Migrating Notes archives with Migrator for Notes to Exchange

The first step in migrating Notes archives with Migrator for Notes to Exchange (MNE) is to determine where the archive files are located. The location of Notes archives can vary between Notes deployments and can also vary by user or department. Most commonly, Notes archives are stored locally on the user’s workstation. Notes can also be configured to keep a replica copy of the user’s Notes archives on the Domino server.

There are three main scenarios when migrating Notes archives:

• Archives reside on users’ local machines, there are currently no replicas on the Domino server and no intention of creating any.

In this case, the MNE Self-Service Desktop Migrator (SSDM) utility can be launched by end-users for them to migrate their archives from their own workstation where their archive resides. The SSDM utility can be customized via an INI file to limit the amount of end-user interaction to complete the migration process.

• Archives reside on users’ local machines and although there is no intention of creating a replica on the Domino server, the migration administrator is able to gather user archives to a central shared folder (file share) location.

In this case, the MNE Migration Manager console can be used to “Locate Notes Data Stores”. The Locate Notes Data Stores wizard can then be set to “Scan file system directories that I specify”, pointed to this shared folder location, where it will walk through the shared folder tree to analyze the Domino ACLs on the archive files to determine the owner. The following screenshots depict the process:

In order to assist in examining the Domino ACLs, it may be necessary to list any Domino administrator users that may have access the end-users Notes archive, so that the administrator accounts are not considered when matching archives to Notes users.

Once the Locate Notes Data Stores wizard has successfully ran and associated the archive files to the correct users, then you can move on to the Migrate User Data wizard and select Archives to complete the archive migration. 

• Archives reside on the Domino server as replicas.

In this case, the MNE Migration Manager console can be used to “Locate Notes Data Stores”. The Locate Notes Data Stores wizard can then be set to “Scan for replicas on the server” where you can specify the name of the Domino server that contains the replicas and select the folder on the server where the replicas reside.

In order to assist in examining the Domino ACLs, it may be necessary to list any Domino administrator users that may have access the end-users Notes archive, so that the administrator accounts are not considered when matching archives to Notes users.

Once the Locate Notes Data Stores wizard has successfully ran and associated the archive files to the correct users, then you can move on to the Migrate User Data wizard and select Archives to complete the archive migration.

Once you have located your Notes archives and associated them with a user, using the steps above, you are ready to pick a destination for these archives in Exchange. Options include, creating a PST file, migrating directly to normal Exchange mailbox, or migrating to an Exchange Online Archive (or In-Place Archive in Office 365).

You can download an evaluation of Migrator for Notes to Exchange from the trial download page.

Don’t forget to come visit us on the Migrator for Notes to Exchange discussion forums!