Migrate Data from File Server to OneDrive for Business

Read time 7 min

Organizations these days prefer to store and share their corporate work documents in SharePoint 2013 personal library which is also referred to as OneDrive for Business. After migrating these documents to OneDrive for Business, users can access the documents from anywhere outside the network.
Due to its increasing reputation and influence, people are becoming-more inclined to migrate data from conventional File Servers to the newly advanced OneDrive. But, migrating data from file servers to OneDrive is not as easy as it may seem to be and any lost data or connection loss can turn your migration task into a nightmare. However, a bit of planning can negotiate these problems without any drama.

These hurdles are:

• Problems in migrating File Server structure
• OneDrive for Business has limitation in file paths, number of files and file names
• The structure of File Server and the user names in Office 365 are not in agreement with each other

A third-party tool like Kernel Migrator for SharePoint possesses the ability to make this SharePoint migration task a simple and rewarding experience. File Server to OneDrive for Business migration takes just a few clicks as Kernel Migrator for SharePoint provides a clear path through any hurdles that you encounter in migration.

Step to Migrate File Server to OneDrive for Business in Kernel Migrator for SharePoint :

Step 1: Add OneDrive for Business in Destination Pane

1. In the “File” menu add new site item and then in the Add New Destination click on “Add OneDrive”.
2. After opening Add OneDrive for Business, the following wizard will occur.

Enter the desired details:

Project Name: Enter the name of the project.
Site Address: Provide the URL of the OneDrive Site.
User Name: Enter the username that has the administrative rights over the provided site.
Password: Enter the password.
Target Type: Target type drop down contains two options basically i.e. Admin Tenant Account and Personal User Account.

• Admin Tenant Account: This is an administrator account, it will count all users on which this account had privileges
• Personal User Account: This will add the personal account of a user

Step 2: Add File System in Source Pane

1. In the “File” menu Add File System and then in the Add New Source click on “File System”.
2. Add New File System will display the following wizard.

Enter the desired details:
Computer Name: Enter the computer name or IP Address.
Drive: Select a drive that needs to be connected as a File System for the software

3. After filling the details, click on validate connection. This will validate the connection.
4. After successful connection, the software may ask for login credentials.

In case of wrong parameters, “Add File System” wizard will terminate with error.
Step 3: File System to OneDrive for Business Migration

1. In the “File System”, select “File System to OneDrive Migration”. This will display following wizard:
2. The “ADD” tab will show the following options:

Add Files: This will add files from the local computer.
Add Folders: This will add a folder from the local file system.
Add Remote Files: This will add the files from the remote system.
Add Remote Folder: This will add the folders from the remote file system.

3. Add the required files/folders from the local or remote file system.

After selecting the files, all buttons will be activated.
Remove: It will remove the selected files/folders from the migration list.
Remove All: It will remove all files and folders from the migration list.
Groups/Users Permissions: This button will show the permissions of groups and users on any selected item.

4. The next step is to select the destination and the type of migration.

In bulk migration, Under the Project Name, select a project that contains an Admin Tenant Account.

5. The next step is to select the user accounts where an item will get migrated.

You can also select similar user accounts for all items or different accounts for different items.

6. Here is a snapshot of account list options for items.
7. By clicking next, a wizard will open which will display the migration options for migration from File System to OneDrive. Here, you can also add a filter to your migration process.
8. The next step will provide you with an option to migrate the permissions. You can also enable the Remap Users options to map the users.
9. To add new mapping, click on the Add New Mapping button and then enter the Source User Name and Destination User Name.
10. After clicking next, if you’re migrating the files/folders from the Remote File System, then you must specify the login credentials of the authorized user.
11. In the next step, you can either execute the migration immediately or you can schedule it for a later time.

Here is the Summary of the migration job.



Migration done successfully!

With Kernel Migrator for SharePoint, only a few simple steps are required for successful migration. Native methods are also available, but those methods are unreliable and require a lot of technical and coding knowledge to carry out successful migration. This is why SharePoint Migration is such an essential tool to help in such migration conditions. It’s reliable, effective, fast, and cost effective and it ensures migration without the migraine.