Content Matrix 9.9 - Public Folder Edition

Changing a Job Configuration for Multiple Files

Question

Is it possible to change the configuration for multiple job files at one time in the Job List section of Content Matrix?

Answer

Yes, this is possible. Most users will only need to change the configuration of a single job in the Job List section, but it is possible to change the configuration for multiple jobs at one time.

In order to modify the configuration for multiple job files at one, select all of the jobs in the Job List section. Once all of the desired jobs are selected there are two methods that can be used to access the configuration dialog. The first is to click the Change Configuration button at the top of the Job List, and the second method is to open the context (right-click) menu, and select the Change configuration for selected jobs option.

The behavior for changing the configuration of multiple files at once changes slightly depending on the version of Content Matrix Console that is being used.

Behavior in Versions 6.1.00 and Later

When changing the configuration for multiple files that use the same type of action at once, only settings that are changed during the re-configuration will be pushed into all of the selected jobs. This means that even if all of the jobs contain different settings, they will all still contain these different settings after the configurations have been modified. Only the settings that were re-configured will be changed (to whatever setting they were changed to).

Let's look at the example of three "Paste Site" jobs that are previously configured, and each has a different Rename action applied to it as well as a few various other differences in selected options. When the Change Configuration is applied to all three at once, only the settings that were reconfigured will be affected. So if the web part options were changed, then those options will be applied to all three jobs, but each will still retain their original Rename setting, and any other settings that were configured even if there are differences.

Behavior in Versions 6.0.0201 and Earlier

When changing the configuration for multiple files that use the same type of action at once, all of the selected files will have the options for the first job in the Job List section pushed into them, regardless of any other setting the previously used. Basically, all of the jobs after the first select job in the Job List will be modified to use all of the settings from the Change Configuration dialog.

Let's look at the example of three "Paste Site" jobs that are previously configured, and each has a different Rename action applied to it as well as a few various other differences in selected options. When the Change Configuration is applied to all three at once, all of the configuration options that are set for the first of the selected jobs in the Job List will be pushed to the two remaining jobs. These two remaining jobs would then use all of the exact same configuration options as the first job, including the values for the rename options. Any of the previous settings for the two remaining jobs would be lost (because they are replaced with the first jobs configuration options).

SharePoint 2013 and 2016 Site Collection Creation Issue

Question

I have been trying to create a new Site Collection in SharePoint 2013 or later 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.

In SharePoint 2013 and later, 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 2013 or later

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.

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 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 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.

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.