Migrating
Migrating Data¶
In the case that data needs to be migrated from one database installation to another, the following procedure can be used to export data, initialize the new database, and re-import the data.
Backup Database
Ensure that the original database is securely backed up first!
Up to Date
Ensure that the original database is up to date, by running inv migrate
Export Data¶
Export the database contents to a JSON file using the following command:
invoke export-records -f data.json
This will create JSON file at the specified location which contains all database records.
Specifying filename
The filename of the exported file can be specified using the -f option
Initialize New Database¶
Configure the new database using the normal processes (see Configuration)
Then, ensure that the database schema are correctly initialized in the new database:
invoke migrate
This ensures that the required database tables exist, which must be the case before data can be imported.
Import Data¶
The new database should now be correctly initialized with the correct table structures requried to import the data. Run the following command to load the databased dump file into the new database.
Empty Database
If the database is not empty (i.e. it contains data records) then the data import process will fail. If errors occur during the import process, run invoke delete-data to clear all existing data from the database.
invoke import-records -f data.json
Import Filename
A different filename can be specified using the -f option
Character Encoding
If the character encoding of the data file does not exactly match the target database, the import operation may not succeed. In this case, some manual editing of the database JSON file may be required.