Preparing for Author-it Cloud migration

Migrating to Author-it Cloud

Use the preparation checklist to ensure you have everything ready for the migration.

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Check these preparation points on migrating from on-premises Author-it software to Author-it Cloud:

 

Confirm with your IT department:

 

 

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You support HTTPS and TLS 1.2 encryption.

 

 

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What you need to know:

 

 

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Review information on Author-it Cloud compared to on-premises software.

Differences between Author-it Cloud and On-Premises

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Make a copy of your production database, and work only with that. This applies throughout the migration - keep originals safe and work with copies only.

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Apply for an Author-it Cloud Account for testing purposes in advance of the migration (the database for this trial account will be overwritten when the copy of your production database is migrated to Author-it Cloud)

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If you use more than one database on-premises, you can either merge them prior to migration, or run each library as a separate Author-it Cloud account with unique users.

Things to consider:

 

 

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The migration is simpler if you've first done some preparation steps for a cloud environment on your library:

  • Make alternative arrangements for OLE links from third party applications that may not be editable in Author-it Cloud.
  • Contact your Author-it PreSales Solutions Consultant for verifying procedures if you want to migrate the following:
    • Macros
    • After-publish actions
    • Plugins
    • Third party integrations or specific rendering engines
    • Only a single Library is supported in Author-it Cloud, so if you use multiple libraries, consider merging them using either XML export/import or the direct library to library importer

Prepare:

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Planning: Best practice is to first do a test migration, and when sure of the process either,

  • Do a second migration, or
  • Simply update the objects in Author-it Cloud that have changed by means of XML export/import.

When you commit to the full migration, you will need to halt all work in the on-premises production database, lock the production database, migrate, then continue work in the Author-it Cloud database only.

You may need to orient personnel to the differences in business workflow or other procedures.

 

 

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A Library using at least version 5.5.264: The Author-it database (Library) must be upgraded to at least version 5.5.264 to successfully run Author-it Cloud Migration Toolkit. (Author-it Localization Manager users will need to upgrade to software release 6 or later).

The Migrate application can only open a 5.5.264 or later primary library. This library must have access to all external files, including linked graphics and publishing templates.

 

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If you use a SQL database,you can use the free SQL Express 2012 for your migration. SQL Express 2012 has a 10GB database size limit.

SQL requirements:

  • If migrating a SQL database, you'll need SQL Server 2005 or later (including 2008r2 or 2012)
  • If migrating a SQL database, you'll need SQL Server Management Studio for your version of SQL Server
  • The SQL database has compatibility level of 90 (SQL2005) or higher

Author-it Cloud Migration Toolkit can be used with a Jet or SQL database.

 

SQL Server Express 2012 is available from Microsoft.

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.NET Framework: Ensure you have .NET Framework 3.5 or later installed on the computer on which the Cloud Migration Toolkit will be hosted.

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Plan for read access: To avoid file permissions problems, the person conducting the migration must have at least read access to all file locations, including all folders where external files are located, and full permissions to folders that will house the outputs from the Cloud Migration procedure.

The person (client) performing the migration:

  • Has full Author-it admin rights to the Author-it library - including all library objects and folders.
  • Has Windows admin read rights to all external files and folders used by the library.

 

 

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Disk space requirement: Calculate the disk space requirement for your Library, and be aware of Author-it Cloud disk space policies, including whether you need to purchase additional disk space.