Since Parse.com has shut down, this information is archival, and for reference only. If you’d like to migrate from your self-hosted Parse Server to Parse on Buddy, see https://buddy.com/mobile-backend/parse-server-migration/
This is a guide for migrating your existing Parse.com app to Parse on Buddy, the world’s most complete implementation of Parse outside of Facebook.
The deadline to migrate your app off Parse is coming up on January 30, 2017. Time is running out and we want to make this an easy transition for you.
We highly recommend that you first run through this guide with a development or test version of your app before working with a production app.
There are a few areas, mostly concerning cloud code, that the open source Parse server used by Buddy does not provide compatibility with the current Parse service. Carefully read through the list of compatibility issues with hosted Parse before proceeding.
Migrating to Parse on Buddy consists of three steps:
You have an app, which points to https://api.parse.com/1, and uses the current Parse service. You want to migrate your app to Parse on Buddy, and point your client to the Parse on Buddy API at https://api.parse.buddy.com/parse/.
Go to https://parse.buddy.com and create your account. You will receive an account verification email; please follow the instructions to verify your account.
Next, log in, and create an app. You can name it the same as your current Parse app, or name it something different.
The next step is to migrate your data from your app’s Parse-hosted database to the Parse on Buddy database.
Go to your app in the Parse on Buddy Dashboard, select App Settings, then Security & Keys. There you will see the Mongo DB URL. Copy the entire URL:
Go to your old Parse app at the old Parse Dashboard. Click on your app, and then click on App Settings. On the right under the App Management heading, you will see a red Migrate button:
Click this, and paste the Mongo DB URL. Then click on Begin the migration:
A migration progress dialog will appear:
The migration will run through the following steps:
1. Copy Snapshot: The database migration tool first takes a snapshot of your existing data and transfers it to Buddy. Depending on the amount of data in your app, this can take from under a minute to hours.
2. Sync: Next, it will pause to allow manual verification, while continuing to keep data in sync with reads and writes that are coming in from your live app and dashboard, and your test app and dashboard.
3. Verify the Parse on Buddy Dashboard: Go to the Parse on Buddy Dashboard, navigate to your app, and browse through the collections in the newly created database. Check the collection counts and do a few spot checks to ensure that your data was migrated successfully. Although you have 24 hours to complete this, to mitigate possible hiccups in internet connectivity, we recommend testing in the few hours after you initiate migration.
Known old Parse dashboard migration issues
Typically there will be no error messages. Here is a list of ones you may encounter:
4. Migrate cloud code/web hosting and miscellaneous configuration:
5. Verify your live and test apps: You need to update your client apps to the latest Parse Client SDK, and configure them with the Parse on Buddy API URL.
Build a debug version of your app using the updated SDK and new URL and app ID, and test. Also, verify current in-the-field installations of your app. A spot-check of functionality is all that’s necessary. If you encounter any problems, please let us know at [email protected].
Once your current app, new app, and dashboard testing is completed to your satisfaction, click the Finalize button in the migration progress dialog. You should then see a Congratulations! dialog:
At this point, your production app is still hitting api.parse.com, but is using Buddy’s database instance. Your test app is hitting api.parse.buddy.com, using the same database.
Now you can release the versions of your apps to all the platforms you support.
We are aiming for feature parity with the current Parse service. There a number of features that are missing from the open-source Parse Server. We are adding some, like PPNS. For the remainder, we are prioritizing based on customer interest, and will be publishing a roadmap soon. If there’s something that’s missing that you need, please contact us at [email protected].