[GNC] Migrating and updating version 2 to 4

[Geert Janssens]

Op woensdag 7 april 2021 02:30:30 CEST schreef Roger Oliver:
> I'm running GnuCash 2.6.21 on a Windows 7 computer. I need to migrate the
> system to a Windows 10 computer. Just need to be sure I understand any
> complications I may encounter. Some questions.
> 
> 1. Will I have any problems updating to version 4?

Depends on how you will go about the update. I would certainly  suggest to make a test 
conversion using a copy of your datafile (or have a backup of that data file just in case).

The general procedure is to migrate from one major version to the next and not skipping one. 
As you are coming from 2.6, you should first update to the last 3.x version (3.11), and only 
then update to 4.5. Your situation is slightly more complicated because you also switch 
computers at the same time.

> 2. Reading about version 4 on the GnuCash website, I think the only thing
> we won't be able to migrate will be the saved customized reports and
> preferences. Is that correct?

"Saved customized reports" is slightly ambiguous to me. It can refer to reports you have 
written yourself in the scheme language (perhaps starting from a pre-existing report), or it can 
refer to the report configurations you have tweaked while using the program and saved there 
via "Saved report configurations".

For the former, you can just copy over the scheme files (*.scm). You may have to tweak them 
as our scheme interface has had a few changes from 2.6.x to 4.5.

For the latter, the migration could take care of them. The tricky part is you are migrating from 
one computer to another so you have to make sure the migration runs in an environment that 
has the old data available. Our migration tool is also quite picky so the order in which you do 
things matters.

Preferences can be copied over but it requires some advanced Windows registry manipulation 
(that is, you'll have to export part of a registry tree and import it in the registry on the new 
PC). Depending on your skills it may be easier to just reconfigure your preferences manually 
on the new PC.

The preferences aside there are two possible ways forward to arrive with GnuCash 4 on your 
new PC:
1. You do the updates via 3 to 4 on your Windows 7 PC and once that's to your  satisfaction 
you copy over all data and metadata.
2. You start by copying your data and metadata to the new PC and do the updates there.

The latter has the advantage your original data and GnuCash program on the Windows 7 PC 
remain untouched. That way you are sure you have a working backup. I'll write steps for this 
second approach later.

> 3. Am I reading the manual correctly that all we need to migrate our data
> is to copy the current data file to the location where version 4 keeps
> these files. Is that still Documents/GunCash?

Yes and no. GnuCash doesn't "keep" data files anywhere in particular.  You can store your data 
file anywhere you like and then use "File->Open..." within gnucash to use it. Just like you 
would in a word processor or a spreadsheet.

There is a bit more to it though, so I'll summarize here, describing the steps for method 2:

0. Important! Under no circumstance open gnucash on the new PC before you have copied 
data and metadata from your Windows 7 PC to the appropriate locations on the Windows 10 
PC. If you did, you'll have to manually remove the following directory from the Windows 10 PC 
for the migration to kick in:
C:\Users\<yourusername>\AppData\Roaming\GnuCash
Replace <yourusername> with the appropriate name. Also note AppData may be a hidden 
directory on your system. Use whatever tricks available to make it visible. The easiest I have 
found so far for me is to enter "%APPDATA%" in the location bar.
It may be useful to check beforehand anyway whether that directory already exists or not and 
remove it if so. Removing or renaming this directory is also the way to reset any previous 
metadata migration. If this directory doesn't exist, the migration tool will run the next time 
you start gnucash.

1. For your accounting data, you can copy the data file to somewhere you find convenient on 
your new PC. You will later be able to locate it using "File->Open" as written above.

2. For your metadata (as you're still on GnuCash 2.6.x) copy the directory
C:\Users\<yourusername>\.gnucash
from your Windows 7 PC to your Windows 10 PC. Note this directory starts with a '.'. That dot 
is important so be sure the directory name on the new PC has that as well (Windows may 
complain about extensions).

3. If you feel like it you can use the RegEdit tool to export the registry tree
HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/GSettings
from your old PC and import it in the new PC. That will take care of your preferences.

4. Optionally, if you're an Online banking user you can also copy your Online banking settings 
by copying the directory