Migration Assistant – Authentication Fails

[Mikeo512]

Trying to migrate from an MPB (10.13.6) to a new MPB (11.1)
Both are on the same WIFI network and I'm able to enter the authentication numbers that appear when prompted.

I tell Migration Assistant on the old MPB that I want to transfer from it.
But when I open Migration Assistant on the new MPB and click "Continue", up comes the warning: "Authentication Failed – unable to retrieve credentials for authorising user".

If I can't get Migration Assistant to do its stuff, I guess there's the hard way … downloading documents from iCloud and setting up from scratch the various e-mail accounts. My documents are in MS Word (2011) and I want to stick with Office so I'll upgrade. But is there a danger that documents that are poised to come down from iCloud will end up being duplicated – in Word and also in Pages?
I have lots of e-mails in Apple Mail, will I be able to shift these over via Air Drop?

But perhaps I'm over pessimistic – what is causing Migration Assistant to fail?

Thanks - M

 

[MarkAllread]

I've used M.A. a few times and it has always worked well for me but never used on Big Sur, so someone else might have better input...
Which "continue" are you at. The very first one after you start the app? Could there be something in system prefs that doesn't allow it ...maybe under Security & Privacy?

 

[Mikeo512]

I've used M.A. a few times and it has always worked well for me but never used on Big Sur, so someone else might have better input...
Which "continue" are you at. The very first one after you start the app? Could there be something in system prefs that doesn't allow it ...maybe under Security & Privacy?

Thanks for your swift reply - I'm on the very first "Continue".
Just had a look in Sys Prefs but nothing seems relevant.
Do you have a comment re my "if MA fails" tactic?
But hope it doesn't come to that!

One thing that I forgot to mention: on the new MPB, before I click on "Continue", I see a spinning wheel (not a beach ball) in the bottom left corner of the MA window. So it looks as if MA is searching.

M

 

[chscag]

This is the way to use the MA to transfer from an older Mac to a new one:

1. First and foremost, do not create an account on the new machine.

2. Use Time Machine to make a full backup of the old machine.

3. Attach the Time Machine drive to the new machine and point it at the Time Machine drive when it asks if you wish to transfer data from another Mac.

4. Press okay and let it do its thing. All your data and account info will be transferred to the new machine. It will not overwrite the new system files so there is no danger of copying an older version of macOS to the new machine.

Works every time if you do it right. I've used that method numerous times when transferring data from an older Mac to a new one.

 

[Mikeo512]

This is the way to use the MA to transfer from an older Mac to a new one:

1. First and foremost, do not create an account on the new machine.

2. Use Time Machine to make a full backup of the old machine.

3. Attach the Time Machine drive to the new machine and point it at the Time Machine drive when it asks if you wish to transfer data from another Mac.

4. Press okay and let it do its thing. All your data and account info will be transferred to the new machine. It will not overwrite the new system files so there is no danger of copying an older version of macOS to the new machine.

Works every time if you do it right. I've used that method numerous times when transferring data from an older Mac to a new one.

Thanks "chscag" for your comments - I'm turning in now but will return tomorrow and go through your points.
M

 

[MarkAllread]

chscag has laid it out for you, but I will deviate slightly on point 1. You can use MA even AFTER you have gone past the initialization of your new mac, in which case you will have set up an account anyway. This is ok, but it should be a different account name to the one you might be bringing across from your old machine.

Anyway, it sounds like you are not even getting past home base here. Can I suggest you try it without any connection to a target Mac. Simply disconnect the old Mac completely and see if you get the same result. I expect that you will. When you get past the first "Continue" is when it should be asking you where you want to transfer from...at this point it doesn't know what you want to do.

 

[Mikeo512]

Most grateful for the replies - was hoping to start on this today but an totally unexpected (unrelated to computers) problem has just cropped up and this must take priority. Will return to forum in due course.
M

 

[Mikeo512]

Further to my problem with Migration, I'm now back on the case.

