Content Matrix 9.9 - File Share Edition

SharePoint Site Collection Creation Issue

Question

I have been trying to create a new site collection through Content Matrix but I have been encountering issues. Why is this happening? and what can I do about it?

Answer

Starting with SharePoint 2013, most web applications use claims authentication, but the Central Administration web application that manages the server level settings uses Classic authentication. When Content Matrix Console connects to a SharePoint server it has to authenticate through a web application. When connected to a SharePoint 2013 or later web application that uses Claims authentication, SharePoint itself can have trouble recognizing that the accessing User account has permissions in the web application areas that are managed by Classic authentication. This is also true if connected to a web application that uses Classic authentication, if trying to access an area managed by Claims authentication.

The permissions to create site collections is managed by Classic authentication, so if connected through a Claims authentication web application users will receive a "401 Unauthorized" error message when trying to create a new site collection. This happens even if the user account has all of the appropriate permissions. If connecting through a Classic authentication web application, users will receive permission errors when trying to set any settings on a site collection that uses a Claims authentication web application, after the site collection is created.

Possible Errors when Creating Site Collection in SharePoint

Below is a list of errors (and their explanations) that you might encounter when trying to create site collections in SharePoint through Content Matrix Console.

·Error Message 1 - Unable to obtain Web Application '<web application name>'.
Explanation/Resolution - Content Matrix is unable to find the web application. This should not occur unless a serious issue within SharePoint has occurred from the time the site collection configuration dialog was displayed, and the call to the Metalogix Extensions Web Service (for remote OM connections) was made to perform the site collection creation. Check your SharePoint environment, and resolve any issues. Then try again.

·Error Message2 - Migrating user '<migrating user>' requires explicit Full Control on the web application where the site collection is intented to be created. If the migrating user is a member of the Farm Administrators group then connect to the Central Administration site and try again.
 
Explanation/Resolution - The migrating user has read permissions on the web application (using a farm or web connection type) that they're connected to, but does not have full control on the web application that they are trying to create the site collection in. To resolve this, the migrating user account must be added explicitly (by name) with Full Control to the respective Web Application that they are trying to create the site collection in. They can also create a site collection within any web application if they are a member of the Farm Administrator group in SharePoint, and they are connected to Central Administration as a farm connection.

Job List Database fails to Load After Upgrade

Question

I recently upgraded to Content Matrix Console version v.6.2.x.x and my Job List database is failing to load. What might be causing this issue? and how can I fix it?

Answer

This issue was likely caused by a recent upgrade to Content Matrix Console's security features. A security upgrade has been made in Content Matrix Console version 6.2.0.0 and later. This change has resulted in two potential issues that users can encounter. These issues and their resolutions are:

·Issue 1: The Job List database failing to load.
 
Resolution: When the Content Matrix Console client opens, an error message will prompt the user to open the Job List file again. Go down to the Job List section and click File > Open Job List. This will open a Browser window. Navigate to the location that contains the LST file for the Job List that was previously listed in the Job List section. Then select the LST file and click Open. The Job List will now be loaded and users can continue as normal.
 
Due to the security upgrades in version 6.2.0.0 and later, the security settings for the Job List need to be upgraded. Content Matrix Console cannot do this while the job is actively selected, but can apply the update to the existing Job List the next time it is loaded back to the Job List section of the client application.

·Issue 2: Any connections that have had the Save my credentials check box selected will no longer have their passwords saved.
 
Resolution: For any connections that had their credentials previously saved by using the Save my credentials option, you will need to connect or reconnect to that environment and enter the password in again, then complete the connection. The security upgrade has caused the encryption file for any saved passwords within Content Matrix Console to be upgraded, and to apply this upgrade to this file, any saved passwords must be re-entered.

Migrating Empty Folders

Question

Is it possible to migrate any empty folder within my File Share?

Answer

Yes, it is possible to migrate any empty folders into SharePoint. By default any empty folders that exist within the File Share folder structure will be migrated into the target SharePoint environment.

If the configuration options for the migration are set to determine the folder name (that each file should be migrated into) based on the data in a custom column, then any empty folders will still be migrated but they will ignore this setting and instead use the original empty folder name.

Retrying Failed Document Copies to O365 CSOM Connections

Question

When I try to migrate some of my content into Microsoft 365 using a SharePoint CSOM or Microsoft 365 Tenant connection type, and this content contains a large Document Library, I see that some of my documents fail to migrate. The logs for the failure indicate that a "HTTP 500 - Internal Server Error" was thrown. What is the cause of this? And how can I fix it?

Answer

There is a potential issue when migrating specifically to SharePoint Online where users can encounter an "HTTP 500" error. This is caused by a combination of the CSOM/Tenant connection adapter and SharePoint's document upload methods. To help resolve this issue there is a document retry feature that can be configured. This retry feature will attempt to upload the document(s) into the SharePoint Online  target, and depending on the configured setting, will attempt to retry the upload process if it fails or times-out on the initial try.

The below steps will explain how to enable and configure this retry setting.

NOTE: This retry method is only meant for migrating to SharePoint Online targets. If you are migrating to an on premises target, then this retry feature will not benefit you since it makes use of Microsoft 365 specific methods.

1.Make sure that the Content Matrix client application is closed.

2.In the file system that the Content Matrix Console client application is installed on, navigate to the the appropriate file location:

·If you are required to be a local administrator on the machine where Content Matrix is installed:  C:\ProgramData\Metalogix

OR

·If you are not required to be a local administrator on the machine where Content Matrix is installed: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Metalogix\Common

3.In this location there should be an EnvironmentSettings.xml file. Open this file in an editor program. For example, Notepad, etc.

4.There are two variables that will need to be modified in order for the retry method to work. They are:

·CSOMDocumentRetriesNumber - This value determines the number of times that Content Matrix will make another attempt to upload/migrate any document(s) that has failed the initial document upload try, when migrating to a SharePoint Online CSOM target.

·CSOMDocumentRetriesDelay - This value determines the amount of time, in seconds (s), that Content Matrix will wait before starting a document upload retry, and is based on the above ("CSOMDocumentRetriesNumber") variable.

NOTE: The default values for these two variables will be set as "0". Users can set these values as desired, based on what works best for their environment.

5.After the desired values have been entered in the two variables, save and close the file.

6.Restart the Content Matrix client application. The changes should now be in Content Matrix Console, and used when running any migration to a SharePoint Online target environment.

After these values have been set and the client application has been restarted, any documents that fail on the initial migration attempt we be retried.

IMPORTANT:  If these steps do not resolve the issue and you are using the Import Pipeline for the migration, the error may be pipeline-related.  See "Error, the batch will be resubmitted" Message Displays When Using the Import Pipeline for details.