Content Matrix 9.11 - SharePoint Edition

Retrying Failed Document Copies to SharePoint Online 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.

Import Pipeline Batches Getting Stuck

Question

I am migrating some content using the Import Pipeline.  After some time the batches seem to simply stop. Why am I facing this issue?

Answer

Migration duration and overall performance using the the Import Pipeline may vary due to factors outside the control of Content Matrix. Migration processing resides within Microsoft's domain and is subject to Microsoft's internal processes, such as maintenance and upgrades.

You may experience a delay of several hours before batch completion if the machines that Microsoft uses undergo maintenance/upgrades or if there are Microsoft 365 service issues/outages (as can be seen in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center under Service Health).

Migrating Content When the Source Custom List Template is Missing

Question

I have a list on my source that uses a custom list template (ex. a "Fab 40" list) and I want to migrate that list to my new target SharePoint environment. However, I am unable to install that template on my target before migration. How will Content Matrix deal with this?

Answer

If at all possible, it is recommended that users install any custom list templates on the target environment before migration. That would allow Content Matrix to use those templates when migrating, and trying to reproduce the same results on the target. But there are some customizations within templates that Content Matrix is unable to migrate content or metadata into, such as the "Fab 40" templates.

In some cases users are unable to install the custom templates in the target environment, such as when migrating to Microsoft 365. In these cases Content Matrix will attempt to find the base template of the source customized list. Then it will create a list on the target using that same base template, and migrate the content into that list.

To help with this two variables have been added to the list XML attributes. They are:

·BaseTemplate - This is the value for the custom list template.

·BaseType - This is the value for the default template that any custom template is based on. If the custom template does not exist on the target, this template will be used for the list creation instead. Please see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/microsoft.sharepoint.client.basetype(v=office.14).aspx for more information on the SharePoint BaseType value.

These variables will help Content Matrix determine which base template to use so that an "Issue Tracking" list won't be created in a case where it should be a "Custom List" template.

Let's look at an example where you have a custom list on the source, and that list has a BaseTemplate value of "1011", a BaseType of "0", and has not been installed on the target. In this case, Content Matrix will look at the source list and find the BaseTemplate value of 1011. It will then look on the target to see if there is a template that has the same value. If it finds one, then Content Matrix will create a list with that template and migrate the data over. But, if the BaseTemplate value is not found on the target, then Content Matrix will look at the BaseType value instead, since this value should exist by default in the target SharePoint environment. In this example we also happen to know that a BaseType value of "0" is a "Custom List" or "Generic List" type. So Content Matrix will create a list on the target, using the "Custom List" template, and will then migrate the source data into that custom list.

When Migrating to SharePoint Online HTTP Status Code 429 (“Too many requests”) or 503 (“Server Too Busy”) Message Returned

Question

When migrating to SharePoint Online, why do I receive one or both of the following messages?

·429 (“Too many requests”)

·503 (“Server Too Busy”)

Answer

SharePoint Online uses throttling to maintain optimal performance and reliability of the SharePoint Online service.

As of version 9.8, Content Matrix has incorporated the use of RateLimit headers developed by Microsoft to reduce throttling.

Refer to the Microsoft article Avoid getting throttled or blocked in SharePoint Online for a description of RateLimit headers and additional tips on how to avoid throttling.