Google Sites and GDrive work closely together since you can embed Google Drive documents or folders in a Google Sites. This article explains how Cloudiway proceeds and why you need File Migration Licenses to migrate your Google Sites.
Google Drive Files Embedded In A Google Sites
Google Sites stores only the file ID of the Google Drive documents embedded in the site without any information about the owner.
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To access a document stored in GDrive, you first need to connect to the owner’s Drive.
However, with the file ID extracted from Google Sites, it is impossible to determine in which drive the document is stored.
This is the typical error message that you get in the logs:
How Cloudiway addresses GDrive documents in Google Sites:
For each user, Cloudiway stores the list of file IDs and nothing else: it does not store any metadata such as file name, folderpath, creationDate, etc.
Cloudiway can migrate embedded Drive documents in Google Sites, but the platform needs to build a cartography of all files per user.
Therefore, a File Migration license is required for every Google user of your company. The platform can then impersonate the owner and access the document.
File Migration or CAL (Client Access License) Needed
If you migrate the Google Drives with Cloudiway, you won’t have tu purchase an additional CAL (Client Access License) for the Google Site migration ( You will only need to purchase the Google Sites migration licenses).
However, if you are not migrating the Google drives with Cloudiway, you will need a CAL (Client Access License) for accessing the File Migration engine.
You need to contact your sales representative to get a quote.
Without a File migration license (or without a CAL):
– You cannot audit the File users.
– You cannot migrate the embedded drives.
Note:
- Cloudiway is not able to determine the minimum number of CALs you need.
- A file ID does not permit to determine in which drive the document is stored.
- Potentially, every single user may have embedded one of his drive documents in a Google Sites, and it is not possible to determine which ones.
- Therefore you need to audit all users (which requires a CAL or license for every user).
- Can Cloudiway help me determine the minimum number of CALs I need? No, this is impossible. As explained, a file ID does not permit to determine in which drive the document is stored. Potentially, every single user may have embedded one of his drive document in a Google Sites and it is not possible to determine which ones. Therefore you need to audit all the users (which requires a CAL or license for every user).
Conclusion:
Cloudiway platform is hosted in Azure and is charged for every resource that it consumes. Please contact your sales representative if you want to make a POC for a site migration that contains embedded drives. For testing purposes, opting for a paid POC will cover few licenses with an audit for file migration of a few users. If you do not use Cloudiway Site Migration and Cloudiway File Migration together, the Google Drive documents embedded in Google Sites will not be migrated.
Read more: Google Workspace To Office 365 FAQs
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