---
title: "Migrating Shares"
slug: "migrating-shares-3-1-1"
tags: ["7.11", "Edge Filer", "Gateway", "Filer"]
updated: 2026-11-02T16:43:37Z
published: 2026-11-02T16:43:37Z
canonical: "kb.ctera.com/migrating-shares-3-1-1"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://kb.ctera.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Migrating Shares

Migrate shares to the CTERA Edge Filer. The shares are created on the edge filer and cloud drive folders are created on the portal under root cloud drive folders. The cloud drive folders are not created at the root cloud folder level but at the subfolder level because ACL permissions cannot be managed at the root cloud folder level, only at the subfolder level.

**Notes**

Before starting a migration, all non-essential features like local deduplication, antivirus, and CTERA Ransom Protect should be disabled. **When the migration protocol is NFS**: POSIX ACLs are migrated but NFS ACLs are **not** migrated. Random numbers are assigned as FSIDS for each share.

## Preparing the CTERA Portal to Migrate WORM Compliant Shares

When migrating a WORM compliant share, there must be a WORM Compliant Cloud Folder on the CTERA Portal for the files to be synced from the CTERA Edge Filer. This cloud folder must, therefore, be created before the migration is performed. Use the retention settings from the source file system when defining the WORM Compliance settings for the cloud folder and the grace period **cannot** be greater than 7 days.. For details about creating a WORM Compliant cloud folder, see team portal documentation. Also, the edge filer user who is signed in to the portal must be the same user that owns the cloud folder and that runs the migration.

The cloud folder is specified in the migration job as the destination for the WORM compliant share from the source file system. You define a separate WORM compliant cloud folder for every WORM compliant share on the source file system and run the migration for each share, one share at a time.

When migrating a WORM compliant share together with non-WORM compliant shares, you have to run a migration job that migrates the WORM compliant share and a separate migration job that migrates the non-WORM complaint shares.

If you are migrating from Hitachi Content Platform Gateway (HCP Gateway), in the HCP Gateway Policy page note any include and exclude policies that you will specify when setting up the migration job.

### Commands to Run Before and After the Migration

Before starting a migration of a WORM compliant share you must run the following command on the CTERA Portal: `calculateRetentionFromCreationTime portals/ <portal_name>/cloudDrives/Users/<owner_name>/<cloudfolder_name> BACK_DATE_BIT` where: **portal_name** – The name of the team portal where the WORM compliant cloud folder is defined. **owner_name** – The name of the team portal admin user who owns the WORM compliant cloud folder. **cloudfolder_name** – The name of the WORM compliant cloud folder.

After the migration of the WORM compliant share completes, you must run the following command on the CTERA Portal: `calculateRetentionFromCreationTime portals/ <portal_name>/cloudDrives/Users/<owner_name>/<cloudfolder_name> NONE`

**Note**

When migrating SMB WORM shares, the shares are migrated with the creation date for WORM compliance.

When migrating NFS WORM shares, the shares are migrated with the first access date for WORM compliance.

## Migration Procedure

**To migrate shares to the CTERA Edge Filer:**

1. In the **Configuration** view, select **Main > Dashboard** in the navigation pane. The **Dashboard** page is displayed. ![image.png](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-TFRQUAXA.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T04%3A15%3A23Z&se=2026-11-11T05%3A15%3A23Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=AuzLeZj10o%2BrOi2qcJij6rAihpKsxrdQ%2FdeYCYwSU94%3D)
2. Click **File Server Migration**. The **File Server Migration** page is displayed. ![image.png](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-7T5ZD4XY.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T04%3A15%3A23Z&se=2026-11-11T05%3A15%3A23Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=AuzLeZj10o%2BrOi2qcJij6rAihpKsxrdQ%2FdeYCYwSU94%3D)
3. Click **+** to create a new job. The **Create Discovery Job** wizard is displayed, showing the **Task Type** step. ![image.png](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-P32KRHQB.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T04%3A15%3A23Z&se=2026-11-11T05%3A15%3A23Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=AuzLeZj10o%2BrOi2qcJij6rAihpKsxrdQ%2FdeYCYwSU94%3D) The default job is a discovery job.
4. Click the **Migration** job to change the job to migrate a file server. ![image.png](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-CBZXDPGV.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T04%3A15%3A23Z&se=2026-11-11T05%3A15%3A23Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=AuzLeZj10o%2BrOi2qcJij6rAihpKsxrdQ%2FdeYCYwSU94%3D)
5. Click **Next**. The **Connect** step is displayed. ![image.png](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-9FYLZZ1Q.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T04%3A15%3A23Z&se=2026-11-11T05%3A15%3A23Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=AuzLeZj10o%2BrOi2qcJij6rAihpKsxrdQ%2FdeYCYwSU94%3D)
6. Select the server type to connect to from the drop-down box. You can connect to one of the following:

