Migration - Vanilla Success
<main> <article class="userContent"> <h2 data-id="overview">Overview</h2><p>Vanilla offers full, professional migration services from nearly any platform imaginable. If you provide the data, we’ll figure out how to make it work in Vanilla.</p><p>The process below assumes you will provide a database dump. We also perform API-based migrations from cloud services when that is necessary and possible. Talk to your account representative if you require a different type of migration like this.</p><h2 data-id="estimating-your-migration">Estimating your migration</h2><ol><li>You provide the platform name, version number (if applicable), and number of users & posts for your current community platform.</li><li>Vanilla will provide an SFTP drop.</li><li>You provide a test dump of your data to the SFTP. This is typically a database dump, but may include additional files like avatars or attachments depending on your platform. <strong>Please provide a full dump for an accurate estimate</strong>. Vanilla will generally accept an NDA if one is required.</li><li>You provide the email address for the user that will become the owner account.</li><li>You provide any working username & password combination for testing.</li><li>Vanilla will evaluate the data and provide a cost estimate and, if requested, a downtime estimate (how long your forum will need to be offline during the transition).</li><li>Vanilla will provide feedback on concerns, limitations, or other needs.</li></ol><h2 data-id="test-migration">Test migration</h2><ol><li>Vanilla will import your test dump to a Vanilla forum.</li><li>You review the test import and provide feedback on data integrity.</li><li>Vanilla makes any corrections necessary.</li><li>You provide a list of URL patterns that will need to be 301 redirected (discussions, profiles, categories, etc). We will have a pre-existing list for most common platforms, but be sure to mention any customizations or special URLs you need us to handle.</li><li>Vanilla implements the 301 redirects and you test them.</li><li>A final migration is scheduled.</li></ol><h2 data-id="final-migration">Final migration</h2><ol><li>You place your current forum into read-only mode.</li><li>You create a fresh data dump, upload it to Vanilla’s SFTP, and notify your contact(s) at Vanilla.</li><li>Vanilla confirms it received your final dump and the final import begins.</li><li>Vanilla notifies you when the import is complete.</li><li>You verify the import is correct.</li><li>You switch over DNS, SSO, and/or any other final switchovers. Consult with your Vanilla contact if you are unsure.</li><li>If your forum was previously on a domain not being redirected to your new forum, be sure to 301 redirect the folder (with the entire URL intact) to your new forum.</li><li>You’re done. Sweet!</li></ol><h2 data-id="migration-security">Migration security</h2><p>Migration data should always be sent to Vanilla via SFTP, available by request to your Account Manager. Data can optionally be encrypted using Vanilla’s Public Key, provided below:</p><pre class="code codeBlock" spellcheck="false" tabindex="0">-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- mQINBF2eA3ABEACdw0ahTEiqUF7XL8kU5dB6ySaqyxGIdDCHAKspbDAxN4TC2LUN SWzIlfKmBVDZYERHXEP+tEToozI1Svcabfw+2LObwTYR3RVw0OvWmwaNm+BiiDut AAl56Cwutnzysd58OPjG4BXoe9scgWBgNt+kJliGUAUb6LvBpAzFCg53gcHp6khQ I3MKljnxFAR9BV6/UaOMOS2zaaYFKua2JKBgh/6/U2StZwoFkZstHTAZgFIDaRMx 8Bt8EfuWKYAJIK6vrXPenVU73DqTeYSQxDB4mvZOENzZA3OvRisvXwPdGN/n7wkr gTP/DKCGZn4ukyXy3Bf4D95WjSeo427zqzJ0XqnnlCYd4AsNdJt6OVarpXAhUMK3 MAcLUKjJ1seA0qkNPidTJ9v1eAkt81Ht6h6hoKL8D/7nPi6pTWCzlBZMkIafSDi6 mS0OiqHK4utdnHhLu7U01cSt61JJzb3jjXaT0U5FRrUAyzm4MVsbMF92HpvplMHD IROXcF3SDrwGlNH2E3J7heaVn9ZrJeVZNBuN4kl/YZvTnnTzsJmi2LtwUoovO2ok FyqUlc2vDi2g1Tioyv+LQmlWbySsc1hnjsKVhaZ5IMsTdMKzfceVu3ty5kxvnXtF