Migrate from Nori desktop

If you use Nori desktop today, you can move your data to the web: items, prices and stock, business partners with their balances, documents from every year, payments, e-invoices (CFDI), users and print layouts. You run the migration yourself from Administration › Migrate from Nori desktop. You need the Administrator role.

Before you start

Pick a time when nobody is entering data in the desktop app, such as after closing for the day. Anything recorded after the backup won't move to the web.

Also check the size of your database. In SSMS Object Explorer, right-click the database › Properties. The size is on the General page.

Back up the database in SSMS

1. Open SQL Server Management Studio on the computer that hosts your server and connect.
2. In Object Explorer, open Databases, right-click the Nori database (for example NORI_EMPRESA) and choose Tasks › Back Up…
3. Leave Backup type set to Full. A differential backup won't work.
4. Under Destination, remove any path that's there, click Add and type a path with a file name, for example C:\Backups\NORI_EMPRESA.bak. The folder must already exist, and the SQL Server service needs write access to it.
5. Click OK and wait for the completion message.

If the file is several gigabytes, compress it: right-click the .bak › Send to › Compressed (zipped) folder. Backups usually shrink to a fraction of their size and upload much faster. Nori unzips the file automatically.

If you can't make a backup

Some hosting providers don't let you create a .bak. If that's your case, use Tasks › Generate Scripts… on the database: choose all objects, and under Advanced change Types of data to script to Schema and data. Save it as a single .sql file. A script takes much longer to process than a backup.

Direct connection

If your SQL Server can be reached from the internet, Nori can read the database directly, with no file. Create a read-only user (the db_datareader role on the Nori database) and use it. Nori rejects users that can modify the database. The migration runs heavy queries against your server, so run it outside business hours.

Optional files

Nori desktop keeps some files in folders instead of the database. To bring them to the web, put them in a single .zip:

• the INFORMES folder, with your .repx print layouts, which are converted for the web layout designer;
• the XML folder, with your stamped CFDIs. Each XML is linked to its invoice by its fiscal folio (UUID).

You don't need the PDFs. Nori can reprint any CFDI from its XML.

Upload and test with a dry run

1. In Migrate from Nori desktop, choose how you'll provide the database, check Dry run only and click Create.
2. Upload the .bak (or the .zip, or the .sql) and, if you have one, the .zip of folders. The file uploads in chunks and is stored encrypted. If your connection drops or you close the page, come back, choose the same file, and the upload picks up where it left off.
3. Click Start dry run. You can close the page; the job keeps running on the server. When you come back, you'll see each step's progress, how many records are done and how many are left.

The dry run copies everything to a test database and produces the report. Your data on the web doesn't change.

The reconciliation report

The report compares the desktop data with what landed on the web:

• how many items, business partners, documents, lines, payments and CFDIs there are on each side;
• documents by type and by month, with their totals;
• each customer's balance;
• each item's stock in each warehouse;
• open documents, unpaid invoices and whether every fiscal folio came through.

Differences show in red, with a link to the business partner, item or document type. Import notes come at the end, such as lines for items you had already deleted in the desktop app, or duplicate folios in a series. Many of these issues have been in the desktop data for years; the web version just flags them. You can download the report as CSV or PDF.

The real migration

Once the report looks right, create a new migration without checking Dry run only, upload the file and start it. If you already created items or customers on the web, check Replace the current data. Your web administrators, print layouts, certificates and integrations stay as they are.

Desktop users come over with the license that matches their role (A Administrator, S Supervisor, V Sales rep, C Cashier, L Logistics). If you have fewer licenses than active users, the report warns you, and some users won't be able to sign in until you adjust licenses in Licenses and payments.

If all critical checks match, the migration status is Ready. If not, it's With differences. Review them and, if you're OK with them, accept them and enter a reason. Nori records who accepted them and when.

If something fails partway, the migration stops and shows the error. Fix the cause and click Resume. It continues from the failed step without redoing finished work.

What happens to your files

The temporary database where your backup is restored is deleted when the migration ends. Your uploaded files stay encrypted for a few more days in case anything needs to be rerun, then they're deleted automatically. The migration screen shows the deletion date. Every action (who created, uploaded, started or accepted the migration) goes into its activity log, and you can download the full log.

If you need help

Contact Nori support. From their admin panel they can see your migration, run it with you, or run it for you with the same file.