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Octo × AIMS and migration PT Request an assessment

Octo for AIMS and migration

Autodesk stopped developing AIMS. Your map doesn't have to go dark.

Autodesk stopped Infrastructure Map Server in 2018, and MapGuide Open Source, which was always its foundation, reached version 4.0 in October 2025. Octo inventories the repository through the mapagent API, separates what migrates from what needs adjustment, copies the resources to a parallel 4.0 server and compares the rendered map on both sides. The cutover date, the accepted differences and the production server stay with the administrator and the technical lead.

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On the left, a gray AIMS 2017 server with a terminal listing resources classified as migrate, adjust and blocked; Octo, in the center, carries the resources to a MapGuide Open Source 4.0 server on the right, which shows a fictitious map of blocks, streets and a river AIMS 2017 · NO PATCH OLD BUNDLED PHP $ repository inventory of AIMS, read-only OPERATION=ENUMERATERESOURCES resources found MIGRATE ADJUST BLOCKED nothing changed on the server FICTITIOUS DATA MAPGUIDE OPEN SOURCE 4.0 GETMAPIMAGE · 1:5,000 difference within threshold FICTITIOUS MAP OPERATION=SETRESOURCE → Library://Migracao/ OCTO × AIMS DRY RUN · NO CUTOVER M-08
MapGuide Open Source4.0announced Oct 12, 2025 on the project list
Latest AIMS version2017documented in Autodesk help
php2shell mitigation4.0 onlyolder versions unpatched (Oct 22, 2026)
Sources12listed at the end of the page
01

What Octo does when you move off AIMS.

Six possible deliverables, drawn from the assessment. All of them start with a read-only account, work on a parallel server and go to review by whoever is accountable for the server.

Repository inventory

Lists Library:// with ENUMERATERESOURCES, downloads each XML with GETRESOURCECONTENT and records the type, schema version, FDO provider and dependencies of every resource.

Deliverable: spreadsheet by resource, without changing anything

Dependency map

Links each map to its layers and data sources, so a provider with no equivalent immediately shows which maps and layouts it would break.

Deliverable: list of maps affected by each blocker

Copy to the 4.0 server

Copies resource by resource with SETRESOURCE, first into a dry-run folder, or builds an .mgp package in Maestro for APPLYRESOURCEPACKAGE.

Deliverable: parallel server with a copy log

FDO provider swap

Where there is an open equivalent, such as Autodesk's Oracle provider to King Oracle, it swaps it in a copy of the XML, leaves the credential blank and tests with TESTCONNECTION.

Deliverable: swapped sources and open items per source

Rendered map comparison

Requests the same map, at the same center and scale, from both servers with GETMAPIMAGE and counts the pixels that changed; a person looks only at the pairs above the threshold.

Deliverable: table of differences + images

Risk overview

Providers with no equivalent, custom PHP pages, data outside the repository, bundled PHP version and reliance on a single maintainer, with what each one costs.

Deliverable: risks for the accountable person to decide on
02

Eight arms, a cutover with no surprises.

The same Octo cycle, applied to moving off a map server. Each arm has a narrow role; the people decide the cutover, accept differences and are accountable for the server.

  1. Discovery

    Maps the server

    AIMS or MapGuide version, operating system, installed providers, viewers, custom pages and where the data lives.

  2. Data

    Inventories the sources

    FeatureSources, providers, folder aliases and schema version of every resource, with the dependencies between them.

  3. Security

    Handles access

    Read-only account for the inventory, passwords kept out of scripts, bundled PHP and the php2shell mitigation. Personal data served on the map is assessed (LGPD) before it leaves the client's environment.

  4. Architecture

    Chooses the path

    Parallel server or in-place upgrade; .mgp package or resource-by-resource copy; equivalent provider or rebuild the source.

  5. Development

    Writes the scripts

    Inventory, copy, provider swap and image comparison, with dry-run mode, a log and the source of every syntax noted.

  6. Review

    Checks the real path

    TESTCONNECTION on every source, image comparison and screen tests with the least-privileged profile. No error is not the same as checked.

  7. Release

    Leaves the dry run only on order

    Writes outside the dry-run folder only with the administrator's OK, and follows the cutover with the old server still running until sign-off.

  8. Documentation

    Records what holds

    Versions of both servers, decision per resource, accepted differences and who accepted them. What held in one migration does not automatically hold for another.

