Link Detection and Remediation
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Overview
You can enable link detection and remediation when defining the job behaviors during job creation. It runs for both simulation and transfer jobs, scanning files to identify any links within them. The Jobs report will display link information if available for the job. Once all the job runs are complete, you can execute link remediation to update the links, so you don’t have to edit them manually.
Link Detection
Link detection only scans the latest version of each file and reports the links detected. It does not scan previous versions. When doing the content analysis for link detection, DryvIQ needs a seekable stream. To obtain that, DryvIQ downloads the file into memory if it is small enough or into a temp location on the processing node if it is too large. DryvIQ analyzes that stream, resets it, and uploads the file to the destination. After the transfer is complete, DryvIQ removes the temp file if one is needed for file analysis.
Supported File Types for Link Detection
Link detection currently only identifies links in the following file types:
Microsoft Files: DOCX, PPTX, and XLSX (available in Microsoft Office 2007 and newer)
Google Files: Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides.
DryvIQ will not detect links that are part of functions in Microsoft Excel files or Google Sheets.
Job filter exclusions take precedence over Link Detection. Therefore, if you set a job filter exclusion to ignore DOCX, PPTX, or XLSX files, Link Detection will also ignore these files.
Supported Link Types for Link Detection
Hyperlinks: These are links to websites or documents. Hyperlinks can be http/https/ftp/ftps URLs or links to files.
In Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files, these links are created using the Link option on the Insert tab or by right-clicking on the selected text/cell and selecting Link from the shortcut menu.References to other Excel spreadsheets: In Microsoft Excel files, these are links to cells in other Microsoft Excel files. These links are created by referencing a cell or range of cells in another Microsoft Excel file through a formula. The cells are formatted similarly to the following examples:
=[AnotherSpreadsheet.xlsx]SheetName!A1='C:\Absolute\Path\To\[AnotherSpreadsheet.xlsx]SheetName'!B1
Links documents/object: In Microsoft PowerPoint files, this content has been imported into the presentation. This content is imported using the Object option on the Insert tab or the Paste Special option to insert a link to a Microsoft Word Document Object link.
Unsupported link Types for Link Detection
Unformatted links: DryvIQ will not count unformatted links (URLs added as plain text in the document).
IncludeText fields: Link detection does not support links added through IncludeText fields using the Insert Quick Parts option in Microsoft Word files.
Link Detection Impact on Job Performance
Simulation Jobs: When link detection for Simulation jobs, the jobs will take longer to execute because DryvIQ must download the document into memory to detect links. (DryvIQ does not normally load files into memory during simulation because they are not being migrated.) DryvIQ estimates a 5-10% impact.
Transfer Jobs: As noted above, DryvIQ scans for links while the document is in memory during file migration. Therefore, the impact on job time is minimal. The document's size has a negligible effect on link detection times unless the file size is very large (GBs in size). Link detection will cause a nominal amount of CPU utilization to detect links. Memory is not affected.
Viewing Link Detection Information
When enabled, link detection identifies links in files and makes the information available for review on individual Job reports and the roll-up reports. Information is available on the Content Insights, Items, and Log pages.
It is important to note that spreadsheet link counts will not always match, depending on how the link was added to a cell. If the links are added to multiple cells simultaneously, DryvIQ reads the link as one link shared across cells. In this instance, all shared links count as one link. If the links are added to multiple cells separately (one cell at a time), DryvIQ counts each cell separately, so it counts each link individually.
Content Insights
The bottom of the Content Insights page for jobs with Link Remediation enabled will display a “Link remediation status overview” section. This section lists the number of files without links, the number of links identified requiring remediation, the number of links that have been remediated, the number of links where remediation failed and needs to be executed again, and the number of links for which remediation failed. You can view specific details about the individual links on the Items and Links pages.
This information can be exported to a CSV file for further review using the Export this report link. The export includes the following information.
Field | Description |
|---|---|
source_id | The ID assigned to the file on the source platform |
source_name | The filename on the source platform. The source and destination file names may not match if DryvIQ needs to sanitize the filename due to character or length restrictions for the destination platform. |
source_path | The path where the file is located on the source platform. |
destination_id | The ID assigned to the file on the destination platform |
destination_name | The filename on the destination platform |
destination_path | The path where the file is located on the destination platform. |
link | The URL for the detected link. |
count | The number of times the link was found in the file |
Items
A link remediation status is assigned to every file included in a migration, even if link detection isn’t enabled for a job. You can configure the Items page to display the status by changing the third or fourth column header to Link remediation status.
