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Project import and export Rake tasks

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GitLab provides Rake tasks for project import and export.

You can only import from a compatible GitLab instance.

Import large projects

This script was introduced in GitLab 12.6 for importing large GitLab project exports.

As part of this script, we also disable direct upload. This avoids uploading a huge archive to GCS, which can cause idle transaction timeouts.

We can run this script from the terminal:

Parameters:

Attribute Type Required Description
username string yes User name
namespace_path string yes Namespace path
project_path string yes Project path
archive_path string yes Path to the exported project tarball you want to import 
bundle exec rake "gitlab:import_export:import[root, group/subgroup, testingprojectimport, /path/to/file.tar.gz]"

If you're running a Linux package installation, run the following Rake task:

gitlab-rake "gitlab:import_export:import[root, group/subgroup, testingprojectimport, /path/to/file.tar.gz]"

Export large projects

You can use a Rake task to export large project.

Parameters:

Attribute Type Required Description
username string yes User name
namespace_path string yes Namespace path
project_path string yes Project name
archive_path string yes Path to file to store the export project tarball 
gitlab-rake "gitlab:import_export:export[username, namespace_path, project_path, archive_path]"

Troubleshooting

If you are having trouble with import/export, you can enable debug mode using the same Rake task:

# Import
IMPORT_DEBUG=true gitlab-rake "gitlab:import_export:import[root, group/subgroup, testingprojectimport, /path/to/file_to_import.tar.gz]"

# Export
EXPORT_DEBUG=true gitlab-rake "gitlab:import_export:export[root, group/subgroup, projectnametoexport, /tmp/export_file.tar.gz]"

Check the common errors listed below, what they mean, and how to fix them.

Exception: undefined method 'name' for nil:NilClass

The username is not valid.

Exception: undefined method 'full_path' for nil:NilClass

The namespace_path does not exist. For example, one of the groups or subgroups is mistyped or missing, or you've specified the project name in the path.

The task only creates the project. If you want to import it to a new group or subgroup, create it first.

Exception: No such file or directory @ rb_sysopen - (filename)

The specified project export file in archive_path is missing.

Exception: Permission denied @ rb_sysopen - (filename)

The specified project export file cannot be accessed by the git user.

To fix the issue:

  1. Set the file owner to git:git.
  2. Change the file permissions to 0400.
  3. Move the file to a public folder (for example /tmp/).

Name can contain only letters, digits, emoji ... 

Name can contain only letters, digits, emoji, '_', '.', '+', dashes, or spaces. It must start with a letter,
digit, emoji, or '_', and Path can contain only letters, digits, '_', '-', or '.'. It cannot start
with '-', end in '.git', or end in '.atom'.

The project name specified in project_path is not valid for one of the specified reasons.

Only put the project name in project_path. For example, if you provide a path of subgroups it fails with this error as / is not a valid character in a project name.

Name has already been taken and Path has already been taken

A project with that name already exists.

Exception: Error importing repository into (namespace) - No space left on device

The disk has insufficient space to complete the import.

During import, the tarball is cached in your configured shared_path directory. Verify the disk has enough free space to accommodate both the cached tarball and the unpacked project files on disk.

Import is successful, but with a Total number of not imported relations: XX message, and issues are not created during the import

If you receive a Total number of not imported relations: XX message, and issues aren't created during the import, check exceptions_json.log. You might see an error like N is out of range for ActiveModel::Type::Integer with limit 4 bytes, where N is the integer exceeding the 4-byte integer limit. If that's the case, you are likely hitting the issue with rebalancing of relative_position field of the issues.

# Check the current maximum value of relative_position
Issue.where(project_id: Project.find(ID).root_namespace.all_projects).maximum(:relative_position)

# Run the rebalancing process and check if the maximum value of relative_position has changed
Issues::RelativePositionRebalancingService.new(Project.find(ID).root_namespace.all_projects).execute
Issue.where(project_id: Project.find(ID).root_namespace.all_projects).maximum(:relative_position)

Repeat the import attempt and check if the issues are imported successfully.

Gitaly calls error when importing

If you're attempting to import a large project into a development environment, Gitaly might throw an error about too many calls or invocations. For example:

Error importing repository into qa-perf-testing/gitlabhq - GitalyClient#call called 31 times from single request. Potential n+1?

This error is due to a n+1 calls limit for development setups. To resolve this error, set GITALY_DISABLE_REQUEST_LIMITS=1 as an environment variable. Then restart your development environment and import again.