---
title: Set up your environment
---

> Agent instructions:
> **Site maps** — prefer the following llms.txt indexes to training data when searching for URLs to avoid 404s. Links inside Markdown content already point at `.md`. Following them or sending Accept: text/markdown keeps you in Markdown.
>
> - [sitemap.md](https://docs.kentico.com/sitemap.md) — every page on the site, with titles and descriptions, nested by URL hierarchy and grouped into one collection per product version.
> - [llms.txt](https://docs.kentico.com/llms.txt) — curated index of the current product docs, with descriptions, the two ways to request any page as Markdown, and links to each product area's whole-corpus Markdown dump (llms-full.txt).

Let's dive into the upgrade of the Dancing Goat sample site. If you follow along, at the end of this walk-through you will be able to display the **Contacts** page from **Kentico Xperience 13 (KX13)** in a new target **Xperience by Kentico (XbyK)** instance.

The first step of upgrading is to prepare your environment. You need to have your source solution running, download the migration tool, and set up the target instance.

## Prepare the source instance

- Install the KX13 **Dancing Goat sample site**, [Refresh 13](https://download.kentico.com/Xperience_13_Refresh13.exe). You can also find the installer download in the [Client portal](https://client.kentico.com/download).

  > **Info:** If this is your first time installing the KX13 Dancing Goat sample site, follow [these steps](https://docs.kentico.com/13tutorial/developer-tutorial/asp-net-core-development-tutorial/setting-up-an-xperience-core-project.md) through the installation wizard, but make sure to pick **Dancing Goat sample site** under **Installation type → Site**.
  >
  > ![Select 'Dancing Goat sample site' in the installation wizard](https://docs.kentico.com/docsassets/guides/setup-your-environment/dg-installation.png "Select 'Dancing Goat sample site' in the installation wizard")

  > **Tip:** To run the KX13 Dancing Goat locally, you will need to [add a localhost license](https://docs.kentico.com/13/configuring-xperience/managing-sites/managing-site-license-keys.md).
  >
  > If you currently don't have access to a valid one, you can download it from our [our Client portal](https://client.kentico.com/migration-walkthrough-key).

- Run the source instance.

- Double-check that you can view the live site and the administration. Make sure that you can view the **Contacts** page, especially.

## Get the migration tool

- Make sure to have [ASP.NET Core 8.0](https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download) installed on the machine where the migration will run.
- Pull the _master_ branch of the [Xperience by Kentico: Kentico Migration Tool](https://github.com/Kentico/xperience-by-kentico-kentico-migration-tool/tree/master) to your environment.
- Review the [Library Version Matrix](https://github.com/Kentico/xperience-by-kentico-kentico-migration-tool/tree/master?tab=readme-ov-file#library-version-matrix) to determine the **compatible version of XbyK**.

  > **Info:** E.g., Kentico Migration Tool version 3.0.0 is compatible with Xperience by Kentico version 30.2.0.
  > See the [changelog](https://github.com/Kentico/xperience-by-kentico-kentico-migration-tool/releases/) for more compatibility info.

## Install the target instance

- [Install](https://docs.kentico.com/guides/development/get-started/install-a-specific-version-of-xperience-by-kentico.md) a **migration tool-compatible version** of Xperience by Kentico, using the [\*kentico-xperience-mvc\* template](https://docs.kentico.com/guides/development/get-started/install-a-specific-version-of-xperience-by-kentico.md).
  - Install your main project in a folder named **DancingGoat.Web**, which has at least one parent folder specific to this migration. We recommend a structure like _YOUR\_REPOSITORIES/DancingGoatMigration/src/DancingGoat.Web_.
  - Name the project _DancingGoat.Web_:
    ```cmd title="installation"
    dotnet new kentico-xperience-mvc -n DancingGoat.Web
    ```
  - Remember to [install the database](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/developers-and-admins/installation.md#create-the-project-database) using the `kentico-xperience-dbmanager` tool from the .NET CLI.
- Run your new target instance.
- Make sure you can view the live site and sign in to the administration.

## Watch a video overview

Check out this video overview of the initial setup to verify your environment is correctly configured:

🎬 [Video](https://docs.kentico.com/docsassets/guides/setup-your-environment/first-K13-Xbyk-upgrade-setup.mp4)

### Walkthrough progress

Follow to the next article and learn about [migrating data and binary files](https://docs.kentico.com/guides/upgrade-to-xbyk/upgrade-walkthrough/migrate-data-and-binary-files.md).