Overview
The Google Shared Drives connector in DryvIQ enables you to analyze, migrate, copy, and synchronize files between your Google Shared Drives, cloud storage repositories, and on-premises network file shares. The first step is to create a Google Shared Drives connection by providing the required connection information for DryvIQ to access the shared drives.
Google Workspace Service Account Required
Migrating documents from Google Workspace requires a Google Workspace service account with administrative privileges. The service account enables the DryvIQ Platform to act on behalf of users by utilizing the Google Workspace API. Refer to “Creating a Google Workspace Service Account" for instructions on creating the service account.
Creating a Connection
- Expand the Manage section in the left navigation menu.
- Click Connections.
- Click Add connection.
- Select Google Shared Drives as the platform on the Add connection modal.
- Enter the connection information. Reference the table below for details about each field.
- Test the connection to ensure DryvIQ can connect using the information entered.
- You will see a green "Connected” message at the bottom of the modal when DryvIQ establishes the connection. (If the connection fails, verify the information you entered.)
- Click Done.
| Field | Description | Required |
|---|---|---|
| Display as | Enter the display name for the connection. If you will be creating multiple connections, ensure the name readily identifies the connection. The name displays in the application, and you can use it to search for the connection and filter lists. The maximum length is 255 characters. |
Optional |
| Service account email | Enter the email address created during the Service Account creation process. It will resemble <service-account-name>@<project-id>.iam.gserviceaccount.com | Required |
| Private key |
Enter the x509 private key. This is the value created when creating the new private key when creating a new Service Account in the Google IAM & admin Console. It will begin with -----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY----- and end with -----END PRIVATE KEY-----.
You can click the Choose a file on your computer link to import the key from a file on your computer. Use the file upload dialog that appears to locate the file that contains the key you want to use. |
Required |
| Subject email | Enter the email address for the root account containing the data to be transferred. | Required |
| Domain |
Enter the target domain name (for example, your-domain.com).
If you do not include the domain for the Subject Email, you must include the domain in this field. This domain will then be used as the domain for the account. |
Optional |
| Token uri | Enter the custom authentication URI. If not supplied, the default is used ( https://accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/token). | Optional |
| Preserve content type |
Indicate if DryvIQ should try to preserve files in their original content type. This feature is primarily used for transferring data between Google accounts.
The default value is No. This means that an upload content type is not specified. Most files will retain their original content types. However, Google native documents and Microsoft Office files will transfer as Microsoft Office files.
Selecting Yes will preserve files in their original content type. Google native documents will transfer as Google native documents. Microsoft Office files will transfer as Microsoft Office files. |
Optional |
| Import as Google documents |
Indicate if DryvIQ should import Microsoft Office documents as Google documents. This feature is mainly used when transferring from any platform, such as Box to Google.
The default value is No. This means Microsoft Office files will be preserved as their original content type.
Selecting Yes will import all Microsoft Office files as native Google documents. |
Optional |
| Behavior When Deleting Items |
Select the type of deletion DryvIQ should perform when deleting items: Permanent or Soft.
Soft delete is the default behavior. A soft delete marks items as deleted. You can still access them to restore or permanently delete the items.
Permanent delete is the recommended behavior. A permanent delete removes the items. This deletion is not reversible. |
Optional |
| Allow File Discovery |
Indicate if files with shared links should be searchable.
The default value is No. This means that only users with whom the file has been shared can find and access the file.
Selecting Yes sets the "People can search for this file" setting in the file link settings to TRUE. This means any files with shared links can be found and accessed by any user through the search. |
Optional |
| Read-only Access |
Specify if the connection should be created with read-only access.
The default value is No. This means the connection will be created with access granted to the account used to make the connection.
Selecting Yes creates the account with read-only access. The configuration for the Google account used to make the connection must match the access level for read-only access to be applied properly. |
Optional |
| Use domain admin access |
Indicate if you want to allow domain-level administrator access to all Google shared drives, regardless of membership.
The default value is No. This means the connection can only access shared drives that the administrator is a member of.
