Migration Settings

When configuring a migration, the Options step provides advanced settings that control how files are selected, handled, and finalized. These settings allow you to define what files should move, what should remain behind, how filenames are validated, and how completion is signaled. Together, they ensure that migrations are both flexible and reliable.

Managing Source Files After Migration

This setting determines what happens to files at the source once they have been migrated. You can choose to keep a copy of the files in the source location, which is useful for maintaining backups or running parallel systems. Alternatively, you can delete the migrated files from the source, which helps clean up transferred items and frees up storage space. When deleting files, empty folders at the source can also be removed once their contents have been migrated.

Include and Exclude Patterns

The Include Patterns and Exclude Patterns options allow you to selectively migrate specific items from the source to the destination. If no patterns are provided, the entire contents of the source are migrated. Include Patterns define which files and folders should be transferred, while Exclude Patterns define which files and folders should be skipped. If a file matches both, the exclusion takes precedence.

Patterns use glob matching, which provides flexible ways to specify paths and filenames. For example, the single asterisk (*) matches folders or files at a specific level, while the double asterisk (**) matches all subfolders recursively. A question mark (?) matches any single character, and square brackets ([]) can be used to specify sets or ranges of characters. File names can also be matched using wildcards or extensions, such as *.pdf. To match literal special characters, use an escape sequence, for example [?] to match a question mark. Curly brackets ({}) allow for multiple alternatives, so {Mon,Tue,Wed} matches any file whose name contains an abbreviated weekday.

Patterns can be applied to paths, filenames, or both. For instance, path/to/*.pdf matches all PDF files in the specified folder, while **/202{4,5}.pdf matches PDF files across any folder whose name contains either 2024 or 2025. Multiple include and exclude patterns may be set for a single migration, and folder exclusions apply recursively to all contents of the excluded folder.

End-of-Sync Trigger Filename

Some Managed File Transfer (MFT) services require a signal that data delivery has been completed. Mover supports this through the End-of-Sync Trigger Filename option. When a trigger filename is specified, Mover generates a zero-byte file with that name and delivers it to the destination once all files in the migration have been successfully transferred. The trigger file is always the last item delivered, ensuring that it accurately represents completion. If no files are migrated, no trigger file is sent.