MuleSoft’s latest launch Mule 4 offers some interesting integration solutions for businesses at a low cost and simplified way, compared to its prior version Mule 3 release. Migrating from Mule 3 to Mule 4 should be carried out with utmost care. So to assist businesses in secured migration process here we discuss in detail on how to conduct migration process from Mule 3 to Mule 4…

Measures to Understand Prior to Migration Process

• Data is crucial in any type of legacy migration process. During the data migration, extreme care must be taken, as data blocks may be missed or deleted. If the loss is pertaining to critical business data, then the company may face huge losses. The severity of damage due to data sensitivity issues is purely based on how critical the data is.

• In the rush to get migrated, most of the times companies make use of primitive tools. The migration performed by such tools leave vulnerabilities for hackers to exploit resources. So, to conduct secure and smooth migration it is essential to define well-designed procedures and make use of robust tools that are functionally specific.

• To ensure secure access to data, the storage and retrieval process involves encryption and decryption. This involves usage of customized hybrid encryption algorithms to ensure maximum security. The migration of such encrypted databases, if not properly done, would clutter up the data and ultimately lead to data corruption and data loss.

• Prior to performing the migration, get a detailed understanding of systems framework to be migrated and plan interfaces to conduct smooth migration.

• To test the migration process, it is advised to develop an Automated Test Framework. This acts as a signboard in running the test process to test and fix the issues in timely manner.

• The strong security policy defines the direction and respective activities the migration accomplishment teams need to abide by. This acts as a guidepost to the team in handling the data better and offers a better understanding on current as well as evolving threats.

(To learn in detail about the best security practices for conducting migration, click here)

Deciding On When to Go for Mule 3 To Mule 4 Migration

Prior to opting Mule 3 to Mule 4 migration process, it is important to recheck organizational readiness. Following points assists you in this decision-making process:

• Are MuleSoft experts fully trained and skilled in using Mule 4?
• Learn how the components work in Mule 4 to see what has changed from Mule 3. (Learn Mule 3 Vs Mule 4)
• Is your organization willing to keep all MuleSoft supported applications up to date with Mule 4 upgrades?
• Is Mule 3 and its variants license expiring?
• Is customer/client wanting to upgrade all their applications to Mule 4?
• To deploy Mule 4 manually, it is important to get deployment environment set up. To do so, getting Anypoint Studio 7 installed is must. In this case, the deployment must be planned in a local environment that has Mule 4 standalone runtime.

Conducting Mule 3 to Mule 4 Migration Process

Though migration process can be done manually, for smooth migration it is advised to go with MuleSoft migration tool. To kick start the migration, all the modules should be added to the Anypoint studio 7 palette. Below is the sequence to be follow when migrating:

1. Migrate Patterns

1.1. Migrate message properties

1.2. Migration re-connection strategies

2. Migrate Secure Properties placeholders

3. Migrate Water marks

4. Migrate Core components

4.1. Migrate Batch components

4.2. Migrate Choice router

4.3. Migrate Exception strategies to error handlers

4.4. Migrate Enrichers too target parameters

4.5. Migrate Filters

4.6. Migrate the "For Each" component

4.7. Migrate Poll component

4.8. Migrate Scatter-Gather Router

4.9. Migrate transformers

5. Migrate Connectors

5.1 Migrate Anypoint Enterprise Security (AES) Module

5.2 Migrate to the AMQP Connector

5.3. Migrate Database Connector

5.4. Migrate Email Connector

5.5 Migrate File Connector

5.6 Migrate FTP and SFTP Connector

5.7 Migrate HTTP Connector

5.8 Migrate JMS Connector

5.9 Migrate Object Store Connector

5.10. Migrate Scripting Module

5.11. Migrate Spring Module

5.12. Migrate Validate Module

5.13. Migrate VM Module

5.14. Migrate Web Service Consumer Module

5.15. Migrate XML Module

6. MuleSoft Connector Migration from 3.x to 4.x:

MuleSoft connector architecture is completely changed in Mule 4.x. In Mule 3.x, Dev-Kit is used to develop the connector but in Mule 4, it is based on Mule4 SDK. Here each processor displayed as a separate connector in Anypoint Studio Pallet.

To Migrate the connector to Mule 4, you can use conversion tool:

• Enable the Connector as Mule 4 extension in pom file
• Modify Package element:  

• Modify parent element

• Modify the Folder structure

• Update Annotations and Params Classes
• Delete/Add/Update Classes based on Mule 4 SDK (Please refer Java Docs)

Note: MuleSoft's Mule 4 project migration tool is on the way and will be released soon. Please keep an eye on this place.

If you are wanting assistance on Mule 3 to Mule 4 migration process or want to get more information on what it takes to develop applications on Mule 4, contact our MuleSoft experts.