FAQ: Discovery and business intelligence

Every group of questions: Nextcloud FAQ

Discovery
Business intelligence with Power BI
Power BI for first-time users
Refresh, upload and share SMART BI.pbix
A tour of the SMART BI report
Follow every file from discovery to migration
Adapt the SMART BI report to your needs

Discovery

These questions are explained in full in Discovery

What does a Discovery job find?

File counts, sizes and volume including versions, age and activity, file types, folder structure, and the files that need attention.

Read more: Discovery

Does a Discovery job change anything at the source?

No. It only reads.

Read more: Discovery

How do I turn a Discovery job into a migration?

Open it, switch the mode to Test Migration or Migration, add the destination, and set it to Ready.

Read more: Discovery

Is Discovery included in the free trial?

Yes, for the first 250 files and folders of each source.

Read more: Discovery

What does the StatusInBI column in a Discovery report mean?

It compares each file the run found with the BI tables: New for a file found for the first time, Modified for one changed since it was found, Unchanged for one that has not changed. Only New and Modified files are written to the BI tables.

How do I see what has changed in a source since the last Discovery?

Run the Discovery again and open its report, the .xlsx in the run's folder: filter its StatusInBI column on New and Modified. In the Power BI report, a file modified since it was first discovered has its name in yellow.

Business intelligence with Power BI

These questions are explained in full in Business intelligence with Power BI

What does the Power BI report show?

Every file found or moved, once, with its status: volumes, age, types, labels and metadata, progress, errors and a file lookup.

Why track the migration in detail in the Power BI report?

Every file is in it once, with its status: what has moved, what is still to go and what failed — by site, library, job or wave — rather than a run's totals alone.

How does the Power BI report help analyse the sources?

It shows what is actually there before anything moves: volumes with their versions, age, activity, file types, labels and metadata — so you scope the work and leave behind what does not need moving.

Can the Power BI report be the hand-over documentation?

Yes. A refreshed SMART BI.pbix carries its data and opens without the database or the app: keep a copy at each milestone, and the last one is the handover record.

Which database does the reporting use?

PostgreSQL 18.3 or newer — free and open source, with no storage limit. With the Nextcloud app's Power BI report, Microsoft SQL Server is not supported for the reporting data.

When does the BI data reach the reporting database?

In real time: the SMART Migration server writes it while each run is under way. The report shows it once SMART BI.pbix is refreshed, on any PC with a connection to the database.

Do I need a Power BI licence?

No. Power BI Desktop is free, for everyone. Only the Power BI service — Microsoft's portal for publishing reports within an organisation, if you choose to use it — carries a licence fee.

How do I keep the BI data tight and relevant?

Run History is the report's data foundation: delete the Run History rows that should not be in it — trial runs, discoveries of libraries out of scope, older or duplicate runs — and SMART Migration purges their data from the BI database. Archiving keeps the data. The mark on the Dashboard's Power BI heading shows when the purge is done; then refresh the report.

Can I use another BI tool than Power BI?

Yes. The reporting database is ordinary tables any BI tool can read.

Power BI for first-time users

These questions are explained in full in Power BI for first-time users

What is Power BI?

Microsoft's tool for turning data into charts, tables and filters you click through. The free Power BI Desktop opens SMART BI.pbix.

What is the difference between Power BI Desktop and the Power BI service?

Desktop is a Windows program, free for everyone, that opens the file. The service is Microsoft's online portal, the only part that carries a licence fee: the report is published there, read in the browser and refreshed on a schedule.

Can everyone I share the report with open it for free?

Yes. Power BI Desktop is free, for everyone: a manager, an auditor, a partner or a customer downloads it from Microsoft and opens SMART BI.pbix with no licence. Only publishing it to the Power BI service carries a fee.

Where does the data in the Power BI report come from?

From the reporting database SMART Migration writes every run to. A refresh copies it into the file, which carries it from then on.

How do I filter the Power BI report?

Tick values in a slicer, or click a part of a chart; every visual on the page follows. Ctrl+click picks several.

How do I open a visual full screen in Power BI?

Point at it and click its Focus mode icon, top right. Back to report returns to the page.

Can I open the Power BI report on a Mac?

Not in Power BI Desktop, which runs on Windows only. Use a Windows machine or virtual machine, or the Power BI service.

These questions are explained in full in Refresh, upload and share SMART BI.pbix

How do I update SMART BI.pbix with the latest runs?

Open it in Power BI Desktop, click Refresh, save, and Upload to Nextcloud.

Why does the report not show my latest runs?

It changes only when it is refreshed and uploaded again.

