Google Workspace to Office 365
Gurjant singh
Azure Administration & Intune MDM Cloud Infrastructure Engineer | SCCM | WorkspaceOne |
In this blog, we’ll walk you through how to move your mailboxes from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365. We’ll talk about what to keep in mind, common challenges you might face, and tips to make the process easy and stress-free.
Contents Overview
Migrating from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365
Requirements for Migrating from Google Workspace to Office 365
Step-by-Step Guide to Migrating Google Workspace to Office 365 with a Demo Lab
Issue Faced While Configuring the MIgration
Conclusion
Check Out the Tutorial Video
Check out our YouTube channel for a detailed video on migrating from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365. We’ll walk you through each step of the process. Check Out the Tutorial Video
Migrating from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365
You can move the following from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365 or Office 365:
Requirements for Migrating from Google Workspace to Office 365
To start the migration, there are a few requirements you need to meet in both Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 to ensure the data moves securely.
In this migration process, data is transferred in batches. We need to make sure that users who have already been migrated and those who haven’t can still send and receive emails with each other.
Let’s suppose we have three user accounts in Google Workspace, and we are migrating these three users to Office 365.
Out of the three users, one has already been migrated to Office 365. Now, the users who haven’t been migrated yet want to send emails to the user who has been moved from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365.
Example - In an Exchange Hybrid setup, there’s something called the Routing Domain, which is usually domain.mail.onmicrosoft.com. This is used to send emails from your on-premises system to Microsoft 365. To send emails from Office 365 to your on-premises system, the External Email Address attribute is used.
we need a routing domain to route the emails from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365.
Pre-requisite
Uninterrupted email communication between users migrated to Microsoft 365 and those not yet migrated is allowed by a subdomain
An email address with that subdomain is added to all user accounts when a subdomain is created in Google Workspace
2. The subdomain is added to Microsoft 365 as the next prerequisite
3. The third prerequisite is to create another subdomain in Google Workspace, allowing users who migrated to Microsoft 365 to send emails to those who have not yet migrated. This subdomain will be used as the External Email Address domain.
4. First, we need to create mail users in the Exchange Admin Center for the accounts we want to migrate from Google Workspace. Then, we add the routing domain to each mail user account. The routing domain is the subdomain we created in Google Workspace and added to Microsoft 365.
Next, we set the external email address for these mail users by adding the Google Workspace subdomain. This will help route emails from the users who have been migrated to those who are still on Google Workspace.
If you're only migrating a few users, you can create mail users manually. But if you have a lot of users to migrate, you can use a script to import them from a CSV file.
Here’s an important point: If you know how Exchange Hybrid Deployment works, you’ll remember that when a migrated user sends an email to someone still on-premises, the email goes through the External Email Address. This tells the system that the user isn’t part of the organization and shows where the email should be sent. We’ll do the same thing here. By adding the External Email Address to the mail user in Exchange Online, we make sure that emails can be correctly routed to Google Workspace for users who haven’t been migrated yet.
5. Next, we need to give the right permissions to the Google Workspace admin account that we’ll use for the migration. This account needs two specific permissions: one to create projects and another to create service accounts. These permissions are necessary to help the migration run smoothly.
6. Finally, for this migration to work, we need to enable a few APIs in Google Workspace. These include the Gmail API, Google Calendar API, Contacts API, and People API. This step ensures that everything from emails to calendars and contacts can be migrated smoothly.
How to Successfully Migrate from Google Workspace to Office 365 (LAB)
Step 1. First we will create a subdomain in google workspace. We will go to Account > Domains > and click Manage Domains.
First, click on "Add a domain." Next, enter the sub-domain name and choose "User alias domain." This will add the sub-domain as a secondary email address for all the users. Once that’s done, click "Add domain" and begin the verification process.
This sub-domain will be used to route emails from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365. For example, the domain I'm using here is dazzlecloudsys.com. It’s already verified in Google Workspace and is being used for all the users. The MX record for this domain is set to point to Google Workspace, allowing users to receive emails from the internet.
Step 2: Next, we’ll head to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center. Go to Settings, then Domains, and click "Add domain." Here, we’ll enter the name of the subdomain, 365mail.m365concepts.com, and select "Use this Domain." This subdomain will be used as a secondary email address for the mail users.
I’ve already verified the main domain, dazzlecloudsys.com, in my tenant because I want to use it for the users I’m migrating from Google Workspace. However, the MX record for this domain is still pointing to Google Workspace. So, it’s important to only verify the domain in your tenant at this stage and not add the MX record just yet.
Step 3: Now, Let’s head back to Google Workspace to create another subdomain. This subdomain will serve as the external email address. In simple terms, it will be used to route emails from Microsoft 365 back to Google Workspace. This step ensures smooth communication between migrated users and those still on Google Workspace.
In the Google Dashboard, navigate to Account > Domains > Manage Domains. Here, click on Add a domain and enter the subdomain gws.dazzlecloudsys.com. Select User alias domain and then click Add domain to begin the verification process. This step ensures the subdomain is ready to be used for routing emails smoothly.
Step 4: Next, we’ll create mail users in Exchange Online for the accounts we plan to migrate from Google Workspace. To ensure we’re working with the correct user accounts, go to Directory > Users in Google Workspace and verify the details. Once confirmed, we can proceed with setting up the mail users in Exchange Online.
