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Mikhail Filippov

Bitrix24 migration guide: Cloud to On-premise

In this article, we provide answers to the following questions: 

What are the advantages of Bitrix24 cloud and Bitrix24 On-premise versions? when is it time for Migration from cloud to On-premise? what steps are involved in the migration process? what are some problems that arise during migration? and how can you solve them?


Advantages of Bitrix24 cloud

The main advantage of the Bitrix24 cloud is that you only need to register on Bitrix24.com with an email account or any social media account to have your own CRM portal. That's it!
Everything related to support, development and introduction of new features is handled by the supplier - Bitrix Inc.

Bitrix Inc. also provides security and storage for cloud users. 


When you purchase an Bitrix24 On-premise version, you get a license key.  You must install the solution yourself on a private server.
Your license key gives you access to a private copy of the Bitrix24 CRM solution, it is now your responsibility to manage and develop it.

Bitrix24 cloud is limited in terms of configuration and customization. There are also features specific to certain industries or businesses which are not available by default in the cloud version. In some cases, you can get these extra features by installing extensions from Bitrix24 Marketplace. 

But what happens if you can't find ready-made apps for Bitrix24 cloud? 

  1. You can contract a Bitrix developer to create a custom application. But as stated earlier, not all features can be implemented in Bitrix24 cloud - it is simply not as flexible as the On-premise version.
    Customizations to Bitrix24 cloud are also usually more time-consuming and difficult.

  2. In cases where the customization cannot be made to Bitrix24 cloud, it's time to migrate to Bitrix24 on-premise.

 

Advantages of Bitrix24 On-premise

  1. Access to the administrative panel with all the settings.

  2. Access to the server with the program itself and the database.

  3. Access to the API, which allows you to freely integrate Bitrix24 with other systems.

  4. Access to Bitrix24 Open source code that allows you to customize the system according to your individual requirements.


The ability to modify and integrate with other systems is the main reason why several of our clients choose Bitrix24 On-premise.

 

When to migrate from Bitrix24 cloud to On-premise

It's time to seriously consider migrating from Bitrix24 cloud to on-premise, if you need to:

  1. Customize Bitrix24 interface to suit your brand image.

  2.  Customize Business logic.

  3. Change the appearance and location of menus, widgets and other items.

  4. Integrate Bitrix24 with third-party programs, such as Accounting Systems, Oracle ERP, MS Exchange Server, Active Directory (AD / LDAP), Asterisk and others.

  5. Ensure data storage on the company’s internal servers.

  6. Have ready backup copies of the portal in case a data recovery is needed.

  7. Create new modules with required functionalities.

  8. Create complex Business workflows with user-friendly interfaces.

 

How to migrate from Bitrix24 cloud to On-premise

  1. Purchase a license key
  2. Create a domain name for the portal and bind it to the IP address of your private server
  3. Select and prepare a server for the migration
  4. Contact Bitrix24 techsupport
  5. Deployment



1. Purchase a license key. 

You can find Bitrix24 On-premise pricing on the Official pricing page. Choose a plan based on how many users you currently have in the cloud version or more.

After you purchase the license, you need to register the key. Migration is possible only with an active license key. 

You can purchase a license key through INTERVOLGA.


When you request a Bitrix24 Implementation from us, we purchase the license key, install Bitrix24 on your private server and make necessary configurations to allow you start working in as early as 3 weeks.

We'll save you time and avoid risks.


2.  Create a domain name for the On-premise portal and bind it to the IP address of the server where it will be located. 

That is, we assign the A-record to the Bitrix24 portal domain. Typically, the portal uses a subdomain to the main site. For example, if the site domain is example.com, then for the Bitrix24 On-premise portal we create a subdomain called crm.example.com or portal.example.com.


3. Select and prepare a server for installation of the on-premise solution

Before Bitrix24 tech support gives you a backup copy of your cloud portal, you need to prepare a server on which the on-premise version will be deployed. The server can be owned by your company or a hosting provider.

We recommend using the second option and not buying a separate server. Cloud hosting is a fairly reliable and inexpensive platform for allocating resources. 

The main advantages of a cloud server are:

  • the cost of operation for cloud hosting is often lower - you only pay for the resources used;

  • scalability - you can easily increase RAM and disk space;

  • data protection and recovery - all data in the cloud is securely protected and recovery is provided by automatic backup of information to an adjacent server;


Requirements for deploying a Bitrix24 on-premise

The hardware requirements are calculated individually, based on your activities and the number of active users in the portal. To deploy a small portal, you need:

  • an SSD hard drive with a minimum capacity of 100 GB;

  • 8GB RAM or more;

  • Intel Core i7 processor or better.

For the On-premise portal to work optimally, it is recommended to install the Bitrix Environment package. You can also use the BitrixVM virtual machine environment.

You also need to make sure that your web-server has at least 3 times more space on the disk than the size of the backup which Bitrix tech support will give you.

 

4. Contact Technical Support

To transfer your data from the cloud to your self-hosted Bitrix24, you need to make a request to Bitrix24 tech support. You can contact them via the Bitrix24 website or via chat in your portal. You need to send them the following data:

  1. A license key with the number of users. The number of users you indicate must not be less than the number of users in your current cloud portal. If you purchased a license for additional users, you will also need a coupon for additional users.