Why does the report still show a run's old title, tags or group?

SMART Migration writes the change into the BI data on its next check; refresh the report once the Dashboard's Power BI mark is no longer amber.

Can the report be opened without access to the database?

Yes. A refreshed file carries its own data and opens with Power BI Desktop alone.

Can the report refresh on a schedule?

Not in Power BI Desktop, which refreshes by hand. Published to the paid Power BI service, it can.

Why keep a copy of the report at each milestone?

Each copy keeps the data of its refresh date, so it documents the project as it stood then. Put the date in its name.

Can the Dashboard offer more than one Power BI file?

Yes, any number. Every .pbix uploaded to the SmartBI folder of the SMART Migration Reports team folder — by Upload to Nextcloud or by hand in Files, by any user who can write there — is listed in Power BI beside Migration progress, the latest first, each with its size and upload date; click a name to download the file.

Who can refresh the report and upload their own copy?

Anyone with access to the reporting database: they refresh their copy in Power BI Desktop and upload it to the SmartBI folder, where the Dashboard lists it. A copy named with its refresh date is a snapshot of that day.

A tour of the SMART BI report

These questions are explained in full in A tour of the SMART BI report

What can I filter on in the SMART BI report?

Status, result, job group, source, labels, content type, metadata columns, file type, size, age, versions, and names and paths.

Can the report filter on SharePoint metadata columns and labels?

Yes. Retention and sensitivity labels, content types and every metadata column of every library, all in one place.

What does the Job link in the File details table do?

It opens the SMART Migration app in Nextcloud on the run that handled the file, with the run's details.

How do I make a file list for a migration from the report?

Narrow the File details table with the filters, export it with Export data, and use the CSV file as a File List CSV job's source.

Follow every file from discovery to migration

These questions are explained in full in Follow every file from discovery to migration

Is a file listed twice once it has been discovered and migrated?

No. Each file is in the report once: its File status turns from Discovery Report to Test Migration and Migration as runs handle it.

Which File status does a file get after a Discovery, a Test Migration and a Migration?

Discovery Report once a Discovery run finds it, Test Migration once a Test Migration run tries it against its destination, Test Restore once a Test Migration with Restore on compares it with its source, Migration once a Migration run moves it, and Restore once a restore run copies it back to its source. The status follows the last run that handled the file, as of the report's last refresh.

Do I have to run Discovery before a migration for the files to be in Power BI?

No. A Test Migration or Migration job registers the files it handles itself, as Test Migration or Migration. Run Discovery first when the report should also show what is still to go.

Why is a migrated file back to Discovery Report?

A later Discovery run found it and it had been modified since it was migrated. It keeps the Destination it was migrated to, for reference, and the next incremental Migration brings that copy up to date.

What does Power BI show when a file is migrated to more than one destination?

Only the latest: the status is tracked at the file's destination, and the row shows the last place it was migrated or test migrated to. The earlier runs stay in Run History.

How does the report tell files apart on a file share?

By an ID made for each file: an MD5 hash of its name and path, as a file on a share has no ID of its own. SharePoint and OneDrive files keep the unique ID SharePoint gives them. A file renamed or moved on a share therefore counts as a new file.

Is a migrated file migrated again when it changes at the source?

Yes, by default: the rule Add New Overwrite Existing By Newer takes the newer copy on the next Migration run. Pick another rule in the job's Advanced Settings — Add New Only, for example — to leave migrated files as they are.

Why is a file name yellow in the Power BI report?

The file has been modified since it was first discovered.

How do I see how far the migration has come in Power BI?

Pick a job group, or a source, and read the files and volume per File status: Migration, Test Migration, and Discovery Report still to go.

How do I find the files that have not been migrated?

Pick Discovery Report in File status: the page shows the files found and not yet moved.

How do I find out where a migrated file went?

Type its name in File name: the File details table shows its source and its Destination Path in Nextcloud — the latest, when it went to more than one.

Adapt the SMART BI report to your needs

These questions are explained in full in Adapt the SMART BI report to your needs

Can I change the Power BI report?

Yes. It is not locked: remove visuals, add your own visuals, pages and measures, and change its look.

How do I add my own measure to the report?

In Power BI Desktop, right-click a table in the Data pane, choose New measure, and write the calculation in DAX.

What must I keep when I change the report?

The tables the report loads, so it still refreshes, and the File details columns the file list export and the run links use.

Can I build my own report on the reporting database?

Yes, in Power BI or any BI tool: its tables are ordinary PostgreSQL tables.

See also

Nextcloud FAQ — every group of questions