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[System] Migration Checklist

Template Instructions

Replace all text in [brackets] with your content. Delete this callout when done. This checklist ensures safe, complete migration with minimal downtime.

Migration Overview​

What: [What is being migrated - database, service, infrastructure, etc.]

From: [Source system/platform]

To: [Target system/platform]

Scheduled Date: [YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM UTC]

Expected Duration: [Hours/minutes]

Rollback Window: [How long until rollback becomes impossible]

Pre-Migration Phase​

Planning & Design​

  • Migration plan documented

    • Detailed step-by-step procedure written
    • Reviewed by technical team
    • Approved by stakeholders

  • Risk assessment completed

    • Potential risks identified
    • Mitigation strategies defined
    • Rollback scenarios documented

  • Timeline confirmed

    • Migration window scheduled
    • Stakeholders notified
    • On-call team assigned

  • Success criteria defined

    • Functional validation criteria
    • Performance benchmarks
    • Data integrity checks

Backups & Safety​

  • Full backup of source system

    • Backup completed successfully
    • Backup verified (restore test performed)
    • Backup stored in secure location
    • Backup retention confirmed
    # Example backup command
    pg_dump -h source-host -U user -d database > backup_YYYYMMDD.sql

  • Snapshot of current state

    • Database snapshot: ✅ Complete
    • File system snapshot: ✅ Complete
    • Configuration backup: ✅ Complete
    • Snapshot IDs documented: [ID-123]

  • Rollback plan tested

    • Rollback procedure documented
    • Rollback tested in staging
    • Rollback timing estimated: [X minutes]
    • Rollback trigger criteria defined

Target Environment Preparation​

  • Target environment provisioned

    • Infrastructure created
    • Resources sized appropriately
    • Network configured
    • Security groups configured

  • Target environment configured

    • Application installed
    • Dependencies installed
    • Environment variables set
    • Configuration files deployed

  • Target environment tested

    • Health check endpoint responding
    • Basic functionality verified
    • Performance baseline established
    • Monitoring configured

Access & Credentials​

  • Access verified

    • Source system access: ✅ Verified
    • Target system access: ✅ Verified
    • Database credentials: ✅ Available
    • API keys: ✅ Available
    • SSH keys: ✅ Available

  • Secrets management

    • New credentials generated
    • Secrets stored in vault
    • Team access granted
    • Old credentials marked for rotation

Testing in Staging​

  • Staging migration completed

    • Full migration rehearsed in staging
    • Issues identified and resolved
    • Timing documented
    • Staging migration validated

  • Data migration tested

    • Sample data migrated successfully
    • Data integrity verified
    • Relationships maintained
    • Data transformation validated

  • Application testing in staging

    • All critical paths tested
    • Integration tests passed
    • Performance tests passed
    • User acceptance testing completed

Communication & Documentation​

  • Stakeholders notified

    • Internal teams notified: [Date]
    • Customers notified: [Date]
    • Support team briefed: [Date]
    • Status page updated: [Date]

  • Documentation prepared

    • Migration runbook finalized
    • System profile updated
    • New connection strings documented
    • Post-migration SOP drafted

  • Team briefing completed

    • Migration team briefed
    • Roles and responsibilities assigned
    • Communication channels established
    • Emergency contacts shared

Monitoring & Alerting​

  • Monitoring configured

    • Source system metrics baseline recorded
    • Target system monitoring configured
    • Custom alerts for migration created
    • Dashboard created for migration

  • Alert channels verified

    • Slack channel: [#migration-alerts]
    • Email list: [Verified]
    • SMS alerts: [Configured]
    • PagerDuty: [Configured]

Migration Execution Phase​

Pre-Migration Validation​

  • Final go/no-go check

    • All pre-migration tasks complete
    • Team ready
    • No conflicting changes
    • Rollback plan ready

  • Maintenance mode enabled

    • Status page updated to "Maintenance"
    • Application put in read-only mode (if applicable)
    • User notifications sent
    • Load balancer updated (if applicable)

  • Final backup taken

    • Immediate pre-migration backup completed
    • Backup verified
    • Backup ID: [ID-456]
    • Timestamp: [YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM UTC]

Data Migration​

Critical Phase

Do not interrupt data migration. Monitor closely.

  • Data export from source

    • Export initiated: [HH:MM UTC]
    • Export completed: [HH:MM UTC]
    • Export size: [X GB]
    • Export verified
    # Example export
    mysqldump --all-databases > migration_export.sql

  • Data transfer to target

    • Transfer initiated: [HH:MM UTC]
    • Transfer completed: [HH:MM UTC]
    • Transfer verified (checksums match)
    • Data in target system

  • Data import to target

    • Import initiated: [HH:MM UTC]
    • Import completed: [HH:MM UTC]
    • No errors reported
    • Import logs reviewed

  • Data transformation (if needed)

    • Transformation scripts executed
    • Data converted to new schema
    • Transformations verified
    • No data loss confirmed

Configuration Migration​

  • Application configuration updated

    • Connection strings updated
    • Environment variables updated
    • Feature flags configured
    • Third-party integrations updated

  • DNS/Network changes

    • DNS TTL reduced (if needed)
    • DNS records prepared
    • Load balancer configured
    • Firewall rules updated

  • Service restart/cutover

    • Services stopped on source
    • Services started on target
    • Health checks passing
    • Cutover time recorded: [HH:MM UTC]

Validation Phase​

Smoke Testing​

  • Basic functionality verified

    • Application loads: ✅
    • User login works: ✅
    • Database connection: ✅
    • API responds: ✅

