B Migrating Content to Oracle Content DB

This chapter provides information about how to migrate content and users from legacy systems to Oracle Content DB. Oracle Content DB migration is applicable to customers migrating from the following systems:

• Oracle Content Management SDK

• Third-party applications, such as Novell

Oracle Content DB does not currently offer a migration toolkit. You must migrate your files manually. If you are migrating a very large number of files and require assistance, contact Oracle Support Services.

This appendix provides information about the following topics:

• Migration Tasks

• Migrating Oracle Content DB Users

• Creating Oracle Content DB Libraries

• Migrating Oracle Content DB Content

Migration Tasks

Consolidating users, folder hierarchy, content, and access privileges from other file server systems to Oracle Content DB involves the following tasks:

• Migrating Oracle Content DB Users: You need to move the user list from the old file system to the new one. In other words, you need to re-create each user in the Oracle Content DB user repository.

• Creating Oracle Content DB Libraries: If you have folders grouped into logical structures with specific security, you can create corresponding Libraries in Oracle Content DB with the same membership and access permissions.

• Migrating Oracle Content DB Content: You must copy the actual files and folders from the old system to the new one.

Migrating Oracle Content DB Users

The first task in moving to a new Oracle Content DB server is creating the user list.

For each user you want to migrate to Oracle Content DB, create a user in your Oracle Content DB user repository. See Chapter 5, "Managing Oracle Content DB Users" for more information.

Creating Oracle Content DB Libraries

To migrate user groups into Oracle Content DB, you must create or update corresponding Libraries and member roles in Oracle Content DB.

Scripted Library Creation

If your management tools let you export group information to a file, you can write a translation script to convert the groups into XML format. Then, you can use the Library Creation tool to create corresponding Libraries in Oracle Content DB. See the developer documentation for more information about the Library Creation tool.

Migrating Oracle Content DB Content

After creating users and Libraries, the next step is to move files and folders into Oracle Content DB. However, if your old file system had application-specific metadata, this information cannot be automatically copied.

How to Copy the Data

Use one of the following methods to copy your files:

• Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV): WebDAV, a protocol designed for Internet and intranet collaboration on files, enables you to drag and drop data from one system to another. If you want to retain the file structure, click and drag the entire directory structure from the original file system into Oracle Content DB, or drag different parts of the directory tree separately, confirming that each part of the tree has been copied before copying the next one.

  See "Using WebDAV with Oracle Content DB" for more information about using WebDAV.

• Oracle Drive: Oracle Drive is a desktop client that uses the WebDAV protocol to access Oracle Content DB. After it is installed, Oracle Drive appears as a mapped drive in your Windows Explorer. Oracle Drive also provides file synchronization capabilities between your local computer and Oracle Content DB. See "Using Oracle Drive with Oracle Content DB" for more information.