This topic describes important considerations for migrating from a Coremail mailbox.
The following screenshots of the third-party mailbox are for reference only. The actual interface may vary due to feature updates. For the most current interface, refer to the third-party mailbox itself.
1. Disable dedicated passwords. To do this, go to Security Settings > Client Security Logon and click Purge All.
2. Disable the security lock. The security lock prevents emails in certain folders from being synchronized. Disable it to avoid incomplete data synchronization. To do this, go to Security Settings > Security Lock Settings and click Shutdown.
Start the migration in Alibaba Mail
After you confirm and complete all the preceding operations, follow these steps to start the migration.
Create a migration task
Before you start the migration, confirm that you have created Alibaba Mail accounts. For more information, see How do I create employee accounts?.
If you are migrating from one Alibaba Mail instance to another, log on to the destination Alibaba Mail instance to start the migration. Do not start the migration from the source Alibaba Mail instance.
Log on to the Alibaba Mail console as an administrator. In the navigation pane on the left, choose Email Tools > Mailbox Migration and click Create Migration Task.
1. Preparations
Before you start the mailbox migration, complete the following steps:
On the Address Book > Member Management page, confirm that you have assigned Alibaba Mail accounts to the users that you want to migrate.
Confirm that the source system is running properly and the IMAP service is enabled.
Confirm that all members in the source system have removed restrictions on email retrieval in their clients. For example, change the retrieval scope from "Last 30 days" to "All". You must also remove any IP logon restrictions, two-factor authentication (such as text message, WeChat, or authenticator apps), and client-specific security passwords.
Delete or move data in the source system before you start the migration. Avoid changing any data during the migration process.
We recommend that folder names in the source system do not contain special characters, such as +, *, \, or /.
Depending on the features of your source mailbox, the administrator can disable these settings in batches or by calling the source mailbox API.
2. Configure source system parameters
Enter a Task Name, select the Source System, and enter the Source System Mailbox Account, Source System Mailbox Password, and Source System Server Address. We recommend that you use the default configurations for other settings. Click Next.
3. Configure migration settings
Select Folders to migrate:
All folders: You can exclude folders that you do not want to migrate.
Specific folders: You can specify the folders to migrate.
Select Emails to migrate:
All emails
Emails within a specific date range
Select Folder location:
Store separately (unified storage mode, named by email address)
A dedicated folder named after the source email address is created in the destination mailbox.
Merge into system folders (folder mapping mode)
System folders are automatically matched. For example, the Outbox is mapped to the Sent folder.
The custom folder structure is preserved.
Migration time settings:
Start now: Data transfer begins within 2 hours.
Start mailbox migration at the following time: You can set a custom start time.
Click Next.
4. Add migration accounts
You can add migration accounts in one of three ways. Choose the method that best suits your needs in the next step:
Method 1: The administrator uploads account and password information to start the migration.
Scenario: You know the account passwords for all users in the source email system and want the migration to be transparent to them.
Method 2: The administrator uploads account information and notifies members to log on with their source account to start the migration.
Scenario: You know the source system accounts for all employees. After you configure the migration parameters, employees can log on to Alibaba Mail using their source email account and password to trigger the migration.
Method 3: The administrator selects the users for migration and notifies them to enter their account and password information.
Scenario: You have not collected the source system account passwords. After you configure the migration parameters, you can notify organization members to enter and verify their account credentials to start the migration.
Click Add Migration Account.
To modify the migration parameters later, go to Migration Settings > Edit > Edit Migration Configuration. After making changes, click OK.
Select a migration plan
Click Add Migration Account.
Select one of the three plans based on your requirements.
Key points overview
Plan type |
Scenario |
Key points |
Batch migration (passwords known) |
Administrator has employee account passwords. |
|
Batch migration (passwords unknown) |
Administrator only has the account list. |
|
Self-service migration |
Decentralized migration needs. |
|
Details of the first migration method
Create a CSV file in Microsoft Excel with the following format. All three columns are required:
Alibaba Mail account |
Source system email account |
Source system email password |
1234@example00.com |
1234@example01.com |
Halo1234 |
Fill in the mapping relationship carefully to prevent migrating to the wrong account. If the source system uses a client-specific security password, enter that password in the 'Source system email password' column. You can import up to 10,000 data entries at a time.
For Exchange migration, use a delegate account. For more information, see Set a delegate account for an Exchange mailbox. The recommended format for the migration file is as follows:
user2@example.com,superman@example.com/user1,password
Field descriptions:
user2@example.com: The Alibaba Mail account.
superman@example.com/user1: The source mailbox, using the delegate account format. user1 is the prefix of the source mailbox, and access is granted to superman@example.com.
password: The password for superman@example.com.
Details of the second migration method
The administrator starts the migration. Use this method when you do not have employee passwords. Employees log on with their source email password to start the migration. You can import migration accounts in batches using a CSV file.
1. Create a CSV file in Microsoft Excel with the following format:
Migration account |
1234@example00.com |
2. Import content:
Migration account (Required): The migration account must already exist in Alibaba Mail, and its email address must be identical to the source account's email address.
3. Procedure:
After an employee logs on with their source password, the source system password becomes the logon password for their Alibaba Mail account. The employee can change the password in Webmail after logging on. Changing the password does not affect the migration.
4. Employee account password:
After an employee logs on, the source system password becomes the logon password for the Alibaba Mail account. The employee can also change the password in Webmail after logging on. Changing the password does not affect the migration.
During the migration, if an employee changes their source system password, the migration will fail. The employee will need to manually update the source account password in the migration menu. We recommend that employees do not change their passwords in the source email system during the migration. You can import up to 1,000 data entries at a time.
Note
Before you use this method, confirm the following:
1. The source and destination account email addresses must be identical.
2. After this is set up, users can log on only with their source system password. They can no longer log on with their current password. The administrator must notify employees in advance.
Details of the third migration method
Notify members to start the migration themselves. Members must enter their source email system account and password.
Employees will see a prompt after they log on to Webmail.
Employee procedure:
Employees use the initial account and password set by the Alibaba Mail administrator to log on to Alibaba Mail Webmail. The system displays a prompt that domain migration has been enabled. Click OK to go to the migration settings. If you accidentally click Cancel, you can go to Settings > View More Settings > Mailbox Settings > Mailbox Migration to enter the source email account and password.