Another option, **Other**, is available to attempt to migrate from a file server that is not listed.
  - Azure StorSimple
  - HCP Gateway
  - Hitachi Data Ingestor
  - Isilon OneFS
  - Microsoft Azure Files
  - Nasuni Edge Appliance
  - NetApp ONTAP
  - NetAPP StorageGRID 9 (SMB)
  - NetAPP StorageGRID 11 (SMB)
  - Panzura Freedom Filer
  - Windows Server
7. Select the protocol to use for the migration: **SMB** or **NFS**. Both NFS versions 3 and 4 are supported. The wizard window changes depending on the protocol selected.

| SMB | NFS |
| --- | --- |
| ![image.png](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-2O4YFULC.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T04%3A15%3A23Z&se=2026-11-11T05%3A15%3A23Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=AuzLeZj10o%2BrOi2qcJij6rAihpKsxrdQ%2FdeYCYwSU94%3D) | ![image.png](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-ET6G4TRL.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T04%3A15%3A23Z&se=2026-11-11T05%3A15%3A23Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=AuzLeZj10o%2BrOi2qcJij6rAihpKsxrdQ%2FdeYCYwSU94%3D) |
8. Enter the IP address or DNS name for the source file server.
9. When **Protocol** is **SMB**, enter an administrator user name and password to access the server.

**Note**

The administrator used must have access to the files to migrate.
10. For **Microsoft Azure Files**, the shares cannot be presented and have to be added manually. **Expert Mode** is automatically selected to enable specifying the shares in the next step. The **Source** value is the IP address of the storage account, the **Username** value is the name of the storage account and the **Password** value is the access key for the storage account and not for the file share.
11. Click **Next.** The **Select Shares** step is displayed. For example:

| SMB | NFS |
| --- | --- |
| ![image.png](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-6C7P1CUP.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T04%3A15%3A23Z&se=2026-11-11T05%3A15%3A23Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=AuzLeZj10o%2BrOi2qcJij6rAihpKsxrdQ%2FdeYCYwSU94%3D) | ![image.png](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-2WBF0JLH.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T04%3A15%3A23Z&se=2026-11-11T05%3A15%3A23Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=AuzLeZj10o%2BrOi2qcJij6rAihpKsxrdQ%2FdeYCYwSU94%3D) |

When migrating WORM compliant shares, select the relevant shares. You also check **Migrate WORM**.

**Note**

When **Expert Mode** is selected, the following window is displayed where you enter the shares to migrate. ![image.png](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-4RAHF584.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T04%3A15%3A23Z&se=2026-11-11T05%3A15%3A23Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=AuzLeZj10o%2BrOi2qcJij6rAihpKsxrdQ%2FdeYCYwSU94%3D)
12. Select the shares to migrate and click **Next**. The **Select Options** step is displayed.

| SMB | NFS |
| --- | --- |
| ![image.png](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-HWD4N6PX.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T04%3A15%3A23Z&se=2026-11-11T05%3A15%3A23Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=AuzLeZj10o%2BrOi2qcJij6rAihpKsxrdQ%2FdeYCYwSU94%3D) | ![image.png](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-X97T5UNX.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T04%3A15%3A23Z&se=2026-11-11T05%3A15%3A23Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=AuzLeZj10o%2BrOi2qcJij6rAihpKsxrdQ%2FdeYCYwSU94%3D) |
13. Optionally, provide a different name for the job and any specific notes about the job.
14. You can specify path patterns that you do not want to migrate, or that you do want to migrate, separating each path with a colon (:). The path is from the share down to the folder to exclude or include. For example, with a share structure or `share\sub1\sub2\sub3` to exclude or include `sub3` you specify `\sub1\sub2\sub3\*` as the pattern. You can include the asterisk (*) as a wildcard in the pattern. To specify the pattern, check the relevant box.

![image.png](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-V2XMPZLM.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T04%3A15%3A23Z&se=2026-11-11T05%3A15%3A23Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=AuzLeZj10o%2BrOi2qcJij6rAihpKsxrdQ%2FdeYCYwSU94%3D)
  - **Exclude these path patterns from the migration** and use the colon character (’:’) as a separator.
  - **Include these path patterns in the migration** and use the colon character (’:’) as a separator.
15. Check **Validate and report checksums post-migration** to include an MD5 hash checksum for every file being migrated to verify that the migration was successful when the hash is compared with the checksum of the file in the source file server.

