R-Drive to Microsoft 365 Storage using the SharePoint Migration Tool

Table Of Contents:

Before proceeding with migration please review the resource documents:

For an overview of the preparation and migration process: Academic Support R: drive migrations - getting started

For Tips and Best Practices in using SPMT: Tips for R-drive Migration with SharePoint Migration Tool

Before you start

This guide assumes:

• You have already cleaned up your content using the instructions in the documents listed above

• You have appropriate permissions to the source and destination file location(s)

• You have setup and configured the destination file location(s)

• You have communicated the change and migration schedule with anyone that uses the files

Obtaining and Installing SharePoint Migration Tool

• Microsoft provides the SharePoint Migration Tool (SPMT) for moving files from local drives, network drives, or SharePoint 2016 sites.

  • For information using SPMT please see the article. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepointmigration/how-to-use-the-sharepoint-migration-tool#using-the-sharepoint-migration-tool

• To download the current version of SPMT, navigate to https://spmt.sharepointonline.com/install/default.htm .

  • Permissions: You must be workstation Administrator to install this software on the workstation.

  • Workstation Setup: We recommend using a “wired” connection on a Nexus workstation
    
    

Running SPMT

Step-by-step guide

1. When launching SPMT you will be prompted for your Microsoft 365 (M365) credentials. If you have logged in before it will cache the last username. You can use a different username by choosing use another account

   Open

   

    

2. Once you are logged in to the M365 service, SPMT will offer to review/rerun previous migrations or start a new migration. For this guide, select Start a new migration

   Open

   

    

3. Next, choose your source. Since this is a guide for R-Drives choose File Share.

4. You have the option to enter the source path, browse for the path, or copy and paste. In these instructions, we will browse for the path since in our case the R-drive is a mapped drive.

   1. Select Migrate selected folder and folder contents if you need to keep all subfolders and structure

   2. Click Choose folder . A new window willopen.

   3. Click on the down arrow next to This PC

   4. Scroll down to find the R-Drive and the R-Drive folder you wish to copy.

   5. Click OK

      In this case, we have chosen the Faculty of Science R-Drive and then selected the Physics Admin Office Share and the Budgets Folder. We can choose a sub-folder if we wish.

5. Once you have the correct source path click on the NEXT button to choose the M365 Destination platform. Here we are choosing the SharePoint option. Click on SharePoint.

   Why is SharePoint the correct option?
   Content in a Departmental Drive or Network Share is often meant as shared collaboration storage. OneDrive is for personal files storage
   MSTeams stores files in a custom SharePoint Online site associated with the Teams site. Since it is a SharePoint Online, we can use the same method for Teams and for SharePoint Online as a destination. Simply open your Teams FILES location in SharePoint Online.
   MS Teams Private Channels do not work with SPMT if you choose the Teams migration option. Instead, you need the direct SharePoint Online URL.
   
   
   

   We suggest opening your site and destination document library in a browser.
   In our example below we are copying content to the Physics SharePoint site. The displayed URL is https://uofwaterloo.sharepoint.com/sites/sci-phys/finance/Budget/Forms/AllItems.aspx.

   
   But, we only need the part as far as the sub-site name: https://uofwaterloo.sharepoint.com/sites/sci-phys/finance/Budget.
   Always ignore the part /Forms/FILENAME.ASPX at the end of the URL

    

6. Enter the URL in the field under Select a destination. SPMT tries to suggest a URL. We will replace the suggested path as shown below.

7. By entering the Sub-Site URL: SPMT will offer to browse any available Document Library names

    

8. Click Next and the window will update showing Library options – since we pasted Budget as the Library it should show this as the second field – otherwise, click on the dropdown to correct. Click Next

    

9. Give your migration a meaningful name and ensure the Source and Destination locations are correct. SPMT will offer a name based on the date and time stamp. Click Next (or Save for later)

    

10. After clicking NEXT we are offered settings and options for the Migration we have created. Not all settings are displayed, and additional settings can be found under View All Settings. For this document example, we will only look at the default displayed settings

    1. Ensure that the Only Perform Scanning is ON

       1. This setting ensures that a Pre-Scan of the migration is run, and errors reported

    2. ENABLE Start migration automatically if no scan issue found to start the migration

       1. Leave this OFF if you just want the Pre-Scan reports

    3. ENABLE Preserve file share permissions if you want the process to try to copy current permissions. This may not always work correctly.

       1. DISABLE this setting if you have created new permissions on the new destination.
          Note Preserve permissions may not be desired and will not work if the user or group does not exits in M365.

    4. ENABLE Migrate file version history and Automate user mapping

       1. This attempts to retain the file metadata

    5. Click SCAN to start the SCAN and Migration process.
       Scan only:

        

       Scan and migrate: (Begins the migration after the Scan is complete)

        

       Once the SCAN/Migration is completed, SPTM will report the results

       The Migration may take an extended period for large data repositories. Migration speed will vary based on network speed, computer disk speed, and the amount of data to be copied. See also https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepointmigration/spmt-performance-guidance for information to improve the migration performance.

11. When the SCAN/Migration is completed, choose Save

     

12. Then review the migration results.

• Migration details takes you to the Migration settings and config files

  • C:\Users\yourusername\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\MigrationTool\uwaterloo.ca\WF_50358258\Report

• View Reports takes you to the specific folder for the log files for what was copied and any errors

  • C:\Users\yourusername\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\MigrationTool\uwaterloo.ca\WF_50358258\Report\TaskReport_aa087fae\

  • These Reports can be overwhelming – in general, you want to look for the Summary to see if everything was copied;

  • Errors on what was skipped and why: ItemFailureReport_R1.csv

• Note in this example migration the displayed summary in SPMT shows that there were no errors, and all items were copied.

Related articles