “Advanced Mode” and switch to the Advanced mode interface.
On the click of “Advanced Mode” at the bottom of the wizard, Advanced Mode interface will load where new wizard will be classified into the various sections and have the option to change the default values.
Below is the detailed explanation of each section in the configuration wizard.
Migration Mode
This will give an option to migrate/copy the site as per user need.
Full Copy: Will copy all the site content to the target site.
Incremental Copy: Will copy all site content since last migration.
Custom Copy: Has been categorized into 3 sections.
- Existing Sites
A user has an option to overwrite the sites or can update any from the option given.
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- Existing List
A user has an option to overwrite the lists or can update any from the option given.
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- Existing Items / Documents
A user has an option to overwrite the Items / Documents or can update any from the option given.
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Site Option
Site Option: Allows a user to select the target site template, and rename the site in the target.
It allows a user to control migration; i.e., the user can uncheck Copy Child Sites recursively if a user wishes not to copy the child.
Here, we have selected “Rename Site” to rename the site to “News 2018” while migrating.
List Content Options
The tool allows a user to configure list migration.
A user can uncheck “Copy Subfolders recursively” if migration should not copy subfolders. A user can also get a hold of migrating versioning.
Managed Metadata Options
Any Managed Metadata Term group which has been used in the site will be migrated to target.
To migrate metadata, On-Premise Metadata service should be mapped to SharePoint Online Metadata service.
Click on “...” button on Map term stores for migration, this will open a “Map Term Store” dialog box.
Right-clicking on term store will pop menu “Map to” where a user has to select SharePoint Online Managed Metadata Term Service.
Web Parts Options
Web part option gives an option, where a user can select if he wants to copy web parts on the landing page.
Permissions Options
Permission options allow a user to copy Permission level and also see if any unique permission is applied in any list/library/items.
Mapping Options
Mapping Options provides a user the ability to map users and groups and the ability to rename Sites, Lists and Folders.
To Rename a list, Enable “Rename Specific Sites, Lists and Folders” and click on the “...” button will open a dialog box where it will list all the content of Source site.
Right-click the desired node to rename and select “Rename Selected Node”.
Provide New List Name and Title in “Rename Settings” control.
Once the Renaming list is configured, the entry would appear in the “List of Renamed Tasks”
Filter Options
Filter options give a user the ability to filter, a user can write a rule/condition to skip/include a specific Site, List, Item and Site Column while migrating.
Enable the desired filter and click on the “...” button to write the rule for a filter.
Select appropriate Field, Operator, and Value to make a filter rule.
Once the rule is made, observe the rule in “Apply filter on Lists and Libraries”.
A filter will migrate the content if the condition or rules pass.
In the above migration, it's meant to skip “Ignore List” so the rule is like “Name must not equal Ignore List”. All lists will be migrated if the condition result is “True”.
Workflow Options
A User has an option to select whether the workflow should be migrated or not.
General Option
General Option has general migration options, where tool gives an option to change the old URL (On-Premise) to new SharePoint Online URL. A user can also configure SMTP and email details in “Send E-Mail After Copy” to receive an email from the tool with the log details.
Run Migration
On click of “Run” Migration will be started.
Once the Migration has completed, the tool provides us the detailed log which will be helpful to follow on Failures.
Job Panel
All performed/saved Jobs lists will be displayed in details. Saved Job can be executed and also we can check the log details of the job.
Click on any Job it would get the log of the particular job. To know more about job item, clicking on the job item in Log Viewer will get the details on Log Item.
Log Viewer
Log Viewer displays a list of all actions performed by the tool in the order they were executed.
Log Item Details
Log Item Details elaborates in detail about the task performed by the tool.
The below warning “Adding referenced user”, might occur when a user has not mapped in “Global User Mapping”.
The below error “Copying Web Parts on Form Page” might occur when list name has been renamed in the target site. The tool will have the reference for the old list name and try to migrate NewForm.aspx file with the same reference which has been changed.
Migrate Site Collection to SharePoint Online Site Collection
Under Explorer view, select desired site collection node, right-click and choose Copy Site.
Under Explorer View, select desired site collection node, right click and choose “Paste Site Collection -> Admin Mode”.
