From nothing installed to the first job
Section titled “From nothing installed to the first job”Activate your partner
Choose Activate your partner on the Support tab or in step 1 of Getting Started, type the app activation code your partner gave you and choose Select. The partner sends you the download link for the SMART Migration server and the free 7-day trial key, and later the production licence.
Install the SMART Migration server
Install it on a Windows machine or VM inside your network that can reach this Nextcloud and the sources you migrate, and enter the trial licence key from your partner when the installer asks for it. Your partner can set it up with you.
Connect the server to this Nextcloud
Give the server the address of this Nextcloud and the app password of a dedicated Nextcloud administrator account created for it.
Run your first jobs on the trial
Create a Discovery job on the Jobs tab and set it to Ready. The server claims it on its next call.
Go live on a production licence
When you are ready, your partner provides the production licence, which lifts the trial's volume limit.
How partners work, and how to choose one:
What to have ready before you install the server
Section titled “What to have ready before you install the server”- A Windows machine or VM of your own. Inside your network, able to reach both this Nextcloud and the source systems. It runs every job, so it stays on while jobs run. 16 GB of RAM is a sensible baseline, and more helps when several jobs run at once. See System requirements
- Access to your Microsoft 365 tenant. An Entra ID (Azure AD) app registration with the permissions SMART Migration needs, and a certificate to sign in with. Arrange this with whoever administers the tenant. SharePoint on-premises uses NTLM credentials instead. See How to create and configure the app registration
- The address of this Nextcloud, and an app password. The server signs in with a Nextcloud account of its own, and it must be an administrator account. Create a dedicated one and generate an app password for it under Settings → Security.
- The installer and the trial licence key, which arrive together from your partner.
- A decision on the databases. The installer sets up SQL Server 2025 Express for SMART Migration's repository and PostgreSQL for the BI data, and Power BI Desktop; each can be left out for a server of your own. See How SMART Migration installs: the repository and the BI database
- The Team folders app, enabled in Nextcloud. Jobs that write into a Team Folder need it, and so does the
SMART Migration Reportsfolder where every run's report is kept. - MetaVox, if SharePoint metadata should follow the files. It is optional; see Metadata, MetaVox and SharePoint views
Why the server belongs in your network, and every connection it makes: Why the SMART Migration server runs in your network
A machine without internet access
The SMART Migration server can run in a protected network segment with no internet access of its own, as long as it can reach this Nextcloud and the sources it migrates. SharePoint on-premises and file shares are on your network already; Microsoft 365 sources are reached over the internet, so those still need a route out.
Your partner can supply the installer if the machine cannot download it. The prerequisites, .NET 8 among them, then have to be installed by hand first.
The free trial
Section titled “The free trial”Every feature
Discovery, Migration, Metadata Mapping, Recurring Jobs, Run History and Reporting — nothing disabled or held back.
The first 250 items per source
Each trial job handles the first 250 files and folders, counted together, per SharePoint document library, per OneDrive or per file share.
7 days
Enough of your own content to see how the Power BI report behaves, and too little to run a production migration on.
The trial key and the server download are free. What your partner does alongside them — scoping, planning and running the migration with you — is a service, and may be charged.
The production licence
Section titled “The production licence”The production licence comes from your partner; the app neither sells nor issues it. It lifts the trial's volume limit and is rented for a fixed period.
| Edition | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| Enterprise | Full-scale migration between Microsoft 365 and Nextcloud, at the standard migration speed. |
| Enterprise+ | The same product and the same features at up to three times the Enterprise migration speed. |
The editions, and the periods a licence can be rented for, are compared in the License matrix
The trial, the editions, the rental periods and what happens at expiry, in one place: Trial and licences
The licence key and its expiry date are shown on the Settings tab, under Remote SMART Migration Server. When the licence has expired, the server stops servicing the app: jobs stay where they are, and a notice at the top of the app and on the Support tab says so until your partner has renewed it.
Check that the server is connected
Section titled “Check that the server is connected”- Live or Offline at the top right of the app: Live means the server has been in touch within the last two minutes.
- Live or Offline, at the top right of the app, says whether the server is running, has stopped, or has never been in touch; rest the pointer on it for why. The Getting Started tab lists the steps to get a server running.
- Settings → Remote SMART Migration Server shows the server's name, the version it reported and when it last called.
The server's version has to match
The app names the SMART Migration version it needs, under Version required by this app on the Settings tab. Only the first two parts of the version are compared — the last part is the build number. If the server reports another version, jobs do not run until the two match: update the SMART Migration server, or install the version of the app built for the server you have. Ask your partner if you are not sure which.
See also