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Migration Prep Tool FAQs

To prepare for Server migration, you can run the Pre-Upgrade Checks and back up your MongoDB. For more information, see Prepare for Migration.

  • No, the migration prep step is non-blocking and should be able to be run without disturbing normal operation of your Server.

  • The Migration Prep Tool prepares a new workflows table that is non-operational until after the upgrade. The new table has all the same workflows and apps in it, but they will be encrypted with the new AES256 standard using the Alteryx crypto library which Alteryx has standardized for better security.

  • The system uses machine-level encryption, so there is no way to input, see or update the AES256 key being used for the encryption at this time.

  • The time the encryption migration takes to run depends on multiple factors: the hardware performing the migration task, the location of the MongoDB, the number of workflows (including deleted workflows) in the environment, and the size of those workflows.

  • When the database is hosted remotely, the migration takes significantly longer because the network link between the database and the host adds latency and additional time to transfer the data.

  • The additional time required increases exponentially based on the number of workflows in the environment and how large the workflows are.

  • Migration times can span minutes to a day depending on these variables. This process may take a few days to complete in extreme cases. Therefore, for environments with 1000+ workflows or environments with a remote database such as one hosted in MongoDB Atlas, we highly recommend running the Migration Prep Tool to minimize the downtime needed to perform the update. If you aren't sure this applies to your environment, there is no harm in running the Migration Prep Tool in advance of the upgrade.

There might be a small impact on Server performance, particularly disk I/O.

There are no time limits, but the longer you wait to do the upgrade while your users are modifying workflows, the more workflows need to be converted in the final steps of the upgrade which is during your maintenance window. Therefore, your overall downtime might be longer. Ideally, run the upgrade within a day of finishing the Migration Prep.

There will be a log file at %ProgramData%\Alteryx\Service\AlteryxServiceMigrator_#.log that will explain if there were any failures during the migration. You can change this location and name when you are running the migration tool in advance of the upgrade.

It is important to verify that all workflows were successfully migrated. If there are any failures, we recommend you reach out to Support for help in resolving the discrepancies.