Requirements for On-Premises to Cloud Migrations with Vault Backups

When you plan to migrate on-premises vaults to M-Files Cloud, contact M-Files.

Before you create a backup of a local vault, read these requirements and restrictions.

Requirements

The on-premises M-Files Server must be upgraded to the latest available version. See System Requirements and Technical Details.

Important: Do not update M-Files Server to the latest available M-Files version if you have purchased a long-term support (LTS) service for M-Files Cloud. Refer to our release notes for information about the latest available LTS version.
If you use Microsoft SQL Server to host the vault database:
  • The server software must be upgraded to Microsoft SQL Server 2016 or later with the latest service pack installed.
  • The file data location must be changed from the vault database to a file system folder.
Error detection:
  • The database optimization and verify and repair operations must be successfully completed in the thorough mode in all the local vaults. If errors are found, they must be resolved before you create the backups. Report unresolved errors to M-Files.
  • The Microsoft Windows event log of the on-premises server must not contain errors that prevent the M-Files Cloud deployment. Report unresolved errors to M-Files.
User management:
  • A local synchronization and authentication system of Windows users on the M-Files server must be replaced with an M-Files Cloud compatible solution. For example, a local active directory to Microsoft Entra ID. For more information, see Document Vault Authentication.
  • Login accounts must be converted to vault-specific accounts on the local M-Files server. After this, existing server-specific login accounts must be transferred to the appropriate vaults.
Vault applications and scripts:
  • Custom vault applications installed to the local M-Files server must be upgraded to support Multi-Server Mode.
  • All the installed custom vault applications, scripts, and code must be validated. If you migrate to an isolated service in M-Files Cloud, this is not necessary.
  • Official M-Files add-ons installed to the local M-Files server must be upgraded to their latest version.

Restrictions

Server-level configurations are not supported and cannot be migrated to M-Files Cloud. Server-level configurations can include these components:
  • Microsoft Windows registry settings
  • PowerShell scripts
  • Microsoft Windows Task Scheduler tasks
  • Custom Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) drivers
  • Software installed to the local Microsoft Windows server