Migrating from Magento 1.9.4 to Magento 2.4.1 - use the The Magento Migration Tool OR do it manually?

Question

Magento 1.9.4 to Magento 2.4.1

We need to migrate from the older version of Magento to the newest. My plan was going to be to:

1. Install Magento 2.4.1
2. Export Customers, Products and Orders via CSV files from the old Magento, correct the column headings and import into new Magento.
3. Configure themes

Now I came across this 'Magento Migration Tool' and I wonder if it's better to go this route? Would I need to set up the websites/stores/storefronts/categories or anything or does the Migration tool does all?

I am currently getting some Error messages in the process of trying to install the Migration tool but my hosting is looking into that. After that is resolved and I'm ready to use the tool, is it just a matter of typing the command into SSH (Putty) and waiting for the process to complete? How long are we talking? Obviously, that would depend on the size of the database but what is the average for a small store? Also, will there be other bits and pieces I would still need to do manually afterwards?

Answer 1

The best way to do the migration is the Magento Migration tool.

Yes tools do data migration for you, and about the small store you can consider 1 hour max.

You need to run command into sequence which data you want.

Answer 2

I would also prefer you to use the Data Migration Tool. First, you need to install the data migration via Composer.

Ensure that you must update the location of the Data Migration Tool package in the composer.json file to make it work.

To do that,run the following commands:

composer config repositories.magento composer https://repo.magento.com
composer require magento/data-migration-tool:<version>

Then, migrate settings using Magento 2 Data Migration Tool and start migrating your store by using the following command:

php bin/magento migrate:data --reset <path to your config.xml>

If your store was up and running do checkout the best SEO practices as well.

• Analyze Your Google Analytics
• Analyze Your Google Search Console
• Check Your High Performing Keywords
• Fix The 404 Errors
• Analyze Your Robots.txt File
• Analyze Sitemap.xml File
• Analyze Your Canonical Tags
• Don’t Change Your Meta Tags

It's not a complete process of migration but just a quick overview. I hope, it might be helpful for you.

Answer 3

The best way to migrate from Magento 1 to Magento 2 is a combination of the Migration Tool and manual data import.

Why?

Migrating to Magento 2 is the perfect opportunity for you to improve all aspects of your Magento 1 store. Think about how you can improve your product presentation in Magento 2 using all of the new features available. For example if you use a lot Grouped products in Magento 1 think about moving these products to Configurable products with new visual options such as Swatches.

If you simply want to duplicate as much of your Magento 1 store as possible into Magento 2 then test the Migration Tool and use it if it works.

If you want to rethink your product or category design then use the Migration Tool for some data such as customers and orders and create new import data for your products and categories.

Use this opportunity to redesign and improve your store for Magento 2. It will be a lot easier to do this as you migrate than to make the changes later.

When using the migration tool test it thoroughly on you development servers. Be sure to make backups of your original Magento 1 database as you test.

Answer 4

Because store migration is a complicated process which once not done right, will heavily affect your online store sales performance.

Therefore, I highly suggest that if you are not a professional, please use a migration tool like Magento Data Migration Tool.

For the migration of a small store, I would say it will take less than 1 hour to finish. Data that need to be manually migrated can be found here as well as step-by-step instruction: https://devdocs.magento.com/guides/v2.4/migration/migration-manually.html

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