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Home/System setup and customization/Environment setup and maintenance/Managing vaults/Vault operations

Migrating the vault database from one Microsoft SQL Server to another

Last updated on 10 April 2026

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When you migrate from one Microsoft SQL Server to another, the new Microsoft SQL Server must run the same or later version of Microsoft SQL Server, and the Microsoft SQL Server edition (Enterprise or Standard) must also be the same or higher than that of the old Microsoft SQL Server.

In other words, do not migrate vault databases from Microsoft SQL Server to an older version or lower edition of Microsoft SQL Server.

See also Important tasks after installation, vault creation, or vault migration for a checklist of tasks that we recommend to be done with vault creation.

To migrate a vault database from one Microsoft SQL Server to another:

  1. Open M-Files Admin.
  2. In the left-side tree view, expand a connection to M-Files server.
  3. Open the context menu of a vault and select Operations > Take Offline.
  4. Open Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio and take a full backup of the vault database.
  5. Restore the database to the new Microsoft SQL Server as a new database.
  6. In M-Files Admin, open the context menu of the document vault and select Properties.
    Result:The Document Vault Properties dialog opens.
  7. Open the Advanced tab.
  8. Under the Use Microsoft SQL Server option, select Define....
    Result:The Document Vault - Microsoft SQL Server dialog opens.
  9. In the Server name field, specify the name of the new Microsoft SQL Server.
  10. In the Database name field, specify the name of the new database.
  11. In the Administrator credentials and Basic user credentials sections, specify the new authentication settings.
  12. Select OK to close the Document Vault - Microsoft SQL Server dialog and then select OK to close the Document Vault Properties dialog.
  13. In the left-side tree view, open the context menu of the vault and select Operations > Bring Online.
From this point forward, the M-Files server will access the vault database from the new Microsoft SQL Server.
After you migrate the vault database to the new Microsoft SQL Server, you must create a backup job for the new database in Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio on the new Microsoft SQL Server. For more details and recommendations, see M-Files Backup Policy.
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