Azure Devops Server migraiton to existing Azure Devops Service organization

Question

Azure Devops Server migraiton to existing Azure Devops Service organization

Julien PACCHIAROTTI 0

Hi,

We currently have Azure DevOps Server (version 19.235.35206.7 – AzureDevOpsServer2022.2) running on an on-premises VM, and we’re looking to migrate to Azure DevOps Services.

However, we already have an existing organization named “unilux” (with existing projects from teams ) on Azure DevOps Services, which prevents us from using Microsoft’s official migration tool.

Do you have any suggestions on how to proceed?

Best regards,

Julien

Harshitha Veeramalla 1,306 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-05-08T09:25:35.7133333+00:00

Hi Julien PACCHIAROTTI, if possible, create a new Org and then move to it.
Julien PACCHIAROTTI 0 Reputation points

2025-05-08T09:44:51.6566667+00:00

Unfortunately, creating a new Org is not an option, all teams must be in the same organization.

We would like to know if there is a possibility to do such migration without losing the work items IDs and links between commits, PR, etc ...
Harshitha Veeramalla 1,306 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-05-08T09:59:35.9166667+00:00

@Julien PACCHIAROTTI, did you try other options migration options?
Julien PACCHIAROTTI 0 Reputation points

2025-05-08T12:30:24.1666667+00:00

I have only invested time in the migration with the tool.

Can you tell me more about the manuel migration? They are saying: Not all data can be migrated with full fidelity and is subject to throttling. What they mean exactly?
Harshitha Veeramalla 1,306 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-05-09T11:12:16.25+00:00

Hi @Julien PACCHIAROTTI,

Not all data can be migrated with full fidelity and is subject to throttling. What they mean exactly?

There is a chance to lose some data in the process of migration.

History,ID's or any permissions may not be migrated as it is.

And Throttling refers to the API limits

AFAIK, migration Azure DevOps Server to an existing Azure DevOps Services organization is not possible with Migration tool. You need to go with Manual migration as suggested above.
Harshitha Veeramalla 1,306 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-05-12T08:23:02.12+00:00

Julien PACCHIAROTTI , just checking in to see if above information was helpful. If you have any further updates on this issue, please feel free to post back.
Julien PACCHIAROTTI 0 Reputation points

2025-05-12T09:04:18.59+00:00

Hi,

Unfortunately, it is not really helpful as I cannot consider to use the manual migration. It seems to be too risky.

Anyway, if there is no other way to proceed, you can consider I have no further questions at the moment.

Thanks for the support.

Julien

1 answer

Your answer

Harshitha Veeramalla 1,306 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-05-08T09:25:35.7133333+00:00

Hi Julien PACCHIAROTTI, if possible, create a new Org and then move to it.
Julien PACCHIAROTTI 0 Reputation points

2025-05-08T09:44:51.6566667+00:00

Unfortunately, creating a new Org is not an option, all teams must be in the same organization.

We would like to know if there is a possibility to do such migration without losing the work items IDs and links between commits, PR, etc ...
Harshitha Veeramalla 1,306 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-05-08T09:59:35.9166667+00:00

@Julien PACCHIAROTTI, did you try other options migration options?
Julien PACCHIAROTTI 0 Reputation points

2025-05-08T12:30:24.1666667+00:00

I have only invested time in the migration with the tool.

Can you tell me more about the manuel migration? They are saying: Not all data can be migrated with full fidelity and is subject to throttling. What they mean exactly?
Harshitha Veeramalla 1,306 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-05-09T11:12:16.25+00:00

Hi @Julien PACCHIAROTTI,

Not all data can be migrated with full fidelity and is subject to throttling. What they mean exactly?

There is a chance to lose some data in the process of migration.

History,ID's or any permissions may not be migrated as it is.

And Throttling refers to the API limits

AFAIK, migration Azure DevOps Server to an existing Azure DevOps Services organization is not possible with Migration tool. You need to go with Manual migration as suggested above.
Harshitha Veeramalla 1,306 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-05-12T08:23:02.12+00:00

Julien PACCHIAROTTI , just checking in to see if above information was helpful. If you have any further updates on this issue, please feel free to post back.
Julien PACCHIAROTTI 0 Reputation points

2025-05-12T09:04:18.59+00:00

Hi,

Unfortunately, it is not really helpful as I cannot consider to use the manual migration. It seems to be too risky.

Anyway, if there is no other way to proceed, you can consider I have no further questions at the moment.

Thanks for the support.

Julien

Answer 1

Hi @Julien PACCHIAROTTI ,

Since you already have the “unilux” org in Azure DevOps Services, the official migration tool won’t work. So, moving from Azure DevOps Server to the cloud version needs a bit of planning. A couple of things to think about:

Do you want to migrate your data into Unilux’s existing templates in the cloud, or do you plan to keep the same templates as on-prem?

What data are you looking to move? Are you focused on repos, work items, test cases, or something else?

For scenarios like this, you might want to check out OpsHub Migrator for Microsoft Azure DevOps (OM4ADO), co-built with Microsoft. It makes tenant-to-tenant and server-to-services migrations easy, even with an existing org. You can pick which projects to migrate, keep all the history intact, and do it without any downtime — so your teams can keep working while the migration runs in the background.

Hope that helps!