  • Critical paths tested

Data Integrity Checks​

  • Data completeness verified

    • Record counts match: ✅
    • Data volume matches: ✅
    • No missing tables/collections: ✅
    • Sample data spot-checked: ✅

  • Data relationships verified

    • Foreign keys intact: ✅
    • Indexes present: ✅
    • Constraints working: ✅
    • Queries returning expected results: ✅

  • Data accuracy verified

    • Sample records compared: ✅
    • Checksums verified: ✅
    • Critical data validated: ✅
    • No corruption detected: ✅

Performance Validation​

  • Performance benchmarks met

    • Response time: [Target: Xms, Actual: Yms]
    • Throughput: [Target: N/sec, Actual: M/sec]
    • Database query time: [Within expected range]
    • Resource utilization: [Within normal range]

  • Load testing (if applicable)

    • Load test executed
    • System handles expected load
    • No bottlenecks identified
    • Performance acceptable

Integration Testing​

  • External integrations verified

    • [Integration 1]: ✅ Working
    • [Integration 2]: ✅ Working
    • [Integration 3]: ✅ Working
    • API consumers notified

  • Dependent services verified

    • [Service 1]: ✅ Connected
    • [Service 2]: ✅ Connected
    • [Service 3]: ✅ Connected
    • All dependencies functional

Rollback Procedures​

When to Rollback

Rollback if: Data integrity issues, critical functionality broken, performance unacceptable, or unable to resolve issues within rollback window.

Rollback Decision​

  • Rollback trigger criteria

  • Rollback decision made by: [Name]

  • Rollback decision time: [HH:MM UTC]

Rollback Execution​

  • Rollback initiated

    • Rollback start time: [HH:MM UTC]
    • Team notified
    • Status page updated

  • Services switched back to source

    • Target system put in maintenance mode
    • Source system brought online
    • Traffic redirected to source
    • DNS updated (if changed)

  • Data rollback (if needed)

    • Backup restored
    • Data state verified
    • Recent changes assessed

  • Rollback validation

    • Source system functional
    • Users can access system
    • Data intact
    • Services operational

  • Rollback communication

    • Team notified
    • Stakeholders informed
    • Status page updated
    • Post-mortem scheduled

Post-Migration Phase​

Immediate Post-Migration​

  • Monitoring period started

    • Enhanced monitoring active
    • Team watching dashboards
    • Alert channels monitored
    • Duration: [24-48 hours]

  • Status page updated

    • Maintenance status removed
    • "All Systems Operational" posted
    • Incident closed

  • User communication

    • Users notified migration complete
    • Known issues communicated (if any)
    • Support team ready for questions

Documentation Updates​

  • System profile updated

    • New infrastructure documented
    • New connection details added
    • Deployment process updated
    • Monitoring links updated

  • Runbooks updated

    • New procedures documented
    • Old procedures archived
    • Team trained on changes

  • Architecture documentation updated

    • Diagrams updated
    • ADRs created (if needed)
    • Dependencies documented

Cleanup​

  • Old system decommission planned

    • Retention period defined: [Duration]
    • Decommission date: [YYYY-MM-DD]
    • Final backup taken
    • Access revoked scheduled

  • Old credentials rotated

    • Old API keys revoked
    • Old passwords changed
    • Old SSH keys removed
    • Access audit completed

  • Temporary resources cleaned up

    • Migration scripts archived
    • Temporary instances terminated
    • Temporary storage deleted
    • Temporary access revoked

Validation & Verification​

  • Week 1 checks

    • No critical issues reported
    • Performance stable
    • Users not reporting problems
    • Metrics within expected range

  • Week 2 checks

    • All integrations stable
    • No data issues found
    • Performance acceptable
    • Team confident in migration

  • Month 1 review

    • Success metrics met
    • No regressions identified
    • Documentation complete
    • Team trained

Post-Migration Review​

  • Retrospective scheduled

    • Date: [YYYY-MM-DD]
    • Attendees invited
    • Agenda prepared

  • Lessons learned documented

    • What went well
    • What could be improved
    • Unexpected issues
    • Recommendations for next migration

  • Action items created

    • Process improvements identified
    • Documentation gaps addressed
    • Tools/automation needs defined
    • Owners assigned

Success Criteria​

Migration Success Defined As:​

  • All data migrated successfully
  • Zero data loss
  • All functionality working
  • Performance meets or exceeds targets
  • No P0/P1 incidents in first 48 hours
  • User impact minimal
  • Rollback not needed

Metrics​

MetricTargetActualStatus
Downtime< [X hours][Actual]✅/❌
Data loss0 records[Actual]✅/❌
Migration duration< [X hours][Actual]✅/❌
Performance (response time)< [Xms][Actual]✅/❌
Error rate< [X%][Actual]✅/❌

Team & Contacts​

RoleNameContactBackup
Migration Lead[Name][Phone/Slack][Name]
Technical Lead[Name][Phone/Slack][Name]
DBA[Name][Phone/Slack][Name]
DevOps[Name][Phone/Slack][Name]
Support Lead[Name][Phone/Slack][Name]

Emergency Escalation: [Name, Contact]

Timeline Log​

Time (UTC)EventNotes
[HH:MM]Migration started
[HH:MM]Data export completed
[HH:MM]Data import completed
[HH:MM]Cutover completed
[HH:MM]Validation completed
[HH:MM]Migration declared success
  • [Migration Plan Document]
  • [System Profile: [Source System]]
  • [System Profile: [Target System]]
  • [Rollback Runbook]
  • [Architecture Decision Record]

Checklist Version: 1.0 Last Updated: [YYYY-MM-DD] Migration Status: Planning / In Progress / Complete / Rolled Back