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Migration guide

Move media from Adobe Experience Manager Assets to FileSpin

Build a reconciled asset library and a working delivery route. Start with a product campaign: map business metadata, approve the asset, generate channel outputs and publish through your existing application with verified access controls.

There are two ways to run the move. Both start with an inventory and a representative sample before the full transfer.

Assisted migration
We provide the necessary tools to migrate assets from on-premise and cloud storage while your technical team runs the migration, including metadata mapping, import and validation.
Managed migration by FileSpin
The FileSpin team carries out the migration: source extraction or export coordination, field mapping, import, validation and cutover support. Your team grants source access and signs off the result.
Four migration stages, retrieve, map and import, validate and cut over, showing who carries out each one in an assisted migration and in a managed migration by FileSpin
Who carries out each stage in an assisted and a managed migration.

1. Retrieve the source files and records

Confirm the AEM deployment and approved API authentication first. Adobe’s export guidance uses Assets HTTP API folder/asset traversal and downloads original renditions. That original-file export does not carry the complete repository metadata record. Export metadata separately, including property names, types and multi-value fields, and join it to binaries by stable source path or identifier. Record required versions and renditions before extraction. The HTTP API returns only part of the metadata and hides assets outside their on/off time window, so include those explicitly. Collections cannot be exported; rebuild them from folders and an asset list.

Retrieval uses an authorised source account, with credentials kept out of exports, screenshots and public URLs. Each completed inventory page and download is saved, so interrupted work resumes where it stopped, and expired download links are refreshed.

2. Create a manifest you can reconcile

One record per source file or retained version: source system, asset ID, file or version ID, original name, source path, file type, bytes, a checksum recorded at download, tags, custom metadata, collection membership, rights information and source update time. The FileSpin asset ID and transfer status are added as work progresses.

Original files are kept separate from thumbnails and delivery renditions. Every exception, such as a missing original, a restricted download or an unsupported format, is listed with its resolution.

3. Map what moves and what gets rebuilt


Part of the library

What happens

Originals

Authorised source files downloaded and reconciled against the manifest

Metadata

Map AEM metadata namespaces, schema fields, tags and folder rules to destination schemas and collections. Keep a source-path-to-FileSpin-ID mapping for application references.

Collections

Membership rebuilt from source IDs after import

Versions

The revisions you keep, retrieved alongside the current files

Access

Roles, private delivery and review workflows set up in FileSpin; past review decisions archived

Delivery

Treat Dynamic Media/Scene7 delivery URLs, AEM Sites content, Content Hub experiences, Workfront processes and creative projects as separate integration or retention work. Switch one media route first.

History

Past requests, downloads, review histories and usage records archived from AEM Assets

An illustrative Adobe AEM Assets record (repository path, asset ID, metadata namespaces, tags, collection and renditions) mapped to a FileSpin record in the E-Commerce schema with SKU 31077 and season SS27, and the collection recreated with the destination asset IDs
A Adobe AEM Assets record (synthetic example) mapped to the imported FileSpin asset.

4. Import and check a sample

The sample includes several file types, a multi-value metadata field, an asset in more than one collection, a retained revision and restricted content. Files are loaded, FileSpin IDs recorded, mapped metadata applied and relationships rebuilt.

In an assisted migration, your team stages the retrieved files with the tools we provide and loads metadata through the mapping. In a managed migration, the FileSpin team carries out these steps.

The sample passes when:

  • The correct file and intended version opens in FileSpin.
  • Required fields, types and controlled values match the mapping.
  • Collection membership counts match and related assets resolve.
  • Version records and current files match the scope.
  • An authorised user gets access and an unauthorised user is refused.
  • A content owner finds the selected assets by business fields and completes a review.
  • Real pages, players and feeds return the intended output, including after a replacement.
  • A test campaign link and a share download appear in Delivery Insights and Share analytics.
  • If agent work is included, its first run touches only the selected assets, stays within budget and reports its outcome.
  • Every exception is listed and resolved before the full run.
FileSpin Overview showing users, assets, collections, shares and total storage used
FileSpin Overview: compare asset and collection counts with the source inventory.
FileSpin AI Usage account ledger listing credit grants and debits with amount, running balance and operation source
AI Usage ledger: credits used by each agent run, for the budget check.

AEM Assets migration questions

Do our AEM Assets links keep working?
No. AEM Assets and Dynamic Media URLs are served by your Adobe environment, so the migration replaces each reference with a FileSpin URL using the ID manifest. Your pages then get the sizes and formats they need straight from the FileSpin link.
Can we keep working in AEM Assets during the migration?
Yes. A refreshed inventory, with AEM asset events, picks up new, changed and deleted assets, and the final sync brings them across before any route switches.
Do metadata and collections come across?
Yes. AEM metadata is exported with its property names, types and multi-value fields and joined to each file by path. Tags, schema fields and folders are mapped to your FileSpin schemas and collections, without duplicating files, and checked on a sample before the full transfer.
Do we need to run the migration ourselves?
No. In a managed migration, the FileSpin team carries out the transfer. In an assisted migration, we provide the tools and your technical team runs it. Either way, you provide API credentials for the environment.

5. Cut over

1. Set the switch-over
Agree when FileSpin becomes the system of record and how new uploads and replacements are handled.
2. Final sync
Pick up the last changes through the source’s change mechanism or a refreshed inventory, import them and reconcile counts.
3. Switch one route first
Move a selected collection or application route to FileSpin, then test public output and protected access.
4. Expand and retire
Keep the source available through the recovery window, with a rollback for each route, then expand and retire it.

6. Sign off the result

  • Every in-scope source file has a destination ID or an accepted exception.
  • Required metadata, relationships, versions and access controls pass the agreed checks.
  • Applications use the intended delivery route and updates appear correctly.
  • The exception report, ownership map and recovery procedure are handed over.
Reconciliation report for four synthetic Adobe AEM Assets assets: source IDs beside FileSpin asset IDs, file, metadata and collection checks, and one exception where a season stored under a custom namespace was added to the mapping
Reconciliation report with synthetic source records: one row per source asset, its FileSpin ID and checks, and the exception resolved before sign‑off.

Plan your AEM Assets migration with FileSpin. Tell us the size of your library, the history you need and the systems it feeds, and we’ll scope an assisted or managed migration with you.