You can also choose to set a column to display the number of links identified in a file, so you know how many links were detected and require remediation (as shown in the image above).
The column will display the link remediation status for every file. There are five statuses:
Nothing to remediate: No links were detected in the file.
Remediation needed: Links were detected in the file, and remediation must be executed to update the links.
Complete: Remediation was executed, and processing was finished. Regular URLs and unsupported URLs will also be considered “Complete” as there is no action to take against them.
Retry: Remediation was triggered but was not completed. Link remediation needs to be executed again to remediate the link.
Failed: At least one link in the file failed to be remediated. Failed files will not be reprocessed during subsequent link remediation executions unless the status is changed to “Retry.”
You can also filter the Items page by a specific remediation status to narrow the results to display only files that need to be remediated, retried, etc.
Links
The Links page provides information about each link identified. There will be an entry for each link identified; therefore, you will see the source item listed multiple times if multiple links were identified within the file. You can edit the second, third, and fourth columns to display the information most relevant to your review. Review the table below for a summary of the available column options.
Filtering by Remediation Status
The Filter by option on the Links page allows you to filter by the remediation status. This enables you to view only files that have a specific status.
None: The file has no remediation status because no links were detected in the file.
Remediated: Remediation was executed, and processing was finished.
Ignored: DryvIQ could not match the link to the target file, or the link does not require remediation, such as a URL to an external website. You should verify that the link is correct and that the item it targets has been included in a transfer job so DryvIQ has tracking data for it. You can retry remediation for the link.
Unsupported: The link is unsupported and cannot be remediated. See Unsupported Link Types for Link Detection for a list of unsupported link types.
Retry: Remediation was triggered but was not completed. Link remediation needs to be executed again to remediate the link.
Failed: At least one link in the file failed to be remediated. Failed files will not be reprocessed during subsequent link remediation executions unless the status is changed to “Retry.”
Link Remediation
You must manually trigger link remediation for the job(s) that contain links. When link remediation runs, it will update the linked URL to match the new location of the linked file.
DryvIQ will skip “Anyone” link types if the site does not support anonymous sharing. The activity for the file will indicate if a link has been skipped for this reason.
Supported Platforms for Link Remediation
DryvIQ only remediates links that point to files on Box, Dropbox, File System, Google Workspace, or Microsoft 365.
Supported File Types for Link Remediation
DryvIQ only supports link remediation for the following file types:
Microsoft Files: DOCX, PPTX, and XLSX (available in Microsoft Office 2007 and newer)
Google Files: Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides.
Supported Link Types for Link Remediation
DryvIQ can remediate links when they follow specific formats supported by each platform. The sections below outline the approved link structures for Box, Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive, and Microsoft SharePoint Online, helping you understand which links DryvIQ can remediate and when you may need to update them manually.
Box
If the link in your document points to a Box file or folder, including links created using Box’s Office Online integration, DryvIQ can remediate it. Otherwise, DryvIQ can’t update it.
Box Link Type | Box Link Format |
|---|---|
Direct link to a file | <https://<tenant>>.app.box.com/file/<platform id> |
Direct link to a folder | <https://<tenant>>.app.box.com/folder/<platform id> |
Shared link to a file | <<https://<tenant>>.app.box.com/s/<SharedFileID>> |
Shared link to a folder | <<https://<tenant>>.app.box.com/s/<SharedFolderID>> |
Direct file download link | <<https://<tenant>>.app.box.com/shared/static/<FileID>/<Filename>> |
Box’s Office Online integration link | <https://<tenant>>.app.box.com/integrations/officeonline/openOfficeOnline?fileId=<platform Id>&sharedAccessCode= |
Dropbox
DryvIQ can remediate a link to a Dropbox file using a direct preview link. DryvIQ will also remediate a shared link only when Dropbox is the source connection. It treats the shared link as a native-item link and does not create a new shared link on the destination.
