AEM Cloud Migration: The 12 Technical Steps Explained

Migrating from AEM On-Premise to AEM as a Cloud Service is a complex project. Here are the 12 detailed technical steps to ensure a successful migration.

Step 1: Run the Best Practices Analyzer (BPA)

The BPA is the Adobe tool that automatically analyzes your AEM instance and identifies non-compliance points with Cloud Service standards. This is always the first step.

Step 2: Custom component inventory

List all your custom components, OSGI bundles, servlets, and services. Identify those using deprecated or unavailable APIs in AEM Cloud.

Step 3: Maven project restructuring

Use Adobe's Repository Modernizer to restructure your Maven project according to the AEM Cloud Service archetype.

Step 4: OSGI code refactoring

Adapt your OSGI bundles for Cloud Service APIs. This is the longest and most technical step.

Step 5: Configuration migration

Convert your XML configurations to YAML/JSON. Separate mutable from immutable configurations.

Step 6: Dispatcher adaptation

Use the Dispatcher SDK to adapt your Apache/Dispatcher configurations to the new Cloud model.

Step 7: Oak index updates

Convert your custom Oak indexes to Cloud Service format.

Step 8: Cloud Manager setup

Configure your CI/CD pipelines in Cloud Manager (production and non-production).

Step 9: Content transfer with CTT

Use the Content Transfer Tool to transfer your content, users, and permissions.

Step 10: Regression testing

Run automated test suites to validate everything works as before.

Step 11: Performance testing

Validate performance with load and stress tests.

Step 12: Go-Live

Execute the go-live plan with monitoring and rollback procedures.