Octo works with read access and in a support role. It does not decide the cutover, accept rendering differences, choose a license or replace the server administrator.

03

Each task, its own path.

The criteria Octo uses to choose. Operation names were checked in the server source code (snapshot from January 2023).

TaskPathNote
Find the server versionOPERATION=GETSITEVERSIONOn both sides, before anything else
List the repositoryENUMERATERESOURCES with DEPTH=-1Nothing is changed
Read each resourceGETRESOURCECONTENTSchema in the noNamespaceSchemaLocation attribute
Who uses this resourceENUMERATERESOURCEREFERENCESBefore touching a source
Copy a resourceSETRESOURCE on the targetFirst into Library://Migracao/
Copy attached filesGETRESOURCEDATA and SETRESOURCEDATASDF, SHP and images inside the repository
Load a packageMaestro builds the .mgp; APPLYRESOURCEPACKAGECross-version compatibility to be measured in the dry run
Test a data sourceTESTCONNECTIONAfter swapping the provider
Compare renderingGETMAPIMAGE + compare -metric AESame center, scale and size
Authoring after the migrationMapGuide Maestro (6.0m13)Replaces Infrastructure Studio; does not read DWG
04

From inventory to a maintained server.

Three steps. Each one only makes sense after the previous one has shown results on your team.

A proposal, not a promise

1 Today

Inventory and risks

Octo shows the size of the migration without touching the server.

  • Spreadsheet by resource, with status
  • Maps affected by each blocker
  • Risk overview and questions
Benefit: decide with numbers, not memory
2 Next

Parallel 4.0 server

Resources copied in a dry run, providers swapped and maps compared pixel by pixel.

  • Copy log and connection tests
  • Table of rendering differences
  • Cutover plan with rollback
Benefit: the team reviews differences, not every resource
3 Later

Maintained server

Visual comparison and inventory become routine with every upgrade, such as the planned 4.0.1.

  • Comparison before every upgrade
  • Monthly repository inventory
  • Record of the versions in production
Benefit: upgrade without fear of breaking the map
05

Confirmed in a source.

Every point below has a source published by OSGeo (project page, official mailing lists, downloads area), by the official repository or by Autodesk. The examples are scripts, not executions. The sources are in the next section.

4

points with a published source, each with its reference shown alongside.

ConfirmedMapGuide Open Source 4.0
Announced on Oct 12, 2025 by the maintainer: "the release of MapGuide Open Source 4.0 is now available". PHP 8, a single Java jar and NuGet packages for .NET.Source: mapguide-users list, message 035125; maintainer's blog
ConfirmedEnd of AIMS
On Jan 11, 2018 the maintainer wrote that Autodesk had stopped developing AIMS and that it "is built on top of MapGuide Open Source". The latest version documented in Autodesk help is 2017.Source: maintainer's blog, January 2018; help.autodesk.com
ConfirmedFix only in 4.0
On php2shell, on Oct 22, 2026: older versions ship PHP outside the patched range, and "the only recourse is to upgrade to 4.0". 4.0.1 is announced as planned for November 2026.Source: mapguide-users list, messages 035198 and 035199
ConfirmedMaestro in place of Studio
Maestro is "the only viable authoring solution" for users of the open-source version, and it does not read DWG or images the way Studio did; latest version 6.0m13, from Jan 15, 2025, LGPL 2.1.Source: MapGuide Maestro documentation and releases
06

What Octo does and what stays with you.

Octo prepares everything, but it does not sign. The document of record stays with whoever is accountable for it.

Octo prepares

Gathers, calculates, organizes and generates the documents: scripts, inventories, reports and maps.

Deliverable: material ready to check

Your team checks

The licensed professional checks what Octo delivered before signing. If something doesn't add up, it goes back to Octo with the correction.

Step: review by the signer

The signer

Octo does not sign. Designs, technical reports, ART/RRT, accountability reports and any official document are still signed by the licensed professional of the company or agency: here, the technical lead for the map or system.

Signature: technical lead for the map or system
07

Sources.

Mailing lists and code of the MapGuide project at OSGeo, Maestro documentation, Autodesk help and the maintainer's blog, consulted on Oct 31, 2026.

Leave AIMS knowing what will change.

The assessment starts with an inventory of the repository using a read-only account, without touching the server. You get the list of what migrates, what needs adjustment and what is blocked, and you decide with it in hand.

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