Migrating Sharepoint Content
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February 2011 harePoint migrations provide many challenges, • Review the SQL maintenance plans to ensure that but if done properly they can yield signifi cant log fi les are being shrunk, and that the database benefi ts to an organization. This Essential Guide consistency checker is running. provides an overview of the options you should • Test a recent backup of the SharePoint 2007 Sconsider when migrating to SharePoint 2010, includ- environment. Just because the backup looks like it ing assessing readiness to migrate, an overview of the has been completing doesn’t mean it can actually The Essential Guide to standard Microsoft options, and the advantages of using be restored, and many (most?) organizations don’t AvePoint’s DocAve SharePoint Migrator tool. The guide test restores often enough. also covers DocAve compatibility with non-SharePoint data repositories. • Compare the production farm to a new, uncustom- The term migration summons forth images of birds or ized farm with a tool such as WinDiff and look for Migrating SharePoint diff erences. other animals moving in an orderly fashion across great distances, and is quite apt when talking about the data • Review the web.confi g fi les for the production that needs to be moved. You can argue that an In-Place IIS web sites (typically located in the C:\inetpub\ Upgrade isn’t technically a migration, but I’ve found that wwwroot\wss\VirtualDirectories folder), look Content these are few and far between and generally don’t meet for safe controls that aren’t Microsoft, look for the needs of most organizations (I discuss this below). application keys (for example the text string Figure 4: Job Detail Viewed from the Job Monitor While many diff erent types of SharePoint migrations are “PublicKeyToken”). possible, due to the large number of SharePoint-branded as replacing a Single Line of Text column with a Managed needs a source (which can be a variety of products, as dis- Look in the GAC (typically the C:\Windows\As- products that have been released by Microsoft over • Metadata column). cussed above) and a SharePoint 2010 farm (or other target, sembly folder); third-party DLLs are a sure sign the past decade, this guide focuses on the most typi- • Replace a source template ID with a new template as discussed above) and then its engine takes care of migrat- that there might be something custom in the cal migrations occurring today, which tend to be from ID on a list or site level. This could be used to change ing the content to its new home without forcing additional environment. SharePoint 2007 to SharePoint 2010. sites created from a Team Site template to a custom- work on the part of the IT team responsible for the migra- tion. The new source does need to be confi gured and ready Although SharePoint 2003 (2.0) and even SharePoint • Look in the solution store (Central Administration ized template to add functionality to corresponding > Operations tab > Global Confi guration> Solution sites. to receive content, but the DocAve migration tools make this By Colin Spence Portal Server 2001 (1.0) environments are still in pro- duction, they are less common and pose additional Management), because many customizations are • very easy and intuitive. Should the organization choose to Filter options include: cull or trim older data, or reduce the number of versions of challenges due to the age of the software. For example, deployed through solutions. • Time Range settings based on created time or modi- documents migrated, or change templates used, or levels of no direct migration path from the 1.0 or 2.0 versions of • Look in the SharePoint hive, especially in the fi ed time permissions migrated, these options are all possible through SharePoint technologies, including SharePoint Portal layouts, images, and themes folders (generally in Server 2001, SharePoint Portal Server 2003, SharePoint • Version fi lters to set the number of versions captured, the DocAve tools. C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ Team Services, and Windows SharePoint Services 2.0 to Web Server Extensions\12). and whether major only or major and minor versions SharePoint 2010 is supported using Microsoft out-of- are captured. Going Forward • Review the programs from the Control Panel to A basic set of preparation tasks to perform prior to an up- the-box tools. Using Microsoft techniques, the only way look for third-party applications. Although this partial list of Mapping options and Filter grade or migration to SharePoint 2010 are provided, along to migrate these older SharePoint environments to 2010 options might seem overwhelming for organizations want- with the hardware and operating system requirements for is to upgrade the servers and sites to SharePoint 2007 