Box: Preparing your individual files for migration

Box: Preparing your individual files for migration

In this video I will be talking about what you need to do to prepare for the retirement of IU box and the migration of your files. Individual accounts are the first thing being moved as part of the migration. For more information on the migration timeline and answers to common questions take a look at storage.iu.edu.

Before I get started be aware that Box has a separate accessible version with a different interface. You can find more about the supported features of a.box.com in the document Using A.Box.Com For Accessibility available at the url on the screen: https://support.box.com/hc/en-us/articles/360043693214-Using-A-Box-Com-For-Accessibility

So what is an individual account?

Individual accounts like Microsoft OneDrive at IU or Google at IU My Drive are associated with your IU username. These accounts are licensed via IU and you will lose access to the account if you leave IU. You are allowed to store personal data, and institutional data up to University Internal classification. Most IU information should be stored in Institutional Storage however.

Be aware individual accounts are not personal accounts like hotmail.com or gmail.com. Personal accounts are yours and should not contain IU information of any kind.

What is being moved later?

Files that are not owned by individuals will be moved later. These files are owned by accounts that are referred to as various names including group, departmental, team, IU, organizational, and institutional accounts.

This data will be stored in Institutional Storage like Microsoft Teams, Google Shared Drives, Microsoft Secure Storage, and Google Secure Storage which are licensed to IU, not to individuals.This means even if the owners leave, IU can still reassign owners, recover data, etc. Data up to Critical classification, with some exceptions like payment card info can be stored in these accounts.

It can be confusing to figure out which folders are owned by you. Yellow folders are owned by you, but that doesn’t mean that you only own yellow folders. Blue folders indicate a folder is shared, but the color doesn’t give an indication of who owns the folder. So how do you determine which files and folders you own and which departments or groups own?

Finding folders and files you own

There are two ways to find which folders you own. You can find folders by searching or by manually checking.

To search for folders by owner:

1. First you want to log into box.iu.edu using your individual IU username and passphrase.
2. Click the Search Options button in the search box at the top of the screen.

You should see a Content Filters area below the search box.

3. In the File Type(s) dropdown select Folders and hit the escape key to close the dropdown.
4. In the Owners field, type your username and select your name.
5. To complete the search click on the Search button in the search box.
6. Folders owned by you will now be listed.

These are the folders that will be migrated during the first stage of migration.

7. Review the list.

Be aware this method lists subfolders as well as first level folders. If you have a lot of subfolders then you may prefer this second method.

To search folders manually:

1. First you want to be logged into Box.
2. To be sure you are seeing all files, click All Files in the left sidebar.

You then need to select the folder, but not move into the folder.

3. To select the folder don’t click on the folder name, but instead click next to the folder name.
4. To the right side of the screen you will see a Sharing area.

In this information you see a list of collaborators or a message saying No Collaborators. Below each collaborator is information about the permission level of that collaborator. You own all folders where below your name it says Owner. If it says No Collaborators you also own the folder.

5. Repeat for each folder.

How to evaluate the contents of your folders

So now that you are starting to evaluate the contents of your Box folders what should you be looking for?

When you are reviewing the folders and the files contained within them you want to be doing several things:

1. Deciding does the folder or file need to be preserved or should it be deleted?
2. Deciding do you need to be a collaborator on that folder or file?
3. Deciding if someone else should own the folder or file?
4. Capturing any needed Box comments.
5. Assessing the historical value of the files.
6. Identifying folders and files that need to be moved to a non-individual Box account.

You want to be careful when deciding to delete a folder or file. If that folder or file is part of a collaboration, where others have access to it, deleting it removes it from everyone not just you. If you don’t own the folder or file you should not delete it. If you no longer need access to the file or folder you can end the collaboration.

To end a collaboration on a file:

1. Locate the shared file.
2. Select the file by clicking next to the file name.
3. Click the More Options button (the three dots).
4. Point at the More Actions option and click Manage Collaborators.
5. Locate your name in the list of collaborators.
6. Click on the current permissions for your account.
7. Click Remove.

A message appears stating “Are you sure you want to remove yourself as a collaborator? You will no longer have access to this item and will not be able to complete pending tasks.”

8. Click Okay.

To end a collaboration on a file:

1. Locate the shared file.
2. Select the file by clicking next to the file name.
3. Click the More Options button (the three dots).
4. Point at the More Actions option and click Manage Collaborators.
5. Locate your name in the list of collaborators.
6. Click on the current permissions for your account.
7. Click Remove.

A message appears stating “Are you sure you want to remove yourself as a collaborator? You will no longer have access to this item and will not be able to complete pending tasks.”

8. Click Okay.

To change ownership of a folder:

You may find documents that you feel should be kept, but someone else should own. In this case you can transfer ownership of items to another person or group account.

1. Locate the shared folder.
2. Select the folder by clicking next to the folder name.
3. Locate the name of the person you want to own the folder in the Sharing section of the window.
4. Click the more button (the three dots) next to the account name you want to own the file.

If you don't see the person you want to give ownership to check to see if there is a link to additional collaborators at the bottom of the list. Click the link and use the Permissions drop down list next to the person to see available permission options. If they are not listed you will need to invite them as a collaborator before you can transfer ownership.

5. Click Owner

You see a window that states “By making this collaborator the Folder Owner you become an Editor and no longer own the folder. Any collaborators who have been added directly to this folder will see it in their root folders. Any collaborators who have been added at the parent-folder level or above will no longer be collaborators. Do you want to continue?”