Perhaps it was because I was over eager to familiarise myself with the new MPB. It was getting late and although I was invited to use MA, I declined.

MarkAllred says: "This is ok, but it should be a different account name to the one you might be bringing across from your old machine."

By 'account name' I guess we're talking about 'user accounts' on a Mac. In fact, I did unwittingly use the same name that was on my old MPB. (!)

On the new MPB, spotlight brings up a User account with the above name and I see there is 15.93 GB of stuff in it. The Word docs are there – these open with Pages as I assumed they would. The photos are also there and appear in their albums.

Or did the above perhaps just come down from iCloud?

But there are no e-mails – I have loads of these all in separate folders on Apple Mail. I definitely want these on the new MPB. Also none of the printer drivers, Vue Scan etc.

Can I perhaps get the new MPB to revert to factory settings and start the process again, this time accepting MA when it pops up? If I go down this route, I can follow the procedure explained by "chscag".

The old MPB is working and so there's no great urgency.

Thanks in advance.

M

 

[MarkAllread]

Your emails are in your original user account folder under library/mail.
I suggest not messing with them.
I'd seriously just import that account. (MA will bring in all your settings as well if you want them).

I may be mistaken (and I probably am), but I seem to remember there is a way to rename the account in Migration assistant. You might want to Google it.

If not, you can just make yourself a new user account with a different name like "TEMP"(on your new MBP), delete the one with the same name and import the account from your old one.

The cleaner way is as you suggested, start from scratch....depends on you and whether you have deleted stuff already from your original Mac.

 

[MacInWin]

If you have the time, restarting is the better approach. You may have permissions issues down the road if you didn't use MA *before* you created an account on the new system. Even if the names are the same, they are not the same account to the system. Each user gets a unique identifier, even if the login name is the same.

 

[MarkAllread]

...You may have permissions issues down the road if you didn't use MA *before* you created an account on the new system. Even if the names are the same, they are not the same account to the system. Each user gets a unique identifier, even if the login name is the same.

Hmm, interesting Jake. We agree that starting from scratch is cleaner, but I would have thought that Apple would either have not allowed this or at least given a warning, or that they would fix permissions issues during the transfer. If MA is transferring the whole account anyway, what's the difference between doing that before or after you have set up an account (with a different name of course) on your new Mac?

 

[MacInWin]

It has to do with *nix security. Consider this: a user, named USER-A, has data on his system that he does not want to share with anyone. But somehow a "bad guy" gets access to the machine. BadGuy doesn't know the login or password for USER-A, but sees on the login screen "USER-A." BadGuy creates on his own Mac an account named "USER-A" with a password he knows and then connects to USER-A's Mac and invokes Migration Assistant. He doesn't know where USER-A may have put what BadGuy wants, so he elects to migrate everything and just sort through it on his own time. But Migration Assistant (and the OS itself, knows that USER-A on BadGuy's machine is NOT the same account as USER-A on USER-A's machine, so when it does the migration, it migrates to a new account with a new name and with the password from USER-A's account on USER-A's machine, thwarting the security bypass BadGuy tried. When I posted earlier I wasn't sure about whether or not macOS allowed duplicate usernames, but I tested it and it does NOT allow that, so every user has a unique name. But I remember seeing in some threads from a few years ago where owners of new Macs bypassed the offer of MA at the beginning, created an account with the same name they used on the old Mac and then could not get MA to move stuff into that account. When MA ran, it put the stuff from the old machine into a separate account, with owner permissions for that separate user it had created. So even copying it over from one account to another left permission issues down the road.

 

[MarkAllread]

...But I remember seeing in some threads from a few years ago where owners of new Macs bypassed the offer of MA at the beginning, created an account with the same name they used on the old Mac and then could not get MA to move stuff into that account. When MA ran, it put the stuff from the old machine into a separate account, with owner permissions for that separate user it had created. So even copying it over from one account to another left permission issues down the road.

Yup, don't create an account with the same name and try to migrate into it.
No question there at all.

