Migrate GroupWise Archives to Live Exchange/Office 365

Read time 7 minutes

GroupWise users benefit from a collaborative platform encompassing email, contacts, documents, and Personnel Information System (PIS). However, the shift to flexible cloud platforms like Office 365 has become prominent. Office 365 offers essential Microsoft tools such as MS Office Suite, Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Skype for Business, and Yammer, accessible from anywhere. Businesses are seeking methods or tools to migrate data from GroupWise to Office 365 or opt for a hybrid deployment, combining GroupWise to on-premises Exchange to harness Office 365’s features.

Migration of GroupWise Archives to Office 365/Exchange

A significant challenge in migrating GroupWise to Office 365 is identifying and migrating the GroupWise archive. The archive is typically stored on a local drive or network folder, with its location determined by the GroupWise client. This decentralized setup makes it challenging for others to pinpoint the archive’s location. Failing to locate the archive can lead to an incomplete and potentially error-ridden migration.

For a successful migration, it’s crucial to employ a migration tool well-versed in GroupWise environments. Kernel for Novell GroupWise to Exchange is such a tool, offering the ability to select the archive mailbox’s location directly. This streamlined process minimizes the steps required for migration and allows data to be saved directly to Office 365, live Exchange, or Outlook PST.

Let’s explore the straightforward migration process from GroupWise to Exchange/Office 365.
Here is the process from the beginning:

1. Launch the software. On the home screen, you will see the following options to select:
   • Multiple mailboxes using Proxy or (Online, Remote mailbox, caching mailbox, and archive).
   • Multiple mailboxes using Batch File.
     Because you want to migrate the archive, so click the first option. Click Next.
     
2. Check the option ‘Show Archive,’ and there are two options:
   • Use the Default Archive path.
   • Specify Archive Path.
     If you did not change the location of the archive path, then choose the default archive path. Otherwise, click the browse button and select the archive path. Click Next.

     

3. The tool requires the login credentials of the GroupWise account. Provide the full details like User Name, Password, and Online Address/Caching mailbox path/remote mailbox path. Click OK.
   
4. The archive mailbox is displayed. You can visit any folder, item and get its preview. Select the required folders and click Export.

   

5. Select the second option ‘Save to Live Exchange/Office 365’. Click OK.
   
6. The wizard shows two separate options where you can provide the details.
   
7. Provide the Domain Name, User Name, and Password. Then click, OK.
   
   Note: For Office 365, you can provide User ID and Password.
8. Select the destination Exchange Server and User Mailbox from the drop-down. Click OK.
   
9. Perform the mapping for source archive with destination Exchange mailbox. You can click the Mapping button for further mapping.
   
10. Select the target Exchange mailboxes and click OK.
    
11. The Export Options wizard brings different filters like Select item types and Specify date filters. Click Export.
    
12. The migration starts for the archive data.
    
    You can choose to click the Stop button and stop the migration.

The process of migrating the Archive data to Office 365 is entirely similar to the process for Exchange. Here, you need to input the details for Office 365 credentials; click the OK button.

The further process remains the same as for Exchange, including the mapping of the mailboxes and applying filters.

Conclusion

Kernel for Novell GroupWise to Exchange supports GroupWise users looking to transition to more advantageous platforms like Exchange Server and Office 365. Its intuitive user interface simplifies GroupWise mailbox data selection, filtering, and mapping to the destination. Post-migration, accessing your data at the destination is hassle-free.