Changes to the GP Migration Tool starting with version 19.5

With version 19.5, we have made changes to how the GP migration tool will run.  This change will allow you to move data from GP to BC staging tables in one step (Run Migration Now), then migrate data from the BC staging tables, to the BC tables needed to go live. (Run Data Upgrade Now) Doing this in 2 steps will allow you to manage the migration in a more structured manner.   Let me walk through how these new steps will work:

Step One – Assisted Setup:

You will complete the Assisted Setup as you always have. As always, you can review the company Setup Status under the Companies list. Once you see the Setup Status change to ‘Completed’, you can proceed.

For more detailed steps on this part, see this blog: Starting the Migration process from GP to Business Central - Dynamics 365 Business Central Community

Step Two - Run Migration Now:

From the Cloud Migration Management page, select Run Migration Now:

You will stay on this page through this step.  As the process runs, you will notice the Status change which will start with ‘In Progress’. 

The next status you may see would be ‘Data Repair Pending’:

This will happen for all migrations but if you do not refresh this page, you may not see this status update at all (and that’s OK). When you see ‘Data Repair Pending’, we are sanitizing the data in the staging tables in preparation of moving the data.

If you would like a full listing of these staging tables, search on Config Package, then search for ‘GP’ and you will see all tables that are brought over in this stage starting with table 4015.

At this point, please be patient, the tool is working.  When the data has been completely moved to the BC staging tables, you will see a status of ‘Upgrade Pending’:

This will indicate Step Two is complete, and the data is ready to be moved into the permanent BC tables needed to operate.  

BEFORE PROCEEDING: Create a copy of the newly migrated GP to BC database to a Sandbox environment.  This can be done within the Business Central Admin Center.  Doing so will allow you to re-migrate the data from GP repeatedly without starting from scratch, saving valuable time.

Step Three – Run Data Upgrade Now:

From the Cloud Migration Management page, select Run Data Upgrade Now:

You are probably wondering, ‘what am I trying to upgrade’?  I asked that very same question!

The tool is moving the staged GP data into the permanent Business Central tables.  This wording could be changing down the road, but for now, let’s just know it’s the third step. 

This is where you can monitor the progress on the Data Migration Overview page just as you always have. Just be sure you are logged into the company being migrated to see the proper Overview.  When all data has been moved successfully, the Overview will look like this:

At this point, remember to be patient as Business Central is now posting transactions. This can take some time, and there is no visual indicator to show you the process has finished.

Important Notes:

If you do not see data populated on the Data Migration Overview page, check your Status on the Cloud Migration Management page as you could have a data issue:

When you see the status of Upgrade Failed on this step, you likely have data issues that need to be addressed in GP.  Review my blog for GP data clean up that can be found here:  Dynamics GP to Dynamics Business Central migration tips - Dynamics 365 Business Central Community

 If you need to address bad or unexpected GP data, take the following steps until all is resolved:

1. Delete the Sandbox.
2. Correct the GP data within GP.
3. In your BC Production company, select ‘Run Migration Now’ to update the data from the GP corrections.
4. Create a copy of Production to a Sandbox.
5. From the Sandbox, select ‘Run Data Upgrade Now’.
   • If it is successful with no errors, proceed with your Production environment and ‘Run Data Upgrade Now’.
   • If the process errors and more data cleanup is needed, start again with steps ‘1’ through ‘5’.

When all companies have been successfully migrated, the final steps are to Disable the Cloud Migration tool and Initialize all companies before go live.

I hope this information is helpful and if you have any questions, please let us know.

Warm Regards,

Deseree Krumm

Support Escalation Engineer-Business Central