6. Click Okay.

To delete a folder or file:

You may find folders or files that are no longer needed and can be deleted.

1. Find the folder or file you want to delete.
2. Select the file or folder.
3. Click the More Options button (the three dots).
4. Click the Trash button.

You see a message asking “Are you sure you want to delete this item”.

5. Click the Okay button.

To move a folder or file:

Also you may want to move folders or files around to organize them before the migration happens on your account.

1. Find the folder or file you want to move.
2. Select the folder or file.
3. Click the More Options button (the three dots).
4. Click Move or Copy.
5. Find the folder where you want to place the folder or file.
6. Click the Move button.

To capture Box comments:

Be aware that Box comments will not be migrated to either OneDrive or My Drive. Box comments are not Box Notes. Box Notes will be migrated. If comments have been added to files and you need any of these comments for your records or business processes, cut and paste the information into the file itself or into a separate document of your choice (Word, Google Docs, Notepad, etc.). Unfortunately there is not a way to search for comments so the process of finding Box comments is time consuming.

1. Look at your files for the comment indicator with the number of comments next to it.
2. Click on the file.
3. Copy the comments into the document or another document to preserve them.

Assessing the historical value of the files in your Box account:

While you are sorting through your folders and files anyway it is a great time to identify records that document the history of IU. If you have records that you believe document the history of IU, University archives want to talk to you about your records. They well help you determine what isn’t needed anymore, and what might be appropriate to transfer to your campus archives. You can email iurm@indiana.edu to get started. Also you can take a look at their blog article: https://blogs.libraries.indiana.edu/iubarchives/2020/04/23/box-clean-up/

Request username for a group account

If you need to create a new group account to be used for this purpose you need to request a unique user name for the account.

1. To request the username go to Manage your group accounts at the url on the screen: https://ams.iu.edu/ams_user/ManageGroupAccounts.aspx
2. Click REQUEST NEW GROUP USERNAME:.

The following page will display the current status of your group account requests.

3. Click the Request New Username button.
4. Enter and re-enter the group username you want in the first two fields.

The username must be at least three and no more than eight characters.

5. In the Display name field, enter the full name of your group.
6. Select the campus.
7. Select the department associated with the group.
8. Enter a brief description of the group's purpose.
9. Click the Submit button to submit the request.

Create a group account

Once the group username is approved you then need to create the group account.

1. To create the group account go to Manage your group accounts at the url on the screen: https://ams.iu.edu/ams_user/ManageGroupAccounts.aspx
2. Click CREATE GROUP ACCOUNTS:.

If your group account request has been processed, the username you requested will be displayed.

3. Click Select next to the username.
4. Select the email options for the group account, and click Continue.
5. Create a passphrase for the group account and enter it in both boxes.

Information about creating passphrases can be found at the url on the screen: https://kb.iu.edu/d/acpu

6. Click Create Accounts.

Authorize account to use Box

Box is not an account that automatically is created so you also need to submit a request to authorize the account for Box.

1. To authorize the account for Box, go to the Box Group Account request form at the url on the screen: https://access.iu.edu/box/group

Don’t log in with the group account.

2. Enter the group account username in the field labeled “Enter the IU username of the group account you wish to be authorized for Box:”
3. Type yes in the field labled “Type ‘yes’ in the following box to indicate you understand this information:”

This indicates that you understand a request for authorization will be sent to the owner of the group account.

4. Click the Route Request for Approval button.

Whoever the owner of the group account is then needs to approve the request. If you requested the username and created the group account you are the group account owner. You should receive an email with a link to the eDoc, unless you disabled Action List notifications.

1. To approve the request, click the link in the email or navigate to your Action List at the url on the screen: https://one.iu.edu/launch-task/view-action-list
2. If you navigated to your Action list, click the eDocs unique Document ID number in the left column.
3. Click the Approve Button to authorize the account.

The person who requested the authorization for the group account should receive a notification when the request is approved.

The group account now can have ownership of files or folders transferred to it.

Set collaboration invites to be auto accepted

To make it as easy as possible to transfer files without having to change accounts multiple times you probably want to set the Box group account to automatically accept collaboration invitations, otherwise you will need to log into the group account and accept the invitations for the ownership transfers.

To set up the group account to auto accept collaboration invitations:

1. Log into Box as the group account.

If you have not logged into the account before you will have to set up duo for the account. Directions on how to set up duo can be found at the url on the screen: https://kb.iu.edu/d/aobp

2. Click the arrow next to the initials of the account in the upper right part of the Box window.
3. Click Account Settings.
4. Click Sharing.
5. Scroll down until you see Collaborating on Content.
6. Click the check Box for “Automatically accept incoming collaboration invitations.”
7. Click the Save Changes button.
8. Log out of Box.

To transfer files and folders to the group account

1. Log into Box with your username and password.

Don’t log in with the group account.

2. Find the folder that you want to transfer, and click in that folder's row to select it.
3. In the column on the right, click the Share this Folder button.
4. Enter the username of the account to which you want to transfer ownership and select the name.
5. Then click Send.
6. Once the account has accepted your invitation, click the three dots next to the account you wish to promote to owner, and change that account's current permissions to Owner.

Be sure to select Owner, not Co-owner. Also if the group account is set up to automatically accept collaboration invitations you won’t need to wait for the group account to accept invitations.

7. In the pop-up that appears, click the Okay button to confirm that you will no longer own the content, and your permission level will be changed to Editor.

This ends our content on preparing for the retirement of IU Box and the migration of your account.

Back to top