Tutorial

This tutorial is the primary getting-started walkthrough for Precision Bridge 10. Follow the numbered steps below in order to go from zero to a working migration. Each step links to a focused sub-article for detail.

For setup help or other queries, contact help@precisionbridge.net.

About Precision Bridge

Precision Bridge is a data migration and synchronisation tool for enterprise systems — ServiceNow, JIRA, databases, APIs, CSV files, and more. It provides a web interface for designing and executing data migration projects.

Key Concepts

Connections — Configured links to your data sources and targets (ServiceNow instances, databases, CSV directories, etc.)
Projects — Contain the connections and procedures that define a migration task
Procedures — Ordered workflows of steps that extract, transform, and load data
Steps — Individual operations — the most important is Migrate Records, which handles the core ETL process
Field Mappings — Rules that define how each source field maps to a target field

Step 1 — Pick Your Install Path

Precision Bridge ships in two builds. Pick the one that matches what you need today; you can switch later without losing project data.

Option A — Windows Native Build (Recommended for Trials)

A standalone Windows .exe that runs the full application without Docker, WSL, or any virtualisation. This is the fastest way to try Precision Bridge — typically under five minutes from download to first launch.

Platforms: Windows 11 or Windows Server 2019+ only
Pros: No container runtime to install, no IT-approved infrastructure, easy uninstall
Caveat: Scheduled procedures are not available in the native build. The Schedules page is disabled in the UI. You can still run procedures manually any time. Everything else — every step type, the formula language, table correlations, the adaptor editor — works identically.

If this fits your situation, follow the dedicated Windows Native Build Quick Start and skip ahead to Step 3 below.

Option B — Docker Build (Recommended for Production and Non-Windows)

The full containerised build. Runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Use this when you need scheduling, multi-user access, server deployment, or production reliability.

If you are on...	Follow...
Windows (production / scheduled migrations)	Install a container runtime, then run the Precision Bridge Docker installer. Full walkthrough: Installing on Windows (Docker Build).
macOS (Apple Silicon or Intel)	Install Docker Desktop or Rancher Desktop, then run `install.sh` from the deployment package. Full walkthrough: Installing on macOS or Linux.
Linux (Ubuntu, Debian, RHEL, Rocky, AlmaLinux, Fedora, Amazon Linux)	Run `install.sh` from the deployment package — pass `--install-docker` on a fresh machine to set up Docker Engine automatically. Full walkthrough: Installing on macOS or Linux.
Linux server / VM (production)	Same as above. See Running in a Virtual Machine for VM-specific notes.

For guidance on selecting a container runtime, see Choosing a Container Runtime. In summary: Docker Desktop is the default choice; Rancher Desktop and Podman are recommended alternatives when Docker Desktop licensing or sign-in is restricted in your organisation.

Before you install, check System Requirements. All installers — Windows native, Windows Docker, and the macOS/Linux deployment package — are provided by Precision Bridge. Contact help@precisionbridge.net if you do not yet have the installer for your platform.

Step 2 — Activate Your License

After installing either build:

Launch Precision Bridge. The first screen is the license request form.
Fill in Full Name, Email, Company, and Project Name.
Leave License Type set to Trial. Trial licenses are unrestricted across all data sources and targets, so no further fields are required.
Click Generate Request, then Copy Encoded Request.
Email the copied request to help@precisionbridge.net.
When you receive your license key, paste it into the license field and activate it.

For more detail, including the subscription request workflow, see Licensing and Setup.

Step 3 — Create Your Connections

Connections are the configured links to your source and target systems.

Open the Connections page from the main navigation.
Click New Connection and pick the adaptor that matches your system (ServiceNow, a database, CSV, etc.).
Enter the connection details and credentials, then save and test the connection.
Repeat for each system you need — typically one source and one target.

ServiceNow has a couple of one-time setup steps on the instance itself before it will accept Precision Bridge connections. See Configuring ServiceNow if you are connecting to ServiceNow. For other system types, see Creating Connections for the full reference.

If your source or target uses a private SSL/TLS certificate, see SSL Certificates.

Once a connection is in place, open the Connection Explorer to browse its tables, query records, and inspect fields. The explorer uses the same filter language and field model as the Migrate Records step, so prototyping a filter or sanity-checking a record here translates directly to the migration.

Step 4 — Create a Project from a Template

Templates are pre-built projects covering common migration patterns — ServiceNow-to-ServiceNow Incident Management, JIRA-to-ServiceNow, and others.

From the Home page, click New Project.
Pick a template that matches your scenario (or Empty Project to start from scratch).
Give the project a name and click Create.
In the connection-linking dialog that follows, link the template's Source and Target placeholders to the connections you created in Step 3.

See Creating a Project for more detail.

Step 5 — Review the Procedure and Set Variables

Each project contains one or more procedures. A procedure is a sequence of steps that extracts records from the source, transforms them, and loads them into the target.

Open your project's procedure from the sidebar.
Set any required input variables for the procedure (e.g. a date cut-off, an incident number filter, a tenant ID).
Skim the steps. Most templates include Migrate Records steps with auto-generated field mappings — review the mappings and adjust where the schemas differ.

See Procedures and Variables for variable details, and Field Mapping Basics for mapping fundamentals.

Step 6 — Test with a Small Sample

Before running a full migration, validate your mappings against a small subset of records:

On the Migrate Records step's Filter tab, either narrow the filter (e.g. a single record number) or set a Limit (e.g. 5 records).
Click Execute to run the procedure.
Review the execution report — check that records landed in the target with the values you expect.
Iterate: adjust field mappings and re-run as needed.

See Executing a Procedure for the execution UI, Configuring the Filter for filter syntax, and Common Filter Patterns for "single record" test patterns.

Step 7 — Run the Full Migration

Once you are happy with the test results:

Remove the test limit / narrowed filter.
Click Execute to run the full migration.
Monitor progress in the execution report. Long-running migrations can be left in the background.
After completion, review the report for errors and warnings. Records that failed are listed individually.

Going Deeper

Once you have your first migration running, these articles cover the more advanced topics:

Migrate Records — Full Guide — comprehensive documentation for the main step type
Step Types — reference for every step type, including Iterate, Call Procedure, Run Script, Wait For Condition, and others
Formula Language — expressions for data transformation
Filtering — control which records are extracted
Table Correlations — keep ID references intact across systems
Best Practices — project organisation, performance, and testing strategies