An Additional option “Site Collection Options” will be found while migrating to a Site Collection.
A user needs to select the appropriate Template as per the source's site collection and enter Site URL to be created in the target site.
A Site can be promoted as a Site Collection in the target. While pasting, a user needs to select a tenant node and right click and perform a paste.
Migrate an Item from On-Premise to SharePoint Online Site
Select List/Libraries, and click on “Item View” in Tab Menu which will load all the items.
List/Library items will be loaded in the pane.
Select desired Item/Document to be copied, right-click and click on “Copy”.
Select desired List/Libraries in target site and select “Item View” in Tab Menu, all item/documents will be loaded in the pane. Right click on the pane and click “Paste Selected Item”.
Create Site, List in Advance Mode
In the ribbon menu go to Settings -> Enable Advanced Mode, this will enable additional control in the Context Menu.
The Context menu will be loaded with additional functionality.
Create List
Right-click the desired Site, and select “Create List” in the Context menu.
Fill Site URL, Title, Description and Type.
Create Site
Right-click the desired Site, and select “Create Site” in the Context menu.
Fill Site URL, Title, Description and Template.
Quick Launch Settings
Right-click the desired Site, and select “Change Site Settings” -> “Quick Launch Settings” in the Context menu.
On Click “Quick Launch Settings”, will open a pop-up “Change Quick Launch Settings”. The settings window will have the option to changes the Current Navigation settings.
Comparison After Migration
All Site Content
As per the above configuration List “On-Premise List” has been migrated and renamed as “O365 List”, and as per filter rule, “Ignore List” has been not included as a part of a migration. Below is the screenshot of a source (On-Premise) and target (SharePoint Online).
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Site Column
All the custom site columns have been migrated to SharePoint Online site. Below is the screenshot of a source (On-Premise) and target (SharePoint Online).
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Content Types
All the custom Site Content Types have been migrated to SharePoint Online site. Below is the screenshot of a source (On-Premise) and target (SharePoint Online).
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Metadata
Term Store group “Company Location” has been migrated from On-Premise to SharePoint Online, as it's been configured in the list which was a part of this migration. Below is the screenshot of a source (On-Premise) and target (SharePoint Online).
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Landing Page Web part
All the pages have been migrated to the SharePoint Online with the web part provisioned in On-Premise. Below is the screenshot of a source (On-Premise) and target (SharePoint Online).
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Document Library
All the document in “Documents Library” have been migrated to the SharePoint Online site with versioning.
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List
All the items in “Employee Detail” have been migrated to the SharePoint Online site with lookup and metadata field. Below is the screenshot of a source (On-Premise) and target (SharePoint Online).
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- SharePoint Online List Metadata Data Field
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- SharePoint Online Lookup Field
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List View
Custom list view “Formatted View” have been migrated to the SharePoint Online site with versioning. Below is the screenshot of a source (On-Premise) and target (SharePoint Online).
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Workflow
Latest published Workflow will be migrated to the target site and associated with the appropriate list/library, whereas the workflow stage will not be migrated. A user may need to restart the Workflow in old items if required.
The workflow will execute as expected for new items. Below is the screenshot of a source (On-Premise) and target (SharePoint Online).
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- On-Premise Workflow Settings
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SharePoint Online Workflow Settings
There are a few other tools used to migrate from SharePoint On-Premise to SharePoint Online.
Microsoft FastTrack: This is Microsoft’s service to help get you into Office 365.
Windows PowerShell: Use PowerShell cmdlets to move content from SharePoint Server sites to Office 365
Third-party tools simplify the migration experience by simply copying SharePoint Lists, Libraries, Sites, Workflows, and Documents.
Few Migration tools listed below.
- Metalogix Content Matrix
- Microsoft SharePoint Migration Tool
- Sharegate
- Saketa SharePoint Migrator
We will look at how to use migrate customized SharePoint On-Premise to SharePoint Online and how to use other tools to migrate sites from SharePoint On-Premise to SharePoint Online in upcoming articles.
Reference
https://www.quest.com/products/metalogix-content-matrix/
Summary
In this article, we have seen how to migrate a Site from On-Premise to SharePoint Online, migrate List/Library item migration and Promote site to Site Collection using Metalogix Content Matrix Tools.