Service Pack 2 for SharePoint 2007 includes a pre- ing to use the migration process as a means of cleaning up SharePoint 2010 that IT should be familiar with before em- fi rst, and then follow one of the valid migration paths. upgrade check utility that lets administrators check the the data that ends up in the SharePoint 2010 lists and librar- barking on a SharePoint upgrade or migration. By perform- AvePoint off ers tools to migrate SharePoint 2003 content readiness of their environment for upgrade to SharePoint ies, they can be very valuable. By using the fi lters, IT could ing these tasks and being familiar with the requirements for to SharePoint 2010, but these tools aren’t reviewed in 2010. This pre-upgrade check runs as an extension to the migrate content that has been changed in the last two years SharePoint 2010 IT can start to get a sense of the organiza- detail in this guide. However, the interfaces and capabili- STSADM command-line tool. Assuming the SharePoint to a new production site, migrate older content to an archive tion’s best migration and upgrade path. ties of these tools are similar to the SharePoint 2007 to 2007 environment is completely upgraded to SP2, you site, and then—to further reduce total data migrated— I’ve provided a solid grounding in the out-of-the-box 2010 migration tools discussed. can run this tool with minimal risk because it’s read-only migrate only the last major version of documents. upgrade and migration options. I’ve also discussed the “offi - and makes no modifi cations to any of the fi les on the As you’ll also see in in Figure 3, the Plan Builder provides cial” Microsoft methods and reviewed the DocAve SharePoint Assessing Reasons to Migrate server. Run the pre-upgrade check by typing several options for managing archived data. If the DocAve Migrator toolset with an eye toward the tools that you would Without lingering unduly on the topic, an organization stsadm -o preupgradecheck Storage Optimization tools were used to archive data, you have at your fi ngertips. should have clear reasons to move from one SharePoint The pre-upgrade check tool runs through a number of could migrate this content without needing to fi rst restore For organizations with smaller, simpler SharePoint 2007 platform to another. Just because a new version of tests and checks the environment for compliance with it to the SQL Server content databases. This is also true if the implementations, the hybrid Read-Only Database approach SharePoint (or any other software) is on the market SharePoint 2010 requirements. It produces a detailed you archived content by using the free DocAve Extender. is typically the recommended method from my experience doesn’t mean that it makes solid business sense for the report that outlines which areas of the existing farm are The DocAve Extender offl oads SharePoint BLOBs to fi le- because it’s the least impactful on the source data. Should organization to migrate. However, once the decision has ready for upgrade, and which ones are in need of reme- based storage and utilizes Microsoft EBS and RBS interfaces. this process fail, or if an organization realizes that the more been made and before too many commitments are made diation before they can be upgraded. Once in SharePoint Server 2010, you can then migrate from sophisticated toolset provided by AvePoint in the DocAve in terms of the timeline, you should review the existing Another best practice is to create an Excel grid of the EBS BLOB API technology to the newer RBS technology on SharePoint Migrator product would ease the migration pro- SharePoint environment (assuming 2007 for this guide) diff erent site collections and sites and then record infor- SharePoint Server 2010 for content externalization. cess, I recommend that the product be evaluated and tested. to predict the challenges that might lie in the way. By mation of interest that will be useful during the migra- Reporting on the results of the plan are very fl exible, and getting a better understanding of the current state of the tion. For example, a key piece of information is whether the logs of the migrations are quite detailed. This allows IT to Colin Spence, an MCP and a MCTS in SharePoint and a SharePoint 2007 environment, IT can better decide on the the site or site collection will be migrated. Similar to be alerted when migrations fi nish, and fi nd complete details Partner at Convergent Computing, performs in the roles of upgrade path and process. the process of moving to a new house, a migration is a of the migration from the DocAve interface. Figure 4 shows Senior Architect, Practice Manager, and Technical Writer for You should review the overall health of the SharePoint good time to hire a dumpster and get rid of “stuff ” that the basic job detail available from the Job Monitor after a the organization.