Migration Problem

[rlowdon]

Hi,

I'm currently experiencing issues performing a migration. Our client is currently running server 5.5 and we are looking to migrate them to version 9.

The databases that our client is using were developed by a person who is no longer with the company and can't be contacted. I was able to convert the databases to the version 9 format, but we are experiencing problems when the users logon. It appears as though when some users logon they are loading under a different user profile.

I've been in touch with tech support at FileMaker and they have advised to go under File --> Manage --> Accounts & Priveledges to strip passwords out. However, when I'm logged on as the admininstrator, this option is greyed out.

I've looked into exporting the data into another format as well, but it is just giving me raw data with no formatting at all. I can't re-enter items as the client currently has approximately 24,000 records in their database.

I'm fairly new to the FileMaker system and I thank anyone who can offer advise during our transition phase. If you'd like more info to help with with a solution, please let me know.

Thanks

[gdurniak]

1. you may not have the "master" password

can you define Access Privileges in FM5 or 6?

if not, use a password cracker

http://www.lostpassword.com/filemaker.htm

*very* useful, when a developer walks out

2. you might have a corrupt password.

if you can define Access in FM5, try creating a new "master" password, before converting

3. after conversion, password upper/lower case matters!

4. There is also a slim (malicious) chance that FileMaker's Developer Tool was used to strip out the Master Password. Then you are stuck.

greg

[Lee Smith]

You should not be working on these files while they are being served.

If you take them off line, do you have full access to the Privileges?

Lee

[rlowdon]

Thank you for your response.

I can't define access privileges in the current software. I will get back to the customer and try the password recovery utility you have suggested.

[rlowdon]

Hi,

It appears as though the password cracker that was suggested worked! I was able to logon using this new found password and now have access to different menu options.

I spoke with FileMaker tech support and they have advised to run the migration again. I did that and then attempted to logon with my new found "master" password. When I do that, I get the following error message:

"The user password you have provided does not have a current user profile associated with it. Please restart the application and login as a different user."

I've talked to tech support about this error message and no one there has worked with version 5. They tell me that I should remove all passwords before migrating, but how do I do that? With this new password I'm able to go into File --> Define Fields and this gives me an option to delete the fields called "password" and "password2". Is that something I want to be doing?

Help!!

Thanks

[Lee Smith]

I'm not Serve person, so hopefully Steven H. Blackwell (aka Old Advance Man), will find this thread.

Have you tried using admin for either or both of the User ID, and Password.

Lee

[Vaughan]

I did that and then attempted to logon with my new found "master" password.

There is no way to "recover" passwords from FMP files (v7 and later) because they don't have the passwords in them.

When accounts are created the passwords are hashed and the hashes are stored in the file. During authentication, FMP takes the entered password and hashes it, and compares the hash to the one stored in the account.

There is no way to reverse a hash and determine the original password, they are a one-way process.

Password recovery programs usually use a crude method of overwriting the portion of the file that contains the password hash with a has of a known password. In the process the original hash is lost. It's also possible that the file gets damaged.

[rlowdon]

I did try admin as username and admin as the password and it logged me in with my current "admin" account. Unfortunately, this is the admin account I was given that isn't the true "master" account.

Are you sick of me using the term admin? ;-)

Any help would be much appreciated.

[Vaughan]

Oh, hang on... this is a migration, the original solution is still in FMP 6 format, and it *does* have the passwords in the file.

Look around for a cracker for FMP 6 files. Run the program on a *copy* of the databases. It should give you the passwords. Then go through the Migration Methodologies document and prepare the FMP 6 files for migration by cleaning everything up especially the passwords. Then convert these cleaned-up files.

(I've never used a cracker, but I have asked somebody else to do it for me. The speed in which they returned the result was surprising.)

[gdurniak]

filemaker says " ... I should remove all passwords before migrating"

yes, try that

in FM6, click File / Access Privileges / Passwords

click on each password, and make sure at least one has "Access the entire file" checked (the master password)

then delete the passwords, one by one, in every file (if more than one). Then convert to FM9

make sure you have a backup, in case you need to start over

greg

[rlowdon]

In my menu options, I don't see an option for File --> Access Priveleges --> Passwords. The only options I see under the File menu that might pertain to this are Define Fields, Define Value Lists, Define Relationships. Nothing to do with accounts and passwords. This is using the "master" password that I recovered using a password cracker. Any other thoughts?

[Vaughan]

Forgot it's FMP 6.

In the File Menu, Access Privileges > Passwords

The Access Privileges command is under the Define Relationships command.

If its not there then either you don't have the full access password or the file is maybe damaged.