A file share job
Section titled “A file share job”Create a job with Source Type FileShare and the folder as Source UNC: a UNC path such as \\MyServer\MyShare\MyFolder, or a drive of the SMART Migration server such as D:\MyFolder. The destination is a Team Folder or a user, like any migration. See Sources
The server's Windows account reads the files
The SMART Migration server reads the file share, not Nextcloud. Read permission on the path must be granted to the Windows account the server runs as, and for every folder below it the job should take. A folder the account cannot read is reported, not migrated.
What a file share brings, and what it does not
Section titled “What a file share brings, and what it does not”| File share | |
|---|---|
| Files and folders | Yes, with their structure, and empty folders if Include empty folders is on |
| Discovery: volume, age, types, structure | Yes, and the last accessed date of every file |
| Version history | No — a file share keeps no versions |
| SharePoint metadata into MetaVox | No — a file share has no columns |
| A .url link in place of the source file | No — only for SharePoint Online and OneDrive |
| Microsoft 365 app registration needed | No |
The last accessed date makes Discovery on a file share especially useful for deciding what to leave behind: how much of the share nobody has opened in years. See Discovery
Many shares at once
Section titled “Many shares at once”List the shares in a CSV file — one line per folder, with a title, the UNC path as Source and the Team Folder as Destination — and import them in one step. See Import jobs from a CSV file
Several shares can be consolidated into one Team Folder, each job writing into a folder of its own inside it with Destination Folder. See Destinations
The simplest way in, also for digital resilience
Section titled “The simplest way in, also for digital resilience”A file share is the simplest source to start with. It needs no Microsoft 365 app registration, and the SMART Migration server can sit in a locked-down network segment with no internet access, as long as it reaches the share and Nextcloud. When the organisation is ready, the same jobs can read from SharePoint instead: a change of the job's source, not a new project — schedules, history and reporting carry on.
That makes a file share a good first source for a standing, recurring copy of critical documents too. See Digital Resilience Operation (DORA)
See also