Overview

Box Shuttle acts as an intermediary between various content management systems, allowing you to transfer folders, files, permissions, and standard metadata from these platforms to Box.

You have two options to migrate your data:

• Migrate data only: migrates files and folders from a selected source path of an account or folder to the selected target location without applying permissions.
• Migrate data with permissions: transfers files and folders and creates collaborations to reflect source permissions. This type of migration job is suitable for comprehensive management of files, accounts, and privileges throughout the entire data migration process.

This guide provides instructions on how to migrate data only. For migrating data with permissions, see Data migration with permissions.

Create a new job

To create a new job select Migrate Data from the New Job drop-down menu.

Select source system

Select the source system from which the data will be migrated.

If you don’t have an existing source system available, set it up using Source system configuration instructions.

Box Shuttle cannot alter or modify your source data.

Map files and folders

For each source account and/or folder you wish to migrate, select the target account and folder to which the data will be migrated. When you select a folder, it will migrate the folder or account and all of the files and folders inside that folder. You can, however, deselect specific subfolders or files in these folders if you don’t want them migrated.

To select the target location, click Choose Target Location to open a panel in which you can choose the target Box account.

You can map the entire account, or a specific folder or file in this account. You can also create a new folder within that account. The icon hides the rows without any mapping defined.

Setting parent directory

You can set a parent directory that Shuttle will create in each target location for the migrated content.

To do so:

1. Click the folder icon next to the search bar.
2. Enter the name for the parent directory and confirm.

The mapping indicators next to the mapped folders help you to map the folders effectively. 

It is worth noting that actions you perform on the child folder level are indicated at the parent folder level. Have a look at the example:

1. A source folder is explicitly mapped to a folder in a target account. Additionally, one of the child folders or files is redirected, and will be migrated to a target folder in a different account. This results in a redirect icon appearing on the parent folder level.
2. This source folder was redirected to a different target account, and a child folder (or file) was skipped.
3. This folder was skipped and won’t be migrated.

Item	Level of display	Description
	Folder	An item in a specific folder is explicitly included in the migration. This file will be migrated, even though the folder will not.
	Folder	Files in the folder were skipped. These files will not be migrated.
	Folder, Account	An item in the folder was redirected to a different folder or account.
	Folder, Account	A file or files in one of the child folders are explicitly included in the migration. Icon displayed when you select files in several folders.
	File, Folder, Account	Clears the mapping from source to target.
	File, Folder, Account	Opens the list with target account folders. Use it to: Select a different folder Rename the folder
	File, Folder, Account	Skips the file in the folder. This file will not be migrated..
	File, Folder, Account	Includes the skipped file in the migration.

Choose migration type

After you are done with the mapping, proceed to select the Migrate Data Only from the available options.

Define filters and additional settings

• Filter settings allow you to further specify which folders and files to include in the migration or exclude from the process.
  
  
  • Standard Filter settings ignore temp and system files, and migrate everything else. 
  • Advanced Filter settings filter the content on the basis of a regular expression, date, or size.

• File versions settings allow you to choose whether to migrate the most recent version only, or all versions of the file.
  • If you select "Current Version" on the initial transfer, Shuttle will only transfer the most recent version. Even if you select "All Versions" on a subsequent run of the job, Shuttle cannot transfer any past or historical versions prior to that most recent version.
  • If you need past versions, please make sure to select "All Versions" on your first job run.
  • A best practice for migration management is that once you start migrating data with a given version setting - on or off - you should not change it within a given job.

Define run settings

In the Run Settings section you can specify the following items:

• Bandwidth to manage the upload speed.
• Mirror Deletions if you want to delete the files from the target location if they are no longer available in the source.
  
  This option will remove any files from the target that do not exist on the source, even if those files never existed on the source. This option should be used only if no one is actively using the accounts and folders into which content is being migrated as it can lead to accidental data loss. It is highly recommended to always run simulations and review reports prior to executing any transfer run where data may be deleted.

Verify data

During the pre-run validation you can see the summary including the data you want to migrate and the job settings to verify if they are correct before proceeding with the migration. If you would like to make changes, click the breadcrumbs menu at the top to go back to the part you want to change.

Run simulation

Simulations allow you to get an estimate on runtime and check for potential issues or errors prior to migrating your data. This is an important step to validate your migration configuration, and Box recommends running a simulation before performing a transfer to encourage positive migration outcomes.

Some simulation incompatibilities for Box include files larger than the maximum size supported and filtered system files, such as thumbs.db or other similar extensions. Note that simulations will detect many, but not all, potential errors that will occur in a transfer job.

When to run a simulation?

• After setting up your first job
• When you make with job configuration changes
• If data on your source or Box target changes significantly (including data being moved or renamed)
• Before migrating permissions

Clicking Run Simulation starts the process. This may take anywhere from a few minutes to several days, depending on how much content there is to analyze. Once a simulation is complete, view the results of the estimated job details similar to an analysis job. Preview the simulation results to make the live transfer a more seamless experience.

When the simulation job has finished, the reports tell you what files and how many bytes of data would have been transferred, and what files, if any, would be deleted. Additionally, the simulation: 

• Identifies the size of content on the source, the number of files, and total bytes.
• Assesses how many files and bytes will transfer during synchronization runs. Also identifies files that transfer during the sync. This is helpful for evaluating whether or not to run the sync.
• Identifies and troubleshoots transfer errors quickly, such as Access denied, when comparing results to a direct transfer. Simulation jobs also help evaluate drive and network connectivity problems.
• Provides an  estimated time to complete a data migration, and potential congestion issues impacting transfer speed.
  
  This estimate is a guideline only; the actual transfer may take more or less time depending on a number of factors.

Run transfer

Selecting Run Transfer starts the migration process. After it is finished, you can examine the results. 

Schedule migration

You can schedule the job to run the job at a given time and re-run them at configurable intervals.

For more details on scheduling, see Scheduling jobs.

Reporting

After the simulation or transfer is done, you can view the results by clicking View Job Report. For details on report types and exporting reports, see Reporting.