NeKhzJYSaqIhZqhFpckQiVo1MmmuZpCWhdUtkwbdRo3jfc2j0Lhdobc9jwARAQAB tCpWYW5pbGxhIE1pZ3JhdGlvbnMgPGRldkB2YW5pbGxhZm9ydW1zLmNvbT6JAlQE EwEIAD4WIQRpyfJmHUtSD3ATpncMIg/f65YniAUCXZ4DcAIbAwUJC0nYAAULCQgH AgYVCgkICwIEFgIDAQIeAQIXgAAKCRAMIg/f65YniNTcEACGQ6qZoAAPuioJWlLT iG9CGkNW8Ea9xFu+i4+iSOiiacNqgLWg3G6YkZx0rG2308O4kyarUjtf8i4Qo/QD 7nIhHOumM2lkaFTkuH5U5x+9nzt9UcjMJDwrRtQ32w5Dr19Fpe/NRt1QdJ3ZRG8p gNnFQuAU/M+tAj/QQgsRvEWj0u5gptX73r35o9pF0r9HChOvjR9mFT3gMhVWcgEz Sos/fmqc4cn87BV23WyAhy8w3e38mgwNKi9QSLd5bIrHfR2V8pgODWVi9Y6ezjUA arxzKNv1pBGfAHqZPfbHMZ8Q95K/HMxNY2UKYhPusyPcLg8DZk+ie5SWlKYG/DOC zx2KPlFcV4AUy6BW8uUwC+cRemX7cXiYRdGJ/8kn7kmo2L+G3rFKV4sdsRKnAKwe rFl0JSY3tn4QtGjnFF7fSdAaZQeSfN7R/vf8qdHzHyZHYPoi7vHrswXUcseujsYj 9JSIXK1rbmWhxi9C0JE3Y+/jAYanzE3kAzboaS4NriuX9LfR5/+Qdj53CjTHMpzp rQqK5ZPZOMGED2zRpdgKAA6Ng7tDQ6P9u6C3pSXHTZ8kE9MnhXQKAMNekgCFT3tq xEiKLZ/pAmpP0TXMB/hgyigLtD9DNRTtajgNnybFNP41LlqqM8PJBdCyz6GznNPq N4OpA/7GJcRurGp1LKxAsMR9f7kCDQRdngNwARAA1fd8RcE/3KIFDljEWnJabGkJ 6AXOMXz9/t/4aO4ceRz8QuB2H49rwFBNwjFl2M/w5+HPUPf3+wXfv1caUpcW0oC8 fyisk3uDtpXj0cUZUAgcTx24tSfe0gx3WWRo7OPTgMhRUAqlZYdhr7uK2TfwK241 8uJe70fMqoiR5b5hz1FRF9VRQIj5Mzr+eMkkUb71w2GKlT9bC78KXCI/NsGywjBt tTsiYDxlRMhRn7+m1GirlIuglabUO6E3/fHYNVKLQp63SbSrNc3KNmxvDhjfWjBF oe8lF5LSUJj5NdbqicYfqZ/qxR6KK+EinB0hdlwyW4KjsLZVy7rgjXOxdtePtTDL 1JGFR+BeOrLDQYfIoet0WnnrnL5NF8m7ArXgI5gjU95bqds9i1Pd30rWVVg42LI2 qmIAkrphz0jCkZ2ekjHyuGs499TertDbG6uPuULUo5jDb6Z5y2M042Q2GR1j2P9y rVcgs7Zfcq5FQW+xiLM+XhuqETNkllpZw88n4+bESHrwyBfHqeCppSlvy3lpvOQv qD/QebZeYgE0cr+ptWF0/fhWubLSV//P56BsBPwVceupHNc6UI3tBtZsmO0EyccA 8b/2G7GxjisGM8Bp0yXUV6z/Tnn/tcAkxQTDsib9CvgTA6N9RcaICdEioWVxCY8R SOrLgSctJNwdSyb59B8AEQEAAYkCPAQYAQgAJhYhBGnJ8mYdS1IPcBOmdwwiD9/r lieIBQJdngNwAhsMBQkLSdgAAAoJEAwiD9/rlieILZ0QAIj9beGY3thPs88xVV5d gHXD/ND6OV7FU5QtyaLi942qqPC0LeNIJS9BtOeQIUDu7p3qqHgWOurkwzXCM0wo dUCeB8wkSeDrhQeR3W1CaiuZMnctWPuVrKzyZSfI/bbXdQbKykNZ9nPjFY5BfP7A GkehX9eYqHM/kffKjb7vaEJRIvR+z4+8Mq9h2PL0Q4FqbbTeSOitg57QNdnnzaYa GrZa6rz6EtrhnU3F8X+gR/NYg/gGxZ92ruh7xBMgnnCZ8MKmZJquBiiu5DrOghb7 XEUBJivKEhOyeWEEJex42AiJvWAqb92kSO1oRbOvri5diYuxglk8XbDd6bI8UrbJ ER4DqSha5bWxu10X1GoihnYJ6/LTeG09ci0onk9ybkPUcfJq9lpO7dZXaT5E7FOp J9/VhWfEqTgKpTN3mqnWV1s8oyBPhxI0Wl+OR+zKI2nHBnQWV351V0yluYHr4OaV fvMup6nb0//eHMgPwxWArLvbjIn1fAYCSHikwNiFTSaq4EXuoYx9USy+ro+Wkvf2 X4vL3if54fuQ00uktbuLf/k4GIlfKE2MoQ/AAMPuGYjj4Sjy34HMQn7Ym9+SVkEp kHpV3duOlUNuFo7PNzx4EdmscuzY6nEZTB3EX2s2kpsF+4EMoDQxRO/m/YD2Bi7S m16yvw6X+veWbAj6OZsoDAXI =ZUI1 -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- </pre><h2 data-id="personally-identifiable-information">Personally-identifiable information</h2><p>If a client does not wish to provide email addresses during a migration, we recommend formulating dummy email addresses. We can do this automatically during the import if requested. Example: <code class="code codeInline" spellcheck="false" tabindex="0">{uniqueid}@yourdomain.com</code>, where <code class="code codeInline" spellcheck="false" tabindex="0">{uniqueid}</code> is your equivalent of our <code class="code codeInline" spellcheck="false" tabindex="0">UserID</code> - a non-private, unique identifier for the user.</p><p>Most <a href="https://success.vanillaforums.com/kb/articles/31-sso-overview" rel="nofollow noreferrer ugc">single sign-on services</a> work by matching accounts based on email address. To work in this scenario, the authentication endpoint must construct (or have on record) an identical dummy email address. This allows the seamless authentication of the user against the correct account without using real personal info.</p><p>More information is available from our <a href="https://vanillaforums.com/info/privacy" rel="nofollow noreferrer ugc">Privacy Policy</a> and our <a href="https://docs.vanillaforums.com/developer/data-privacy" rel="nofollow noreferrer ugc">developer docs on data privacy</a>.</p> </article> </main>