  2. The web address of your Bitrix24 portal.

  3. Authorization data (login and password) of the user who created your Bitrix24 cloud portal.

  4. The date stamp of the backup - the last day you worked on the cloud portal or the date you want the backup from.

  5. Acknowledgment that you have read and agree to the terms of migration.


After you have sent this information, you will need to agree on a date when they can prepare the backup (A specialist will tell you the nearest suitable date). 

Backup preparation takes from one to five working days, depending on how much data you have in the cloud.

Specialists can prepare the backup only during work days and hours. So, please bear this in mind.

While Bitrix24 is preparing the backup, it is not advisable to use the cloud portal because all newly entered data can be lost. Backup will be done ONLY ONCE, so it's important to prepare your portal in advance, before the agreed date for backup.

Bitrix24 uses amazon.com servers for cloud portals, so, the data transfer rate became lower than it was before.
Daytime 5-6 Mb/s, and at night falls to 400 Kb/s. But it also depends a lot on what region your server is in.

 

5. Deploying Bitrix24 On-premise to your private server

When you get your backup from Bitrix24 technical support, you need to deploy it on the selected hosting server. 

At the end of this process, you get an exact copy of your Bitrix24 cloud portal with all the data. The admin panel will also appear in the portal web interface. For authorization use the login and password of the account on the Bitrix24 portal.

Is that all?  buy a license, activate it, request a backup from 1C-Bitrix support, and deploy it on our server, that’s all?
Of course Not.
There are many nuances and many problems that could arise.


Points to consider when migrating from Bitrix24 cloud to On-premise

  1. Migrating users
  2. Trouble with extranet users
  3. Telephony problems
  4. cloud applications
  5. Other problems that may  arise

1. Migrating users

The most common difficulty during Bitrix24 migration from cloud to On-premise is transferring user accounts. After migration, users will not be able to log in with their old password. 

There are two ways to solve the problem:

  1. You can use the password recovery form in the portal or 
  2. the administrator can manually reset the passwords of such users.

 

2. Troubles with extranet users

Extranet users are disabled after migration from cloud to On-premise. The problem is solved by reinstalling the extranet site on the On-premise version. 

But sometimes there can be errors such as:

  • extranet users not being able to send posts to the "Activity Stream", inability to use chats and tasks;

  • extranet users being only able to "VIEW" what’s happening in the portal, they can't participate. 

  • extranet users receiving messages, but not being able to send.

In this case, contact Bitrix24 support.



3. Telephony problems

Another task that arises after Bitrix24 migration from cloud to on-premise is telephony migration. If an office PBX was connected to the cloud portal, this account must be transferred from the cloud to the hosted version separately.

Basic steps:

  • write to Bitrix24 technical support with a request to migrate your PBX account;

  • send the contracts and documents for connecting telephony(for example for Asterisk, Mango, Comagic) to Bitrix24 technical support;

  • Install a valid SSL certificate - This is needed if telephony and notifications are to work correctly in the On-premise portal.

 

4. Cloud applications stop working

It is common for some applications that were installed in the cloud version to stop working after migration. You need to reinstall them. Sometimes not all applications work even after reinstallation.

For example, "Document Generator". You may need to additionally reconfigure document enumerators, set access permissions for employees, to document templates, etc.

Bitrix24 has changed a lot lately. It has become more complex, which  makes it better,  but also more difficult to configure, leading to additional problems during migration.

 

5. Other problems

Over the first couple of days, you may experience one of more of these errors:

  • Comments on tasks may not appear completely.

  • You may not be able to create a task from an email.

  • Chatbots may crash.

  • Users may find themselves being logged out frequently

  • If there are absolute links to documents in business workflows, the links need to be corrected.

  • The structure of the menu in the cloud and self-hosted portal may not be exactly the same.  In this case, you need to go to the portal structure settings and change them to what users are used to.

  • Some commands in the list of items may not work, for example, "Copy".

  • Opening documents via Google Docs may not work. You need to create and configure a separate Google Docs account for self-hosted Bitrix24.

  • Problems with the mobile application module.

  • Setting tasks and sending messages in "Activity Stream" - you need to configure the domain and add an MX-record.

  • It is also necessary to configure a backup settings and proactive protection against hacker attacks.


Bitrix24 migration can take anywhere from 2 to 7 days. Downloading a 400 GB portal from the amazon.com data center, where the Bitrix24 cloud is located, can take up to 2 days.

We recommend carrying out a portal audit before migration. This involves an analysis of all functions, applications, business processes that employees use in the portal. This will allow you to highlight the most important functionalities and focus on them first.

Solving these tasks is not easy even for an experienced administrator. There are many nuances and subtleties in the work of Bitrix24. Our specialists can perform the entire complex of tasks for migrating, setting up and launching a self-hosted portal.

 

Conclusion

Having not only smooth, but also challenging experiences, we understand deeply the subtleties of Bitrix24 migration from cloud to On-premise.
We have acquired skills that will help you avoid making mistakes.

Fill the form below to request a Bitrix24 migration.

  • 25.05.2021