Dropbox Link Type | Dropbox Link Format |
|---|---|
Direct link to file | <https://dropbox.com/home/<USER_NAME>/<path_to_file>?preview=<FILE_NAME> |
Shared link to a file | https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/… https://www.dropbox.com/sh/.. https://www.dropbox.com/s/.. |
Dropbox has older shared link formats, but DryvIQ does not guarantee remediation for these formats. Even for the supported shared link format, certain scenarios (such as changing the ownership of items pointed to by a shared link) may affect DryvIQ’s ability to remediate shared links.
DryvIQ can remediate links in documents that point to a supported Google file type, such as Docs, Sheets, Slides, or Drive file and folder URLs.
Google Link Type | Google Link Format |
|---|---|
Google Docs File | <<https://docs.google.com/document/d/<FileID>>/edit> |
Google Sheets File | <<https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/<FileID>/edit> |
Google Slides File | <https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/<FileID>/edit> |
Google Drive File |
|
Google Drive Folder | <<https://drive.google.com/folder/d/<FolderID>>> |
Microsoft
DryvIQ currently supports file-based links only for OneDrive and SharePoint. This means DryvIQ will remediate links that point directly to documents (such as Word documents, Excel workbooks, and PowerPoint presentations). However, DryvIQ does not remediate links to folders or entire SharePoint sites. If your documents contain folder paths or site URLs, you’ll need to update those links manually after the migration to ensure they point to the correct location.
Microsoft Link Type | Microsoft Link Format |
|---|---|
Links to personal or user-owned files stored in the OneDrive document library | <https://<tenant>-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/r/personal/<UserOneDrive>/_layouts/15/Doc.aspx?sourcedoc={<PlatformId>}&file=<Filename>&action=default&mobileredirect=true |
Links to team-based or site-owned files stored in libraries managed by SharePoint sites |
|
Executing Link Remediation
Choose the job(s) by selecting the box before the job name.
Click More options and select Execute link remediation in the menu that displays.
DryvIQ adds the job to the job queue.
Once the job finishes running, the link remediation status will be Complete if remediation is successful for all identified links.
A link remediation status of Retry indicates that link remediation did not run. You need to execute it again.
A link remediation status of Failed indicates that at least one link cannot be remedied. You must edit the link manually.The link detection information on the Content Insights, Items, and Links pages will be updated to reflect the current link information.
If you select a single job that does not have link detection enabled, the Execute link remediation option does not display in the More options menu. If you select multiple jobs and one does not have link detection enabled, the Execute link remediation option is disabled in the menu.
Link Remediation Impact on Jobs
Link remediation does not affect migration jobs' transfer times or speed because it is a separate process executed after migration when link detection is completed. However, it entails making additional calls to the destination and source platforms, so platforms with caps or overage charges may be impacted. Link remediation adds time to the overall migration project because it adds a separate process that requires execution. The link remediation process is roughly equivalent to the extra time it would take to do another delta run on a document count basis. For example, remediating links in 1000 files in a job takes about as much time as running a delta run with modifications to 1000 files. This should be factored in when planning a project using link detection and remediation.
REST API
Enabling Link Detection Through the API
When creating the job through the REST API, you can enable Link Detection in the transfer block by sending “link_detection” set to “true.”
POST {{url}}v1/jobs |
|---|
{
"name":"Job Name",
"kind": "transfer",
"transfer": {
"transfer_type": "copy",
"link_detection": "true",
"source": {
"connection": { "id": "source_connection_id" },
"target": {
"path": "source_connection_path"
}
},
"destination": {
"connection": { "id": "destination_connection_id" },
"target": {
"path": "destination_connection_path"
}
}
}
} |
Export Link Detection Report for a Specific Job
The code below will export the link detection report for a specified job (if the job has any embedded links). The report will be exported to a CSV file.
GET {{url}}v1/transfers/{job}/links.csvYou can specify multiple jobs by separating the job IDs with commas.
GET {{url}}v1/transfers/jobs=jobID1, JobID2, JobID3/links.csvExport Link Detection Report for All Jobs
The code below exports the link detection report for all jobs (if the jobs have any embedded links). The report is exported to a CSV file.
GET {{url}}v1/transfers/links.csv