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Dynamics 365 Community / Forums / Microsoft Dynamics CRM (Archived) / Migrating data from on...
Microsoft Dynamics CRM (Archived)

Migrating data from one CRM instance to another

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Posted on by awalters 3,079

We had a test instance of CRM we did quite a bit of early dev work on.  Now that we have a better idea of what we're doing, I've made a new, clean machine with a clean CRM install.  I was able to import our solution from the other system no problem.  However, there are a few entities where we've loaded data that we'd like to move to the new system as well.   

We're on-prem, so as far as I can tell we don't have access to the new Data Loader.  So from everything I can find, it's looking like the steps are:  

  • Create a new view for an entity with all records/fields
  • Export data using that view to Excel
  • I created data maps, because there is quite a bit of mapping that needs to happen.  By default, when I try to import with this Excel file, that Use Data Map option is missing.  So I then need to:
    • Open the Excel and delete columns A-C
    • Copy the remaining fields into a new workbook, and save that as csv (I get errors otherwise, and there's a thread on here that says this is how to resolve the errors)
    • Upload the csv with the data map (unfortunately, there are now fields that it's saying are unmapped, even using the map, that were in fact resolved when I created the data map, so no idea what's going on there)
  • Repeat for each (relevant data-containing) entity

This seems...nuts.  Am I missing some easier (non-paid-third-party) way to do this?  I must be...

*This post is locked for comments

  • awalters Profile Picture
    awalters 3,079 on at
    RE: Migrating data from one CRM instance to another

    So, I was able to do some transferring with the Kingswaysoft solution, but...it was not a great fit for what I was trying to do.  It took a long time to install/config/figure out, and the volume of data just didn't seem to warrant that.  And even after a few hours, I still didn't see a way to import multiple entities with interdependent relationships to each other - for example, we have a contact record for each staff member, with a link to their user record.  The user record also links to the person record, to functionally create a 1:1 relationship.  I couldn't load in the users because the people records weren't there, and vice versa.  There may have been a way to do it if I'd delved deeper, but it was just feeling unwieldy for the amount of data I had.

    However, the Configuration Migration Tool turned out to be exactly what I was looking for in this case.  The name made me think it was just about solutions, so I hadn't really paid attention, but it is actually meant for migrating data in entities that is essentially acting as configuration data.  (So if you've made entities that essentially function as config data, like a country entity, etc...)  This was exactly the sort of data we had, and it does multiple passes to allow the linked data to all work, and so on.  It was a touch quirky - for example, there's little to no logging as to if records fail, why, etc... - but it did 98% of it perfectly, and just had a little sleuthing to track down the rest.

  • Drew Poggemann Profile Picture
    Drew Poggemann 9,079 on at
    RE: Migrating data from one CRM instance to another

    Nice!  Good luck!

  • awalters Profile Picture
    awalters 3,079 on at
    RE: Migrating data from one CRM instance to another

    I've got Kingswaysoft working for a single, simple entity.  Now just have to figure out how to get it to do relationships/linked entities/etc...

  • awalters Profile Picture
    awalters 3,079 on at
    RE: Migrating data from one CRM instance to another

    Thanks, Drew!  I sadly got fairly deeply into playing with the Kingswaysoft solution before I saw this.  At this point I'll keep playing to see if I can get it to move forward, since I suppose it's not wasted time (this would be potentially useful if we do need to do larger ones)...  If I end up circling back to the original plan, though, I'll track down the errors and post.  Thanks!

  • Verified answer
    Nadeeja Bomiriya Profile Picture
    Nadeeja Bomiriya 6,804 on at
    RE: Migrating data from one CRM instance to another
    Hi Allison, You can try the Configuration Migration Tool if the volume of data is not big. Regardless, each tool will have some learning curve and configuration to do. technet.microsoft.com/.../dn647421.aspx
  • Drew Poggemann Profile Picture
    Drew Poggemann 9,079 on at
    RE: Migrating data from one CRM instance to another

    What error, example?  We have done something similar in past with no issues...  I will try my best to assist.

  • awalters Profile Picture
    awalters 3,079 on at
    RE: Migrating data from one CRM instance to another

    Sadly, even with all of the above steps I was still getting errors I hadn't been able to resolve yet.  So I was hoping there was some other easier way I was missing.  :-(

  • Drew Poggemann Profile Picture
    Drew Poggemann 9,079 on at
    RE: Migrating data from one CRM instance to another

    Hi Allison,

    Overall, without a tool like Kingswaysoft, Scribe or other I think you have a good approach here.  I know it is kind of a pain but if you only have a few entities hopefully it is not too bad.

    Thanks much,

  • awalters Profile Picture
    awalters 3,079 on at
    RE: Migrating data from one CRM instance to another

    Alright; I'll dive in.  Gonna be an all-nighter to prep for my demo tomorrow, apparently (I thought it was just going to be "hit export, then hit import x8", so like 10 minutes).  There's only 8 or so entities we need to do; this just seems way heavier-duty than I thought we'd need.  I can see wanting a tool for a full 100+ entity migration, or between different systems, but 8 entities from CRM to CRM feels like it should be way easier than this.  Okay - thanks.

  • Nadeeja Bomiriya Profile Picture
    Nadeeja Bomiriya 6,804 on at
    RE: Migrating data from one CRM instance to another

    Hi Allison.

    +1 for Guido for the suggestion.  You can download Kingswaysoft SSIS for use with SSDT for free.  Only time you would need to purchase a licence is if you want to run on a schedule using SQL Agent job.  For your requirement, you don't need a licence. This is a great tool for data migration.

    www.kingswaysoft.com/.../ssis-integration-toolkit-for-microsoft-dynamics-crm

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