Selecting Yes allows the connection to access all shared drives in the administrator's domain/enterprise. |
Optional |
Features and Limitations
Platforms all have unique features and limitations. DryvIQ’s transfer engine manages these differences between platforms, allowing you to configure actions based on Job Policies and Behaviors. The information below is platform-specific. Use the Platform Comparison tool to see how your integration platforms may interact regarding features and limitations.
| Supported Features | Unsupported Features | Other Features/Limitations |
|---|---|---|
| Version Preservation | File Lock Propagation | File Size Maximum: 5 TB |
| Timestamp Preservation | Mirror Lock Ownership | Invalid Characters: / |
|
See below for more information. |
Tags Map |
Path Length Maximum: N/A See below for more information. |
| Account Map |
Segment Path Length: 500 See below for more information. |
|
| Group Map |
See below for more information. |
|
|
See below for more information. |
No leading spaces in file name/folder name | |
| User Impersonation | No trailing spaces before or after file extensions | |
| Metadata Map |
Author Preservation/Audit Trail Preservation
The Google Shared Drive connector uses per-request impersonation. When Google Drive is the destination connection, DryvIQ must make requests to the platform on behalf of the account owner, not the administrator. To ensure “Created By” and “Modified By” dates are preserved during migration, the destination connection must also impersonate the corresponding account owner.
DryvIQ supports author preservation in Shared Drives. It does this by impersonating the user who last modified the file when the file is uploaded. However, there are some limitations:
- The impersonating author must have access to the shared drive. If the job transfers the shared drive and its permissions, the source must have these permissions in place in the corresponding folder.
- DryvIQ cannot preserve the audit trail of external or deleted accounts since they cannot be impersonated.
Externally Shared Content Box to Google
Externally shared content will migrate from Box to Google. External users will receive an email notification from Google, indicating that content has been shared with them. On the Google platform, you can see the permissions applied to the external collaborator under “Manage Access.”
Google Shared Drive Limits
Google limits the number of items, members, and daily uploads that can be stored in shared drives. Refer to Google’s documentation regarding Shared Drive limits in Google Drive for more information.
Path Lengths
Google does not impose restrictions on the total path length. However, segment path lengths are limited to 500 characters. Segments are delimited by a forward slash (/). For example, <max 500 characters>/<max 500 characters>.
Permissions
In Shared Drives, DryvIQ can assign the following permissions:
- Permissions are supported at the Shared Drive level (membership).
- A Shared Drive is comparable to a SharePoint Library.
- Permissions for folders within the Shared Drive are supported.
- Permissions for files within the Shared Drive are supported.
External/Internal file permissions can be added if they are not part of the membership, but this must be configured in Shared Drives before it will take effect.
Restricted Types
Google Shared Drives also has the following restrictions and limitations for content. DryvIQ will handle the content as indicated.
Non-Transferable File Types and Elements
The following file types and elements cannot be transferred.
- Sites, Forms, Fusion Tables, My Maps, and Google Workspace Marketplace are all files that are not transferable.
- Comments in Docs, Sheets, and Slides are not transferable.
- You cannot transfer permissions to folders other than the shared drive.
- You cannot transfer demoting/deny permissions (disinheritance).
Google Documents
Native Google documents will be handled as indicated below.
- Although some platforms, such as Box and Dropbox, support Google Docs, DryvIQ does not currently support transferring them to Google Shared Drives.
- When transferring Google Docs from Google Shared Drives to another platform, DryvIQ will export the documents as Microsoft Office documents.
- Google Docs converts to DOCX files.
- Google Slides converts to PPTX files.
- Google Sheets converts to XLSX files.
- Google Drawings converts to SVG files.
- Google Apps Script converts to JSON files.
- Google Forms, Fusion Tables, Sites, and My Maps are not available for download in Google Shared Drives. This means DryvIQ is prevented from transferring these items. The expected behavior is that the item will be flagged with the error message "IO Violation and message: Downloading content is not supported for file...".
Microsoft Office Documents
When transferring Microsoft Office documents to Google Shared Drives, you can choose to either keep their original format or import them as Google Docs when setting up the connection.
Google Shortcut Links
Google does not allow downloading of native link files that appear on the Google platforms. DryvIQ will filter these files out of the migration job and log the reason for skipping them for reference.
Root File Transfers
You cannot transfer files to the root of your Google Shared Drives connection. Folders transferred to the root of the Google Shared Drives connection will be created as Team Drives.
Slashes in Folder Name
Forward slashes (/) are invalid characters; however, DryvIQ allows “/“ in folder names only when manually building the path for the job or scan in the user interface. When creating a job or scan, it will fail to run if you copy and paste the root path with a “/” in the folder name. Also, you cannot include a slash in a folder name when creating a job or scan using the DryvIQ REST API.
Versioning and Simulation
The API can only calculate the size of the current version for native Google documents. When running a simulation job with versioning enabled, only the size of the current version of the file is displayed. The size of the other versions will not be calculated for these documents.