领英推荐
Go to Exchange Admin Center > Recipients > Contacts > Add a mail user.Enter First Name, Last Name, Display NameExternal Email Address will be [email protected] (username will be same as username in Google Workspace)Type Alias and UserIDUserID domain will be dazzlecloudsys.com . You can use a different domain for these accounts as well. This completely depends on your business requirements.Give it a password and click Create.
Step 5: Now it’s time to assign a secondary email address for each of these mail users. In the Exchange Admin Center, go to Mailboxes, select a mailbox, and open its properties. Under Email Addresses, click on Manage email address types.
Next, click the + button, select SMTP, and type the initials of the user. Then, choose the domain 365mail.dazzlecloudsys.com This secondary email address will allow the user to receive emails from Google Workspace. Once done, click Save.
You’ll need to repeat this for all the mail users. If you have a large number of mail users, you can save time by using a PowerShell script to automate the process instead of doing it manually.
Step 6: Now, we need to assign the necessary permissions to the Google Workspace Admin account.
Start by opening a new browser tab and going to console.cloud.google.com/cloud-resource-manager. Once there, click on Create Project. Give your project a name, select your domain under Organization, and then click Create.
After the project is created, find your Organization name or domain name, and on the right side, look for the Permissions section. Click on Add Principal.
In the Add Principal box, enter the email address of your Google Workspace Admin account. Next, under Assign Roles, click Select a role and search for Project Creator. Add this role.
To assign another role, click Add another role, search for Create Service Accounts, and select it. Once both roles are added, click Save. This step ensures the admin account has the required permissions to manage the migration.
Step 7: The next step is to enable the necessary APIs. While still on the Google Cloud Console page, click the three horizontal lines in the top-left corner to open the menu. From there, go to APIs and Services and select Library. This is where we’ll enable the APIs needed for the migration.
Enable the Following APIS
With that, we’ve successfully completed all the necessary prerequisites! Everything is now set up and ready, and we can confidently move forward with the Google Workspace to Office 365 migration process. The groundwork is done—let’s begin the journey!
Step 8: Now, it’s time to initiate the migration. Head over to the Exchange Admin Center and navigate to Migration. Once there, click on Add migration batch to start setting things up.
Give your batch a name—something that helps you identify it easily later. Then, choose Migration to Exchange Online as the type. Finally, select Google Workspace as the migration type. With these steps, we’re officially kicking off the migration process!
The Add Migration Batch wizard will now check to make sure all the prerequisites have been properly set up. You have two options for this validation: Automatic or Manual. Either way, the wizard will help ensure everything is in place before we proceed with the migration.
The wizard will prompt you to download a JSON file, which will be used in a later step of the process. Once all the checks are complete, it will ask you to copy the Client ID. Next, click on the link next to API access and paste the Client ID into the required field.
After that, return to the Exchange Admin Center, copy the scopes provided there, and go back to the wizard. Paste the scopes into the OAuth scopes section. Once everything is in place, simply click Authorize to move forward with the process.
Now, head back to the Exchange Admin Center and click Next to continue. Next, select Create a new migration endpoint and click Next. You’ll be prompted to enter a name for the Migration Endpoint, then click Next again.
For the Email Address section, enter the Admin account for Google Workspace, the one where we assigned the Project Creator and Create Service Accounts permissions. Then, import the JSON file we downloaded earlier and click Next.
Now, it’s time to add the users we want to migrate. To do this, create a CSV file. In the first column, enter EmailAddress, and in the rows beneath it, list the email addresses of the mail users you’re migrating. Once done, save the file as a CSV.
For the Target Delivery Domain, type in the subdomain for Microsoft 365, which is 365mail.dazzlecloudsys.com, then click Next and Save to complete this step.
Once the migration is complete, head over to the Active Users section in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center. Here, you’ll assign the appropriate licenses to the users, making sure they have the Exchange Online service included.
After the migration for all users is finished, the final step is to update the MX records. This will point to your Microsoft 365 tenant, ensuring all incoming emails are routed to the new platform.
Issue Faced While Configuring the MIgration
I encountered an issue while configuring the migration. Everything seemed to be set up correctly, but when I ran the Pre-req check, the JSON file didn't download, which prevented me from moving forward in the process.
After researching the issue, I discovered that the JSON file is a key for the Service account we created in Google Workspace to perform the migration actions. I realized that something was blocking the file download.
Upon further investigation, I found that in the Organization Policy, the setting for Disable Service Account Key Creation was turned on, which was preventing the JSON file from downloading.
To fix this, I searched for the iam.disableServiceAccountKeyCreation policy in the Organization Policy and turned it off.
Additionally, I found I could manually download the JSON file by navigating to the Service Account in the organization, selecting the service account we created, and going to the Keys tab. From there, I could add a new key and download the file.
Once I did that, the issue was resolved, and I was able to successfully complete the migration!
Conclusion
We explored what mailbox items can be migrated from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365 and reviewed the prerequisites for the migration. We also covered how to fulfill those prerequisites, assign necessary permissions to the Google Workspace admin account, and enable the required APIs in Google Cloud.
SAP EWM Consultant at Infosys
1 个月Insightful , thanks Gurjant singh
Equipment Specialist at syncreon
1 个月Great work??