Slack Workspace Migrations

Read more about what happens during a Slack migration, and how migrations into the Grid take place.

• Should I migrate? 
  • No longer using your workspace?
  • Is your workspace a paid workspace?
  • Does the workspace relate to Dartmouth?
  • Does this workspace have predominantly Dartmouth members in it?
  • What gets migrated?
• OK, I'd like to migrate my workspace
  • The migration process

Should I migrate my workspace? 

No longer using your workspace?

• If yes, then we recommend deleting it on your own. 
  • If you are the workspace primary owner, check out Slack's article:  https://slack.com/help/articles/204067366-Delete-a-workspace.
  • If you are not the workspace primary owner, please contact the owner and ask them to delete the workspace. If they are unavailable, then you can simply remove the workspace from your account by leaving the workspace, or deactivating your account: https://slack.com/help/articles/203953146-Deactivate-your-Slack-account.
• If no, continue below.

Is your workspace a paid workspace?

Paid workspaces will be refunded once they are migrated. Why not take advantage of the Grid?

• If yes, then we recommend you check out the next series of parameters to verify if the workspace is a candidate.
• If not, then the workspace may still be a candidate for migration. Savings isn't the only benefit of joining the Grid.  Check out the benefits of the Dartmouth Slack Grid.

Does the workspace relate to Dartmouth?

Workspaces related to teaching, learning, research, business function, and/or activities (sanctioned or otherwise) are welcome on the Grid.

• If yes, then continue below.
• If no, then it is probably best to keep the workspace off the Grid.

Does this workspace have predominantly Dartmouth members in it?

Dartmouth members are active students, faculty or staff using a Dartmouth.edu email account. Slack does not recommend migrating workspaces that have predominantly non-Dartmouth members (known as Community Workspaces) because of the difficulty in managing their permissions on the Grid. The Dartmouth Grid can still host community workspaces though this is done by creating the workspace on the grid initially.

• If yes, then we recommend migrating. Please submit a Slack Migration request.
• If no, the workspace can still be migrated but you, as a workspace owner or administrator, may have some steps to take to get your non-Dartmouth members settled in the workspace and grid appropriately.  Still unsure? Request a consultation.

What gets migrated?

• Direct messages
• Members and current memberships
• Files
• Custom emojis
• App integrations
• Custom profile data (paid workspaces)
• Shared channels (paid workspaces)

OK, I'd like to migrate my workspace

• Create a Slack Migration request and we'll be in touch.

The migration process

1. Prepare for the migration with your members.
   • Work with the Dartmouth members of your workspace to update their Slack account to use their current primary Dartmouth email (firstname.m.lastname@dartmouth.edu). You cannot use an email alias for this process.
2. Fill out a Slack Migration Request form here.
3. When the next migration date comes, ITC submits a batch request to Slack to migrate the workspace(s) to our Enterprise Grid.
4. Slack and ITC complete a pre-migration review to look for any collisions 
5. ITC will reach out to you if you need to complete any changes to your workspace before the migration. The most common task is the same as Step 1. 
6. Once we confirm a safe migration, we will contact you with a migration date.
7. Slackbot will contact the Primary Workspace Owner of your workspace asking to approve the migration.
8. We advise you to communicate with your workspace members about the coming change and a brief outage during the migration.
9. Slackbot will notify you when the migration begins and ends. Most migrations will generally take 15 minutes to an 1 Hour. They normally to run from 8am - 5pm on your scheduled date. 
10. ITC will review the workspace after the migration and confirm that things look correct on our side. If you notice any post-migration problems, please notify the person in your ticket request.
11. Post Migration adjustments:
    • Required - Swap your current Primary Workspace Owner to Slack.Org.Owner@dartmouth.edu.
      • If we do not complete this step, it causes significant problems with our provisioning process. If you have questions, please reach out to us. 
    • As needed - Convert anyone without an @dartmouth.edu email address to a Guest account. 
    • Optional - We may work with you to move channels into a departmental workspace as needed.
12. Use the Slack Report an Issue service to contact ITC with any post-migration issues.  Need help with Slack? Submit a Service Request ticket.