 

[chscag]

We've been thru this before. Misuse of the MA can cause a real headache and result in permissions problems and even loss of data. Jake explained it well.

A long time ago going from one machine to a new one, I inadvertently screwed up the MA and wound up starting from scratch in order to rectify the error.

Especially now with the new M1 machines and increased security, you need to get it right the first time.

 

[Mikeo512]

Just a touch gloomy here!
But I am where I am - with the same account name on both.
Starting from scratch has been mentioned - I just looked at:

How to Factory Reset a Mac

Looking to reset your Mac to its factory settings? Here's how to wipe data from your computer and start over again.

uk.pcmag.com

.
I have not deleted anything from the old MPB.
Do you recommend the above course of action?
Might this invalidate the guarantee?
On the other hand, with most of the documents on the new MPB and the photos, too, (I guess these have come via iCloud) I seem to be not far off completion.
The problem is the masses of e-mails in Apple Mail that are in folders with sub-folders and sub-sub-folders.
It was mentioned above that "the emails are in your original user account folder under library/mail." But I do not see them.
Is the transfer of these e-mails something that can be done with Air Drop? Or is that going to be messy?
I also suppose there may be other little things on the old MPB that should really be transferred even though I can't think of them now.
Thanks for your continued help.
M

 

[MacInWin]

Just a touch gloomy here!
But I am where I am - with the same account name on both.
Starting from scratch has been mentioned - I just looked at:

How to Factory Reset a Mac

Looking to reset your Mac to its factory settings? Here's how to wipe data from your computer and start over again.

uk.pcmag.com

.

Instead of reading a PC mag on how to do anything on a Mac, go to Apple first. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904

I have not deleted anything from the old MPB.
Do you recommend the above course of action?

Yes

Might this invalidate the guarantee?

No.

On the other hand, with most of the documents on the new MPB and the photos, too, (I guess these have come via iCloud) I seem to be not far off completion.
The problem is the masses of e-mails in Apple Mail that are in folders with sub-folders and sub-sub-folders.
It was mentioned above that "the emails are in your original user account folder under library/mail." But I do not see them.
Is the transfer of these e-mails something that can be done with Air Drop? Or is that going to be messy?

Restoration of Mail messages is tricky. I've never been happy with any of the solutions I've tried. The use of Migration Assistant seemed to be the best way to make it happen, at least for me. But someone else may chime in with a good solution for that.

I also suppose there may be other little things on the old MPB that should really be transferred even though I can't think of them now.
Thanks for your continued help.
M

Migration is best at getting everything over as clean as possible. Frankly, if it were me, I'd start over with a clean install, following Apple's directions, then use Migration Assistant at the first opportunity it was offered and point to the old Mac as the source and let it do its thing.

 

[Mikeo512]

OK and thanks - the PC item was the first to come up via Google.
So it seems that starting from scratch is the best option.
I can see that doing a bit here and a bit there would be messy.
I won't be tackling anything more tonight but will welcome any further comments.
Most grateful for the expertise and help on this forum.
M

 

[Mikeo512]

When I apply the advice above and when MA has done its stuff, will the e-mails in the various accounts come across to Big Sur and look as they do on the existing Mac (High Sierra 10.13.6)? Will I perhaps need to reactive them with their passwords? Also, I have a lot of e-mail folders stored "On my Mac" will these be present?
Thanks in advance.
M

 

[MacInWin]

My experience has been that MA brings over the Mail just fine. I have heard others says they had troubles. All I can say is that your mail is stored in your home folder Library, so it *should* be accessible to MA and *should* migrate.

 

[Mikeo512]

Thanks, Jake, for your reply ... all noted.
Sorry to keep harping on about this but one more question:
When MA starts its business, does it give you the option not to transfer certain items but leave them where they are?
I'm asking this because someone (not on the forum) said that it's better not to transfer Adobe or certain anti-virus software but leave them on the old MPB and then reinstall them later on the new computer.
M