**Note**

The checksum validation is performed after all the files are migrated. Depending on the number of files to check, the validation can take some time. You should not allow users to access the migrated files until the actual migration job finishes, after the validation completes, in case there is a checksum discrepancy for one or more of the migrated files that needs resolving.
16. **When the migration protocol is SMB**: Check **Migrate NT-ACLs** to migrate the data from the file server along with the ACLs.

**Notes**

Alternate data streams (ADS) are not migrated. POSIX ACLs are migrated when **Migrate NT-ACLs** is checked. **When the migration protocol is NFS**: Alternate data streams (ADS), including macOS tags and POSIX ACLs are not migrated.
17. **When the migration protocol is SMB**: Check **Migrate MacOS Tags** to migrate the data from the file server along with the macOS metadata tags.

**Note**

When **Migrate MacOS Tags** is checked, **Migrate NT-ACLs** is also checked and cannot be unchecked.
18. **To include only WORM compliant folders in a share to migrate, and exclude all the other folders in the share:**
  1. If you are migrating from HCP Gateway, specify the shares to include and the shares to exclude that you noted in the HCP Gateway policy page using **Exclude these path patterns from the migration** and **Include these path patterns in the migration**.
  2. Check **Migrate WORM** to migrate WORM data from the file server.
**Notes**

When the migration protocol is SMB, checking **Migrate WORM** automatically checks **Migrate NT-ACLs** and **Migrate last access and creation time** and these options cannot be unchecked. When the migration protocol is NFS, checking **Migrate WORM** automatically checks **Migrate last access and creation time** and this option cannot be unchecked. In cases where the retention period is not aligned between the portal and the migration source system, the file’s end of retention date, may be shorter than on the original system. A portal administrator must set the same or longer retention period on the portal, to make sure the file is WORM protected for at least the same period as on the original system. In addition, the grace period for the cloud drive folder **cannot** be greater than 7 days. **Migrate last access and creation time** is used to calculate the remaining retention period for each file in the share. If the retention time was changed in the source file system, this is not reflected in the destination and the migration calculated the remaining retention for all the files in the share based on the last retention defined for the source file server and used in the definition of the WORM compliant cloud folder on the CTERA Portal.
19. Check **Migrate last access and creation time** to include in the migration the last access time and the creation time for each item being migrated.
20. You can specify when to start the migration:
  - **Start now** to start the migration immediately.
  - **Don't start** to save the job configuration for later use.
  - **Schedule** to schedule the date and time to start the migration.
21. Check **Limit bandwidth to** to throttle the bandwidth used for the migration to apply this throttling so as not to adversely impact ongoing work.
  - Check **Limit during hours** to throttle the time range to apply this throttling so as not to adversely impact ongoing work.
22. Check **Copy each share to a distinct Cloud Folder** if you want to specify that each share is migrated to a distinct cloud folder.

**Note**

When migrating WORM compliant shares, **Migrate WORM** is checked, specify the name of the cloud folder that was defined as WORM compliant on the CTERA Portal as the destination.

The cloud folder where the cloud folders are migrated is displayed under the **Copy each share to a distinct Cloud Folder** checkbox.

When **Copy each share to a distinct Cloud Folder** is checked:

