Journey of migrating from Drupal or other web CMS to AEM application

[Mahesh_Gunaje]

Hello Everyone,

In your experience, have you come across migrating the existing Drupal or any other CMS web application to AEM application?  What are the challenges you have faced.  Wanted to hear success, as well failure stories.

Thanks

[EstebanBustamante]

Hi, 

Here are some good threads that can be helpful if you are looking for ideas about how to start the migration journey, so I won't repeat them in this post: 

https://experienceleaguecommunities.adobe.com/t5/adobe-experience-manager/migration-from-another-cms... 

https://experienceleaguecommunities.adobe.com/t5/adobe-experience-manager/cms-migration-to-aem/td-p/... 

https://experienceleaguecommunities.adobe.com/t5/adobe-experience-manager/aem-migration-legacy-sitec...

https://experienceleaguecommunities.adobe.com/t5/adobe-experience-manager/how-to-migrate-other-cms-t...

Now, let me share some thoughts from my experience. The most challenging aspect is creating the data model, which involves matching the CMS data structure to the AEM data structure. While most CMS platforms have a similar data structure with different terminology, it's not always a straightforward one-to-one match. Therefore, investing a significant amount of time in this task is necessary.

Another important point to mention is that it's crucial to be aware that you won't be able to migrate 100% of the web application via scripts, ETLs, or any other method you choose. There will always be a need for manual work. Being aware of this and planning accordingly can greatly facilitate the migration process.

Hope this helps.

[arunpatidar]

Hi @Mahesh_Gunaje 
Just adding few pointer, not sure if they are valid in your use case or not

Migrating from Drupal to Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) involves several steps, and the complexity of the migration depends on various factors, including the content structure, customization, and specific requirements of your Drupal instance. Below is a general guide with examples to help you understand the process. Note that this is a high-level overview, and you may need to adapt these steps based on your unique Drupal setup.

1. Assessment and Planning:

• Objective: Understand the structure of your Drupal site, identify content types, taxonomies, and any custom configurations.

2. Export Data from Drupal:

• Use Drupal tools like drush to export your database and relevant files.

3. Analyze Drupal Data:

• Objective: Understand the exported data and identify mappings between Drupal entities and AEM structures.

5. Data Transformation:

• Example:
  • Write scripts or use tools to transform Drupal data into a format compatible with AEM.
  • Convert Drupal content types to AEM components.

6. Create AEM Templates and Components:

• Example:
  • In AEM, create templates that match your Drupal content types.
  • Develop components and dialogs.

7. Import Data into AEM:

• Use AEM's import tools or custom scripts to import transformed data into AEM.

8. Update Internal Links and References:

• Objective: Adjust internal links and references within content to match AEM's structure.
• Use SQL or equivalent queries to update internal links.

9. Handle Media and Assets:

• Objective: Migrate images, files, and other media assets.
• Example:
  • Use AEM's DAM tools to manage and organize assets.

10. Recreate Views and Templates:

• Objective: Recreate Drupal views and page templates in AEM.
• Example:
  • In AEM, create pages based on your Drupal templates.

11. Test and Validate:

• Objective: Ensure data integrity and validate the migration.
• Example:
  • Manually check a sample of pages.
  • Use automated testing tools.

12. Update DNS and Redirects:

• Objective: Once migration is successful, update DNS settings and set up redirects if needed.
• Example:
  • Update DNS records to point to the new AEM instance.

13. Training and Documentation:

• Objective: Train content authors and stakeholders on using AEM.
• Example:
  • Create documentation for AEM-specific workflows and features.

14. Monitor and Optimize:

• Objective: Monitor the performance of the new AEM site and optimize configurations as needed.

Notes:

• Custom Modules: If your Drupal instance has custom modules, you need to evaluate equivalent functionalities in AEM and implement them accordingly.
• Authentication: Adjust user authentication and permissions in AEM based on your Drupal user roles.

This migration process is a broad overview, and each step may involve additional sub-steps based on the complexity of your Drupal setup and your requirements for AEM. It's crucial to thoroughly test each stage of the migration process in a controlled environment before applying changes to the production system. Additionally, consider seeking professional assistance if the migration involves complex customizations.

[Mahesh_Gunaje]

Thanks @arunpatidar  for your detailed description. Yes. This means a lot to me.

My few observations here:

1: Liking towards Drupal UI, authoring:

if the client likes Drupal features a lot, as well the authoring section in Drupal (Still client wants to migrate to AEM. Dont ask me why), then, I think it will be difficult to convince the authors(they are employees of client) to use AEM for authoring the pages. Since, they are very much expert in authoring Drupal pages, assets, etc. But new to AEM application.

2: Get the background of authors:

Need to get the background of authors before we implement the AEM sites. In my case, authors are very much familiar with Drupal sites. So, they expect Drupal kind of authoring, attaching the assets. During migration, to handle the structured data of Drupal CMS, we have utilized Content Fragment Model, Content Fragment approach. So, Author has to create necessary content fragment, add all the details.  Then, create a page by passing the path of CF. Then, data will be populated automatically on page.

Once we pass this details to authors, after few days they told that

3: Development of Drupal feature/module in AEM

Client is very fond of Drupal features/modules. So, for my team, challenge was to develop Poll, other kind of drupal features in AEM. But in AEM, we don't have dbms or mongoDB. Even, we cannot include dbms for the new sites.

[arunpatidar · Accepted solution]

Hi @Mahesh_Gunaje 
AEM Site Authoring is also rich but if you go with content fragment there is currently no WYSIWYG but this will be scoped using Universal Editor.

https://experienceleague.adobe.com/docs/experience-manager-cloud-service/content/universal-editor/de... 

It is possible to connect AEM with database. 

There are features like AEM community is there, however not very much updated and revolve since its introduction, https://experienceleague.adobe.com/docs/experience-manager-65/content/implementing/developing/platfo...


I would suggest if you already know the requirement thats you need on AEM, you can setup a call with Adobe and they will suggest the alternative of Drupal features

[VaibhavCh1]

Hi @arunpatidar ,

One of our customers has a requirement to store Drupal page revisions history in AEM after migration. Is this even possible? Have you came across this type of requirement?

Thanks,
Vaibhav

[arunpatidar]

Hi @VaibhavCh1 
I don't think so if this is possible.

we had a scenario, where we updated only the previous version dates in the page properties as disabled field.

[kautuk_sahni]

@Mahesh_Gunaje Did you find the suggestions from users helpful? Please let us know if more information is required. Otherwise, please mark the answer as correct for posterity. If you have found out solution yourself, please share it with the community.