When **Copy each share to a distinct Cloud Folder** is not checked:
  - Jobs that were created in a previous version will continue to migrate into the cloud folder root directory.
  - New jobs will create a redundant directory with the name of the source share into the cloud folder root directory, and migrate into it instead.
  - Depending on the source exposing the data, either the full path in the original server is recreated and no files are migrated into the cloud folder root, or the share name is used under the cloud folder root as was the case in previous versions.
23. Click **Create**. During the migration, the progress bar in the **Dashboard** shows the percentage completed and what is currently being processed. ![image.png](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-949UDSCL.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T04%3A15%3A23Z&se=2026-11-11T05%3A15%3A23Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=AuzLeZj10o%2BrOi2qcJij6rAihpKsxrdQ%2FdeYCYwSU94%3D) After migrating all the shares, the job completes and an email alert is sent with the job summary.
24. Click ![image.png](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-S27OII3N.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T04%3A15%3A23Z&se=2026-11-11T05%3A15%3A23Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=AuzLeZj10o%2BrOi2qcJij6rAihpKsxrdQ%2FdeYCYwSU94%3D) to edit the migration job name, notes, include and exclude paths, migration checksum, whether to migrate access and creation times, schedule and throttling. ![image.png](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-ZMYG1UAM.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T04%3A15%3A23Z&se=2026-11-11T05%3A15%3A23Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=AuzLeZj10o%2BrOi2qcJij6rAihpKsxrdQ%2FdeYCYwSU94%3D)
25. Click ![image.png](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-JD3Y4LLH.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T04%3A15%3A23Z&se=2026-11-11T05%3A15%3A23Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=AuzLeZj10o%2BrOi2qcJij6rAihpKsxrdQ%2FdeYCYwSU94%3D) to display the migration report. ![image.png](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-MRZRM62Z.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T04%3A15%3A23Z&se=2026-11-11T05%3A15%3A23Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=AuzLeZj10o%2BrOi2qcJij6rAihpKsxrdQ%2FdeYCYwSU94%3D)
26. Optionally, click ![image.png](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-2ZDNGES4.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T04%3A15%3A23Z&se=2026-11-11T05%3A15%3A23Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=AuzLeZj10o%2BrOi2qcJij6rAihpKsxrdQ%2FdeYCYwSU94%3D) to download the migration log file to a .log text file.
27. Click the ![image.png](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-OG0QETRQ.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T04%3A15%3A23Z&se=2026-11-11T05%3A15%3A23Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=AuzLeZj10o%2BrOi2qcJij6rAihpKsxrdQ%2FdeYCYwSU94%3D) icon to display the list of every time this job was run with the results of each run, including the start and end times for the job, the number of files migrated and the total size of the migration, access to the report and the ability to download the log, which provides information about the migration and any errors that occurred during the migration.
28. Optionally, in the dashboard, you can select a job and click the ![image.png](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-M14T1A4D.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T04%3A15%3A23Z&se=2026-11-11T05%3A15%3A23Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=AuzLeZj10o%2BrOi2qcJij6rAihpKsxrdQ%2FdeYCYwSU94%3D) icon to delete it. After deleting a job, you can display all the jobs, including the deleted jobs, by clicking the **Deleted** filter in the dashboard. You can restore deleted jobs by selecting the deleted jobs to restore and clicking the ![image.png](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-SK6VFDKE.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T04%3A15%3A23Z&se=2026-11-11T05%3A15%3A23Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=AuzLeZj10o%2BrOi2qcJij6rAihpKsxrdQ%2FdeYCYwSU94%3D) icon.

The share structure from the source is recreated on the CTERA Edge Filer, including nested shares and their permissions. If there are any recoverable errors during the copy process, retry the migration for the failed shares.

**Note**

Only ACLs are migrated with the files. Windows extended attributes are not migrated. In the CTERA Edge Filer, the shares are defined with Windows ACL Emulation Mode, as in the following example. ![image.png](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-6QKB0LZC.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T04%3A15%3A23Z&se=2026-11-11T05%3A15%3A23Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=AuzLeZj10o%2BrOi2qcJij6rAihpKsxrdQ%2FdeYCYwSU94%3D)

Direct all the users to the CTERA Edge Filer. Users can now access and work on the CTERA Edge Filer.

## Completing a Migration and Performing a Delta Migration

After completing the migration, there may well be a number of new or changed files on the original file server that require migrating. Complete the migration process using the following procedure.

**To complete a migration:**

1. During off-peak hours, disconnect the filer server.
2. In the CTERA Edge Filer user interface, pin the folders that you want to remain local to the CTERA Edge Filer.
  1. In the **Configuration** view, select **Cloud Drive > Pinned Folders** in the navigation pane.  

The **Pinned Folders** page is displayed.  

![image.png](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-MYHKVD7M.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T04%3A15%3A23Z&se=2026-11-11T05%3A15%3A23Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=AuzLeZj10o%2BrOi2qcJij6rAihpKsxrdQ%2FdeYCYwSU94%3D)  

The **Pinned Folders** area is separated into a users pane and folders pane, with paging in the users pane. This makes it easier to page through the users and select the folders to pin.
  2. Select a user to display the folders owned by the user and then select the folders that you want pinned for this user, so that the folder content is always available on the CTERA Edge Filer.  

In addition, you can use the search field to jump to a specific user.
**Note**

You can select a a user to select all the folders and subfolders owned by the user. You can also select a higher level folder to select all the subfolders under it and then uncheck specific folders to unpin them. If you check a cloud folder, all the subfolders under the cloud folder are pinned, and any folders added later under the cloud folder will be pinned automatically.
  3. Click **Save**.  

The checked folders are pinned.
3. In the **Configuration** view's **Main > Dashboard** page, click **File Server Migration**.  

The **File Server Migration** page is displayed, showing the discover and migration jobs previously run.
4. Select the migration job to rerun and click the ![image.png](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-NGXB9VCI.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T04%3A15%3A23Z&se=2026-11-11T05%3A15%3A23Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=AuzLeZj10o%2BrOi2qcJij6rAihpKsxrdQ%2FdeYCYwSU94%3D) icon.

The migration job reruns, migrating the deltas from the last migration.